Tag: bob fenwick

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EPIC forum: When candidates and townspeople meet

Bob Fenwick, Heather Hill and Amy Laufer seek the Democratic nomination for two open seats on City Council in the June 13 primary. Courtesy Subjects

New group Equity and Progress in Charlottesville hopes to piggyback on the progressivism sparked by Bernie Sanders’ campaign last year, while elbowing aside the ruling Democratic party’s stranglehold on local government. EPIC is holding forums to ferret out candidates in local races most closely aligned with its goals of adding affordable housing, and stanching gentrification and racial inequity.

A May 9 forum at The Haven brought the three Democratic candidates seeking nominations for two open seats on City Council in the upcoming June 13 primary, as well as more than 60 citizens.

Incumbent Bob Fenwick, who often finds himself on the losing end of 4-1 council votes, asserted at the outset, “I’m a progressive Democrat.”

Fenwick likes the word “robust,” and used that in response to a question about a living wage to describe the charitable allocations slashed the previous year that he asked City Manager Maurice Jones to put into this year’s “people’s budget.” Says Fenwick, “To an amazing extent, it was robust.”

For candidate Heather Hill, an industrial engineer and mom who is president of the North Downtown Residents Association, issues such as a $15 minimum wage or racial inequity need to be addressed “holistically.” She also noted a couple of times that she was “energized” and is covering the city door-to-door.

And School Board member Amy Laufer’s mantra, repeated about five times: “If you work here, you should be able to afford to live here.”

Moderator Karen Waters Wicks asked the candidates to commit to EPIC goals of adding 1,000 units of affordable housing and a $15 minimum wage but, better yet, a $17.50 living wage. The candidates all replied with concern about affordability, while refraining from pledges.

“I’ve heard loud and clear that this is a top priority,” said Hill on affordable housing. “I don’t want to promise something I’m not sure I can accomplish in my tenure on council.”

“If you work in the city, you should be able to live here,” said Laufer.

“I think the county can do a lot more to help the city,” said Fenwick, who also advocates fixing up houses in the city.

One issue the candidates seemed to feel was more manageable was parking. Fenwick segued during a living wage question—he favors an incremental approach —to the parking meters planned for downtown. “I don’t know anyone who’s said to me, ‘Why don’t we try parking meters again?’” he said.

For Hill, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed holistically. “The analytical side of me is eager to dive in,” she said, while noting that she’d taken CAT and the bus was 30 minutes late. “It’s not a reliable way to get to work.”

From the audience, Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy asked the candidates if they support the local Black Lives Matter chapter.

Laufer noted that she’d worked with Bellamy on the Charlottesville Alliance for Black Male Achievement. “I definitely support success for all people,” she said.

Hill once again touted a “holistic approach” that included child care, job training and support of the vulnerable.

“Do you support our local Black Lives Matter?” asked Bellamy again, while Showing Up for Racial Justice member Joe Starsia interjected: “We’re trying to get you to say ‘black lives matter.’”

The three candidates voiced their support in response to Starsia.

EPIC will hold a forum for five independent candidates—Nancy Carpenter, Kenneth Jackson, Paul Long, Nikuyah Walker and Dale Woodson—Wednesday, May 17 at 6pm at The Haven.

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Insurance denied: City footing Lee statue, parking garage legal bills

Water Street Parking Garage

Since 2016, Charlottesville has faced a larger-than-usual number of high-profile lawsuits, and in at least two cases, its insurance carrier won’t be picking up the tab. And while the carrier hasn’t seen the most recent suit, filed by Albemarle County over the Ragged Mountain Natural Area April 20, that litigation could join the Lee statue coverage denial as a “willful violation” of state law.

The city’s insurer, the Virginia Municipal League, covered Joe Draego’s federal lawsuit after he was dragged out of City Council for calling Muslims “monstrous maniacs,” and a judge ruled the city’s public comment policy banning group defamation was unconstitutional.

But VML is not covering the lawsuit filed against the city for its 3-2 vote to remove the statue of General Robert E. Lee, nor is it covering Mark Brown’s Charlottesville Parking Center litigation against the city, which heads to mediation May 31.

In that case, the city is paying Richmond LeClairRyan attorney Tom Wolf $425 an hour. At press time, City Attorney Craig Brown was unable to come up with costs of that suit, but a year ago, as of April 30, 2016, before the city had gone to court on Brown’s emergency receivership petition, it had spent $11,593.

Craig Brown says the suits on the statue, parking garage and the dispute with Albemarle have “all generated a large amount of public interest, whereas someone tripping on a sidewalk doesn’t.”

“It’s unusual to be involved in as much high-profile litigation as it is now,” agrees former mayor and CPC general manager Dave Norris.

