Norman “Rocky” Holcomb is a candidate for Virginia Beach City Council. His name will appear on the ballot on Nov. 8, 2022.
10 On Your Side reached out to all of the candidates running in this race. If you do not see a candidate listed with a profile, we did not receive one.
See who is on your ballot by viewing the candidate lists on the Virginia Department of Elections website.
Name: Norman “Rocky” Holcomb
Race: Virginia Beach City Council
Biography: N.D. “Rocky” Holcomb is our current Virginia Beach City Council representative. He is running to continue to serve you, your family and the city he loves.
Holcomb was born in Bluefield, Wv. to a Methodist minister and a home nurse. At birth, he had a collapsed lung and was placed on life support. His parents were told to gather the family and start the grieving process. He wasn’t improving, but he wasn’t getting worse so he was removed from life support.
His father said, “He had a rocky way to go” so from then on, he was known as Rocky Holcomb.
Holcomb has a fighting spirit and a servant’s heart.
He served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantryman (three years of active service and five years as an inactive reservist). He then joined the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, where today he serves as chief deputy. During his career at the VBSP, Holcomb has served as commander of the Emergency Response Team and championed efforts to improve mental health treatment for inmates, including by creating the Mental Health Housing Unit and a gardening therapy program, Operation Green Thumb.
Holcomb implemented the K9 unit and oversaw operations for the K9 program. As captain of the Classification Division, Holcomb was instrumental in the creation of the reentry and veterans programs. The Reentry Program is one of the most successful in Virginia.
Rocky earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership and management from Regent University and graduated from the West Point Leadership Course.
In 2017, he was elected to represent the 85th District in the Virginia House of Delegates, becoming the first ever full-time law enforcement officer to be elected to the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere. He successfully championed bills to improve mental health treatment for jail inmates (HB2184), arming school security officers (HB1392), and increasing access and insurance coverage of contraception (HB2267).
Holcomb was appointed by the Virginia Beach City Council on Aug. 12, 2021 to fill the unexpired term for the Kempsville District seat vacated by Council Member Jessica Abbott. Holcomb serves as the Virginia Beach City Council liaison to the Atlantic Park Community Development Authority, Clean Community Commission, Community Services Board, Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, and Urban Agriculture Advisory Committee.
Why should residents elect you to City Council?
I was honored to be appointed to serve after my friend Councilwoman Jessica Abbott left last year. I would like to continue to advocate for you, using my experience in the Virginia House of Delegates, as a councilmember, and in my career to move us forward.
As a councilmember, I helped pass a budget that fully funded a flood protection bond referendum without raising tax rates, implemented a new pay plan for first responders and most city employees that attracts and retains the very best, fully funded the schools’ budget with significant pay raises for teachers, and improved our commitment to the arts through the Vibe District, Museum of Contemporary Art, and the African American Culture Center.
I was honored to be appointed to serve after my friend Councilwoman Jessica Abbott left Council last year, and I would like to continue to advocate for you, using my experience in the House of Delegates, a Councilmember and in my career to move us forward.
I served in the Marine Corps and joined the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office where I serve today with men and women who help keep Virginia Beach safe.
What are the top three priorities you would tackle if elected?
- Low taxes and fees: With inflation high and consumer sentiment at an all-time low, we need to be focused on keeping Virginia Beach affordable and resist additional taxes and fees.
- More jobs and better salaries: With cost of living rising, we all know more high-paying jobs are needed. I support economic development focused on attracting new and growing companies to Virginia Beach. I voted to bring high-speed internet and broadband cables onshore to Virginia Beach and to fund infrastructure improvements for traffic relief, flood mitigation, and economic progress.
- Safe neighborhoods: As an experience law enforcement officer, I know the value of keeping our neighborhoods safe. Virginia Beach is again the safest city of our size in America, thanks to our great police chief and our heroes on patrol. We’ve funded new technologies to help law enforcement respond quickly and took action to recruit and retain the best.
What is the most pressing economic issue facing your community, and how would you address it?
Our top priorities are the interconnectivity of economic growth and public safety. One will never fully exist without the success of the other. Virginia Beach cannot rest until all of the city shares in job growth, economic development, and safe neighborhoods. Our most recent budget implemented a long sought after improved pay plan for public safety and city employees, as well as significant investments in economic development to foster job growth for Virginia Beach residents.
What are you community’s biggest infrastructure needs, and how do you plan to fulfill them?
Addressing flooding is our biggest need. We know that the overall cost of flood mitigation is much higher than what is funded in the bond referendum. The bond covers $567 million in projects, but the projected total cost of flood mitigation is well over $3 billion. The bond referendum was a game change and accelerates a great deal of planned projects. Priority number one is to make sure the bond money is spent efficiently, and then prepare for the next steps to mitigate recurring flooding.
How is gun violence impacting your community, and how do you plan to address gun violence?
We have an excellent police force and a top-notch police chief who have continued Virginia Beach’s record as the safest city our size in America. Cities across America are seeing increases in people solving disputes with firearms, and many of these guns are illegally owned. The chief has made tremendous strides in getting these guns off the streets, and our prosecutors are putting those who commit fun violence behind bars and out of Virginia Beach neighborhoods. We have also worked with our surrounding cities on a regional level to share information and best practices because gun violence knows no city border. I was proud to support pay increases for public safety professionals to retain and attract the best.