Government
Norfolk is an independent city with services that both counties and cities in Virginia provide, such as a sheriff, social services, and a court system. Norfolk operates under a council-manager form of government.
Norfolk city government consists of a city council with representatives from seven districts serving in a legislative and oversight capacity, as well as a popularly elected, at-large mayor. The city manager serves as head of the executive branch and supervises all city departments and executing policies adopted by the Council. Citizens in each of the five wards elect one council representative each to serve a four-year term. There are two additional council members elected from two city-wide "Superwards." The city council meets at City Hall weekly and, as of May, 2012, consists of: Mayor Paul D. Fraim; Vice Mayor Anthony L. Burfoot, Ward 3; Angelia Williams, Superward 7; Paul R. Riddick, Ward 4; Dr. Theresa W. Whibley, Ward 2; Andrew A. Protogyrou, Ward 1; Barclay C. Winn, Superward 6; Thomas R. Smigiel, Jr., Ward 5.
City government has infrastructure to create close working relationships with its citizens. Norfolk's city government provides services for neighborhoods, including service centers and civic leagues that interact directly with members of City Council. Such services include preserving area histories, home rehabilitation centers, outreach programs, and a university that trains citizens in neighborhood clean-up, event planning, neighborhood leadership, and financial planning. Norfolk's police department also provides support for neighborhood watch programs including a citizens' training academy, security design, a police athletic program for youth, and business watch programs.
Norfolk also has a federal courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Walter E. Hoffman U.S. Courthouse in Norfolk has four judges, four magistrate judges, and two bankruptcy judges. Additionally, Norfolk has its own General District and Circuit Courts which convene downtown.
Norfolk is located in the Virginia's 2nd congressional district, served by U.S. Representative Scott Rigell (Republican) and in the Virginia's 3rd congressional district, served by U.S. Representative Robert C. Scott (Democrat).
Read more about this topic: Norfolk, Virginia
Famous quotes containing the word government:
“Nor the tame will, nor timid brain,
Nor heavy knitting of the brow
Bred that fierce tooth and cleanly limb
And threw him up to laugh on the bough;
No government appointed him.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Give me a country where it is the most natural thing in the world for a government that does not understand you to let you alone.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A government deriving its energy from the will of the society, and operating, by the reason of its measures, on the understanding and interest of the society ... is the government for which philosophy has been searching and humanity been fighting from the most remote ages ... which it is the glory of America to have invented, and her unrivalled happiness to possess.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)