Meyera E. Oberndorf

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Meyera E. Oberndorf (born February 10, 1941) has been the mayor of Virginia Beach, Virginia, since 1988. She is Virginia Beach's longest serving Mayor, and she previously served as the city's vice mayor. She is the city's first female Mayor and was the first woman elected to public office in the more than 300-year history of Virginia Beach or its predecessor, Princess Anne County^[1]. She is also a breast cancer survivor.

Though she is Virginia Beach's first directly-elected Mayor, her role is primarily to serve as the chair during City Council meetings, of which she has been a member since 1976, and to officiate at a wide array of ceremonial functions. This is because Virginia Beach has a council-manager form of government.

In April 2007, Oberndorf came under fire by controversial Fox News Channel pundit, Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly criticized Oberndorf, claiming she mishandled a situation involving an illegal immigrant Alfredo Ramos accused of causing a fatal drunk driving accident on March 30, 2007. O'Reilly said that Virginia Beach should have deported the immigrant once they realized he was in the country illegally, since he had prior alcohol-related convictions, including DUI and public drunkenness. However, Virginia Beach didn't learn of the immigrant's status until after the accident.

Virginia Beach is the largest populated city in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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