“There’s only a certain amount of appetite taxpayers have to paying high-priced lawyers,” he says.

The litigation with Albemarle stems from the city’s December 19 vote to allow biking at Ragged Mountain, which is located in the county, despite county regulations that prohibit biking at the reservoir. Before the vote, Liz Palmer, then chair of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, sent a December 15 letter to City Council asking it to defer action and citing state code that prohibits a landowner locality from adopting regulations in conflict with the jurisdiction where the property is located.

And while the city held a year’s worth of public meetings about uses at Ragged Mountain, conspicuously absent from that process was the county. “We were not involved in that,” says Board of Supervisors chair Diantha McKeel. “It’s unfortunate it got as far as it did without recognizing that.”

McKeel stresses that the city and county are not at odds on most issues, but says, “Both of our localities have agreed this is a legal question that has to be settled in the courts.”

After the City Council voted April 3 to adopt a new trails plan that would allow biking, the city offered binding arbitration, “precisely because we wanted to resolve the underlying legal issues without having to go to court,” says Mayor Mike Signer.

That was an offer the county declined. “The question goes back to state code,” says McKeel. “We can’t mediate our way out of that.”

Attorney Buddy Weber, a plaintiff in the Lee statue suit, sees a pattern with the city’s decision to proceed at Ragged Mountain over the county’s objections—and state statutes. “What you really have to ask is where they’re getting their legal advice,” he says. “Are they doing this to invite litigation?”

An injunction hearing is scheduled for May 2 to halt the city from moving the statue—or selling it, as council voted to do April 17. “We thought it was reckless for them to do what they did to remove the statue,” says Weber.  “Selling it falls in line with that. That’s why we need an injunction.”

But when Councilor Bob Fenwick changed his vote to remove the statue February 6, he said it was an issue that would have to be decided by the courts.

For activist Walt Heinecke, that fight embodies the city’s values on the Civil War statue, and he also applauds council’s funding of $10,000 to Legal Aid Justice Center to support immigrants. “I do think it’s important,” he says.

Other legal battles, like the city’s defense of its 2011 panhandling ordinance or the Draego lawsuit, “seem like a complete waste of money,” he says. Heinecke hasn’t followed the Ragged Mountain debate, but says, “It certainly seems there would be better ways to work this through rather than bull-dogging it.”

Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy, who had his own day in court recently to fend off a petition to remove him from office, says when he was campaigning, he frequently heard comments that prior councils were “paralyzed” and that citizens wanted City Council to make decisions.

“This council is committed to making a difference and to making bold choices,” he says. “We’re not going to be paralyzed.”

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In brief: Craftivism, kids gone wild and more

The Yard food hall concept planned for 5th Street Station is modeled after Krog Street Market in Atlanta. Rendering courtesy of Candice McEyea

Feed lot

Earlier this month, we reported in our Small Bites column about a new food hall concept opening at 5th Street Station. Now we have the rendering to prove it.

The Yard, modeled after the Krog Street Market in Atlanta, will be a 10,000-square-foot mixed-use space next to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema with five or six restaurants, ranging from 2,000 to 6,000 square feet each, according to Candice McElyea, a spokesperson for the shopping center. It’ll have fire pits (oooh) and string lights (aaah) and will include plenty of indoor and outdoor seating for people wanting to meet for a drink or share a meal. Oh, and free Wi-Fi for our friends working on a tight deadline, or those who simply prefer the company of a laptop.

Come late summer, we’ll see you there.

In brief

Men overboard

Coach Tony Bennett takes his Cavs to Elite Eight. Photo: Jack Looney
Photo Jack Looney

Three Cavaliers jumped Tony Bennett’s basketball ship March 22 and 23. Junior Darius Thompson joined transferring teammates Marial Shayok and Jarred Reuter in heading elsewhere. A fourth Hoo, Austin Nichols, was kicked off the team last fall and is declaring for the NBA draft.

Traffic fatality

Bonnie L. Carter, 47, of Esmont, died in a single vehicle crash on Plank Road near Secretary Sand Road around 12:30pm March 28, Albemarle’s second fatal crash this year. She was driving a 2007 Kia Sportage westbound when she ran off the right side of the road and hit a tree. The crash is still under investigation, county police say.

Kids behaving badly

After a local juvenile shooting and police chase March 16, another 16- and 17-year-old boy from Albemarle County and Troy, respectively, were charged in a March 26 home invasion at the University Forum apartments on Ivy Road. The victim sustained minor injuries.

“It was all for love.”

