Author: Brielle Entzminger

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‘They were waiting for July to come’

Nearly half of Mallside Forest’s 160 units possibly received pay-or-quit notices on July 19, according to Legal Aid Justice Center. Photo: Legal Aid Justice Center.

Shortly after the pandemic hit, Mable Christian’s daughter’s work hours were drastically cut. Christian, who has lived with her daughter at Mallside Forest Apartments—a low-income housing complex in Albemarle County—since 2015, has been unable to work for years due to workplace injury, and currently lives on Social Security benefits. The mother and daughter eventually fell behind on their rent, and applied to the Virginia Rent Relief Program in February 2022.

“We provided everything—pay stubs, employment history, the first rent of the first lease…[But] everything just kept saying ‘pending,’” explains Christian. “We kept calling the [VRRP] to see what we needed, so we made sure that we did everything they required of us, [but] they said the rest was on the landlord.”

Mallside Forest, which is managed by Security Properties, never completed the landlord’s part of the rent relief application, Christian claims. The VRRP contacted the complex’s management multiple times, “but they just didn’t follow through,” she says. Still, Christian had hopes that their application would be processed soon, and they would receive enough money to pay off their past-due rent—until they woke up to a five-day pay-or-quit notice on their door on July 19. 

“We thought we were fine,” says Christian. “I thought everything would be going through.”

Christian’s situation is not unique—nearly half of Mallside Forest’s 160 units possibly received pay-or-quit notices on July 19, according to Legal Aid Justice Center. Residents—who must earn 60 percent or less of the area median income to live at the complex—have told LAJC lawyers that they applied for rent relief, but Mallside Forest refused to fill out its part of the application, preventing them from receiving any financial assistance. 

A Mallside Forest leasing office employee declined to comment for this story.

After lawyers from Legal Aid Justice Center visited Mallside Forest to inform tenants of their legal rights last month, Christian reached out to the nonprofit to take on her case. LAJC believes the complex refused to comply with the VRRP process because it was waiting until Virginia’s eviction protections expired on July 1 to proceed with evicting Christian and her daughter, along with other residents who were behind on rent.

Until June 30, landlords were required under state law to give tenants a written 14-day notice to pay what they owe before proceeding with an eviction, and were prohibited from evicting those who applied to the VRRP, unless they were not approved to receive relief within 45 days. Landlords who owned at least four units also had to offer a payment plan for past-due rent. But as of July 1, landlords only have to give tenants a five-day pay-or-quit notice before filing an unlawful detainer, and do not need to offer a repayment plan or wait for rent relief to arrive.

“We just didn’t know why they were just putting us on hold, and we were waiting, and everything was pending,” says Christian. “And now I know why—they were waiting for July to come.”

As local residents continue to struggle to find affordable housing, Mallside Forest could become one less option—the apartment complex is for sale. In a confidential offering memorandum provided to C-VILLE by LAJC, seller CBRE, a commercial real estate services and investment firm, touts the “opportunity for conversion to market [rate] upon expiration of [Low-Income Housing Tax Credit] restrictions in 2028” as an investment highlight. Without these restrictions, rent for a one-bedroom apartment could go from the current price of $1,016 to $1,783 per month in 2028, while a two bedroom could go from $1,217 to $2,152 per month. Most, if not all, Mallside residents would be unable to afford such a large rent spike, and be forced to leave their homes—nearly 60 percent of the units are occupied by residents using Section 8 vouchers, according to the memorandum.

CBRE did not respond to C-VILLE’s requests for comment. 

Christian is currently working with LAJC to receive VRRP funding, and fight her eviction. For months, she and her daughter have been charged “excessive” late fees at Mallside Forest, trapping them in a cycle of debt, she claims. And every year since they’ve moved in, she says their rent has increased by more than $100, a hefty burden for people who live on a fixed income.

“It just seems like the only thing that I’m paying for is the fees, and it’s just putting me more and more in default as far as rent,” says Christian.

From 2012 to 2016, Mallside Forest filed around 120 unlawful detainers against its residents in Albemarle General District Court, according to online records. While a judge ruled in favor of Mallside Forest in about half of these cases, the other half were either dismissed, or resulted in a non-suit, which means the complex dismissed or withdrew the case.

As of August 2, the apartment complex has not filed an unlawful detainer since 2016. However, it has filed four garnishment cases against residents since 2015, including one in June 2022. 

Since last week, LAJC has knocked on doors at Mallside Forest, and taken on several more clients. It has also “received optimistic-sounding news from the property manager’s office to the effect that they are (now, at least) actively working with gov2go to get people’s balances paid. From the court website, it does not appear that anyone who received a notice on 7/19 is being sued as of yet … but we are prepared to defend these evictions in court if need be,” said LAJC attorney Carrie Klosko in an email to C-VILLE on Friday.

LAJC encourages all tenants facing eviction at Mallside Forest—or any other property in the Charlottesville area—to contact them, and know their rights. Despite the five-day deadline for a pay-or-quit notice, tenants do not have to leave their home until the entire eviction process is completed, which could take two to three months, or even longer.

“The five-day notice kind of scares a lot of people. A lot of people see it and say, ‘Oh my god, I have to leave after five days,’ [and] do what we call ‘self-evicting,’” says Klosko. “But really it’s just a legal formality that the landlord has to send before they can file an eviction case in court.”

After a landlord files an unlawful detainer, a judge must hear the case and award the landlord possession of the property in order to evict a tenant. The tenant then has 10 days to appeal the judge’s decision before the sheriff serves a writ of eviction.

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Be aware

Monkeypox is rarely fatal, and symptoms usually begin six to 13 days after exposure. The flu-like symptoms include fever, chills, headache, tiredness, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes. Photo: NIAID.

