Cletorious Rose has been incarcerated at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail for more than a year and claims staff have mistreated her, but ACRJ Superintendent Martin Kumer says Rose’s complaints reflect “a history of abusing the grievance process.” Supplied photo.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, people incarcerated at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail have called attention to poor COVID containment procedures and unhygienic living conditions at the nearly 50-year-old facility—conditions that reportedly have been significantly worsened by employee negligence and misconduct. Today, staff continue to mistreat the jail’s population, claims Cletorious Rose.
“The officers antagonize and pick on you. They put their hands on you,” says Rose, who has been incarcerated at ACRJ for a year and a half. “It’s wrong, it’s brutal, and it’s inhumane.”
Rose, who is Black, accuses ACRJ of upholding a system of racism and discrimination. She claims white women incarcerated at the jail have falsely accused her of misconduct, and requested keep-away orders against her, requiring her to be housed in a separate area from them. Though she did not commit these offenses, she claims, staff have placed her in solitary confinement multiple times “for weeks and weeks, and months and months.”
“If I tell girls I don’t want to talk to them [or] play cards with them, they’ll get mad and tell [officers], ‘Oh well. Rose did this and that,’ and then they’ll lock me down,” says the 38-year-old mother of two.
Rose admits she has assaulted two other incarcerated women, landing her stints in solitary confinement. “I hit one because she kept saying [the n-word] … and then I had to defend myself from another girl [who] kept provoking me,” she says. However, she has been sent to solitary confinement eight times based on false accusations, she claims.
Rose will soon be sent to the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women. On April 25, she was sentenced to four years in prison (with three years suspended) for credit card theft, 10 years (with six years suspended) for robbery, and six years (with four years suspended) for entering a dwelling with intent to commit murder, rape, robbery, or arson. Once at FCCW, Rose says she’ll hire a lawyer and take legal action against ACRJ.
When asked about the misconduct accusations against Rose, ACRJ Superintendent Martin Kumer declined to share her institutional record, citing concerns for her privacy. Rose also declined to have her record shared publicly, claiming it is full of “lies.” However, Kumer defended ACRJ’s decisions regarding Rose’s programming and housing.
“Ms. Rose has a history of claiming racism when [staff] do not tolerate her disruptive behavior,” Kumer told C-VILLE in an email. “She would often complain that her case manager, who was also African American, was a racist.”
Regarding ACRJ’s solitary confinement policy, Kumer explained that the jail places people in segregation “for their own safety or that of other inmates or staff.” As of May 13, 23 incarcerated people—21 men and two women—are in solitary confinement. Six additional men are in medical segregation.
“Their duration in segregation depends primarily on their behavior,” he told C-VILLE. “Inmates are reviewed every two weeks, or more often if necessary, by a panel made up of security staff, case managers, mental, and medical professionals.”
According to Kumer, incarcerated people are issued keep-away orders for threatening, assaulting, or making unwanted sexual advances toward another person, among other offenses. “Some inmates acquire so many keep-aways that they have exhausted all general population housing and program options,” he said.
Amy Bower, who has been incarcerated at ACRJ for about a month, echoes Rose’s accusations of mistreatment at the hands of jail staff. She claims one female guard consistently targets and harasses her.
“I asked her for razors one night and she never brought them, and she’s been all on me ever since then because I got her in trouble,” says Bower, who is in Rose’s cell block. “It’s like the second she comes in the door, she’s all over me over clothes, something hanging up on my wall.”
Kumer claims he has not received any complaints about the officer from Bower.
Last month, Rose filed two grievances against another officer who she claims “uses her job to bully and threaten people. … She’s assaulted two inmates and walks around bragging about it.” However, on May 2, Rose requested the jail drop the grievances she filed against the officer. “I apologize to her,” Rose wrote in the request. “I was wrong on my part [and] I have no issues with her at all. Thanks.”
“Ms. Rose has a history of abusing the grievance process to intimidate and manipulate staff when she does not get her way,” said Kumer in a statement to C-VILLE.
Rose claims she is not alone in enduring racism at ACRJ. In each women’s housing block, “you may find one Black person. … They make sure [there] will be more white people in the block, and then they get together and gang up on the Black person.”
“It’s a lot of hearts in here that are crying out for help,” adds Rose.
The jail’s staff is made up of 67 men and 67 women, according to the superintendent. Around 66 percent of staff members are white, while around 26 percent are Black and 8 percent are another race. “We have staff who represent all races, genders, and sexual orientations, and racism is not tolerated,” Kumer responded to Rose’s accusations.
Rose’s mother, who asked that we not use her name, says she has complained to the jail administration about her daughter’s treatment and urged them to check on her, citing Rose’s medical conditions—but has yet to see any improvements.
“She’s called me so many times crying, saying she’s sick … and [they] are not giving her her meds,” says her mother. “She said she’ll be real cold, and that they have her down in the old part of the jail [where] bugs are crawling around.”
Rose is currently housed in a cell block with Bower and another woman she gets along with, and has not been placed in solitary confinement for over a month due to her good behavior—but continues to face harassment from jail staff, she claims.
“I have made many mistakes,” says Rose. “‘[But] l’ll be damned if I’m treated like a slave, like I ain’t nothing, when I’m just like them.”
Leah Puryear says she won’t run in December for a permanent seat on City Council, but adds that she’s “honored and thrilled” to have been appointed to fill the spot that Sena Magill vacated earlier this year. Photo by Eze Amos.
For Leah Puryear, the past month has been a whirlwind. After former Charlottesville city councilor Sena Magill abruptly resigned on January 3, citing family needs, Puryear—along with 19 other candidates—applied for the job. On February 21, council unanimously selected Puryear, a former Charlottesville School Board member, to fill the vacant seat. Since then, she has been learning the ins and outs of city government—and catching up on the array of responsibilities she now has on council.
“I have always admired [Magill’s] work, and was sorry that she left, but understand that often we make decisions because of our families,” says Puryear. “I felt that the work she had done [and] that City Council was embarking on and needed to do, that I could play a role in helping them move that ball forward.”
The new councilor will finish Magill’s term—but will not be seeking another term. Former Charlottesville city councilor Bob Fenwick, wedding sales manager Natalie Oschrin, and city social services assistant Dashad Cooper have filed to run for the Democratic nomination for council. Mayor Lloyd Snook and Councilor Michael Payne are running for re-election.
“I have decided I do not wish to run for the permanent seat,” Puryear explains. “I’m just honored and thrilled that I was selected [for the job]. … I feel confident that the persons who will be elected will be able to continue the work that City Council has been charged to do.”
In 1980, Puryear moved from Washington, D.C., to Charlottesville to join the University of Virginia’s Upward Bound program (now known as Uplift @ UVA), which helps university-bound high school students from central Virginia develop the skills required to graduate from college. Working with these first-generation students and their families inspired Puryear—who directed Upward Bound for nearly 40 years—to run for the Charlottesville School Board in 2006.
“The students in that program are 150 percent of poverty. … [They are] very bright, articulate, and intelligent—but because of their zip codes, socioeconomic backgrounds, or ethnicities, a lot of people don’t feel that they have value, or able to achieve things,” says Puryear, who sat on the school board for 16 years. “I didn’t believe that, [and] felt that [the students] needed to have an advocate.”
Throughout her decades in local government and education, Puryear has performed many of the duties she now has on council, from managing multi-million dollar budgets to developing strategic plans, which has made acclimating to her new job easier. She is also grateful for her fellow councilors and city employees, who have been “extremely patient” and supportive, and have answered her many questions since taking office.
Education and workforce development are among Puryear’s top priorities.
“We want people to be able to live in our city, [and] afford to live [here]. What do we need to do to make sure that those things happen?” she asks. “The people who live in our city deserve an opportunity to be educated, whether it’s through workforce development [or] our public schools, [so] that they can become independent individuals and productive members of Charlottesville.”
The new councilor is also concerned about the health and wellness of Charlottesville’s residents—and of the city’s government. “Do we have services to help support [residents’ health care needs]? … Do we have the funds to make sure that we are solvent [and] our departments are still able to do what they need to do?” she asks.