—Jay Obergefell, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that upheld marriage as a fundamental right, at the Virginia Festival of the Book March 24

Fenwick in

fenwick reelection
Staff photo

Bob Fenwick said he’ll seek a second term on City Council and the Democratic primary nomination. Fenwick, often on the solo end of 4-1 votes, broke a tie and voted to remove the Robert E. Lee statue. He faces challengers Amy Laufer and Heather Hill for the Dem nomination. Mayor Mike Signer attended the announcement, but declined to say whom he’s backing.

Word of the week

resist
Staff photo

Craftivism. First came the pussy hats, now scarves urging “resist” are being spotted around town.

 

 

Alt-right vocabulary lesson

State GOP chair John Whitbeck chastised Trump loyalist/gubernatorial candidate Corey Stewart for calling opponent Ed Gillespie a “cucksurvative.” The term “cuck,” we learn from GQ, comes from porn in which a white husband watches his wife have sex with a black man. It’s a term “used by white nationalists,” Whitbeck told the Washington Post. Stewart says he was just trying to use hip young conservative lingo.

By the numbers

Grounds swell

rotunda
Photo Karen Blaha

Woohoo to the Wahoo class of 2021. Nearly 10,000 prospective first-years were offered a spot at the University of Virginia for the upcoming fall semester from a record number of applicants.

2017 Applicants: 36,807

Offers: 9,957

Likely to be here in the fall: 3,725

Average SAT: 1416

Average in 2016: 1346

Ethnic minority: About 35 percent

First-generation college students: 1,000

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Now what? City Council votes to remove Lee statue

Supporters on both sides of the Lee statue issue packed City Council chambers, but councilors on the remove side prevailed. Eze Amos

Last month’s City Council vote on a motion to remove the statue of General Robert E. Lee deadlocked 2-2 and left the chamber in disarray for 30 minutes. The issue was back on the agenda February 6 after Councilor Bob Fenwick announced he was changing his abstention to a vote to remove the statue, and council voted 3-2 to pack up Lee.

The question remains: Can City Council actually remove the statue in the face of state statutes, a promised lawsuit and the terms of Lee Park donor Paul Goodloe McIntire’s will?

Councilors acknowledged that the vote could be symbolic, and Fenwick said he’d welcome a lawsuit because it was an issue facing localities throughout Virginia. “For the sake of the state, it should be litigated as soon as possible,” he said.

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Swing-voter Bob Fenwick said Lee statue supporters tried to “intimidate and destroy” fellow councilor Wes Bellamy and that racism was a factor in the controversy. Photo Eze Amos

Attorney Lewis Martin says a lawsuit is imminent, and while he won’t be filing it, three other attorneys—Colt Puryear from Madison, Ralph Main and Elliott Harding—will be doing so within days.

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Councilor Kristin Szakos made the motion to remove the Lee statue. Photo Eze Amos

Fenwick joined councilors Wes Bellamy and Kristin Szakos in the vote to remove Lee. Mayor Mike Signer and Kathy Galvin opposed the removal and favored recontextualization.

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Councilor Kathy Galvin moved to implement the other Blue Ribbon Commission recommendations, including renaming Jackson Park. Photo Eze Amos

The councilors were unanimous on a motion to rename Lee Park, and Galvin proposed a resolution to implement the other recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission and develop a master plan to do so, with a budget of up to $1 million. She pointed out those measures could occur before the Lee statue removal, which could be tied up in litigation for years. Councilors also approved that measure 5-0.

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Photo Eze Amos

The chamber was packed with attendees holding up signs—“remove the statue” or “save history”—and Signer seemed determined to avoid the chaos of the last council meeting. He requested “civility and decorum” and introduced two Charlottesville police officers, and said the rules would be “strictly enforced.”

thumbsUp-amos
Roman hand signals were encouraged, shouting was not. Photo Eze Amos

Signer also suggested attendees show their support with a raised hand and their disapproval with a thumbs down.

One woman’s extended coughing jag during Signer’s comments on the upcoming vote had him pause. He commended her attempt at “civil disobedience,” but warned she’d be removed if it continued.

johnHeyden-amos
John Heyden is booted from the meeting for an outburst during Wes Bellamy’s remarks. Photo Eze Amos

Two people were taken out during Bellamy’s remarks, including council regular John Heyden. “When Wes Bellamy was reading off his wish list of what I consider racist equity demands because they benefit one race over the other, I said, ‘That’s racist,’” said Heyden the next day.

Councilors expressed their struggles with making a decision on the symbol so closely tied to slavery. Szakos cited her Christianity, which “helps inform the way I approach issues, particularly with ethical and moral components,” and favored removal because of the “harm” the statue inflicts on “our neighbors.”

Galvin, too, was “moved by the Beatitudes” in her “stressful and very difficult” decision that the statue should remain.