Since early May, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox, a viral disease endemic to countries in West and Central Africa, have been reported across the world, including more than 2,500 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. As of July 25, 72 cases have been detected in Virginia. While the majority of cases have been reported in northern Virginia, the Virginia Department of Health has, to date, identified four cases in the state’s Northwestern region, which includes the Blue Ridge Health District.

Monkeypox, discovered by researchers over 60 years ago, is a “contagious rash illness that’s caused by the monkeypox virus, [which] is in the same family of viruses that causes smallpox,” explains Blue Ridge Health District spokesman Jason Elliott. “But, typically, monkeypox is going to have a much milder infection than smallpox.”

Monkeypox symptoms often begin six to 13 days after exposure. The illness usually starts with flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, headache, tiredness, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes. Rashes, pimples, blisters, or lesions then can appear on the genitals, in or around the mouth, on the perianal region, or all across the body. The infection lasts about two to four weeks. 

“People may consider this to look like a sexually transmitted infection, or just a random pimple, so sometimes it can go rather unassuming,” says Elliott.

Public health officials stress that monkeypox is not a STI—it is spread through close contact with infectious rashes, scabs, or bodily fluids. While people can contract monkeypox during sexual intercourse or intimate physical contact, like kissing and hugging, they can also contract it by sharing towels, sheets, clothes, or other linens with a person who has been infected. The disease can spread through respiratory droplets, typically in a close setting like a household, as well.

“If you do have [monkeypox] symptoms, or you think [or] know you’ve been exposed,” says Elliott, “calling ahead to your doctor, health department, or ER is highly recommended, since this can spread from person to person.” 

To date, monkeypox cases have been disproportionately reported among people who identify as gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. However, anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, can contract the illness. 

“The transmission of monkeypox is more accurately linked to someone’s behavior, rather than their identity,” stresses Elliott, citing Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the CDC’s director of HIV/AIDS prevention. “But we are encouraging anyone in the LGBTQ+ community to be extra vigilant, because right now individuals in that community are at higher risk of contracting this.”

Due to a limited supply of vaccines and relatively low number of cases in Virginia, VDH is not currently recommending widespread vaccination against monkeypox. However, people who have been exposed or potentially exposed to the disease—or who have a high risk of exposure—should contact their medical provider to see if they can get vaccinated, which can prevent onset of the disease.

As monkeypox continues to spread across the country and world, everyone should “avoid skin-to-skin contact with rashes or people who have those rashes” to prevent themselves from contracting it, says Elliott. “Keep in mind whose linens we’re using, or if we’re trading shirts with people.”

Elliott also recommends discussing monkeypox with sex partners, and making sure they are not experiencing any symptoms, or have not come in recent contact with someone with symptoms.

Monkeypox is rarely fatal—since the global outbreak started in May, there have been five deaths from the disease. However, it can make immunocompromised people more susceptible to serious infections or illnesses, like pneumonia or sepsis. 

“Once vaccines do become more available, individuals at highest risk will hopefully take us up on getting those,” Elliott says.

Virginians seeking more information about monkeypox prevention, testing, and treatment can call the state health department’s monkeypox hotline (877-829-4682), or visit vdh.virginia.gov/monkeypox/.

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On hold

A now-deleted Instagram video shows an unnamed CPD officer putting Gonzalez in a headlock. File photo.

For more than two years, Charlottesville’s Police Civilian Oversight Board has been embroiled in internal disputes over its ordinance and procedures, preventing its appointed members from doing their main job—reviewing the Charlottesville Police Department’s internal investigations. Last Thursday, the board was scheduled to hold its long-awaited first hearing concerning the violent arrest of a man experiencing homelessness in 2020. However, the morning of the hearing, complainant Jeff Fogel, a local attorney, and the CPD agreed to an alternative dispute resolution, putting the hearing on hold until further notice.

During a pre-hearing conference held last Monday, Fogel stated he would be open to speaking with the department directly about the controversial case, which acting CPD chief Tito Durrette later agreed to, explained board executive director Hansel Aguilar during the now-postponed hearing. Hearing examiner Cecil Creasey, a private attorney and administrative hearing officer for the Virginia Supreme Court, will facilitate the informal resolution on or around July 28. If the parties do not reach an agreement, the case will return to the board for a hearing.

“I don’t frankly have a lot of confidence in the people holding power on the [COB],” says Fogel. “I think it would be better to solve it directly with the police department. … If it took two years to hold the [COB] hearing, God knows how long it’s going to take to make a decision.” 

Fogel believes the case at hand is an example of the unjust criminalization of people experiencing homelessness, particularly on the Downtown Mall. On July 8, 2020, someone called 911 after seeing 36-year-old Christopher Gonzalez lying down on the ground near CVS. A Charlottesville police officer soon arrived, followed by a rescue squad. Gonzalez admitted to drinking “a little bit” of alcohol, and said that he was homeless. Since Gonzalez declined a medical evaluation, the officer—whose name the department has refused to disclose to the public—dismissed the paramedics, but threatened to arrest Gonzalez unless he left the mall. Gonzalez replied that he wanted to “stay living” there, and refused to leave, according to the officer’s body camera footage.

“Then I’m going to take you to jail for drunk in public,” the officer responded.

“Well let’s go then,” Gonzalez replied. “I don’t see why I have to go.”

The officer tried to handcuff Gonzalez, but he pulled away and cursed at the officer. In response, the officer pinned Gonzalez to the ground, causing his body camera to fall off. A now-deleted Instagram video showed the officer putting Gonzalez in a headlock for nearly a minute, C-VILLE reported in 2020.

Gonzalez was charged with assault of a police officer—a felony—as well as misdemeanor public intoxication and obstruction of justice. He was held without bail for almost three weeks at the local jail, says Fogel. Those charges were later dismissed.

Due to the pandemic, “[the jail] wouldn’t let anybody out if they didn’t have housing, so a number of us got involved in getting him a place to stay,” says Fogel. “But there was no reason for him to spend that time in jail.”