Since the fall, gun violence has spiked in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, sparking community concern and outrage. The city has seen six gun-related homicides this year—the highest number since 2017. Puryear applauds new Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis’ recent efforts to prevent and stop shootings, including engaging and building relationships with community members. Since starting the job, he has held weekly walk-and-talks in different neighborhoods, knocking on doors and speaking with residents about their concerns. And in February, he hosted a community forum on gun violence, which more than 150 people attended.
The community and police must work together to examine and address the root causes of gun violence, and propose and implement effective solutions, Puryear stresses.
“Gun violence has become overwhelming,” she says. “Police and fire have taken these jobs to protect. But what do we need to do to protect? Do we need additional mental health [professionals] to go along with the police? Do we need to have discussions like Chief Kochis is doing?”
A mental health crisis response team will eventually come to Charlottesville, thanks to Virginia’s Marcus-David Peters Act, named in honor of a 24-year-old Black high school teacher who was killed by a Richmond police officer during a severe mental health crisis in 2018.
Passed in 2020, the law initially required localities to create a 988 number for mental health crises, and to develop protocols by July 2022 for when behavioral health experts, instead of law enforcement, will respond to crises related to mental health, substance use, and developmental disabilities. But last year, the Republican-majority General Assembly passed a bill allowing localities with populations of less than 40,000 to opt out of the system, and giving those with more than 40,000 residents until July 1, 2028, to implement the system.
In 2020, the city’s Marcus Alert work group began exploring how to develop the new system, and last year the city allocated funds for it. While it remains unclear when it will be implemented in Charlottesville, Puryear vows to support the critical reform.
“I think when people use the phrase of ‘defunding the police,’ I don’t think it’s defunding the police so that there’s no police department—[but] looking at how the funds may be reallocated to take care of all of the issues that could potentially be involved [in cases],” she says. “Or putting more money into that department for those particular issues, like mental health or emergency medical services … so that it’s not the responsibility of someone who doesn’t have a particular training.”
Regarding Charlottesville’s ongoing rezoning process, Puryear stresses the importance of listening to—and implementing—community feedback. The draft zoning ordinance proposes increasing housing density across the city, aiming to significantly increase affordable housing development and supply.
“[We need to] make certain that the citizens in Charlottesville—regardless of their zip code— understand [rezoning] and the implications of that, but also hear what they have to say,” says Puryear, “[and] whatever their feelings are, assure them that they are being heard.”
“We don’t want people to feel that, because you live in low-income or subsidized housing, that you’re being discounted,” she adds. “Or that because your home is valued at $100,000, it’s not as important as someone’s home that’s valued at $1 million. Both of those homes have value.”
Due in part to a lack of affordable housing, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the Charlottesville area has been rising, reports Charlottesville Tomorrow. This winter, the demand for overnight shelter beds was nearly double the amount of beds available, according to local shelters. To address and prevent homelessness, the city must tackle its root causes, and “not just put a Band-Aid on it,” says Puryear.
In January, Charlottesville formally adopted its Climate Action Plan, which aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030—and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. To slash the city’s emissions, Puryear supports planting more trees, electrifying the city’s buses and vehicles, and educating residents on how they can reduce their carbon footprint, among other measures.
“To a lot of people, [the climate action plan] may seem like a lofty goal,” says Puryear, “but if we follow the steps, it can be achievable.”
As for the city’s schools, Puryear is hopeful that recent pay raises will help solve the bus driver shortage. She is also “excited” about school reconfiguration, which will move fifth grade from Walker Upper Elementary—currently home to fifth and sixth grades—back down to elementary schools, and sixth grade up to Buford Middle School. For the first part of the massive project, the city is slated to spend $71.4 million to renovate Buford Middle School. “We are very hopeful that everything will come to fruition,” says Puryear.
Under interim city manager Michael Rogers’ leadership, Puryear is optimistic the city will solve its staffing shortage, and leadership turnover. And she hopes to help keep the city on the right path, and maintain “direction and stability.”
“I hope that at the end of December,” she says, “I am able to say that I did a good job.”
University of Virginia students Aleyna Buyukaksakal and Deniz Olgun lobbied Congress for earthquake relief for Turkey. Photo by Eze Amos.
On February 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake the same day—and more than 10,000 aftershocks in the weeks that followed. The devastating quakes killed more than 50,000 people, and left millions homeless.
After helping the University of Virginia’s Turkish Student Association fundraise several thousand dollars for emergency relief, Turkish American students Aleyna Buyukaksakal and Deniz Olgun wanted to do more for the millions of victims. Thinking of the numerous ways the United States could help Turkey recover—both in the short and long term—from the disaster, the classmates decided to lobby Congress for aid.
In the weeks following the earthquakes, the students reached out to several UVA administrators and professors about lobbying, including Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato. Sabato connected the students with the center’s staff, which assisted them in crafting a proposal to present to members of Congress. Meanwhile, Olgun called all of Virginia’s congressional offices, requesting meetings with representatives and senators. Staffers from the offices of Representatives Abigail Spanberger, Morgan Griffith, and Jennifer Wexton, and Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, agreed to meet with the students in Washington, D.C. (None of the Congress members could meet with them personally.)
“There was a congressional staffer [at the center] who was able to give us insight on what we should put into our proposal,” explains Buyukaksakal, a second-year English and neuroscience major. “Deniz and I both did a lot of research.”
On February 28, March 1, and March 2, Buyukaksakal and Olgun met with the staffers, discussing both the humanitarian and fiscal needs in Turkey. In addition to pushing for stronger search and rescue measures, additional rehousing funding, and other humanitarian aid, the pair stressed the need for long-term financial relief. As of March, the U.S. has provided $185 million in aid to Turkey and Syria—however, rebuilding and restoring Turkey’s impacted areas will cost an estimated $80 billion.
“The economic impact of this is so big,” explains Olgun, a second-year neuroscience and computer science major. “All of these people are out of work. … And it’s very expensive to not only put up new buildings [but also] inspect all of the ones that are still standing, to ensure people can return safely.”
“[We proposed giving], in three- to four-year slow-diffuse payments, money to restore buildings, cultural sites, schools, hospitals,” adds Buyukaksakal. “Things that would need rebuilding in the future but aren’t necessarily a part of the emergency funding.”
Sending relief over the years can also help Turkey—one of the most seismically active countries—implement preventative measures, such as building more disaster management centers. The country currently has only 23 centers, each housing up to 270,000 people.
The legislative correspondents and assistants largely reacted positively to the proposal, especially the calls for long-term relief, according to the students. “We did get a couple of comments about congressmen wanting to advocate for this cause,” says Buyukaksakal. However, “we were told mostly that a lot of things couldn’t necessarily be brought up in conversation until [President Biden released his 2024 federal budget] on March 9.”
Biden’s $6.8 trillion budget includes a request for $70.5 billion in discretionary funding for USAID, state department, and other international programs, and for $100 million in Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance funding, which has been used to assist earthquake victims—but the budget does not specifically mention relief for Turkey and Syria.
When asked about Congress’ plans for additional earthquake relief, Legislative Assistant Jooeun Kim said one of Wexton’s “priorities for FY23 [state, foreign operations, and related programs] appropriations is supporting the funding level of $4.7 billion for USAID’s International Disaster Account.”
In a statement to C-VILLE, Kaine expressed general support for assisting earthquake victims. “My heart is heavy for the countless families that have been impacted … and I’m grateful for the Turkish American students at [UVA] who reached out to my team to discuss this important topic,” he said. “The perspectives they shared … underscore why it’s critically important that the United States provides robust emergency aid to Turkey during this difficult time.”
Staffers from Spanberger, Griffith, and Warner’s offices did not respond for comment before press time.
The death and devastation inflicted by the earthquakes hit close to home for both students. While their family members in Turkey were not directly affected by the disaster, many friends of Olgun’s family were displaced. Buyukaksakal also knows many Turkish American people in her hometown whose families’ homes were destroyed.
