A Recap of the Chesapeake Spring DAO

Thank you City of Chesapeake VA! 

City of Chesapeake Deputy City Manager, Laura Fitzpatrick, ICMA-CM, CPRO hosted the DAO’s for our Spring meeting on April 24, 2026!  We had a great turnout on Friday AND Laura added a very cool new feature by offering a bonus class Thursday afternoon where are 10 of us were able to make it.  The agenda, conversations, and weather were great 😊 

Special thanks to Mayor Rick West and City Manager Chris Price for speaking with us.

If you didn’t know, the DAO meetings are a great way for each of us to share our achievements and challenges in the localities we work in, in a judgement-free environment.  We all have stories to tell and it’s great to have a space to share those stories.  It’s also a great opportunity for the hosting locality to show us why their locality is amazing through history, walking tours, economic development opportunities, etc.

Please note that the next DAO hosting locations below.  Save-the-dates will be sent once we have them.

·       Fall 2026 - Montgomery County – Chris Lawrence (Deputy County Administrator)

·       Spring 2027 – Pending:  City of Poquoson – Tonya O’Connell (Assistant City Manager)

·       Fall 2027 – Isle of Wight County – Bill Webb (Assistant County Administrator)

·       Spring 2027 – NEED A VOLUNTEER!

Lastly, please check out the DAO website because we post all of the meeting locations there as well as the presentations each locality shares with us; just in case you miss the meeting.

See you at the Summer Conference!

Todd Kilduff, P.E., Deputy County Administrator in Hanover County

DAO Chair