After seeing the Instagram video, Fogel sent it to CPD’s internal affairs department, who then launched an investigation. In September 2020, the department exonerated the allegations of excessive force, and concluded that the allegations of bias-based policing were unfounded.

However, Fogel believes Gonzalez should have never been arrested or charged with a crime in the first place. He emphasizes that drunk people at downtown bars are not arrested for being intoxicated in public—but people experiencing homelessness are treated differently.

“According to the police department and the law, you can’t arrest somebody for [being] drunk in public, unless they are a danger to themselves and others,” says Fogel. “Let’s say he was a danger. … If you just do this off the Downtown Mall or anywhere else, it’s okay. We can’t have two laws—one on the Downtown Mall and one everywhere else. If he was a danger to himself or others, he shouldn’t have been allowed to go anywhere in the city.” 

During the alternative dispute resolution, Fogel wants the department to address these legal issues—in addition to the allegations of excessive force and biased policing—and provide clarity “on this question of why we treat people differently depending on whether they’re on the mall, or somewhere else in the city,” he says.

He also wants the department to publicly release a video of Gonzalez’s arrest that was taken by a woman standing at a nearby cafe. He says he was told by Lt. Michael Gore that the internal affairs department used this video to make its determination. 

If the case returns to the board for a hearing, Fogel believes members Bellamy Brown and Jeffrey Fracher would be biased against him. He claims Brown “berated” him over the phone once after Fogel criticized him during a COB meeting, and tried to convince one of his clients to fire him. 

“The last thing that Bellamy said was, ‘This ain’t the end of this,’” adds Fogel. “It’s obvious that he’s got a bunch of hostility towards me.”

In text message exchanges revealed through a Freedom of Information Act request by activist Ang Conn earlier this year, Brown and Fracher also expressed their disdain for local activists, as well as then-mayor Nikuyah Walker, former CPD chief RaShall Brackney, and COB members Bill Mendez and Nancy Carpenter.

In a letter to Aguilar and at the board’s pre-hearing conference, Fogel asked Brown and Fracher to recuse themselves from the hearing, accusing them of being hostile towards him. (Member Nancy Carpenter recused herself due to conversations she’s had with Fogel about the criminalization of homelessness, while new member Dashad Cooper recused himself due to his unfamiliarity with the board’s procedures.)

Brown did not publicly respond to Fogel, but Fracher adamantly denied the allegations during the conference.

“I don’t know the man, I’ve never spoken to him, I’ve never seen him face to face. In my 40 years as a forensic psychologist, I’ve been an expert witness in hundreds of trials, with lawyers I like [and] dislike—there was never a question of bias [or] my integrity,” said Fracher. “You need not worry about what you’ve imagined to be this conspiracy of bias against you—it doesn’t exist.”

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Kicked out

This month marks the end of most eviction protections in Virginia, says Moriah Wilkins of Legal Aid Justice Center. Supplied photo.

At the beginning of the year, Amy Glover fell behind on rent. After her boyfriend’s employer cut his hours due to the pandemic, he struggled to find another stable job, leaving the couple with just one income for a while. Glover informed the management team at her apartment complex, Spark Charlottesville, of their situation, and was told to apply to the Virginia Rent Relief Program. 

“We made it clear the entire time we just wanted to get down to a zero balance so we could re-sign our lease because our lease ran out in March,” explains Glover, who moved into Spark Charlottesville, then known as Granite Park, in Albemarle County in February 2021. “So it ran out during that time while we were waiting for the rental aid, [but] we were led to believe that that was fine.”

After weeks of waiting for rental relief, Glover reached out to Legal Aid Justice Center for assistance. In late March, she finally received a check from the VRRP, and paid the approximately $4,000 she owed in back rent. But the next week, she woke up to a notice on their door from the complex’s management, alerting her that they could not renew her lease, and that they needed her and her boyfriend to leave the apartment by May 1. 

“I was floored. During this entire process they never told me they probably would not let me renew. … It would have been nice to know,” she says. “I did so much work, and I tried so hard to even make that money come faster. I did everything right.”

Because Glover decided to fight the non-renewal of her lease in court and did not move out, SEMF Charleston LLC, the owners of Spark Charlottesville, filed an unlawful detainer against her on May 5. 

Glover’s situation is not unique—LAJC has taken on similar cases across Virginia, says Glover’s attorney Victoria Horrock. And with July marking the end of eviction protections in the state, housing advocates expect eviction cases to spike in the coming weeks. 

Until June 30, landlords were required under state law to give tenants who are behind on rent a written 14-day notice to pay what they owe before proceeding with an eviction, and were prohibited from evicting tenants who applied to the VRRP, unless they were not approved to receive relief within 45 days. Landlords who owned at least four units also had to offer a payment plan of up to six months for past-due rent.

Now, landlords only have to give tenants a five day pay-or-quit notice before filing an unlawful detainer, and do not need to offer a repayment plan or wait for rental relief to arrive. “There are not really any protections,” says Moriah Wilkins, LAJC’s Skadden Legal Fellow. “We weren’t able to secure those protections in the General Assembly like we hoped because of the political climate.”

Between May 1 and July 1, 68 residents in Charlottesville were served eviction notices. In Albemarle County, that number is 208, according to court data compiled by the Charlottesville Democratic Socialists of America’s Housing Justice Committee.

Since the VRRP stopped accepting new applications on May 15, “we have been seeing trends of people being taken to court for much higher dollar amounts in both the city and the county,” says Victoria McCullough of the committee.

Though Glover received VRRP funds before the state’s eviction protections expired, the non-renewal of her lease is an example of “covert eviction,” explains Wilkins. “In Virginia, you don’t have to provide a reason for non-renewal of a lease, so it just makes it easy for people to say, ‘Oh we’re not going to renew your lease because we don’t want to.’”