“It’s just a feeling of a grand devastation in a country that we both really love that’s made this a really important cause,” says Buyukaksakal.
The students plan to continuously follow up with the staffers they met with, and hope Congress will take steps to provide additional earthquake relief soon.
“If we are able to just move the scales a little bit, even if it’s hard to … say we’re responsible for X amount of funding,” says Olgun, “that is a nice way to have an impact.”
CASPCA volunteer Sarah Lloyd was recently dismissed via an emailed letter from a Richmond lawyer. Lloyd, an experienced dog walker, denies violating any of the animal shelter’s guidelines. Supplied photo.
Since hiring law firm McGuireWoods to investigate allegations of severe internal dysfunction and animal mistreatment made by more than 100 current and former staff and volunteers in January, the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA has fired two volunteers who voiced concerns about the shelter’s practices and leadership.
When experienced dog walker Louise Finger showed up at the shelter for her shift on February 21, Volunteer Manager Krystyn Dotson and another employee stopped her at the entrance, she says.
“It’s been determined that you’re not permitted to volunteer with us any longer,” one of the employees told Finger, according to an audio recording of the confrontation. When Finger, who volunteered at the SPCA for several decades, asked why, they refused to answer.
Finger’s dismissal came after she expressed concerns to Dotson, according to emails shared with C-VILLE. On February 14, Dotson sent an email to volunteers instructing them to walk all dogs by 6pm for safety reasons. The following day, Finger urged Dotson to allow extra walking time—the shelter, which typically houses 55 to 60 dogs, does not have enough volunteers to safely walk all dogs by 6pm, she said.
In response, Dotson asked Finger on February 18 if she could shadow a new walker during her shift the following day, which Finger declined to do. “With only 3 EDWs signed up, it is not a good time for me to shadow,” wrote Finger, who is among the many former and current staff and volunteers who have penned letters to the shelter’s board of directors sharing concerns.
While the SPCA may fire volunteers “at any time with or without cause or notice,” those who violate guidelines are supposed to be issued verbal and written warnings before being dismissed, per the organization’s volunteer liability waiver.
When asked why Finger was fired, board president Jenn Corbey declined to offer an explanation. “It is inappropriate for CASPCA to discuss specific volunteers or their actions,” she said in an email to C-VILLE.
After Finger’s dismissal, experienced dog walker Sarah Lloyd became worried that more volunteers could be fired for speaking out—she had attended a February 11 protest calling for new shelter leadership. “I was super careful not to break any rules,” she says. However, on March 17, Lloyd received an emailed letter from Richmond-based lawyer Buckley Warden notifying her that she had been dismissed for “repeatedly” violating guidelines, including disclosing donor information and recording employees without their permission.
“I didn’t do any of those,” says Lloyd, who volunteered at the shelter for almost four years.
Regarding the CASPCA’s decision to hire Warden to dismiss Lloyd, “we are a small organization and from time to time rely on external expertise to help us operate,” said Corbey.
In protest against the controversial dismissals, experienced dog walkers Keith Sohr, Emily Sohr, Melinda Clark, and Laura Efford resigned on March 22. Other volunteers have decreased their hours, and are afraid to express concerns, says volunteer Beth Gould.
“[Resigning] was our only power to make our voices heard,” says Emily Sohr, who volunteered at the shelter for 16 years. “Animal welfare does not appear to be the priority.”
Multiple volunteers have also raised concerns about the shelter’s high turnover and vacancies—because there is no behavior manager or dog enrichment specialist on staff, five to 10 dogs with behavioral issues are being warehoused “in a very stressful environment,” according to a volunteer who wishes to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. Additionally, volunteers accuse leadership of retaliating against volunteers by removing their access to challenging animals, among other measures.
Corbey denied accusations of animal mistreatment, citing a February state inspection that mentioned no evidence of animal cruelty or neglect. Regarding concerns about management, ‘‘McGuireWoods has received all correspondence directed to the CASPCA relevant to their review from former employees, volunteers, and members of the community,” she said.
“We hope to have the results of that review soon,” Corbey continued, “and will take appropriate action based on the findings.”
New Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis has increased the department’s patrols in shooting hotspots in response to recent homicides. Photo by Eze Amos.
Less than 24 hours before Albemarle police shot and killed Billy Sites on February 28 near the Red Roof Inn, Michael Kochis, Charlottesville’s new police chief, held a community forum at Old Trinity Church in response to recent area homicides. Five days later, Justice Kilel was shopping at Sunshine Supermarket on Cherry Avenue when two individuals walked in and assaulted him.
Two people fired shots, and first responders pronounced Kilel, 20, dead at the scene. Police charged a 17-year-old unnamed juvenile, who had been taken to the hospital for a gunshot wound, with second-degree murder and 19-year-old Nasier McGhee with malicious wounding in connection with the Gordonsville man’s death. Investigators believe the homicide was “part of an ongoing dispute between the suspects and victim,” according to the Charlottesville Police Department.
Kilel’s slaying marks the fifth gun-related homicide in Charlottesville this year—three more than last year at this time. Between January 28 and February 27, the CPD received an average of one shots fired call per day—“sometimes we find something, sometimes we don’t,” said Kochis. The calls are “typically teenagers” involved in “neighborhood beefs” and “simple conflicts,” who are using guns “coming from all over the place,” whether they are stolen from cars and left unlocked in peoples’ homes.
The majority of the recent homicides “involved people who knew each other or were acquainted in some way with each other,” explained the chief. On January 8, Osvaldo Lopez-Hernandez of Texas was shot and killed in the Fitzgerald’s Tire Co. parking lot. A second unnamed victim, an associate of Lopez-Hernandez, was injured in the shooting. Police charged Jose Omar Rivas Sorto of Maryland and the second victim in connection with the crime. On February 22, 20-year-old Nicklous Pendleton of Gordonsville was struck by gunfire on Hardy Drive before he got into a car and crashed on Page Street. He died at the hospital, and his murder remains unsolved. Just six days later, 36-year-old Eldridge Vandrew Smith, a member of the B.U.C.K. Squad, was found inside a parked SUV on Grove Street. He had been shot multiple times, and was pronounced dead at the scene. On February 3, the CPD arrested Tadashi Demetrius Keys of Charlottesville in connection with the murder.
Police are responsible for the city’s February 28 homicide, which occurred when an Albemarle Police Department detective tried to approach 44-year-old Sites, a wanted man with a criminal record, in Charlottesville. Sites, a county resident, fled on foot to a wooded area on Emmet Street near the 250 bypass and fired several rounds. After police issued a shelter in place order and established a perimeter, Sites fled the woods toward the Red Roof Inn parking lot, where police confronted him. Police claim they tried unsuccessfully to use less lethal force, and shot Sites after he pointed a firearm at the officers. Sites died of his injuries at the hospital. (An eyewitness told The Daily Progress that he did not see Sites point a gun at police, and “kept putting a gun to his head.” Sites’ fiancée, Christina Martinez, and his father, Cecil Sites, were at the scene, and also claimed Sites, who had mental health issues, only pointed a gun at himself, not the officers.)
During the community forum, Kochis, who was appointed on January 16, told the crowd of about 150 that the CPD currently has a 30 percent vacancy rate. While he is working to boost the department’s recruitment efforts and improve retention rates, “I just don’t have the luxury of having a police officer on every block,” he said.
Still, Kochis has implemented new measures in an effort to stop and prevent shootings, including increasing officer patrols in three “hotspot” areas where the majority of recent shootings have occurred: the Corner, 10th & Page, and neighborhoods near 10th & Page. He has also assigned a full-time detective to the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, which investigates where guns are coming from and the root causes of shootings. And he plans to assign a sergeant as a community involvement coordinator, and create a citizens police academy.
Building relationships and trust between the police and community is among the chief’s top priorities. Since starting the job, he has held weekly walk-and-talks in different neighborhoods, knocking on doors and speaking with residents about their concerns.
