Leah Puryear appointed to City Council
Leah Puryear is Charlottesville’s newest city councilor.
Council unanimously selected Puryear to fill former councilor Sena Magill’s seat during a February 23 meeting. After Puryear was sworn in by the city clerk, Mayor Lloyd Snook stepped down from the dais and shook her hand, congratulating her on the new job.
“I had some very tough competition,” said Puryear. “I am willing to do the work and roll up my sleeves and get started.”
For over 40 years, Puryear—who holds a master’s degree in adult education from the University of the District of Columbia—has directed the University of Virginia’s Upward Bound program, which assists first-generation college students. She sat on the Charlottesville School Board for 16 years, in addition to serving on boards for local nonprofits. In 2021, she received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Award.
Puryear was selected from a pool of 20 candidates for the council seat. Earlier this month, the four councilors trimmed the list to six finalists: former IX Art Park Foundation director Alex Bryant, wedding sales manager Natalie Oschrin, city school board member Lisa Larson-Torres, former councilors Kathy Galvin and Kristin Szakos, and Puryear. During a February 6 City Council meeting, the finalists shared their priorities for the city. Council members then individually interviewed each of them, and selected Puryear during an hour-long closed session last Tuesday.
“It was very difficult,” said Councilor Juandiego Wade, who worked with Puryear on the city school board. “We were there literally to the last minute because everyone had such positive attributes.”
“There are a lot of folks on this list of applicants that I really hope we will see at … other opportunities,” added Snook.
Puryear’s term began February 27 and will end December 31. She has not said whether or not she plans to run for re-election in the fall.
Former UVA basketball coach Terry Holland dies
Terry Holland, who elevated UVA men’s basketball to national prominence during his 16 seasons as head coach, died February 26 after battling Alzheimer’s disease. He was 80 years old.
Holland was the UVA men’s basketball head coach from 1974 to 1990, and led the once-struggling team to its first ACC tournament title in 1976. His team played in nine NCAA tournaments and two Final Fours, and, after the coach recruited future Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson in 1979, won the 1980 NIT title.
During his UVA coaching career, Holland compiled a 326-173 record, which was not broken until this year by current head coach Tony Bennett.
After retiring from coaching, Holland became the athletic director at his alma mater, Davidson College. He then served as UVA’s athletic director from 1994 to 2001, and at East Carolina University from 2004 to 2012.
Holland is survived by his wife, Ann, daughters Ann-Michael Holland and Kate Baynard, and three grandchildren.
In brief
Men murdered
On February 21, Albemarle County police responded to a shots fired report at Timberland Park Apartments at around 9:42pm. Officers found Joshua Lamont Jones of Charlottesville with gunshot wounds. Jones, 34, was taken to the hospital, and was later pronounced dead. Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Detective Andrew Holmes at 296-5807. A day later, Charlottesville police responded to a call at the 900 block of Page Street at around 3:41pm, and discovered Nicklous Pendleton of Gordonsville in a car suffering from a gunshot wound. Pendleton, 20, died at the hospital. Officers later determined the shooting occurred in the 800 block of Hardy Drive. Anyone with information should contact Detective Raine at 970-3266.
Drop outs
Former Charlottesville mayor David Brown has dropped out of Virginia’s District 54 House race, and longtime 58th House District Republican Rob Bell announced that he is not running for reelection. Self-described “social entrepreneur” Jerry Miller, who announced he was running for the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors in 2021, also deactivated his campaign website last week, reports The Daily Progress. Miller never filed paperwork to run.
SPCA cited
A February 14 Department of Agriculture inspection found that certain Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA records “did not include all of the required elements,” among other violations, reports the Progress. Since January, more than 100 current and former staff and volunteers have made allegations of internal dysfunction and animal abuse at the shelter—however, the inspection did not mention evidence of these claims.