However, Horrock argues that Spark Charlottesville illegally discriminated against Glover based on her source of income—the VRRP funds—that she used to pay her rent. Thanks to new state housing laws that took effect in 2020, landlords are prohibited from discriminating against a tenant because of their source of funds. Renters can pay landlords using “any source that lawfully provides funds to or on behalf of a [renter], including any assistance, benefit, or subsidy program,” according to the Virginia housing code.

“[Spark Charlottesville] made it very clear that the real reason was that they just didn’t want to rent to people who had gotten the rental help because they couldn’t afford to live here anyways,” says Glover. “I know a lot of people that were pushed out of here.”

According to Albemarle General District Court records, Spark Charlottesville has filed 16 unlawful detainers against tenants this year. While four have been dismissed, the court has ruled in the landlord’s favor in three cases. Nine cases remain pending.

Spark Charlottesville could not be reached for comment on Glover’s case.

As she fights her eviction, Glover continues to live at Spark Charlottesville, and—since receiving the VRRP funds—has been paying her rent every month. She will have her final eviction hearing next month. If she wins her case, she will be allowed to continue to live in her apartment, and could be awarded monetary damages. If she loses, she will be forced to leave.

“This is a totally new issue in Virginia, [since] the law prohibiting this kind of discrimination is pretty new,” says Horrock. “We don’t know if we will win.”

Despite the current lack of eviction protections, rent relief is still available to local residents at risk of losing their homes. Charlottesville and Albemarle renters can apply to the Pathways Fund (833-524-2904) for assistance. The Financial Opportunity Center + Housing Hub—run by the Piedmont Housing Alliance—can also connect tenants in Charlottesville and surrounding counties with emergency financial aid, as well as provide them with employment assistance, financial coaching, housing navigation, and other critical resources. The Monticello Area Community Action Agency has housing resources available for residents in Fluvanna, Louisa, and Greene counties, too.

Wilkins urges those facing eviction to show up to their court dates, keep records of their correspondence with their landlord, and to contact LAJC for legal assistance. 

“Giving us a call [and] providing us with the facts or any documents you have can make a difference,” she says, “and might give you a shot of staying in your home.”

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Honoring the ancestors

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis were among the speakers at last week’s Juneteenth celebration at Monticello. Photo: Eze Amos.

Early Saturday morning, several hundred people gathered at Monticello to celebrate Juneteenth, including descendants of the over 400 Black people who were enslaved at the plantation during Thomas Jefferson’s lifetime. The free community event featured insightful and invigorating panel speakers—including renowned filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, and over a dozen others—as well as poetry, musical performances, and artwork, highlighting the importance of descendant stories and voices. 

“We know when it comes to American identity, when we’re thinking of African American stories, that they are essential,” said panelist Melody Barnes, executive director of the Karsh Institute of Democracy and chair of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. “The stories of descendants [tell] us who we are, what we have done, and they answer questions like ‘Who is an American citizen?’” 

Multiple speakers reflected on the months-long controversy surrounding Montpelier and its actions taken against descendant leadership. In March, the Montpelier Foundation board reversed its previous decision to give the Montpelier Descendants Committee the right to recommend at least half the board members, but—after facing significant public backlash—the board voted in 11 new members recommended by the committee in May. 

“[The board] lied, they cheated, and presumed that they could get away with the performative tokenizing,” said Michael Blakey, founding director of the Institute for Historical Biology and a professor at William & Mary. “[The MDC] continued to say no to that, and say yes to equality. This is a problem everywhere.” 

Speakers also stressed the importance of appointing descendants to positions of power, and enabling them to lead research and preservation efforts at historical sites, backed by ample financial support.

“The descendant community is based on descendants of people who were enslaved that can be traced, but it’s also about social descendants. People who are still in the area…[and] people who feel a spiritual connection to the place,” added genealogist Hannah Scruggs, who previously worked on the Descendants’ Project at Montpelier.  “The next part of the movement around descendants is to make the tent bigger… Family lines existed across plantation sites.”

After reading an original poem honoring her ancestors, former Freedom Rider and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee member Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely—a descendant of Sally Hemings’ sister, Mary Hemings Bell—discussed the strong link between arts and activism. During the civil rights movement, protesters often changed the lyrics of Black spirituals to activist chants, giving them more strength and courage, she explained.

Despite her accomplishments, DuVernay stressed that she is no different from the Black filmmakers who came before her who told hard truths.

“The idea of storytelling and truth and excavating that and figuring it out, how to do that work and how to see it and not to criticize someone else for the way they see the story—this is the work that we have to continue to do that can disrupt our notions of narrative,” said DuVernay, who directed films like Selma and 13th. “If you assert your perspective with authority, then that’s your truth… The descendant community is asserting their perspective with authority, that’s the key.”

On Friday, descendants also attended a private rededication of the Burial Ground for Enslaved People, which holds over 40 graves. The descendant-led restoration effort was completed this year, including more accessible pathways, new plants, additional seating, new signs, and dedicated parking for descendants.

During the rededication ceremony, descendant Kayelynn Craft Day-Lyons—Preacely’s granddaughter—felt drawn to the area by her ancestors, inspiring her to want to restore more of her ancestors’ graves. “I just felt so grateful [and] blessed to have been able to even experience this,” she said. 

Justin Reid, Virginia Humanities senior program officer, urged attendants to pass down their family history to the younger generation, while Niya Bates, former Monticello Getting Word project director, encouraged young people to share their family stories in innovative ways, like TikTok videos. 

Following the four-hour event, Preacely reflected on her ancestors who may have been activists too. 

“Did they try to recruit rebellion? Was that never talked about? Will we uncover that there was resistance that we never heard of?” she asked. 

Preacely hoped Juneteenth would continue to be an entry point for all people to honor Black history—and a “time of reconciliation, reempowerment, and education.” 