In an interview with C-VILLE, Kochis, who led the Warrenton Police Department for three years before coming to Charlottesville, further stressed the importance of strong community-police relationships.
“We are literally building this from the ground up,” he said. “For the past four to five years, the police department has really had a wall up with the community. Just basic community events [to] involve the community with the police … those have been nonexistent.” (In 2019, the Charlottesville Police Foundation hosted C’ville Night Out.)
During the neighborhood walk-and-talks, the chief has heard from residents that “they want us in their communities. … They want to get to know us, and for us to know them,” he said. “The fact that someone feels comfortable enough to pull out a gun in broad daylight and shoot another individual—that will tell you that people have become used to not seeing the police.”
In November, Kochis, who also served as a commander in the Alexandria Police Department for 15 years, was named as a finalist for the city’s police chief position, along with then-interim CPD chief captain Latroy “Tito” Durrette and Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Commander Easton McDonald. The following month, interim City Manager Michael Rogers announced that he had chosen Kochis after a months-long community engagement, recruitment, and selection process led by POLIHIRE. City Council unanimously voted in favor of the appointment.
Rogers said he spoke with several community organizations regarding Kochis’ track record—including Warrenton’s Black Lives Matter chapter, a Baptist church, and the local NAACP—and received “glowing reports.” Mayor Lloyd Snook praised Kochis’ ability to bring stability to the CPD—before Kochis took over the WPD in 2020, the town had three chiefs in 18 months. As chief, Kochis filled every vacancy, recruited more women officers, and implemented a program allowing people to anonymously rate officers.
Strong community relationships helped Kochis reduce gun violence in Warrenton. After several shootings occurred within just two weeks in the town, the WPD worked with its community action team—which included the local NAACP and faith leaders—“to address those issues, and were very successful in doing so,” he told C-VILLE.
B.U.C.K. Squad Executive Director Herb Dickerson says that some beefs start on social media. Photo by John Robinson.
But he stressed that he does not intend to overpolice communities in Charlottesville. “It’s not just a simple answer as going out there and arresting everybody. …There are people who [are] terrorizing these communities who are going to be dealt with … but we are also not going to make the community feel like they are under siege.”
As for what’s fueling this spike in shootings and killings, the chief pointed to cracks in social support systems, like mental health care.
“When these systems typically fail, there’s only one system left—and unfortunately, that’s the criminal justice system,” he said. “We’re not always best suited to deal with some of these root causes of gun violence.”
Poverty—only worsened by the pandemic—is also a major driver of the increase in gun violence, according to Robert Gray of the Uhuru Foundation, which runs diversion and re-entry programs for youth.
“You’re dealing with people who are just in a dire state of poverty,” Gray told C-VILLE. “The city as a whole has a lot of work to do around systemic barriers.”
Social media plays a role in beefs too, according to Herb Dickerson, executive director of the B.U.C.K. Squad.
“Facebook, Instagram, Twitter [have] created the internet gangsta. … As soon as someone comes to confront you about it, that’s how it all begins,” said Dickerson, who is currently working to secure funding for the squad to increase its community presence. “We done talked about each other and threatened each other so much … by the time I see you, all I have left to do is shoot.”
To prevent shootings, Daniel Fairley, Charlottesville’s youth opportunity coordinator who is focused on Black male achievement, stresses the importance of giving at-risk youth hope and opportunity “so they don’t find themselves viewing the world as, ‘We don’t know if we’re going to be here next … I’ll find a way to survive,’” he said. “And that may come with picking up a gun and trying to defend [themselves].”
When asked about City Council’s plans to address gun violence, Councilor Brian Pinkston voiced support for paying police a “competitive wage,” and funding mental health initiatives, affordable housing, and other social programs. Councilor Juandiego Wade, who was Eldridge Smith’s former mentor, lamented the “availability of guns” in the country, and called for more opportunities for young people. “To the extent that these cases are personal beefs, groups like the B.U.C.K. Squad can be helpful,” said Mayor Lloyd Snook in an email.
Councilor Michael Payne pointed out that while overall crime has decreased nationwide, shootings and murders are particularly on the rise. “Defining the problem is critical. It’s vital that we don’t get the false idea that rolling back criminal justice reform and returning to failed mass incarceration policies will work,” he said in an email.
“All that said, the recent rise in shootings and the death and fear it’s created in neighborhoods is all too real,” continued Payne. “Charlottesville has to invest in carefully considered, data-driven solutions,” including youth jobs and internships, mentorship programs, improved street lighting, and intentional community policing.
During last week’s community forum, attendees also pushed for more opportunities for youth in the area.
“There’s really nothing for us to do here. That’s why our peers are involved in so much stuff in the streets,” said Charlottesville High School student Zeniah Bryant. “They don’t feel welcome in school so when they come that’s why they do what they do and then they get suspended. And then they get pushed out of school and into the streets, and fall into these cycles.”
“We’re counting on you to do something for us,” she said, motioning to the crowd. “Because it’s a cry for help.”
A 10th and Page resident asked the chief to appoint citizen captains in the city’s neighborhoods, and hold regular meetings with them. City of Promise Executive Director Mary Coleman encouraged Kochis to create an academy “where the police come for 12 weeks and listen to the citizens” to help mitigate unconscious bias.
Another attendee pushed the chief to call on politicians and advocate for the community’s basic needs, like social safety programs. “That’s what addresses crime. … Cops don’t keep us safe. We keep us safe as a community,” she said.
Dorenda Johnson specifically called on the Black community to take action.
“We have young children, young men, young teenagers with guns, and they can’t even spell,” said Johnson. “My Black brothers and sisters here—we need to depend on each other.”
In addition to suggesting solutions, multiple people questioned the chief’s new measures, and criticized the fractured relationship between the police and the community.
Civil rights lawyer Jeff Fogel pushed back against the hotspot patrols, and urged Kochis to fix the racial disparities in the city’s arrest rates. “[The patrols are] not going to be successful at stopping crime. … And I hope you didn’t mean when you said you’d like to see a cop on every corner. We don’t want a cop on every corner.”
Kochis agreed that police cannot stop crime on their own, pointing to the failed mental health, education, and substance abuse treatment systems. “We need to prop up those other systems and work with them so we don’t have to do their job.”
Regarding the patrols, “how are you going to evaluate when to stop the pressure?” asked activist Harold Folley. “Because what happens when you don’t? You’re going to be harassing a lot of Black and brown kids for nothing?”
Kochis urged residents to report any officer who harasses them. “Being in communities engaging with residents … that shouldn’t look like harassing.”
Gloria Beard claimed many officers are “mean” and “don’t even speak” to residents. “There’s police on the force that the community has complained about for years that are still on the force,” said Katrina Turner.
“It’s no trust in this police department,” added Ronnie Megginson, owner of Kulture Vibez. “We even call for y’all help when we have events across the street [at South and Central] to keep everybody safe [and] y’all leave us hanging.”
Activist Don Gathers called for solutions to gun violence “without putting our minority communities at risk and at harm.”
“Going back to 2017, the police department failed this community,” he said. “You can’t expect us to welcome you with open arms and trust you.”
Another Black resident urged the crowd not to judge the youth. “Y’all ain’t never lived through this before with a 15-year-old mindset that’s been fucked up by the system.”
Terry Anderson, mother of Daquain Anderson, who died after being shot near Court Square in September, questioned why police have not solved his murder yet. Kochis promised to meet with her in private.
“We’ve had sleepless nights. We can’t eat. … His killers are still out there,” said Francine Chambers, Anderson’s relative. “You get them guns off the street. … This is a hot mess.”
At Beyond the Shop and Man Cave, Black women and men can get free haircuts while discussing mental health, and receiving peer support. Photo by Eze Amos.
Hair salons and barbershops have long played a critical role in the Black community, serving as safe spaces for Black people to be vulnerable and open up about their personal struggles. However, Black people are far less likely than white people to seek out mental health services, largely due to inequitable health care access, a lack of Black therapists and culturally competent care, and the stigma surrounding mental illness in their community—fueled by centuries of systemic racism, trauma, and violence.
