Tag: Brian Wheeler

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In brief: GOP map rejected, city spokesman resigns

The state’s current congressional map (above) yielded seven Democratic representatives and four Republicans in the 2020 election. After a bipartisan redistricting committee fell apart last month, the creation of a new map will be overseen by the Virginia Supreme Court. Photo: US Geological Survey

Virginia Supreme Court rejects GOP mapmaker nominees

Virginia’s redistricting process continues to lurch forward. Last year, voters approved the Democrats’ legislation creating a new, bipartisan committee to draw the districts for state and federal elections. That committee, however, met for two months and then collapsed, unable to overcome its partisan differences. The state’s redistricting process will now be steered by the Virginia Supreme Court.

Each party is responsible for submitting a list of three map drawers to the court. The court is supposed to pick one from each list, and the two chosen map drawers will work together to create a viable map.

Last Friday, members of the court reviewed the submitted lists of map drawers from each party, and didn’t like what they saw—the court ordered the Republicans to go back to square one, and come up with three new names. Every GOP nominee had worked directly with Republicans in redistricting in the past, and the court suggested they wouldn’t be neutral enough for the process.

Del. Marcus Simon. Supplied photo

The court also told the Democrats to submit an additional name, as one of the proposed drawers expressed reservations about the process by which two map drawers will be able to collaborate on a single final map. The initial Dem list included three political science professors, all from California.

Delegate Marcus Simon, one of the Democratic legislators who served on the now-defunct redistricting commission, sounded off on the developments on Twitter. “Glad to see the GOPs initial attempt to inject hyper-partisan mapmakers into the process has been thwarted for the time being,” Simon wrote. “It will take continued vigilance on the part of Democratic lawmakers & advocates to keep them honest going forward.”

Huge gift to LAJC

The Legal Aid Justice Center, an anti-poverty and criminal justice reform advocacy organization based in Charlottesville, received a whopping, unrestricted gift of $10 million from local mega-donor Sonjia Smith last week. Angela Ciolfi, LAJC’s executive director, says she’s already begun meeting with community organizations from across the commonwealth, and that LAJC plans to expand its operations into new areas of the state.

The gift will allow the LAJC to work more closely with existing networks in Charlottesville, Richmond, Falls Church, and Petersburg, and to expand in Hampton Roads and other parts of Virginia, the organization says. “I trust Angela and her team to be the deeply passionate advocates I’ve known them to be, and I trust them to use this gift to go where communities tell them to go and do what communities tell them they need,” said Smith.

In brief

More early birds than ever

UVA saw a 17 percent increase in early decision applications and a seven percent increase in early action applications from 2020 to 2021. The school eliminated its binding early decision option in 2006, in an effort to even the playing field for low-income students, but reinstated the option in 2019. This year, the school received 3,442 early decision applications and 31,152 early action applications. There was an increase in early applicants across all demographics, except for the Native American applicant pool, which had 28 applicants in this year’s and last year’s cycles. First-generation applications increased by 29 percent, and legacy applications went up by 2 percent.

City spokesman resigns

Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and Charlottesville government officials resigning. The latest city employee to move on to greener pastures is communications director Brian Wheeler, who held the job for three years. Wheeler says he and his family plan to leave the Charlottesville area.

Brian Wheeler’s last day as Charlottesville’s director of communications is November 19. Staff photo

Progressive candidate joins Albemarle prosecutor’s office

Former Charlottesville commonwealth’s attorney candidate Ray Szwabowski has joined the Albemarle County CA’s office as a prosecutor. Szwabowski was a public defender before running for the city’s prosecutor job this summer, arguing that Charlottesville punishes those who have committed crimes too harshly. “I’m excited to have this outstanding lawyer join the team and help us move our progressive agenda forward,” says county CA Jim Hingeley.

Updated 11/18 to clarify the mission of the LAJC.

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(Don’t) take a seat: Downtown Mall still lacks public benches

The Downtown Mall has hundreds of private seats owned by restaurants and cafés, but only 37 public seats. PC: John Robinson

Last year, the Seattle Department of Transportation installed 18 new bike racks on a stretch of pavement underneath Highway 99. However, the racks were not meant to provide more resources for cyclists—but to prevent the homeless people who had been camping there from coming back.