For descendant Gayle Jessup White, celebrating Juneteenth at Monticello was “a proud day of reflection and honor,” especially as the first descendant of Jefferson and the people he enslaved to work for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

“[We] raise our ancestors to the stature that they deserve, [and] recognize the work that they did—the sacrifice that they did, the effort that they put into getting free, holding it together while laboring with no reward, and laying down the foundation for us, their descendants, to rise and succeed,” she said.

“My descendants left here in bondage as slaves, and when I come here, I know that their sweat, tears, and spirits didn’t make it out of here,” added descendant Gregory Jefferson. “But I know that they didn’t do that in vain. Because [of] their work and sacrifice, I am living and breathing…I give honors and praise to them.” 

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Looking back

Ashley Reynolds Marshall’s first year as Charlottesville’s deputy city manager for racial equity, diversity, and inclusion has been an “amazing learning experience,” she says. Photo: Eze Amos.

For Ashley Reynolds Marshall, the past year has been a whirlwind. A few weeks after she became Charlottesville’s first deputy city manager for racial equity, diversity, and inclusion last May, the city removed its infamous Lee and Jackson monuments, and the Sacajawea, Lewis, and Clark statue. When former city manager Chip Boyles resigned in October—shortly after abruptly firing CPD chief RaShall Brackney—Marshall and Deputy City Manager for Operations Sam Sanders jointly filled the city manager role. And when previously appointed interim city manager Marc Woolley backed out one day before his November start date, Marshall and Sanders continued carrying out “enhanced duties” until City Council finally appointed interim City Manager Michael Rogers in January. 

Despite these challenges, Marshall’s first year on the job has been a “really amazing learning experience,” she says. “It’s been a lot, but in the most positive way possible.”

Since her hiring last year, Marshall has had a full plate—she oversees the city’s departments of human services, social services, human resources, human rights, IT, and communications, as well as the police department, Police Civilian Oversight Board, and Home to Hope program. Soon, she will also be in charge of the city’s new office of equity and inclusion, which will house Home to Hope, ADA services, and the Downtown Job Center.

In addition to addressing specific needs and concerns within these departments, Marshall has been working to dismantle systemic racism within the city government, specifically by offering critical anti-racism training to employees “so that we do not send people out who are doing harm,” she explains. This summer, 100 city employees—including Mayor Lloyd Snook and Councilor Brian Pinkston—will participate in a Racial Equity Institute session, which explains systemic racism in an accessible manner using data and stories. Marshall hopes to hold another session later this year, and open it up to community members.

“What I’ve really been excited about is figuring out ways to make equity not a check box or a task—but how to really weave it into the fabric of the organization,” she says. “My goal is that eventually it will not be something that we think about…[but] that we naturally consider in all of our decision making.”

For this fall, Marshall’s planned another workshop hosted by Equity in the Center. It’s called Awake to Woke to Work, and encourages participants to confront their own biases and make equity a part of their daily life.

“I didn’t have to push anybody to sign up for this. It was one email,” she says. “That, to me, says that this organization is ready to do better and be the best that it can be.”

Before coming to Charlottesville, Marshall worked with multiple nonprofits in her hometown of Roanoke, and served as a magistrate. She received a B.A. in psychology from Hollins University, an M.P.A. from Virginia Tech, and a J.D from William & Mary Law School. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech.

During those several months of performing city manager duties, support from community members and leaders like Shelby Edwards of the Public Housing Association of Residents and Harold Folley of The People’s Coalition was crucial. “Having individuals who really wanted the city to be the best it can be, despite the circumstances, really helped me to make sure I was providing the support to the departments in the way they needed—and the way the community needed,” she adds.

Putting an end to gun violence has been among Marshall’s top community priorities. She is proud of City Council’s financial support of the B.U.C.K. Squad and Peace in the Streets, both of which intervene in conflicts before they turn into deadly shootings. Under her leadership, the city has also increased its acknowledgment of gun violence—this month, the front of City Hall was lit up orange for Gun Violence Awareness Day, and City Council declared June 3 as Gun Violence Awareness Day in Charlottesville.

While the city has lagged on implementing the Marcus Alert system, which will allow behavioral health experts, instead of law enforcement, to respond to crises related to mental health, substance use, and developmental disabilities, Marshall is currently working with the Charlottesville-UVA-Albemarle County Emergency Communications Center to create a 9-8-8 number that will connect anyone who calls or texts with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. That effort should be complete by next month, in accordance with a national mandate.

“While we do not want to excuse all gun violence to mental health concerns, we do know that some of the gun violence does stem from [it],” she says. “Our mental health care system [needs] more access.” 

Marshall is optimistic about other efforts underway in the city, including the creation of emergency housing for people experiencing homelessness and the hiring of a new police chief. Of the latter, Marshall says she has encouraged community involvement in the hiring process and hopes the next chief will “really understand they’re coming to a unique community where they have the opportunity to be innovative—[and] not engage in business as usual,” she says.

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Slow progress

Rachel’s Haven, a 15-unit Belmont apartment complex that’s slated for construction in 2024, will house low-income individuals, adults with developmental disabilities, and people at risk of homelessness. Photo: City of Charlottesville.

After Charlottesville City Council voted to rezone Hinton Avenue United Methodist Church—the future site of Rachel’s Haven, a 15-unit apartment complex for low-income individuals, adults with developmental disabilities, and people at risk of homelessness—from residential to neighborhood commercial corridor in 2019, nearly three-dozen disgruntled residents filed a petition against the city, demanding a judge overturn the decision. The petitioners feared the property would eventually be sold and turned into a business, but they dropped the case in 2020, citing expensive legal costs and pandemic complications.

Since then, the project—named after the former church pastor’s wife Rachel Lewis, who died in 2016 from breast cancer—has been slowly moving forward. The church has partnered with the Piedmont Housing Alliance, which submitted a preliminary site plan to the city this spring, and hopes to secure funding from the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. However, some neighbors continue to voice concerns about the future affordable housing complex.