Beyond the Shop aims to make mental health care more accessible to Black people by hosting conversations—led by a Black therapist—directly inside Charlottesville beauty salons and barbershops. At the monthly sessions, participants can get a free haircut while discussing a variety of important topics, from self-care to generational trauma, with other Black women or men, and receiving encouragement and support.
“We’re walking into a space that’s always been seen as a safe space for us to already have these intimate conversations, and taking it to another level,” says Brave Souls on Fire founder and director Myra Anderson, who received a $15,000 Sentara grant to start the initiative. “It’s been very powerful.”
Since September, Anderson, a longtime Black mental health advocate, has been hosting Beyond the Shop every month at Natre’al Hair Salon, bringing together Black women of a variety of ages and backgrounds. After BSOF received a $7,500 Charlottesville Area Community Foundation grant, co-director Devin Coles started the men’s side of the initiative, dubbed Man Cave, at Mel’s Barber Shop in January.
For participants who are interested in seeking additional mental health care, there is a resource table with information about local services and organizations. At the beauty salon, self-care items, like essential oils, and free eyebrow waxing are also available.
When facilitating the Beyond the Shop sessions, therapist Vanessa Johnson works to create an environment of safety and healing, encouraging Black women to be “their authentic selves.”
“A lot of times [Black women] have a difficult time being ourselves because there’s a lot of generational programming that tells us we have to act a certain way around certain people so they won’t be upset with us,” explains Johnson, owner of Thrive2Heal Counseling. “We have [also] learned as Black women to press it down and move forward … [but] healing has to take place.”
“We’re stopping that generational bondage of just staying wounded,” she adds.
Johnson’s honesty, relatability, and expertise has kept participant LeVonne Yountz coming back to Beyond the Shop every month. She’s been “touched” by the conversations, and says she wishes she had someone like the therapist in the past when she was struggling with mental health issues.
“It’s just an ease talking to [Johnson],” says Yountz. “It’s always good to be with like-minded people … [and] refreshing to be able to bounce off some of these things.”
Coles stresses the importance of offering Black men a safe, comfortable space to have such important conversations—and learn how to heal and cope—too.
“There are so many avenues and resources for women, and we don’t receive the same amount for men. … Men have the same emotions women do—we’re just taught to deal with it differently,” he says. “Which then because of our ignorance … it comes out a different way, and you get these stories of an angry Black man or toxic masculinity.”
The first Man Cave session was supposed to last an hour—but ended up going for two hours, as the men discussed signs of anxiety and depression, and how to manage those symptoms. They also touched on showing love properly to their children, and communicating healthily within their relationships, explains therapist Toby Jenkins, who facilitates the sessions.
“We also got into some of the dysfunctional ways that we were parented … that we have brought forward as parents ourselves,” adds Jenkins, owner of Jenkins Couples and Family Therapy, “[and] “opening up our empathy eyes, so we can see the world from the viewpoint of our partners and children.”
The men ultimately aim to build upon the emotional intimacy and support already present inside the barbershop.
“The barbershop has always been where these kinds of important conversations take place, and barbers themselves are often … informal helpers,” says Jenkins. “They play a vital role, and are on the front lines in terms of being there in the community [and] helping people.”
“The barbershop is the Black man’s country club,” adds Coles. “It’s a place of comfort, understanding, [and] knowledge.”
Anderson is currently looking for grants to keep Beyond the Shop and Man Cave going for longer, and to help expand the initiatives—many participants have asked for the sessions to be held more often. The Sentara grant will run out in July, the CACF grant in December.
“If I had my way, I would be in four different shops throughout the month,” says Anderson. “We really need to start thinking outside of the box to meet people where they are in the community—and give them things where they feel seen, heard, and culturally affirmed right there.”
To participate in or learn more about Beyond the Shop, email bravesoulscville@yahoo.com.
Reverend Russ Ford shares his experiences ministering to men on death row in his new memoir. Photo courtesy of subject.
Nearly two years ago, Virginia became the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. Before then, the commonwealth had executed over 1,300 people—more than any other state.
As the head chaplain on Virginia’s death row, Reverend Russ Ford ministered to men sentenced to capital punishment throughout the 1980s and ’90s, and walked 28 of them to the death chamber. In his new book, Crossing the River Styx: The Memoir of a Death Row Chaplain, Ford recounts the strong relationships he built with more than a dozen condemned men, and the drastic spiritual transformations many experienced before they were put to death. With co-authors Todd and Charles Peppers, Ford details the men’s horrific crimes and their numerous victims, but also exposes injustices within the prison system, making a strong case against capital punishment throughout the book, published by University of Virginia Press.
“We did everything we could to bring to the reader the worst that these men did,” says Ford, “[but] also showed the human sides of these men.”
Ford immediately pulls readers into the 240-page memoir with a horrifying memory—almost becoming the 245th person killed by Virginia’s electric chair. When Ricky Boggs’ execution was delayed, Ford, after receiving permission from a prison official, went to comfort Boggs while he sat in the electric chair, putting his hand on the condemned man’s hand. A prison official, his back turned to Ford, soon pulled the chair’s activation switch. If someone had not shouted Ford’s name, causing him to lift his hand in the nick of time, he could have been electrocuted along with Boggs on July 19, 1990. Nightmares haunted Ford for weeks after the execution, something that would become a normal occurrence throughout the 13 years he served as a death row chaplain at Virginia State Penitentiary and Greensville Correctional Center.
Born in Richmond in 1951, Ford grew up in poverty in Chesterfield County, where his parents instilled a strong Christian faith in him. At 18, a powerful spiritual experience at a youth camp inspired Ford to become a minister. While attending Southeastern Seminary, he interned as a chaplain at Hanover Learning Center, a now-shuttered juvenile detention center. “It was tough … [but] I enjoyed it a lot and was successful with it,” and it led to prison ministry, Ford says.
After he graduated with a master of divinity in 1977, Chaplain Service, a nonprofit ministry that served Virginia’s prisons, appointed Ford and senior chaplain Marge Bailey to replace the VSP’s former head chaplain. Ford worked at VSP—where riots, assaults, beatings, fires, murders, and other horrors were rampant—for a year, before accepting a residency at the Medical College of Virginia and serving as a part-time chaplain at HLC. Ford was working at Southampton Correctional Center when Bailey was diagnosed with cancer in 1984. He returned to VSP, where he served as a spiritual advisor for every man on death row.
In addition to leading worship services, Ford visited men in their cells, and built a rapport with them, aiming to understand their crimes and help them reform themselves. Many were neglected, abused, and impoverished as children, and had mental, intellectual, and cognitive disabilities.
“There was a lot of need and suffering. … I listened with compassion,” says Ford. Though he was not able to help every man change, “I got along with a large group of the men, and had success in relating to them.”
During the final days and hours of their lives, Ford stood death watch with more than two dozen men, praying with them and administering last rites. He hoped to help them achieve “a certain calmness and sense of wellbeing” before they were executed, he explains.
“We had men who … while they were getting ready to be executed, they treasured where they were,” says Ford. “In death, they were fully alive for the first time.”
Crossing the River Styx was decades in the making. In 1994, Ford began doing research in partnership with another writer, and completed a 180-page manuscript, but later paused working on the book. In 2001, he suffered a traumatic brain injury, and spent the next four years in rehab. Then, in 2015, Todd Peppers, a law professor and former lawyer, reached out to Ford while working on his book about death penalty activist Marie Deans, who Ford worked closely with for years. Ford did multiple interviews with Peppers, and shared portions of his unfinished manuscript. After Peppers and co-author Margaret Anderson published A Courageous Fool: Marie Deans and Her Struggle against the Death Penalty in 2017, Peppers, moved by Ford’s story, offered to help the chaplain finish his book, and recruited his child Charles, then a high school senior, to assist with research and editing.