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Let’s guess: A Lee statue supporter? Photo Eze Amos

And Bellamy took a love-thy-neighbor stance, and said it was okay to disagree on this issue. To the statue supporters, he said, “You are not my enemy,” but added, “We will not be bullied, we will not be pushed away.”

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Elkton resident Teresa Lam has shown a keen interest in keeping the Lee statue, and has appealed to City Council before. Photo Eze Amos

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Fenwick says he’ll vote to remove statue

Councilor Bob Fenwick advises Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy that he's about announce that he'll vote to remove the statue of General Robert E. Lee. staff photo

In his second press conference of the week, Councilor Bob Fenwick, who abstained during the heated City Council 2-2 vote to remove Confederate statues last week, said today he’ll vote to move the statue of General Robert E. Lee at the next meeting February 6.

“Immediately upon the vote being recorded, I will make a separate motion to request an advisory opinion from the Virginia attorney general as to any legal difficulties we should anticipate,” he said. Fenwick wants council to acknowledge this matter as a priority for City Manager Maurice Jones and city staff, and to “clear the decks” of any nonessential tasks, he said.

At the January 17 meeting, Fenwick linked budget considerations to his abstention on the statue vote, calling for an investment in citizens for projects such as opening community centers for longer hours and building a field house at Tonsler Park. He also took shots at the $1.5 million skate park that’s now out to bid, and the $1 million the city has spent on consultants for West Main Street, while slicing nonprofit support for organizations like Legal Aid Justice Center.

Last year, 13.5 percent was cut out of the budget for nonprofits that help the “people who could least afford it,” he said.

Fenwick called a press conference January 24 and stressed those same issues, encouraging a budget that put people first.

Apparently he got what he was looking for as far as support from fellow councilors at a budget work session that evening. He said, “A majority of the City Council supported several important initiatives” that in the past had not been funded.

“This support indicates a firm commitment to rebalancing the city budget in a way that acknowledges the importance of investing in community and individuals,” he said.

Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy was unaware of Fenwick’s press conference until he walked by assembled reporters in City Space. “I want to know, too,” he says. After Fenwick’s surprise announcement of his change of heart, Bellamy, one of the two votes to move the statues, declined to comment.

Councilor Kristin Szakos had joined Bellamy last March in calling for the removal of the statues of generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and renaming the parks where they resided.

Fenwick noted a change in public sentiment over the course of the past year. Early on, the majority of people, both black and white, wanted to keep the statues, he said.

City staff estimated it would cost $330,000 to remove the Lee statue and $370,000 for Jackson. When people found out that it would expensive to move them, he said, there was a shift toward putting the money to better use.

But over the past month, he said, he noticed another change and told a friend, “The days of the statue are numbered.”

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces recommended leaving the statue of Jackson at Court Square because his is a less dominant figure than Lee’s, Szakos pointed out at the January 17 meeting before she made a motion to remove the Lee statue. She did not immediately return a call from C-VILLE.

Mayor Mike Signer and Councilor Kathy Galvin voted to keep the statues and contextualize them. Galvin said it was “morally wrong to scrub” history of symbols from the slave, Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.

With Fenwick’s latest shift, says Galvin in an e-mail, “I’m left wondering what price councilors Bellamy and Szakos paid for Councilor Fenwick’s ‘yes’ vote.”

In an e-mail, Signer says, “I expect that much of Charlottesville is experiencing whiplash after Councilor Fenwick’s press event. In light of his remarks, it looks like we will again discuss the statues at an upcoming council meeting. I haven’t heard directly from Councilor Fenwick or my colleagues yet about upcoming agendas so can’t be more specific right now.”

Whether a 3-2 vote to remove the statues will be enough to actually relocate them remains to be seen. Virginia has statutes that prohibit the removal of war memorials, hence Fenwick’s request for an opinion from the attorney general.

And Confederate heritage groups have threatened to sue should Charlottesville try to remove the heroes of the Lost Cause. At the council meeting Szakos acknowledged the city was likely to face a lawsuit, but said councilors shouldn’t let that prevent a vote to move the statue.

Updated January 27 with Galvin’s comment.

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Council chaos: Audience erupts over Confederate statue vote

City Councilor Bob Fenwick’s abstention during the 2-2 vote on removing Confederate statues deadlocked council and resulted in the statues remaining. At a press conference January 23, Fenwick pressed some criticisms he made of city spending during the statue debate. staff photo

Charlottesville’s confrontation with its slave-owning past has resulted in difficult discussions since Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy and Councilor Kristin Szakos called for the removal last March of statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and the renaming of the parks where they reside.