During a virtual site plan conference last week, Belmont resident Kimber Hawkey, one of the petition leaders, questioned the affordability of the units and on-site services available to disabled residents. 

“Is the anticipation that people with certain difficulties would be having live-in help or living with families?” asked Hawkey. “Just someone who wants cheap rent could move in as a roommate and perhaps not act in a way that would be beneficial to this person.”

PHA Real Estate Development Director Andy Miller explained that all of the units, a mix of one and two bedrooms, will be affordable for households making between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income, but those who make below that should have access to housing vouchers that cover the rent. Four units will be set aside for adults with developmental disabilities and people at risk of homelessness.

Disabled residents will have support services delivered through a contracted third party, like Region Ten, in addition to help from church members. They will also be assigned a case manager, who would ensure any live-in caretakers—who would be “circumstance dependent” but “aren’t’ typical” for these types of projects, said Miller—meet compliance requirements. 

Since 2019, the project’s design has undergone multiple changes in order to comply with LIHTC program requirements and cost constraints. Instead of renovating some of the church to build the units, the current design demolishes a part of it to make space for a three-story separate apartment building—one story higher than the first proposal—and a 28-space parking lot. 

Belmont resident Julia Williams expressed concern about church members using a lot of the neighborhood’s on-street parking, since the parking lot would be largely used by apartment residents. The developers responded that they identified around 82 on-street parking spots in the surrounding area—at full capacity, the church would potentially use 44. 

“Those 44 are definitely not available…so I’m seeing some pressure on the neighborhood streets,” said Williams. “I know what happens—it will eventually become permit parking if this really increases.”

“Most of us support the idea of this housing, but have concerns about its impact visually and architecturally, and also on pedestrian, bike, and traffic flow,” she added.

Rachel’s Haven vision team member Fred Schneider addressed residents’ concern that the church is shutting down, following Pastor Robert Lewis’ recent medical leave. Starting next month, the church congregation will worship with First United Methodist Church, while a transitional team explores next steps. 

Regardless of the church’s future, PHA, which owns the project, must make the units affordable for at least 30 years under the LIHTC program—and wants to permanently keep them that way. “We would have no intention of selling this project,” said Miller. 

While the exact timeline for Rachel’s Haven remains up in the air, PHA plans to apply for the LIHTC program next year. If the nonprofit is awarded the credits, it hopes to begin construction in 2024.

Within the next few weeks, Neighborhood Development Services will send a comment letter to PHA, which will then revise the preliminary site plan and submit a final one for approval. Community members can send comments to be included in the letter to principal city planner Brian Haluska at haluska@charlottesville.org.

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Making a difference

The nonprofit B.U.C.K. Squad is currently working to secure several grants in order to place 10 to 15 more violence interrupters in each of the city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods this summer. Supplied photo.

Following the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, gun violence spiked across Charlottesville, particularly in the city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods. There were four gun homicides in 2020—a notable uptick from the two homicides in 2019 and one in 2018. By the end of the year, the Charlottesville Police Department had responded to 122 shots-fired incidents. This rise in gun violence continued into 2021, with multiple shootings taking place in or near public housing communities. However, the year ended with zero homicides. 

The city has the B.U.C.K.—Brothers United to Cease the Killing—Squad to thank for this drop in gun-related deaths, says its Executive Director Herb Dickerson. Since last January, the nonprofit squad has intervened in conflicts, attempting to talk down clashing groups before they start shooting.

In 2021, Dickerson says the squad intervened in about 79 incidents. So far this year, that number has been 46.

“The whole thing is developing relationships within these communities, and letting folks know what you’re attempting to do to help [the] guys with these guns and selling drugs. There is another way,” says Dickerson. “Our personal experience and reputation proves that you can do different.”

In October, City Council donated $50,000 to the squad, which helped compensate its dozen members, as well as increase its patrols in predominantly Black neighborhoods. However, the $50,000 has now run dry, forcing the group to rely on private donations to stay afloat. 

“The $50,000 [was] a good start. We got the message out about what we’re doing, and people started supporting us,” says Dickerson. “You can’t get a person to go out in the streets at 2 o’clock in the morning for free—it just wouldn’t make sense to put their lives on the line.”

Councilor Michael Payne and then-mayor Nikuyah Walker voted against the $50,000 donation. Payne specifically cited concerns councilors had heard from the Public Housing Association of Residents and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. B.U.C.K. Squad founder Pertelle Gilmore severed all ties with the squad last June.

“The draw with the squad is that a lot of them are from the streets… Some of them deal with a lot of trauma, and just have personal issues,” squad board chair Kimberly Hayes told C-VILLE in October. “[Gilmore] and the squad came to an agreement that they thought it would be best that he deal with his issues.”

In response to these concerns, the squad created an accountability and grievance policy last year. It has also developed an “open relationship” with CRHA Director John Sales, says Dickerson.

“Some of the folks that were against us are family members of drug dealers,” claims Dickerson. “They don’t want us around because they’re benefiting from what these folks are doing.”

Under Dickerson’s leadership, the squad has continued to connect conflicting parties with the community resources they need, like mental health care and job opportunities, and continually follow up with them to make sure they do not turn back to violence. 

“When you get to know them, they don’t really want to shoot these guns anyway,” says Dickerson. “Most of them are just trying to drive attention to themselves,” especially those whose fathers are incarcerated. 

“They just don’t have no understanding of what life is really about, and how you can sustain your life,” he adds.

In addition to gun violence, the squad receives calls on its 24-hour hotline (365-4187) related to domestic violence, substance abuse, missing children, and other emergencies. 

But the squad has not had the capacity to intervene in and prevent every shooting in the city. In fact, last year, amid a nationwide upswing in gun violence, CPD responded to over 250 reported shots-fired incidents. This year, there have already been several shootings, including at Fry’s Spring Beach Club in March. Two men sustained non-life threatening injuries, and police collected more than 100 cartridge casings at the scene. (Two men have since been arrested in association with the crime.)