Each chapter shares Ford’s experiences with a specific man, or, in a few chapters, several men with similar traits or cases, including exact dialogue from the chaplain’s conversations with them. Ford “took a lot of notes” during and after these meetings, and referenced his stacks of notebooks throughout the writing process. The chapters also shed light on the men’s crimes and their victims, including accounts from family members who wanted their loved ones’ murderer to be executed—and those who did not.
Throughout the book, Ford vividly describes the horrors of capital punishment. He argues there is no such thing as a “humane” execution, and that capital punishment fuels a continuous cycle of violence.
“Really no one needs to be killing other people like that. That’s just wrong,” says Ford. “There were people there [in the prison] doing these things to the men who were professed Christians, and I have a hard time seeing Jesus pulling a switch and sending 2,000 volts of electricity through someone’s body, or sticking a needle in someone’s arm and shooting them up with poison.”
In addition to denouncing the terrible conditions, inadequate medical care, and poor management he witnessed, Ford criticizes the death penalty system’s failures. Without help from death penalty activists like Deans, three men he worked with would have been executed for crimes they did not commit.
It remains difficult for Ford to read his chapter about Morris Mason, the first person he saw executed. Morris—who raped and murdered 88-year-old Ursula Stevenson and 76-year-old Margaret Keen Hand, as well as raped a 12-year-old girl and shot her 13-year-old sister in 1978—“suffered from paranoid schizophrenia [and] had the mental capacity of an eight-year-old,” writes Ford. The chaplain claims Morris did not understand death or execution.
Ford, along with fellow chaplains and Mason’s attorney (now Charlottesville mayor) Lloyd Snook, petitioned then-governor Chuck Robb to lessen Mason’s sentence to life in prison due to his disabilities. Still, Mason was executed on June 25, 1985.
“[Mason] had the biggest impact on my psyche seeing him executed like that,” says Ford. “The blistering of his face, the smell—he was being cooked inside out.”
Albert Jay Clozza also had a significant impact on Ford. Though he initially did not want to work with Clozza—who raped and killed 13-year-old Patricia Beth Bolton in 1980—due to his heinous crime, Ford later forged a strong relationship with the man.
“[Clozza] had such difficulty. At first he numbed himself [with] the drugs they gave him in prison. … Then all at once, he cleaned himself up and started working on himself,” says Ford. “He died happy.”
Death row took an immense toll on Ford. Dealing with post-traumatic stress, he found himself withdrawing from friends and family because he “could not relate.” The executions stayed with him “like a shadow,” he says.
Coleman Wayne Grey, who died by lethal injection in 1997, was the last man Ford walked to the death chamber. “I got to where I couldn’t handle it anymore. I could not go back,” he says.
Ford hopes readers will come away from the book staunchly opposed to the death penalty, and urges those already against capital punishment to remain vigilant.
“I would like for people to know the other side of the story,” he says. “Even those who may support [the death penalty] may learn something and may even be changed.”
Crossing the River Styx: The Memoir of a Death Row Chaplain will be published March 1.
House of Cuts barbers have provided more than 150 free hair cuts to local middle and high schoolers. Photo by Eze Amos.
Since the fall, Charlottesville and Albemarle County have seen a significant spike in shootings—several involving juveniles. On January 23, a male juvenile was injured in a shooting in the area of Sixth and Garrett streets. Three months earlier, Charlottesville police arrested three teenage boys, ages 14 to 17, in connection with an October 15 Omni Hotel parking lot shooting that left two male juveniles injured. After a middle school student Daniel Fairley works with was shot multiple times on Hardy Drive on November 12, he and Fernando Garay wondered how they could help stop gun violence among young people.
“We had just both felt that pain for the city,” says Garay, owner of House of Cuts Barber Studio, located on the UVA Corner. “[We thought], ‘What can we do to create preventative measures and an impact?’”
“[We wanted] to address the issue right here, right now,” adds Fairley, president of the 100 Black Men of Central Virginia.
After securing a large donation from the Charlottesville Alliance for Black Male Achievement, House of Cuts and the 100 BMOCV offered 100 free haircuts to Charlottesville High School students in December, aiming to provide young Black and brown men a safe space to open up about their feelings and struggles—and receive guidance and advice from men who experienced similar challenges. Now, all Charlottesville and Albemarle County public school middle and high schoolers can come into the shop for a free cut, thanks to the over $3,000 in donations the program—dubbed the #100Cuts Initiative—has received from local organizations and residents.
“When you look clean, that really just helps you with your day-to-day life,” says Garay, pointing to young men who get teased when they don’t have their hair cut. “When you look better, you feel better. When you look cleaned up, you perform better.”
“There’s almost an air of invincibility that comes from the kids when they step out of the barber’s chair,” says Fairley, who is also a youth opportunity coordinator focused on Black male achievement for the City of Charlottesville. “When you come out of the chair, no one can do anything but lift you up.”
The free cuts have been a big help for students whose families cannot afford to take them to the barber shop—a cut typically costs $40 at House of Cuts. (Each sponsored cut costs a discounted $30.)
“Some of these students … only received a haircut previously during our free back to school bash [in August],” says Garay. “This is a need for the community—not a want for the community.”
To serve students who may not have a way to get to the barber shop, the initiative leaders have partnered with CCS and ACPS to bring barbers into schools. On January 24, barbers gave more than 30 free haircuts at CHS, and on February 13, provided 30 more at Buford Middle School. Teachers and administrators have also volunteered to bring students to appointments at the shop.
“All those kids [at CHS] were looking rough and joking on each other … but as soon as those shape ups were put on them and the fades were done, they were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you look so good,’” says Garay. “Just that in itself is so important.”
To date, barbers have provided more than 150 free haircuts at schools and House of Cuts. Later this month, they will head to Albemarle High School. And next month, Lugo-McGinness Academy students will take a trip to the Corner shop.
Soon, the initiative will go beyond haircuts—in partnership with Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center, 100 BMOCV and House of Cuts are working to develop a barber program, which the center has not had since 2015.
“[The program] will allow kids to be pulled out of these circumstances [and] see themselves in a different way [and] a future for themselves,” says Fairly. “The things you think you may be wanting or getting in the streets, it’s not the same as what you can be getting legally through barbering.”
Some students who have received free haircuts have already shown interest in becoming a barber, says the initiative’s Community Engagement Coordinator Amanda Burns. A teacher shared with Burns that one student “never talked about anything that he wants to do in the future,” but after he came to the shop for a cut, “we had to start googling clipper sets.”
Longtime barber Will Jones—Garay’s mentor—will lead the new program, which will allow both high schoolers and recent grads to participate, and offer night classes “to keep kids out of trouble” after school, says Fairley.
In addition to training students to earn their barber license, the program will partner with local nonprofits to teach students entrepreneurship skills, and with Black therapists to provide them with counseling and mental health training.
“Barbers often act as confidants, and are trusted with important sensitive information from their clientele,” says Fairley. “We want to prepare them for those experiences.”
This summer, the organizations plan to start fundraising for the barber program, something that will cost between $30,000 and $40,000 to get off the ground. They aim to launch next year.
Around a dozen people held a protest outside the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA after current and former staff and volunteers made allegations of internal dysfunction and animal mistreatment at the shelter. Photo by Eze Amos.
The executive director and CEO of the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA is under fire after more than 100 current and former staff and volunteers made allegations of severe internal dysfunction and animal mistreatment at the shelter. The organization’s board of directors, however, is standing behind Angie Gunter, who has led the CASPCA since 2017, and also serves on its board.
In an anonymous letter to the 14-member board published on January 17, the group, which has named itself CASPCA Concerns, accused Gunter of creating a toxic work environment and enabling poor animal care practices, and called on the board to remove her and hire a new CEO with a “proven track record of leading collaborative and results-driven workplaces.”
“Ms. Gunter’s management style is demeaning, divisive, and punitive. She creates a culture of fear among her staff and volunteers,” reads the letter, accusing Gunter of fueling infighting; gossiping about employees; belittling, surveilling, and targeting staff; ostracizing those who voice concerns; and refusing to address problems. “She is reactionary and upends operational processes frequently. … Her stated priorities change week to week, leaving staff unable to meet ever-changing expectations.”
