About Patti
I moved to Chesapeake with my husband, Larry in 1989. We have three children: David age 22, Patrick age 18 and Rosemary age 17. David graduated from Indian River High School and Wake Forest University. Patrick graduated from Greenbrier Christian Academy and is a freshman at The College of William and Mary. Rosemary is a junior at Indian River High School.
From 1996 until 2000 I served as an elected member of the Chesapeake School Board. During part of that time I worked as a federal prosecutor and then I worked as a legal assistant in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In 2000 the voters of Chesapeake elected me to the City Council. After a few months I gave up my position in the U.S. Attorney’s Office to be able to give my full attention to my duties on the City Council. I was re-elected in 2004 to serve through 2008. It was a great honor that the Chesapeake residents had appreciated my commitment of time, effort, preparation, and initiative.
During the 2005-2006 school year I taught third grade at G. A. Treakle School at the same time as serving as a council member. I had taught first grade way back in 1979 before attending Law School at The College of William and Mary. I had a desire to not only help at the policy level, but also to get back to touching children’s lives and the future of Chesapeake directly. During the last two years I have limited my teaching at the Title I Treakle Elementary to Thursday and Friday mornings until Spring, providing remediation for small groups of children. This arrangement has provided a good balance between using my legal skills as I participate in a busy council schedule and using my teaching skills to help children in need.