Will Sessoms
| Will Sessoms | |
|---|---|
| 24th Mayor of Virginia Beach, Virginia | |
|
Assumed office January 5, 2009 |
|
| Preceded by | Meyera Oberndorf |
| Vice Mayor of Virginia Beach | |
|
In office July 2, 1992 – July 2, 2002 |
|
| Preceded by | Robert Fentress |
| Succeeded by | Robert C. Mandigo Jr. |
| Virginia Beach City Council | |
|
In office 1988 – July 2, 2002 |
|
| Succeeded by | Ron A. Villanueva / Peter W. Schmidt |
| Constituency | at-large |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1954 (age 62–63) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Beverley (c. 1977–) |
| Children | Mollie S. Korte, Kate S. Napolitano, and Anne Douglas Gangwer |
| Alma mater | Virginia Commonwealth University, B.B.A. |
| Occupation | Politician, Bank Officer |
| Website | Mayor website |
William Douglas "Will" Sessoms, Jr. (born c. 1954) is mayor of Virginia Beach, Virginia (2008-) as well as president and CEO (2011-) of Towne Financial Services Group, a division of TowneBank of Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Sessoms previously served as councilman (1988–2002) and vice mayor of Virginia Beach (1992–2002). He declined to run for re-election as Vice Mayor in 2002. Sessoms served previously as president and director of the Virginia Beach region at TowneBank (2005-2011).
In 1988, he was elected to an at-large seat on the Virginia Beach City Council in a special election. He had been a member of the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad and a banker with Central Fidelity. In 1990, he ran in the May 1 election to retain his at-large seat on the city council. He and fellow at-large incumbent Nancy K. Parker won re-election over nine challengers despite public displeasure regarding Labor Day weekend riots the previous year.
On July 2, 1992, his city council colleagues elected him Vice Mayor by a 7–4 vote, although Sessoms had been maneuvering for a unanimous vote. While in office, he continued to serve as a Senior vice president in commercial loans at Central Fidelity National Bank. During his 1994 re-election, he was found to own in Philip Morris and have voted against an increase in the cigarette tax, the major source of funding for an economic development incentive fund. He was supported by both Republican and Democratic officials. He was again re-elected on May 3, 1994, and he received the most votes of any city council candidate. He considered contesting Meyera Oberndorf for Mayor in 1996, but stayed in office and was appointed to a third two-year term as Vice Mayor in 1996. At the time of his 1998 election, he was a banker for Wachovia. He won re-election on May 5, 1998. Citing family reasons and job pressures, fourth-term councilman and fifth-term Vice Mayor Sessoms declined to run for re-election in 2002.
During Sessoms' time on the City Council and his tenure as Vice Mayor, he was not widely cited outside of Virginia. However, in 1997, when Virginia Beach struck a deal with the PGA Tour to build a $10 million championship golf course, Sessoms was one of the city's spokespersons. The tour agreed to pay $6.5 million of the construction cost.
Sessoms decided to run for mayor in July 2007. By December 31, 2007, Sessoms had a US$321,000 to $5,600 fundraising edge. Sessoms announced his mayoral candidacy on June 25, 2008 and was endorsed by Doug McCain, who is a Virginia Beach resident and John McCain's son. Sessoms' highest previous office was Vice Mayor of Virginia Beach, but at the time of his election he was serving as the president of TowneBank Virginia Beach. Sessoms defeated five-term incumbent Meyera Oberndorf on November 4, 2008. Previous municipal elections had been held in May. Oberndorf had been mayor since it became an office decided by direct election in 1988. Sessoms was sworn in on January 5, 2009, and his stated agenda from his swearing-in speech was to create jobs, improve the environment and neighborhoods, purchase Norfolk Southern Railway right-of-way to build a light-rail line, and address problems with youth gangs. Mayor Sessoms announced a campaign for a third term in February 2016 and launched his campaign on August 26, 2016. The election date is November 8, 2016. He was reelected to a third term.
...
Wikipedia