“This is not just isolated to First Street or West Haven,” says Dickerson. “Anybody can get killed.”

In Charlottesville and across the country, gun violence is only expected to rise over the summer.

“There’s longer days. People are drinking more, smoking marijuana more, using drugs more,” says Dickerson. “That’s the catalyst for gun violence.”

The nonprofit is currently working to secure several grants in order to hire 10 to 15 more violence interrupters, so it can place a team in each of the city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods this summer.

To tackle the root causes of gun violence, the squad also aims to expand its community programming. It plans to continue hosting youth events this summer, and will also work to prevent recidivism. In collaboration with Piedmont Virginia Community College, member Bryan Page recently developed a 12-week re-entry program that connects formerly incarcerated people with job training and mentorship. Around 4,500 people are scheduled to be released from Virginia prisons this summer. According to Virginia Department of Corrections’ figures, about 3,200 of those releases are due to a new state law expanding the earned sentence credit program—Dickerson expects over 100 to be returning home to Charlottesville.

“The first 72 hours are the most important hours of a person getting out of jail. That’s when he’s going to choose what direction he’s going to go in,” says Dickerson. “A lot of these guys are going to be re-incarcerated…if they don’t have certain avenues they can travel to get their life together.”

With additional funding, the organization plans to offer mental health services, career development, financial planning, grief counseling, vocational training, and other critical programs, as well as establish a permanent physical headquarters—including mediation centers and wraparound services—in the near future.

To learn more about or donate to the B.U.C.K. Squad, visit bucksquad911.org.

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Union bagels

The majority of employees at Bodo’s on the Corner have signed union authorization cards, and requested voluntary recognition of the union. Photo: Eze Amos.

Holding colorful homemade signs and pictures of bagels, Bodo’s employees—joined by several dozen community members—gathered on the Corner last week, urging the restaurant to allow its staff to unionize. A majority of the workers at the shop’s Corner location have presented signed union cards to management in an effort to improve wages, benefits, and overall working conditions. 

“We are doing this not because we dislike Bodo’s—but because we want to improve it. In the three-plus years that I’ve been here, the starting wage has never been at or above a living wage,” said employee Malcolm Augat during the rally. “[Bodo’s] needs to make sure that it has workers from the city, who can afford to live in the city.”

“I know people who haven’t gotten a raise in a year and a half—I got one last month and in January. I’ve been here eight months,” added employee William Wagoner.

Employee Kieran Williams called for an end to the alleged sexual misconduct at Bodo’s. He claimed that a former female worker touched his crotch twice during their first shift together last year. Though he says he immediately reported the incident to management, he had to work with her for nearly three more months, until she was fired for not showing up to work.

“I know countless other people who have quit because they’ve had negative interactions with other co-workers, including other cases of sexual harassment…and [whose] harassers are still employed by Bodo’s,” he added.

Charlottesville City Councilors Michael Payne and Sena Magill, along with 57th District Delegate Sally Hudson, also voiced their support of the Bodo’s union, and encouraged more service workers across the city to unionize.

However, not all Bodo’s employees are on board with the union effort. Six of the Corner Bodo’s 14 employees have not signed union cards yet. One Bodo’s worker silently protested throughout last week’s rally, holding up a brown cardboard sign saying, “8+ year Bodo’s employee AGAINST the union.”

Since requesting voluntary recognition of the union—which would become a part of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400—last week, pro-union employees claim they have also received negative reactions from Bodo’s managers, as well as co-owners Scott Smith and John Kokola. Wagoner and Williams, who have been working to unionize the Corner Bodo’s for about half a year, accuse management of refusing to meet with union members, and making it “harassment” to ask people to join the union. One owner also came into the Corner location last week, and made employees “feel uncomfortable,” alleges Williams.

Following the union rally, Kokola and Smith posted a message to employees at a different Bodo’s location, encouraging them to weigh “the pros and cons” of unionizing.

“We strongly suspect that there would be more negatives than positives associated with a union at Bodo’s,” read the letter, shared with C-VILLE by an anonymous employee. “A union [would] demand the kind of mediated management that would disrupt our efforts to operate with the judgment and humanity that permit situational context. A management staff contractually stripped of such autonomy…must resort to the kind of ‘three strikes and you’re out’ rule-book foolishness that makes so many other workplaces feel thoughtlessly rigid, disconnected, or even stupid.”

In an email to C-VILLE, however, Scott emphasized that he and Kokola support employees’ rights to choose to be represented by a union or not, and have not prohibited them from discussing unionizing at work—but cannot meet with union representatives until the process is complete. He also touted the wages and benefits Bodo’s employees already receive.

“The average pay for staff at the Corner currently sits at $17.00,” Scott wrote. “We also pay 2/3 of the [health care] premium for employees working 30 or more hours…and provide 6 paid holidays per year and an escalating one to two weeks of yearly vacation pay for full time staff.” 

According to the MIT Living Wage calculator, a living wage for an adult (with no children) in Charlottesville is at least $18.59 an hour.

As for Williams’ accusations, Smith says management did speak with that former employee about inappropriate touching and believed the situation had been resolved to Williams’ satisfaction. Bodo’s has a policy prohibiting sexual harassment.

Last week, Bodo’s owners also posted this message to employees at one of the restaurant’s non-Corner locations, detailing the anti-harassment policy.

The second time Williams reported being touched by the employee to the manager, Williams “was very suspicious that this brush by ‘accident’ was actually intended, [but] stopped short of describing it as clearly intentional,” explained Smith in an email. “[The manager] agreed that he would talk with her to investigate it further, but he [believes] that she was then fired for being a no-call, no-show before he could sit down with her.”

