Jennifer Kiggans

Public notice

Re “Application for battery storage facility withdrawn” (A2, July 23): Public notice should mean a public hearing. Chesapeake has rightly emphasized transparency and greater public engagement in land-use decisions. But those goals are undermined when residents arrive prepared to speak at a public hearing, only to learn the applicant has asked to remove the item from the agenda.

In the recent battery energy storage case, residents spent weeks researching the proposal, consulting technical information and preparing testimony. Many residents identified questions about fire safety, emergency response, environmental impacts and zoning compatibility that they believed should have been more publicly addressed before any decision was made. Instead, the hearing was removed by City Council and residents’ voices never became part of the public record.

More troubling is that this is not an isolated concern. Too often, residents find themselves uncovering significant issues that many believe should have been identified and evaluated during the city’s review before an application reaches a public hearing such as this issue and others, including the 2025 Etheridge Lakes data center and the data center ordinance. When residents repeatedly feel they must fill those gaps, confidence in the review process suffers.

Chesapeake is considering changes to limit last-minute withdrawals. That’s a step in the right direction, but until those changes take effect, the City Council should protect the public’s investment of time by allowing scheduled public comment or continuing the hearing rather than removing it altogether. A public hearing should not exist solely for the benefit of the applicant. Residents deserve the opportunity to be heard.

James Gregorski, Chesapeake

Jen Kiggans

I can’t understand why anyone would vote against U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans. She is doing a phenomenal job representing us. She has consistently voted to support and upgrade Veterans Administration programs; raise pay for our military personnel; address the pressing need for building more ships to protect us; and has worked to create more jobs in Virginia. People should vote for the candidate and not the party. Kiggans is a winner. Vote to keep her in Congress.

Ron Lee, Virginia Beach

Trump’s impact

Last year, I started a new government job. Within two months, I was let go as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) firings. I’d heard about the mass firings, but I assumed I was safe, since firing a civilian employee has never been easy. Firings on this scale were unheard of until President Donald Trump made them a reality, with backing from enablers such as U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans.

Tariffs and rising inflation, both consequences of Trump’s economic policies that Kiggans has done nothing to stop, drove up my retail business’s costs and drove down consumer spending. Most of my products came from outside the U.S., and new tariffs pushed my costs up significantly. I closed my business at the end of 2025. Since then, two retailers in my neighborhood have shut their doors too, with a third closing this July. Small businesses are hurting, and that means our local economies are hurting, too.

I was also pregnant this past year. When I lost my job and my health insurance, my husband scrambled to get me onto his plan so I’d be covered for my OB-GYN appointments. Even with coverage, every appointment came with a copay, and our hospital bill for the birth came to five figures. With insurance, we still owed several thousand dollars.

Medical expenses are the second-leading cause of debt for Americans, and with ACA tax credits expired under the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” premiums have jumped so high many families won’t be able to afford them. No one should be penalized for getting sick. I feel betrayed by Kiggans, who should be looking out for families such as mine, not serving her party.

Lindsay Sims, Norfolk

Election letters

We will accept letters related to the Aug. 4 primary elections through 5 p.m. on Wednesday and publish them, space permitting, through Friday.