At City Council’s January 17 meeting, the debate spiraled out of control when enraged citizens, many carrying signs calling for the statues’ removal, shouted and refused to come to order for approximately 30 minutes after councilors voted 2-2 on a motion to remove the statues, with Councilor Bob Fenwick abstaining.

“Shame on you, Bob!” yelled an attendee.

All of the councilors made statements before several votes were taken, each abhorring slavery and its legacy.

“At its core, this discussion is about racism,” said Fenwick, who urged investing funds into the citizenry rather than in removing the statues.

Bellamy, the only African-American on council, quoted Martin Luther King Jr. about the danger of “the white moderates” who say they agree on an issue but want to wait until a more convenient time to take action.

He referred to Charlottesville as a “beautiful but ugly city,” a term used during the funeral service two weeks ago of former vice-mayor Holly Edwards. The phrase was repeated during public comment by activist attorney Jeff Fogel, and earlier that day at a press conference for a new political group, Equity and Progress in Charlottesville.

And Bellamy also noted his first-hand experience with the hatred and racial divide exposed since his call in March to remove the statues. “I have received death threats,” said Bellamy. He said he’s had phone calls that mentioned his daughters by name, stuffed monkeys and bananas thrown on his property and a stalker trying to intimidate him.

Szakos called for an immediate vote because of the “concentrated hate campaign” against Bellamy. “I believe we need to make a decision quickly on these two matters because until we do, we will continue to attract unwanted interference from the Confederate heritage groups and white supremacy activists around the country, many of whom have no stake in our local decision.”

Councilor Kathy Galvin spoke of the “moral dilemma” of removing Jim Crow-era statues, and said she believed it was “morally wrong” to scrub historic symbols of slavery, Reconstruction and segregation.

Mayor Mike Signer called slavery “the great shame of this nation,” but said he would not vote to remove the statues because of the recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Commission, whose creation he had instigated, and because of the lack of consensus in the community.

After the first tied vote on Szakos’ motion to remove the statues, the chamber erupted and Signer suspended the meeting for five minutes to try to get it back under control.

John Heyden is a regular City Council public commenter who often has contentious exchanges with Szakos and Bellamy, and he says he’s seen such chaos before. “It strikes me that one faction of people is allowed to break the rules and other factions are shut down immediately.”

Attendee Mason Pickett says he was body slammed during one of the breaks. “The remove-the-statue people showed themselves to be immature bullies when they didn’t get what they wanted at the City Council meeting,” he says.

“I was cruelly disappointed by the fact that we could not move past the status quo,” said Signer after the meeting. That doesn’t mean the city can’t implement some of the other commission recommendations, such as renaming Lee and Jackson parks.

Three votes are necessary to put the issue back on the agenda, he says. “I don’t know whether there’s an appetite for my colleagues to revisit the pain and chaos.”

However, Szakos, Fenwick and Bellamy all say they expect the issue to come before council again. “We’re not done yet,” says Szakos, who made three motions to remove the statues. “We asked this commission of citizens to spend six months of their lives under public scrutiny and abuse, and their strongest recommendation was to remove the statues.”

“We can’t ignore it,” says Fenwick. “We have to deal with it.”

While many denounced his decision to abstain at the meeting, Fenwick says he’s had different reactions following it. “People are coming up to me on the street and agreeing with me,” he says.

He says he was caught in the middle between two sides locked in their decisions, and he’d thought there would be a proposal for compromise.

Fenwick seemed to have his own agenda at the meeting as far as city spending, and at a press conference January 22, he reiterated some of those points, criticizing the $1 million spent on West Main consultants and the hundreds of thousands spent on parking or lighting studies, while councilors slashed funding for the Legal Aid Justice Center. He said he’d like to ax the $1.5 million skate park that went out for bid in December and build a field house at Tonsler Park and keep community centers open all day.

He called the City Council meeting chaotic. “That was the worst I’ve seen,” he says.

Signer, who implemented controversial rules for conducting City Council meetings when he took office a year ago, said the out-of-control scene January 17 “was one of the greatest challenges I’ve had in public life, trying to navigate the emotions on an issue that truly divides us.”

Signer says he made a decision not to eject anyone from the meeting “given the climate” and the “emotions,” but in the future, outbursts from the floor “can’t be allowed to prevent us from doing the people’s work.”

However, Bellamy says he’s seen other council meetings “get hectic,” and that there’s a history of the city saying it wanted to hear from people—and then ignoring them. “People feel passionate about these topics,” he says. “I definitely empathize and I understand it.”

Says Bellamy, “That City Council meeting draws a strong parallel with the Women’s March in Washington, and the voices saying, ‘Hear me, hear me, hear me.’”