Seattle is just one of many cities known to use hostile, or “defensive,” architecture to deter “unwanted behavior,” such as loitering or sleeping in public spaces. Curved and slanted benches, street spikes and dividers, boulders and spikes under bridges, and benches with armrests—among other examples—have been spotted and posted on social media in cities across the country.

While city governments claim that such architecture is needed to maintain order and public safety, critics say it unfairly targets the homeless, preventing them from having places to rest.

In Charlottesville, this debate has lasted for years, specifically surrounding public seating on the Downtown Mall. In 2012, the North Downtown Residents Association released a report (endorsed by downtown businesses) claiming that the increasing amount of panhandlers and loiterers on the mall “yelling obscenities, verbally assaulting passersby, fighting, and engaging in other disturbing behavior” made mall employees and patrons feel unsafe and uncomfortable, The Daily Progress reported. The report recommended, among other things, that sitting and lying down be banned on the mall.

The same year, the city removed the fountain-side chairs in Central Place near Second Street, and replaced the seating in front of City Hall with backless benches, in an effort to prevent “disorderly conduct” on the mall. 

However, no bans on sitting or lying down were passed, and, as of today, “individuals who are residentially challenged or unsheltered” on the mall are not breaking the law, but “can be arrested for trespassing…if [they] are blocking entryways to businesses, or for aggressive soliciting, just to name a few examples,” says Charlottesville Police Department Public Information Officer Tyler Hawn.

Controversy arose again in 2016 when the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review unanimously denied the Parks & Recreation Department’s request to replace all of the mall’s wooden chairs with backless metal benches to discourage loitering. BAR members believed the benches would be uncomfortable, and they’d prevent those who did not want—or have the means—to spend money at a business from fully enjoying the mall, dishonoring architect Lawrence Halprin’s intentions and design (which included 150 public chairs).

The city has since listened to mall patrons’ complaints that the backless benches in front of City Hall were not “human-friendly,” replacing them with the originally designed wooden chairs, says city Communications Director Brian Wheeler. But it has not added any more public seating to the mall, which, according to Wheeler, currently has 37 wooden chairs 

Stephen Hitchcock, executive director of The Haven, says the issue doesn’t feel as loaded as it did a few years ago.

“Obviously, you’re going to have people who have pretty strong opinions about folks who are holding signs on the mall, or asking for money, or sitting in front of the landmarks,” says Hitchcock. “But, I feel slightly encouraged, at least in contrast with what I hear happening around the country [with hostile architecture]…something that I feel is really important about the Downtown Mall is that it is one of the only places where the city sees itself, across race, class, gender, sexual orientation, you name it.” 

However, on January 4, Charlottesville resident and activist Matthew Gillikin revived the discussion surrounding mall seating on Twitter, pointing out the very few public chairs available, compared to the hundreds of private chairs owned by restaurants and cafés.

In response, someone else listed the fees the city charges each downtown business with outdoor seating: $125 annually, plus $5 per square foot—revenue generated from what is ostensibly public space.

The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs, currently under construction on the west end of the mall, could add more public space–plans call for an exterior courtyard and outdoor amphitheater for public and private events.

According to Wheeler, if the community wanted to add more wooden chairs to the mall, or even “a different type of bench that was much longer, [that] you could lay down on,” the proposal would have to approved by the BAR. 

The city would also have to allocate a significant amount of funding for the seating, says Wheeler. He estimates the wooden chairs on the mall cost $1,200 to $1,500 each, and says they are expensive to maintain.

And while the city wants to be “good stewards of the mall…the number one architectural change we can make for our homeless population is to give them an affordable home and economic opportunities,” says Wheeler. “We want to get people out of homelessness.”

 

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Traffic troubles: What will new development bring to an already dangerous intersection?

The confluence of Preston and Grady avenues and 10th Street NW is a bewildering series of merges. The new Dairy Central development faces the spot where Grady and Preston merge, a site of frequent vehicle crashes. Photo Credit: Skyclad Aerial

By Spencer Philps

The opening of the Dairy Central apartment, retail, and office complex, slated for May 2020, is likely to bring more traffic to one of Charlottesville’s most confusing and dangerous intersections.

