Cynthia Newbille will serve as Richmond City Council president for the next two years. (Photo by Sarah King)
Former Richmond City Council President Chris Hilbert and former Vice President Cynthia Newbille have assumed each other’s seats going into the new year after a unanimous vote Monday evening.
Hilbert nominated Newbille, who represents the 7th District, to become president. Second District Councilwoman Kim Gray then nominated Hilbert, the 3rd District representative, to be vice president, a move seconded by 9th District member Reva Trammell. Both Hilbert and Newbille were voted into their new positions 9-0 by their colleagues with no competing nominations, and will hold their respective seats until Dec. 31, 2020.
“I’m reminded of one of my she-roes, Annie Giles,” Newbille said as she began remarks after assuming the presiding seat. “Once in a meeting, she said, ‘I don’t care what you know until I know that you care,’ so what I want to say to you, council colleagues, this afternoon is that I will have you know that not only do I care about the almost 30,000 residents in my district, but all the nearly 250,000 residents of this city.”
Newbille, who is an advisor for the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation, has been on the City Council since 2009. She won a special election to fulfill the remaining three years of Delores McQuinn’s council term after McQuinn was elected to the 70th District House of Delegates seat in the General Assembly. Beginning Jan. 1, 2009, the council terms changed from two years to four.
Chris Hilbert
After two years as president, Chris Hilbert steps into the No. 2 role. (Photo courtesy Chris Hilbert)
Hilbert, who has been on council since 2004, announced in November he would not seek a second two-year term as president. On Monday, he thanked his colleagues, the residents of the city and his wife, Sheila Mandt, for “the trust you’ve placed in me” for the last 15 years.
Shortly after the votes, Mayor Levar Stoney’s office sent an emailed statement congratulating Newbille on her new position.
“Dr. Newbille’s years of experience, steady hand and dedicated, compassionate public service will provide the thoughtful, progressive leadership necessary to meet the challenges facing our city and keep it moving forward in an efficient and positive direction,” Stoney’s statement says.
In an interview with Richmond magazine last year, Newbille said she initially ran for public office because she saw it as an opportunity to serve the community she grew up in, Whitcomb Court, and the city as a whole. Newbille, who has a Ph.D., attended Whitcomb Elementary, Mosby (now Martin Luther King Jr.) Middle School and Armstrong High School.
Last January, the YWCA of Richmond announced she was one of nine recipients of the 2018 Outstanding Women Awards. Newbille’s work as a public health advocate helped spearhead the soon-to-launch Church Hill North development off Nine Mile Road, which will feature a grocery store coined the Market at 25th, a culinary school by J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, a health and wellness center by Virginia Commonwealth University and mixed-use retail and housing space in what is currently an underserved area in the East End.
“It isn't just that it's a grocery store — it's an opportunity to address that this is a food desert and food access is a challenge,” Newbille said in the interview. “It's also an opportunity because of the folks who will provide employment opportunities … [and] access to a full array of training and academic options in our community that will be critical for people's advancement and movement to self-sufficiency.”
On Monday, Stoney’s statement also thanked Hilbert for his service as president of council, including his leadership on “important issues such as the biennial budget and our $150 million investment in new school facilities last year.”
“My administration looks forward to working with President Newbille, Vice President Hilbert and all members of council over the next two years in our ongoing efforts to build and maintain One Richmond,” Stoney's statement continues, “an inclusive and competitive city that delivers the brighter future our residents and our children deserve.”
Also on Monday, the Richmond School Board voted 5-4 to retain 8th District member Dawn Page as chairwoman and 6-3 to name 1st District representative Liz Doerr vice chairwoman, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