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Szakos won’t seek third term on City Council

Councilor Kristin Szakos is out after her term ends at the end of this year, while Bob Fenwick isn’t ready to say whether he’ll seek re-election. Elli Williams/Rammelkamp Foto

If it seems like we just finished an election, well, we did, but in Virginia, it’s never not an election year. In Charlottesville, the two seats on City Council currently held by Kristin Szakos and Bob Fenwick are up for grabs, and Szakos says she won’t be seeking another term.

“Eight years is a long time,” she says. “When I first came on, I figured two terms was probably enough.”

Szakos says being on City Council is “a very time-consuming job and it pays very little. It’s hard to also work a full-time job.”

She came into office stressing community engagement, and she started town hall meetings to try to bring local government to residents who typically didn’t have a voice at City Council. Last year councilors hosted six neighborhood meetings.

“I had kind of an agenda of things I really wanted to work on,” she says, and lists “increasing the robustness of our affordable housing” and working on City of Promise to make “a community that supports all children” and helps their parents find jobs and housing.

She also advocates density in the city where appropriate to promote walkability and public transportation “so we don’t do rural sprawl,” she says. Szakos serves on the board of the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail, and says, “The city is a model on partnering with the jail.”

Fenwick is “exploring the possibility” of running for another term, but a formal announcement won’t be for a little while, he says. He notes that petitions to get on the June 13 Democratic primary ballot are due March 30.

Fenwick often finds himself on the losing end of 4-1 votes on council, and some wonder whether there will be alliances to boot him from office. “I expect to be targeted,” he says, “but I don’t know who will do it.”

Says Fenwick, “I feel very comfortable with how I’ve acted in three years on council.”

He was elected to council in 2013, edging out Wes Bellamy by five votes in the Democratic primary. And in Dem-heavy Charlottesville, the winners of the primary typically are shoo-ins in November.

“The Schilling Show”’s Rob Schilling floated some other names January 10 as possible council candidates, including former Charlottesville School Board chair Amy Laufer and North Downtown Residents Association President Heather Hill.

Laufer, who is in her second term on the school board, confirms she’s running for City Council and is actively gathering signatures. “I’m doing my homework and I’m taking it seriously,” she says. Although she’s not ready to formally announce, she says she’s looking at important issues, such as the budget, the parking study and the Strategic Investment Area.

Hill, an industrial engineering grad from Virginia Tech with an MBA from Darden, says she’ll announce her decision in a few weeks.

A new political organization called Equity and Progress in Charlottesville officially announced its plans January 17 to recruit, support and endorse candidates for local offices. Former mayor Dave Norris and former councilor Dede Smith are founders, along with the late Holly Edwards, a former vice mayor.

“I don’t have anybody who’s told me directly they’re running,” says Norris, “but I’ve heard quite a few names bandied about.”

Lena Seville, who ran for council in 2015, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate. Seville says she’s busy getting an undergraduate degree at UVA in environmental thought and practices and expects to graduate this spring. “I don’t think I’ll be running in the Democratic primary because of that,” she says.

And city GOP chair Barbara Null says she knows of two possible candidates, but no one has decided yet. “It’s so hard for a Republican to get on in the city,” she says.

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Space invaders: City promises more parking downtown

Mayor Mike Signer announced today the city's acquisition of a half-acre of land, which will be used for public parking. Staff photo

Charlottesville officials held a press conference November 15 to announce their latest step in solving the city’s parking crisis.

“We hear you and we want to help,” Mayor Mike Signer said before announcing the city’s acquisition of a $2.85 million half-acre parcel currently housing Guadalajara and Lucky 7 and located on the northeast end of the Downtown Mall on the corner of Ninth and Market streets, on which they intend to install public parking. Each business has five years left on its lease.

This parcel is adjacent to the surface lot already owned by the city and county at Seventh and Market streets, which has also been studied as a potential parking destination. The two sites together total an acre of downtown real estate.

City Manager Maurice Jones, present at the press conference, gave a rough timeline of three to five years until the project’s completion and said the city hasn’t ruled out buying out each business’ lease, or allowing the Mexican restaurant and convenience store to continue operating in a mixed-use complex similar to the one in the works at Keith Woodard’s West2nd (formerly known as Market Plaza).

City Councilor Bob Fenwick said the deal in question has been brought “back from the dead more than once,” but thanks to Jones and Craig Brown, the city’s attorney, this time, it’s the real McCoy.

And there’s more than just the land acquisition on the horizon. Fenwick described a new smartphone app “on the cusp” of completion, in which drivers will be able to log on and see every empty parking spot available downtown. He says we could see a pilot of the app by next spring, perhaps for just the parking garages.

And in areas where parking isn’t free, he says drivers could potentially pay by linking their bank account or credit card to the app, which would save time when masses of cars are trying to leave parking decks after events on the Downtown Mall. Eventually each parking space will have an indicator that will monitor whether someone is currently inhabiting the spot.