“I absolutely did say–and even point to—where she touched me. The fact that it happened twice in quick succession tells me it wasn’t accidental,” said Williams in a statement to C-VILLE. “The fact that my experience is far from isolated remains. Because the few that do come forward see little to no consequences for their offenders, many feel as though coming forward would not be worthwhile.”

“Without clear guidelines for [managers] to follow, the process for dealing with harassment feels ad hoc and sporadically enforced. This is why we believe a union would be beneficial to our workplace,” he added.

If Bodo’s owners refuse to voluntarily recognize the union, the Corner employees will have the opportunity to vote in a union election. If the majority vote in favor of the union, they can then start negotiating a contract.

“Our responsibility here is to ensure that all employees have that opportunity to express their choice with a vote, and to continue to support them whatever the outcome might be,” says Scott.

If the Corner Bodo’s does vote to unionize, it will not affect the restaurant’s Preston Avenue and Emmett Street locations. However, Williams says union organizers have already started talking to employees there, and are “absolutely willing to help” them unionize, too.

And despite the pushback they say they have received from management, the pro-union employees do not want the community to boycott the restaurant. Instead, they ask union supporters to come to the Corner location wearing a red article of clothing on Wednesdays.

“We would encourage you to reach out to the owners and have them do the right thing,” tweeted the Bodo’s union account last week. “You can also voice your support of the union to Bodo’s workers when you order your favorite bagel!”

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No relief

The Legal Aid Justice Center doesn’t have enough funding to guarantee a lawyer for every area resident facing eviction, but it has recently hired more attorneys, which means it can represent more tenants. Staff photo.

Since the Supreme Court ended the national eviction moratorium in August, many Virginians have been able to stay in their homes thanks to the state’s rent relief program. But on May 15, the program will stop accepting new applications due to dwindling funds, leaving struggling renters with few other assistance options. 

Once the program ends, Charlottesville and Albemarle residents facing eviction can still apply to the Pathways Fund (833-524-2904), which is prioritizing tenants who owe less than $1,000 in back rent. And across the state, residents in need of rent relief—among other types of assistance—should call 211 to see what local resources are available to them.

However, many community assistance programs have run out of funding over the past two years, explains Lydia Brunk, co-chair of Charlottesville Democratic Socialists of America’s Housing Justice Committee, which connects local residents facing eviction with resources. The state’s program has been the sole source of relief for many tenants behind on rent.

“There are definitely community organizations doing good work, but they can’t be expected to fill in the big giant hole that’s going to be left by an entire statewide-funded eviction prevention program,” says Brunk. “It’s simply not reasonable for the state to pull back this huge social funding, and then for the community to try and patch up the holes.”

With limited rent relief available, housing advocates predict a spike in evictions in the coming weeks. Over the past few months, evictions have already been on the rise—since February 28, there have been 77 eviction hearings in Charlottesville and 260 in Albemarle County, according to court data collected by Charlottesville DSA. During the week of April 11, the two localities had over 85 hearings combined.

The Legal Aid Justice Center urges anyone who receives an eviction notice to show up to their court date.

“There have been property managers and landlords telling people [not to go], and that’s the easiest way to automatically lose your case,” says Moriah Wilkins, LAJC’s Skadden Legal Fellow.

“The number-one thing you can do to advocate for yourself is just be present,” adds Victoria McCullough, co-chair of DSA’s housing justice committee. “That will give you some time between the first court date and whatever else happens next to shore up some support, and we can try to help you with that.” 

Additionally, tenants at risk of losing their homes should keep records of correspondence they’ve had with their landlord. Through June 30, all landlords are required under state law to give tenants who are behind on rent a written 14-day notice to pay what they owe, including information about the 211 assistance line and—until it ends—the Virginia Rent Relief Program, before proceeding with an eviction. Those who own four units must also offer a payment plan of up to six months for past-due rent. And before May 15, landlords are required to apply to the VRRP on the tenant’s behalf during the 14-day notice period, if the tenant has not already applied or agreed to a payment plan. 

“If there are any legal errors in the notice given to you by your landlord, you may be able to prevent or delay your eviction,” says Wilkins.

Until June 30, landlords will still be prohibited from evicting tenants who’ve applied to the VRRP, unless they are not approved to receive relief within 45 days, are found ineligible, or the program runs out of funding.

Local residents facing eviction can contact the LAJC for legal assistance, including help filling out their VRRP application. In July, Charlottesville City Council allocated $300,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to the nonprofit to create an eviction prevention pilot program. With legal representation, tenants facing eviction are far more likely to remain in their homes—yet few can afford a lawyer. Meanwhile, a majority of landlords have attorneys with them in court.

LAJC is also currently in the process of finalizing a $200,000 contract with Albemarle County for eviction prevention. Though LAJC has not received enough funding to guarantee a lawyer for every local resident facing eviction, it has been able to hire additional attorneys since last summer, enabling it to represent more tenants.

More funding from the city may be on the way. “This budget cycle we also voted to allocate $1 million to boost our rent and mortgage relief programs, [but] additional money could potentially be added to support emergency rent relief/eviction prevention when the second tranche of our American Rescue Plan Act money becomes available,” Councilor Michael Payne told C-VILLE in an email. “We haven’t yet had any formal discussions about how to fully allocate that money.”

According to Wilkins, LAJC is prioritizing local residents with unlawful detainers, especially those with housing subsidies. Even if the nonprofit’s lawyers are unable to take on a tenant’s case, they give them free advice on what to do on their court date. 

“We tell people to ask for a hearing. This is when you will have the opportunity to argue your case, and stay in your home,” says Wilkins. “And if you have applied to rent relief prior to May 15, let the judge know—that can be another protection.”

In the meantime, housing advocates encourage struggling tenants to apply to the VRRP as soon as possible—applicants often endure lengthy wait times. Households that make less than half their area’s median income, or with one or more people who have been unemployed for at least 90 days, are being prioritized until the application deadline.