According to development materials on the Dairy Central website, Preston Avenue, a primary link between US 29 and downtown, sees about 39,000 vehicles per day, making it one of the busiest streets in the surrounding area. In front of what will be the Dairy Central complex, Preston converges with two other streets (Grady Avenue and 10th Street NW) in a bewildering series of merges. Grady gets about 20,000 vehicles per day, and at the spot where it merges with Preston, vehicle crashes are frequent. At least 15 reported crashes have occurred there between 2015 and 2019, according to state data.

Dairy Central, which started construction in 2018 at the site of the former Monticello Dairy Building on the corner of 10th Street and Grady Avenue, will boast 180 luxury apartments along with a food hall (known as Dairy Market) with 18 merchant stalls, 50,000 sq. ft. of office space, and an event area. Per city requirements, 15 apartment units will be set aside as affordable housing units. The plans for the development say that there will be 179 parking spots on-site.

Josh Lowry, the general manager of Sticks Kebob Shop (located across Grady and Preston Avenues) says that he feels like he sees at least one accident a day outside his window. He assumes that the traffic in the intersection will increase with the addition of the Dairy Central development, but sees the real issue at the intersection being the traffic layout.

“If there’s increased traffic to the area, I think that could be problematic, but I think that the key…is to simplify the traffic pattern in front of Dairy Market,” he says.

That could happen: Brian Wheeler, communications director for the city of Charlottesville, says the city is seeking funding for intersection improvements under the state’s Smart Scale program. The proposal includes plans to modify traffic lanes and combine Preston and Grady Avenues with Grady Avenue and 10th Street to make a single intersection. It also seeks to to install curb ramps, add sidewalks within the median islands, and create high visibility crosswalks including flashing beacons to protect pedestrians. But these changes likely won’t happen before Dairy Central is finished.

Meanwhile, Christopher Henry, the president of Stony Point Design/Build, the firm leading the development, stresses the positive impact of their project on traffic.

At the macro-level, Henry says, adding density to a centrally-located property should (in theory) lead to a net-decrease in citywide traffic. In a city like Charlottesville that has a mounting need for housing and office space, adding developments in the outer reaches of the city and Albemarle County would only lead to more traffic, he says. He sees the construction of walkable or bikeable developments such as Dairy Central as reducing the need for vehicular usage.

Residents, he says, “can walk across the street and work at their jobs and never have to get into a car. They can walk downtown, they can walk to West Main Street, walk to the University of Virginia or the hospital, or they can get on the bus, which stops across the street from the building.” Henry says. “Dairy Central’s type of development has the least impact on traffic from that perspective.”

At the micro-level, Henry says that the developers are doing everything they can to ensure that the development makes as little impact as possible on the intersection’s traffic patterns.

“We have met many times with the neighbors and have made some accommodations to our site plan to address the traffic impacts as best we can, and there’s been talk in the past of doing some sort of permanent parking on the street,” Henry adds.

In addition to working alongside the city to design plans to reconfigure the intersection, the developers have also been in close contact with the city’s traffic engineers while they have been doing construction on the site.

The developers have also come up with creative ways to alleviate the traffic that will be coming in and out of the property once its completed, by restoring the small roads and lanes that were constructed in the early 1900s by the Monticello Ice Company.

“We’re actually redividing the property into multiple parcels, and putting streets and alleys back in, which will add more connections and more ways for cars to get in and out of the site and not just funnel people onto just one specific intersection,” Henry says.

Meanwhile, despite the traffic concerns, Sticks manager Lowry says he’s happy about the addition of office space and housing which he hopes will drive more people to his restaurant.

“More people in the area will definitely benefit us,” he says. “We’re a popular lunch and dinner destination, and we look forward to having more people in the neighborhood.”

 

Updated 10/31 to correct second reference to Josh Lowry, who is general manager at Sticks.

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Complain here: City’s app helps resolve issues more quickly

MyCville allows users to identify the location of a problem using a map, attach a photo, and write a description with any pertinent information.