Gunter’s controversial behavior has led to high employee turnover and understaffing, forcing the shelter to rely on volunteers to perform essential tasks, such as cleaning cages and feeding animals, claims CASPCA Concerns. Employees often do not receive adequate training, and some are not able to safely handle animals or properly assess their needs and behaviors.
Additionally, the group accuses Gunter—who made $182,142 in 2020, according to the nonprofit’s latest Form 990—and the executive team of subjecting animals to unhealthy living conditions. Members say they have found large dogs housed in crates that are too small for them to move around in, and living in their own feces and urine. They’ve also seen dogs and cats put in isolation for months, receiving little to no enrichment and interaction, and discovered dogs suffering medical complications and in need of emergency surgery, leading to the death of one dog within the last year. And across the shelter, housing areas are in desperate need of maintenance and upgrades—but leadership continues to transfer in animals, and put the CASPCA over capacity, according to the group.
“Some cats are housed in single-compartment cages. … The windows in the Small Dog/Puppy Room have rusted frames. Hoses leak and leave standing water on the floor of the Small Dog Isolation room,” reads the letter, which includes photos of rusted windows falling apart. “Some kennels have peeling paint on the kennel floor or chewed marks in the kennel wall. The sliding internal doors that separate dog kennels are often broken.”
“Recently transferred dogs are housed in crates as there are no available kennels to accommodate them. [The] CASPCA transfers in dogs with known behavior concerns even though it does not have a canine behavior director,” the letter continues. “These dogs with behavior concerns often live in the shelter for months without finding homes.”
In addition to calling for Gunter’s removal, CASPCA Concerns urged the board to engage animal welfare and workplace consultants to “develop a plan to enact swift but long-lasting improvements,” as well as attract and hire a “more diverse set of employees.” They also encouraged the shelter to provide exit interviews, require training for the executive team, designate one board seat for an active shelter volunteer, and “offer a way for employees to express concerns without fear of retaliation.”
After the board did not immediately respond to its letter, the group sent a second one on January 23, which included an additional dozen testimonies from former staff and current volunteers. (The first letter contained statements from over 30 current and previous employees and volunteers.) The following day, Board President Jenn Corbey said the board “intends to pursue diligently the goals of making the shelter a better place,” but “we believe that Angie Gunter is the best person to lead this effort forward and she will continue to act as the CASPCA’s CEO.”
“The CEO and the Board will work closely together to ensure that your concerns about staff development, workplace enhancement, and organizational and leadership development are addressed in a meaningful way,” continued Corbey. “We ask for your patience as this process moves forward.”
In a January 27 press release, the board, represented by the public relations firm Blue Ridge Group, reiterated its support of Gunter, and denied allegations of animal mistreatment. “[Gunter’s] commitment to the animals has been exemplary, and she is committed to the wellbeing of the staff. … There has been no evidence of animal neglect or cruelty,” reads the statement, blaming staff and volunteers for “the poor treatment of the animals.”
“We will continue to work closely with the Board, the staff, the volunteers and the community with the goal of making the shelter a better place,” the statement continues.
In a January 27 WINA interview, Corbey also refuted the claims of animal mistreatment and a hostile work environment. When asked how she knew the complaints about Gunter’s management and behavior were not true, Corbey provided no details, and said the board does not speak with past employees. The board is currently conducting its own investigation, plans to hire workplace consultants and implement measures to improve the organization, and will release a statement when its investigation is complete, she said.
“We’re not taking this lightly at all. We’re reading the letters and are taking this under investigation,” said Corbey, declining to share how the board is investigating the complaints.
According to CASPCA Concerns, the shelter received a write-up for incorrect custody records and a warning regarding animals housed in the basement and offices during a 2021 state inspection. “Staff, fosters, and volunteers provide the best care to animals that they possibly can under current circumstances. The substandard care for and placement of animals is the direct result of Angie Gunter’s ineffective management style, failure to retain staff, and unqualified decision making,” reads the coalition’s January 27 statement.
In response to the board’s support of Gunter, around a dozen people held a protest outside the shelter on January 27, and former volunteer Juliet Lunka started a change.org petition calling for both Gunter and Corbey’s removal, which has over 1,300 signatures as of January 30. The CASPCA Concerns Facebook page has amassed more than 370 followers.
Toxic work environment
In the WINA interview, Corbey claimed the backlash against Gunter “came as a shock,” and she said they hadn’t received complaints about her before—however, CASPCA Concerns says these allegations against Gunter and the shelter’s executive team are not new. In 2018, former executive assistant Tomeka Rhoades sent the board a five-page letter following her resignation, claiming Gunter repeatedly demeaned her, gossiped about other employees and board members, yelled and cursed at her, and tried to control her, among other inappropriate behavior.
“I feel that I have been a victim of mental, verbal, emotional abuse, bullying, and discrimination. It felt like every day I was reminded of how smart I wasn’t or talked to like a juvenile or treated like a slave,” wrote Rhoades, who worked at the SPCA for a year. “I left the shelter almost every day in tears.”
The following year, former volunteer Kristin Swenson sent a 13-page letter to the board, sharing concerns about the shelter’s poor animal care practices and toxic work environment. And in 2021, an anonymous employee sent the board president a nine-page letter alerting them of poor leadership, high turnover, and other critical issues.
After resigning last year, one former shelter employee, who wishes to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, says they heard about similar negative experiences from many people who had resigned before them and those who left after them. “So I started reaching out to people and slowly but surely, I got [CASPCA Concerns] going,” says the former employee, who worked at the shelter for a year and a half.
At the shelter, the employee says they did not receive training, and witnessed Gunter pit employees against each other and use gossip against those she disliked.
“It is literally the behavior of a bully,” they claim. Gunter and the executive team “didn’t care that I was staying 12 hours a day [or] that I care about the animals. They basically made my life so miserable there that I had to leave for my own mental health.”
Last year, the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA placed a record number of pets in adoptive homes, achieving a 99 percent live release rate for dogs and 98 percent rate for cats—yet this success is “built on a crumbling foundation,” and cannot last much longer, claims CASPCA Concerns. Due to the shelter’s toxic work environment, the group says that at least 50 employees have resigned since November 2021, and at least 30 directors, managers, and other non-entry-level staff have resigned since January 2020. Seventeen job openings—including multiple manager and coordinator positions—are listed on the CASPCA’s website as of January 30.
Following the board’s refusal to fire Gunter, Animal Care Manager Courtney Ott resigned on January 25, describing the mistreatment she experienced and witnessed.
“The recent response from [Corbey] solidifies that this toxic environment will continue to be an issue,” wrote Ott in a letter to the board. “This acceptance and ignorance of mistreatment is so much deeper than I thought.”
“Those of us who are sweating, crying, and breaking our bodies to care for these animals the best we can day in and day out,” wrote Ott, “are treated as just replaceable numbers.”
Animal mistreatment
Shelter whistleblowers have raised the alarm about numerous types of poor animal care and treatment.
Former adoption and intake manager and dog care lead Claire Allen claims her concerns about animal overcrowding at the shelter “fell on deaf ears.” Supplied photo.
They claim dogs with behavior concerns are isolated without placement plans, and are unavailable for adoption for months. “There were multiple instances where we would adopt out dogs that have significant bite histories into the public without proper counseling with the adopters,” including an instance in which a dog, who was later euthanized, bit off an adopter’s ear, says Katie Roche, who served as the shelter’s adoption and intake coordinator, humane education and outreach coordinator, and an adoption counselor.
There are currently three dogs up for adoption that have killed other dogs, but it is not mentioned in their online biographies, claims Roche, who resigned in 2021. A fourth available dog was involved in an altercation that led to another dog’s euthanasia. Additionally, Roche accuses the executive team of transferring in too many animals—including those with contagious, deadly illnesses. During her three years at the shelter, she says she saw many dogs forced to live in crates due to housing areas being at capacity.