One issue, he says, is that there are still a number of people who don’t use smartphones, but at some point, “Everybody didn’t have a TV, either.”

“There has been a lot of concern this year about parking,” the mayor acknowledged at the conference.

You’re telling us.

The ongoing melodrama between the city and the Charlottesville Parking Center owner Mark Brown, the impending rollout of 157 parking meters surrounding the mall as part of a six-month pilot program and the eventual loss of more than 150 parking spaces due to the reconstruction of the Belmont Bridge and another nearby development have given us a lot to write about.

“It’s going to get better,” Fenwick says. “We’re paying more attention to it.”

To alleviate some of the parking pain, the city opened the Avon Park and Ride on October 1 across from Edgecomb’s Imported Auto Sales and Service on Avon Street Extended. There are 50 free parking spaces at the location, and a bus shuttles people to and from the downtown area every half hour. The shuttle costs .75 cents each way or $1.50 for a day pass, and it takes about 10 minutes to get to downtown and 20 minutes to get back to the park and ride.

Transit Manager John Jones says, eventually, he hopes to make 100 spaces available, but few people have made use of the current 50.

As for the meter rollout scheduled for the coming months, Fenwick says, “It wouldn’t bother me if that were delayed. In fact, I’ll push for that,” adding that meters were once used in spaces surrounding the mall, but were removed to draw more customers.

“It worked like a charm,” he says. “In our zeal to do something new, I want to make sure we don’t do something that isn’t helpful.”

And for those of you fretting about losing the Mexican restaurant famous for its fajitas, at least one person is on your side: “I will say I’ve already lobbied to keep Guadalajara,” Fenwick said at the conference with a grin.

 

Updated from original post below–

Charlottesville officials held a press conference today to announce their latest step in solving the city’s parking crisis.

“We hear you and we want to help,” Mayor Mike Signer said before announcing the city’s acquisition of a $2.85 million half-acre parcel of land located on the northeast end of the Downtown Mall, on which they intend to install public parking.

This parcel is adjacent to the surface lot already owned by the city and county at Seventh and Market streets, which has also been studied as a potential parking destination. The two sites, together, total an acre of downtown real estate.

Guadalajara and Lucky 7 are currently located on the acquired parcel on the corner of Ninth and Market streets. Each has five years left on its lease.

City Manager Maurice Jones, present at the press conference, gave a rough timeline of three to five years until the project’s completion and said the city hasn’t ruled out buying out each business’s lease, or allowing the Mexican restaurant and convenience store to continue operating in a mixed-use complex similar to the one in the works at Keith Woodard’s West2nd (formerly known as Market Plaza).

City Councilor Bob Fenwick said the deal in question has been brought “back from the dead more than once,” but thanks to Jones and Craig Brown, the city’s attorney, this time, it’s the real McCoy. And there’s more than just the land acquisition to be excited for, city officials said—Fenwick described a new smartphone app “on the cusp” of completion, in which drivers will be able to log on and see every empty parking spot available downtown.

“There has been a lot of concern this year about parking,” the mayor acknowledged at the conference.

You’re telling us.

The ongoing melodrama between the city and the Charlottesville Parking Center owner Mark Brown, the impending rollout of 157 parking meters surrounding the mall as part of a six-month pilot program and the eventual loss of more than 150 parking spaces due to the reconstruction of the Belmont Bridge and another nearby development have given us a lot to write about.

And for those of you fretting about losing the Mexican restaurant famous for its fajitas, at least one person is on your side: “I will say I’ve already lobbied to keep Guadalajara,” Fenwick said with a grin.

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News

City Council adopts gun control resolution

Kristin Szakos, above, and Wes Bellamy wrote the resolution on gun control City Council passed June 20. File photo

Gun control debate dominated the June 20 Charlottesville City Council meeting as members of opposing sides of the issue cited the Second Amendment—“the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”—and the Declaration of Independence’s inalienable rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that victims of gun violence had been denied.

In the wake of the Orlando massacre, the largest slaughter of Americans by a lone gunman, City Council passed 4-0 a resolution demanding state and federal legislators enact legislation to require comprehensive background checks and ban assault weapons. The resolution also asked the General Assembly to allow Charlottesville to pass its own weapons controls, requests previously made in 2013 and 2015.

Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy and City Councilor Kristin Szakos wrote the resolution, and after reading it, Szakos said there was strength in such measures across the country. She also said she was “appalled at the nerve of these people, the gun rights advocates, in the wake of these horrific events to claim they’re the ones feeling victimized.”