A common gripe in Charlottesville among residents and city officials alike is how long it takes local government to get things done. But keeping track of complaints isn’t easy: Deputy City Manager Mike Murphy says the city receives so many emails that it can take a while to review them, and sometimes officials miss them altogether. That can make it tricky to resolve these issues, especially when there’s no database to manage service requests submitted by phone, email, or in person.

Enter the MyCville app. When it comes to small-scale issues, MyCville, the city’s web portal and mobile app, may be the most efficient way residents can alert local government to problems—though so far, a large percentage of complaints have been logged by city officials themselves.

The city manager’s office launched the app in April 2018 and has since fielded 2,131 requests. However, at a Charlottesville City Council retreat July 31, Murphy reported that 41 percent of those were submitted by city officials for residents who reached out with an issue some other way.

City spokesman Brian Wheeler says the quickest way to have an issue resolved is by contacting the department that directly handles the problem. But it’s not always clear which department is responsible for a particular issue. This can result in residents being bounced around between departments before they find the right people.

With the MyCville app, “you don’t have to worry about what department needs to handle that problem,” Wheeler says. The submission form, which is available on both smart phones and a web browser, includes a list of common requests users can choose from, such as snow removal or trash pickup, as well as a general question field in case a particular issue doesn’t appear on the list. Requests are then automatically routed to the appropriate department. And, unlike a request made by phone or email, users can track the progress of their submissions.

According to Murphy, three particular issues have made up 42 percent of all submissions: overgrown landscape (412), litter (248), and dead animals (227). A whopping 81 percent of requests have been handled by either the Department of Public Works or Neighborhood Development Services.

Local activist Kevin Cox frequently contacts the city government about issues pertaining to sidewalk usability and landscape maintenance. He prefers to reach out to Charlottesville officials through phone or email and doesn’t find MyCville to be user-friendly.

“I’m not impressed,” Cox says. “It’s a little unwieldy, too much information…I’d like to see the city take care of things on their end before working on new ways to get the citizens involved.”

Cox notes, however, that his wife used the app to report a dead deer in the road and the city’s response was “very prompt.” He says the idea is encouraging, but doesn’t want city officials depending on resident requests for action to be taken.

The city decided to develop the app as a cost-efficient alternative to a 3-1-1 customer service center, which would’ve required a paid staff to field calls, and funding to keep the service up and running. Murphy says the city manager’s office looked into creating such a center twice over the last seven years, but both times the idea failed to gain momentum. He doesn’t dismiss revisiting the topic again.

For now, the biggest issue may be getting residents to use the app—or even realize it exists. MyCville only has two ratings on Apple’s App Store. The city says it plans to add more items to the request list, to make it more versatile.

Wheeler acknowledges that not everybody has access to a phone or computer, so the city still keeps other avenues open for residents to use in order to have their voices heard. But for “issues of concern in the community,” he says the city will solve problems most efficiently when the relevant department is made aware directly—starting with MyCville.

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In brief: City digs in, winemaker dies, rioters plead, and more

CRB member Rosia Parker wondered why police Chief RaShall Brackney couldn’t find time on her reportedly empty calendar to meet.

Truth in scheduling: Progress joins City v. Civilian Review Board fray

A Daily Progress reporter was a topic of discussion during public comment at the May 6 City Council meeting, following Nolan Stout’s story earlier that day that police Chief RaShall Brackney’s calendar seemed to contradict claims that she was unavailable to meet with the Police Civilian Review Board.

CRB member Rosia Parker thanked Stout for his reporting, while Mayor Nikuyah Walker blamed Stout for the escalating tension between the chief and the review board. Councilor Wes Bellamy said he had “personal issues” with the article, and defended Brackney and her calendar. Police gadfly Jeff Fogel yelled at Bellamy to “not punk out,” and Bellamy replied, “You’re the last one to tell me to punk out.”

The latest outburst follows a bizarre April 26 city press release that accused a CRB member of lying about Brackney refusing to meet with the board. That was followed by an even weirder April 30 retraction of the falsehood allegation, which instead pointed the finger at the Progress’ reporting. The paper stands by its story.