In CASPCA Concerns’ January 17 letter, several photos from recent years show dogs housed in crates, while a 2021 photo shows three puppies and an adult dog housed in an exercise pen, with feces and urine covering the floor. (Corbey claimed these photos were “false.”)
Former adoption and intake manager and dog care lead Claire Allen echoes concerns about untrained staff, rampant overcrowding, and dangerous dogs. She claims she was instructed to hide dogs in play parks, offices, and other areas, and forge custody records during an inspection.
“Despite voicing the shortage of space numerous times, it fell on deaf ears,” says Allen, who left the shelter in 2018 after working there for three years, in a letter to the board. “Dogs harming themselves and circling in their crates were left to suffer for the sake of maintaining a high live release rate.”
When Allen later became an animal control officer for the City of Charlottesville, “behavioral evaluations were discontinued entirely, and Animal Control’s direct access to the shelter’s informational database was taken away,” she said. “When I would ask for updates on particular animals, staff would have no knowledge of what was going on.”
CASPCA Concerns says it will continue to gather evidence of employee and animal mistreatment, and send letters to the board and publish them online—until leadership meets its demands. In addition, the group urges people to email the board, volunteer at the shelter, and foster or adopt an animal in need of a safe, loving home.
“People are getting pretty upset. They’re saying they’re not going to volunteer or give money to the shelter. The board needs to take this seriously,” says the former employee who started the coalition. “We are strong, we are united, and we’re not giving up.”
Caged in
In photos shared by CASPCA Concerns, multiple dogs can be seen housed in crates and cages, with feces and urine covering the floor—evidence of poor animal care and treatment, the group claims.
The Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail renovation project’s nearly $72.9 million estimated price tag has sparked concern from some jail board members. Photo: Eze Amos.
For years, the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail has been plagued by a host of health and sanitary issues, including black mold, faulty wiring, leaky ceilings, poor plumbing, freezing temperatures, and bug infestations. Jail leadership has begun taking steps to renovate the 48-year-old facility, which serves the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle and Nelson counties. But the project’s $49 million estimated price tag—plus over $20 million in interest—has sparked division on the ACRJ Authority Board.
“[I] urge you to think long and hard before approving this project,” jail board member Lisa Draine, Charlottesville’s citizen representative, told City Council during its January 17 meeting. “Is this expenditure a good investment in our future? Does this align with our stated community values of equity and opportunity for all? I would answer, ‘No.’”
In addition to upgrading and replacing the HVAC units, electric systems, lighting, and air filtration, the proposed renovations will create an outdoor recreation space, larger visitation area, and dedicated mental health unit, as well as add more classrooms, programming space, and administrative offices. Housing areas will be revamped with larger common spaces, natural sunlight, sound-deadening materials, plexiglass, and more showers and private toilets.
Last week, Davenport & Company, the board’s financial advisor, detailed the project’s proposed finance plan to the councilors. The Virginia Board of Local and Regional Jails—as well as the jail’s member jurisdictions—has recommended the state cover 25 percent of the renovation costs. The General Assembly should approve or reject the funding request by late April.
Jail board member Lisa Draine asked city councilors to find more cost-effective ways to improve the ACRJ. Photo: Eze Amos.
In May, the member jurisdictions and authority board are expected to approve the project’s interim financing, which will fund architecture and engineering services to fully design the renovations and prepare it for the bidding stage. In summer 2024, the jail authority will issue an estimated $35.5 million bond—with a 5.5 percent interest rate and 27-year term—to fund the remaining project costs and pay off the interim financing loan. The authority will also take out a grant anticipation note to fund costs eligible for the state reimbursement. The note will be paid off with the reimbursement, which the state will not issue until the renovations are completed.
When the bond is fully paid off in 2051, the project’s total estimated cost will be nearly $72.9 million. Each locality will pay a portion equivalent to their jail bed usage—Albemarle will pay around $33.3 million, while Charlottesville will pay nearly $30.1 million, and Nelson almost $9.5 million.
Draine urged the councilors to find more cost-effective ways to improve the jail’s poor conditions, such as by replacing or repairing “mechanical systems causing problems.”
“You would be saddling our children and grandchildren with a debt of over $1.1 million a year for the next 27 years,” said Draine. “The criminal legal system disproportionately affects Black and brown people and those in the lowest income brackets. I urge you to put money into areas that address racial inequity and poverty in our community: affordable housing, education, food insecurity, lack of opportunities for our youth, and especially access to mental health treatment.”
Though the renovations will not expand the jail’s capacity, it will increase its square footage. However, the jail’s newer wing is not currently in use, largely due to the facility’s low population and staffing shortage.
“[Why would we] want to spend millions on a facility with space that’s not being used and where the population has decreased below the rated capacity of 329 to its lowest level in 25 years?” said Draine.
Former jail board member Cyndra Van Clief also expressed concerns about the project’s hefty price tag. In March, the board passed a resolution asking the state jail board to consider approving the renovations, and requesting state reimbursement. Van Clief, a Republican and self-described fiscal conservative, was the only board member who voted against the resolution, citing a desire for more public input. In April, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors voted to remove her from the board for her “failure to act in the county’s best interest,” she told C-VILLE in May. (Though Draine voted in favor of the March resolution, she told C-VILLE in December, “If I could do it all again, knowing what I know now, I would change my vote.”)
In response to concerns about costs, Mayor Lloyd Snook says he has “no way to judge” whether the proposed renovations are too expensive, but trusts the jail board “will be on the lookout for unnecessary expenses.” He stresses that the city is in a “really bad spot” regarding the jail.
“We are required to have a jail, and we are required to have a jail that meets the needs generated by forces over which we have no control. … We have no control over who chooses to commit which crimes in Charlottesville. We have no control over the prosecutors … [or] the judges,” says Snook. “What we do have some control over is whether we have programs available that offer alternatives to incarceration,” such as the drug court, therapeutic docket, and pretrial release.
“One major change in the new jail plans is to have more space that is dedicated to rehabilitative programs,” adds Snook. “We want to make it easier for rehabilitative programs to be successful.”
Councilor Michael Payne agrees that member jurisdictions should explore ways to reduce the renovation costs. He expects the project’s price to be “significantly higher” than estimated, due to inflation, supply chain issues, and the facility’s age.
“Is there a way to reduce costs by renovating the newer, currently largely unused wings and closing the oldest out-of-date wing?” asks Payne. “Cost savings should not come from cutting corners and providing unhealthy, low-quality living conditions. … [But] can costs be reduced by decreasing the number of jail cells to reflect decreases in the inmate population?”
The city may also be able to save money by paying its portion of the renovation costs upfront with its own bond, Payne says. “Because we get better interest rates than ACRJ, we’d avoid the higher interest costs that would accrue over three decades.”
“I do support the jail improvements … [and] will always look for ways to make projects more cost effective,” says Vice-Mayor Juandiego Wade.
Councilor Brian Pinkston, who has replaced former councilor Sena Magill as council’s representative on the jail board, says he’ll be “taking a good look … to make sure I understand the costs and what we can do to reduce them overall,” but doesn’t think the 48-year-old facility will be able to repair or replace its systems without “significant architectural renovation work.” He is also wary of reducing its bed count—if Charlottesville or Albemarle ever elect “more reactive” prosecutors, or stricter laws are enacted, the jail’s population could rise one day.
“It’s unfortunate, but I think for a community of this size, the notion of investing $1 million a year for a jail that’s humane, it’s probably not unrealistic,” says Pinkston.
Jail board chairperson Diantha McKeel stresses that the selected architect will engage with the community, jail’s population, and other stakeholders to design the renovations. Costs can be further discussed throughout the engagement process.
“There is also a required ‘value engineering’ review component to the design, which determines the lowest possible construction cost,” says McKeel. “There will be another RFP to determine the construction company. … The actual cost to build will be determined by that bidding process.”
Additionally, the jail board authority’s bond will “have no impact on the three individual jurisdiction’s CIP programs and debt capacities,” says McKeel.
Construction is estimated to begin in August 2024 and finish in November 2025.