City Councilor Kathy Galvin, who was not present, sent a statement urging council to delay a vote on the resolution and expressing concern that protocol was not followed and that the resolution could be perceived as “frivolous.”

Szakos said she’d feel differently if Galvin had been sick, but because she chose to go to a conference in Italy, Szakos didn’t believe the business of the city should be delayed.

City Councilor Bob Fenwick said he had read well over 100 e-mails against the resolution, and noted that not one had an alternative to solving this problem, which he called “very disappointing.”

Mayor Mike Signer, who has joined the national coalition of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said he was a supporter of the Second Amendment, but every amendment in the Constitution requires sensible and constitutional limits. For example, the First Amendment does not allow one to yell “fire” in a crowded theater, and the 1934 National Firearms Act regulated machine guns. And Bellamy said, “We have a moral responsibility to stand up.”

A number of citizens at the meeting did not agree. One noted he had a concealed carry permit and was carrying a weapon. Others challenged the councilors to do their homework and get the gun lingo down.

And Joe Draego, who had earlier objected to Muslim refugees, said none of the councilors had the courage to mention the Orlando shooter was Muslim, a religion whose adherents he called “monstrous maniacs.” When Signer told him defamatory speech was not permitted, Draego lay down in front of the dais and had to be carried out.

Joe Draego is carried out of the June 20 council meeting.
Joe Draego is carried out of the June 20 council meeting.
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News

In brief: Sex trafficking, how to scare politicians and more

Mary Virginia Swanson, 2016

Charges filed under new sex trafficking law

Quincy Edwards, 33, was indicted on 10 counts June 6 related to human trafficking for threatening and intimidating a victim into prostitution at the Royal Inn Hotel, the first time those charges have been brought in Albemarle. He also was charged with extortion, abduction and use of a firearm.

Dubious top 10 list

UVA came in at No. 5 in a Washington Post analysis of schools with the highest number of sexual assaults reported in 2014. Brown and U-Conn tie for first place with 43; UVA had 35.

Jackie’s lawyers check Haven Monahan’s e-mail

In the latest round of court filings that almost make us forget former UVA associate dean Nicole Eramo is suing Rolling Stone and not Jackie, on June 1 Judge Glen Conrad gave the former UVA student 14 days to produce e-mails from Haven Monahan’s Yahoo account, which Eramo says Jackie created while catfishing another student. Team Jackie calls Eramo “unhinged” in court filings.

They call him “Oak”

photo Jim Daves
photo Jim Daves

UVA baseball coach Brian O’Connor, who took his team to Omaha to win the College World Series last year, started last weekend’s regional tournament at Davenport Field as the Hoos’ winningest coach with 595 victories. Sadly that number only increased by one, when UVA beat William & Mary June 3, but lost its next two games to end the season.

Grim anniversary

It’s been 20 years since the bodies of hikers Lollie Winans and Julie Williams were discovered June 1, 1996, at their campsite near Skyland Resort in the Shenandoah National Park after their dog, Taj, was found wandering near White Oak Canyon. The FBI says this is an ongoing investigation, and anyone with information should contact the agency’s Richmond office at 804-261-1044.

How’s it hanging?

Mary Virginia Swanson, 2016
Mary Virginia Swanson, 2016

Every June they appear in the trees on the Downtown Mall: giant birds, bugs or mammals, a sure harbinger the Look3 Festival of the Photograph is at hand. Twenty double-sided banners, this year with photos by Frans Lanting, line the mall. Printed on heavy vinyl, the 80″x 120″ photos have aluminum steel poles in pockets on thetop and bottom to keep them stable. Ratchet straps are wrapped around the trees and hooked to the top poles, and then tightened to prevent flapping. Two teams, each with their own ladder climber, installed the approximately 30-pound photos in a record time of 3.5 hours, according to Clare Stimpson with Look3. In April, the White Flags exhibit was removed when one of its 193 flags came down. In the 10 years the photography festival has hung the banners, Stimpson says there have been no casualties of either photos or outdoor diners below them. But they’re fully insured, just in case.

By the numbers

County crime report

1,404

Number of Albemarle crimes in 2015, down 16 percent from 2014

1,324

Property crimes, down 17 percent

80

Crimes against people, up 18 percent

25

Rapes, up 213 percent over 2014

29

Percentage of arrestees who are black

9

SWAT deployments

2

Lawsuits involving the latter two categories

—2015 crime numbers courtesy Albemarle County Police Department

Quote of the week

“Politicians aren’t scared of committees. They’re scared of agitated crowds.”

Rammelkamp Foto
Rammelkamp Foto

City Councilor Bob Fenwick at a June 2 meeting at the Violet Crown Cimema to discuss citizen concerns about the Water Street Parking Garage.