No sizzle, f’shizzle
Sparks fly over shutdown of July 4 fireworks
This year, the home of Thomas Jefferson may have to celebrate the Declaration of Independence without the traditional pyrotechnics, but not due to lack of effort from local concerned citizens. When Ray Caddell heard that Charlottesville may not have a fireworks display on July 4, the real estate broker described in Century 21 ads as “The Hardworking Nice Guy” went ballistic.
“Every dinky town in America figures out how to have fireworks on July 4,” he says. “How can the City of Charlottesville talk about not having fireworks? It’s embarrassing.”
Last fall, the Charlottesville Downtown Foundation decided it could no longer afford to host the City’s traditional fireworks display in McIntire Park. The CDF lost more than $20,000 in July 2002, says board member Joe Teague, and the cash-strapped non-profit just couldn’t afford to take such a hit this year.
“Last year it stressed all our resources, both finances and manpower,” says Teague. In the past, the CDF has relied on local businesses to help pay for events like Fridays After 5 and fireworks through advertising and sponsorships. “Nobody’s spending money on promotion right now,” says Teague. “Groups like ours are having to regroup and retrench.”
In addition to abandoning the costly fireworks display, earlier this year the CDF announced that for the first time it would charge admission to its Fridays After 5 concert series on the Downtown Mall partly to fund other activities. CDF board members say that, for now, there are no more events on the chopping block.
Still, the fireworks news got a group of local businessmen “up in arms,” says lawyer Bill Tucker. He and Caddell, along with community activist Tom Powell and WINA executive Dann Miller, are calling on their friends in high places to contribute money and elbow grease to keep the rockets’ red glare. At press time, the group had raised about $12,000, and on Wednesday, May 21 at 10 am, the law firm Tucker, Griffen and Barnes will convene a meeting for anyone who wants to volunteer.
Whatever Band-Aid might ultimately be applied this year, the future of fireworks in Charlottesville is in doubt. There’s some disagreement about who is responsible for putting on such pubic events. Tucker and Caddell say the City and County governments should take up the responsibility, while City Manager Gary O’Connell, says the City isn’t “in the fireworks business.” Teague hopes a committee will form with the sole purpose of putting on Independence Day displays.
“It’s a tough project,” he says. “It would be great if a nucleus develops out of this. It needs to go to the next level.”––John Borgmeyer
Debt service
The water authority empties its pockets, crosses its fingers
Next year the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority will spend more than $22 million to update and expand the local water system. This summer, however, water officials will be keeping their eyes skyward and their fingers crossed.
The construction projects will expand the water supply and repair existing infrastructure, most of which is more than 50 years old and too dilapidated to meet current regulations, according to an RWSA report. Over the next 10 years, RWSA could spend as much as $80 million on capital projects. Funds will come from a combination of bank loans, rate increases and a $24.5 million bond from the Virginia Resources Authority, a State agency that finances local government projects. RWSA Executive Director Larry Tropea is bracing himself for the task of nursing a series of expensive, complex projects through a maze of government regulations and private contractors.
According to an April 28 report from the RWSA, the board of directors in the past has criticized Tropea’s staff for not providing them with timely, comprehensive information. The 2004 budget calls for hiring five new employees and eliminating two vacant positions.
“For an agency the size of Rivanna, managing $20 million projects will take a lot of work,” says City Manager Gary O’Connell, a RWSA director. “Things don’t just happen. You’ve got to stay on top of them. There are some issues about making sure things get done from here on out.”
Tropea says he’s confident his staff will meet the challenge.
At press time, it seemed likely that on May 19 the RWSA board would approve a plan to borrow $6 million from Bank of America to fund engineering and research on plans to expand the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir by raising the dam and dredging sediment from its bottom. Tropea says that project is “making steady and deliberate progress” through the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Among other things, the RWSA must present the DEQ with reports on the James River spineymussel––an invertebrate whose endangered status derailed plans for a new reservoir in the early ’90s––as well as the potential harm to wetlands and historic sites that could result from raising the reservoir level by four feet.
The $24.5 million VRA bond will be used mainly to pay for infrastructure improvements. The bond will have a “huge” impact on rates, according to an RWSA report, because it will increase the Authority’s total outstanding debt to $77.6 million from $52 million. The report says debt service will cost more than $7 million next year, accounting for 44 percent of the Authority’s 2004 budget.
All this borrowing will mean higher water and sewer rates. Currently, the Albemarle County Service Authority is negotiating with the City’s public works department on exactly how the two jurisdictions will divide that cost. ACSA director Bill Brent says new County residents likely will bear most of the cost through higher connection fees, but that doesn’t mean Charlottesville will be off the hook. At press time, it seemed certain that Council, on May 19, would increase water rates and fees to help the RWSA pay for new construction and service its debt.
A bigger South Fork reservoir remains years away, so water officials pray the rain doesn’t dry up this summer. Tropea says a wet winter and spring have filled reservoirs and recharged groundwater, therefore he doesn’t expect to see mandatory water restrictions this year. Also, consumption could be trending downward: average daily consumption in April was 9 million gallons, compared to 10.5 million gallons in April 2002. Early this month, however, daily consumption climbed to 9.8 million gallons.
“We’re starting out in good shape,” says Brent. “But we don’t know what’s going to happen. It might not rain again until September.”––John Borgmeyer
Father figure
Josh Stewart-Silver preaches real-life daddy daycare
Father’s Day might be weeks away, but it’s never too early to show some appreciation for dear ole dad. Josh Stewart-Silver knows that well. While he makes a living as a residential counselor at Region 10, his real job in life is being a father personally and professionally. A dad to five, he also directs the Charlottesville Fatherhood Initiative.
With the intuition that many men want to be good dads but lack knowledge and support, Stewart-Silver restarted the dormant Charlottesville Fatherhood Initiative two and a half years ago “to help other men find the rewards and values of being a father.” He educates fathers on how to do their jobs and raises public awareness of fatherhood’s many challenges. Numerous programs address the problems of women and mothers, but Stewart-Silver sees a lack of analogous programs for men.
The heart of the issue lies in learning how to act “as a protector of your family and still find the rewards and values in being a father,” he says. But lack of preparation and know-how can be an obstacle to many well-meaning fathers. To that end, the CFI runs a variety of programs. They range from fatherhood boot camp, in which veteran fathers give expectant dads some idea of what to expect from fatherhood and how to cope with everything from diapers to mommy’s hormonal changes, to the Good Dads Program, a comprehensive system to provide skills and support to unemployed or underemployed fathers so that they can contribute positively to their families.
In his own home Stewart-Silver feels that playing the role of dad has meant protecting his kids, ages 11 to 22, from the insidious threats posed by the modern American consumer culture. He claims that this system targets kids as young as 3 years old and “focuses on getting them hooked on media, products and things…trying to make them be a certain way.” As an alternative, the Stewart-Silver family entertain themselves the old fashioned way—by interacting with each other. The children are mostly restricted from mainstream vices like television and video games.
That “deprivation” has seemingly done his kids good. His three youngest children, who joined him for an interview, seemed remarkably well adjusted, thoughtful and happy. They seemed to get along very well with each other as well as with their parents. Close but not sappy, they all seemed to genuinely enjoy each other’s company.
Though Stewart-Silver has strong ideas on fatherhood and family life, he avoids being dogmatic. “Parenting takes all forms,” he says, and he places great importance on the conscious and careful consideration of what a parent should be. In the end, though, Stewart-Silver feels “the big thing about parenting is enjoying your kids.”—Josh Russcol