And in the latest deepening of trenches in the war of words, city spokesman Brian Wheeler told Stout his Freedom of Information Act request for emails between Brackney or her secretary and City Council or CRB members, and emails between councilors and CRB members, would cost $3,000 and require a $700 deposit. Wheeler refused to break down the costs, which are unprecedented in C-VILLE Weekly’s experience with FOIA.

Megan Rhyne with Virginia Coalition for Open Government says this is only the second time she’s seen a local government refuse to detail its alleged costs, and tells the DP, “I don’t think it’s very transparent.”

Quote of the week

“I believe we have more than enough mandatory minimum sentences—more than 200—in Virginia state code.” Governor Ralph Northam on why he won’t sign any more such bills, which he calls punitive, discriminatory, and expensive

In brief

Carbon friendlier

Charlottesville’s carbon emissions per household—11.2 tons annually—are a ton above the national average. City Council voted unanimously at its May 6 meeting to approve a climate action plan that includes a goal of 45 percent carbon emissions reduction by 2030, and total carbon neutrality by 2050.

Wine pioneer dies

David King. file photo

 

David King, patriarch of King Family Vineyards, died May 2 after what the family calls a “hard-fought” battle with cancer. The 64-year-old was a past chair of the Virginia Wine Board, a polo player, pilot, and reserve deputy with the Albemarle County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue division. The family will host a celebration of life on June 14 at their Crozet family farm from 7:30-9:30pm.

Rioters plead

The last two members of the now-defunct California white supremacist group Rise Above Movement, who traveled to Charlottesville for the August 2017 Unite the Right rally to brawl with counterprotesters, pleaded guilty May 3 in U.S. District Court. RAM founder Benjamin Drake Daley, 26, from Redondo Beach, and Michael Paul Miselis, 30, from Lawndale, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to riot. Fellow RAMmers Cole White and Thomas Gillen previously pleaded guilty.

The Guys

Unrelated Bridget Guy and Kyle Guy got top UVA athletics honors at the Hoos Choice Awards May 1. Bridget, from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, is an all-American pole vaulter who was undefeated this season. Indianapolis-native Kyle was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Final Four, in part for his sangfroid in firing off three free throws in a row to beat Auburn 63-62.

Flaggers appeal

Confederate battle flag-loving Virginia Flaggers were in circuit court May 2 to appeal a Louisa Board of Zoning Appeals decision that the 120-foot pole they raised on I-64 in March 2018 to fly the “Charlottesville I-64 Spirit of Defiance Battle Flag” exceeded the county’s maximum of 60 feet. The judge has not yet issued a ruling.

Cruel and unusual

The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Virginia’s death row inmates, who spend years alone in a small cell for 23 to 24 hours a day. The justices said the inmates face a “substantial risk” of serious psychological and emotional harm in violation of the Eighth Amendment in the case filed by local attorney Steve Rosenfield.

UVA student sentenced

When former UVA student Cayden Jacob Dalton drunkenly abducted and strangled his ex-girlfriend in August 2018, she told the judge “there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to die.” Now, he’ll serve one and a half years for the crime, with the rest of his 15-year sentence suspended.

Show us the money

With the first campaign finance reports filed March 31, we learned who’s pulling in the bucks ahead of the June 11 City Council Democratic primary,  as well as the funds raised by independents Paul Long and Bellamy Brown.

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Out of reach: Vets say Vietnam memorial is inaccessible

Vets must cross six lanes of traffic and walk a 570-foot uphill path to get to the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial (with flagpoles, above).Skyclad AERIAL

Charlottesville’s Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, dedicated in 1966, was one of the first memorials to Vietnam veterans in the country. When the John Warner Parkway was built, the memorial was improved and is now visible to those driving by. The problem, say veterans, is getting to it.

In an 18-page letter to City Council, former mayor Tom Vandever, executive director of the Independent Resource Center, says, “We continue to believe the City of Charlottesville is not adhering to federal laws and requirements regarding access to public spaces.”

Parking is foremost among the ways Vandever says the memorial is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Veterans wishing to visit the memorial must park at the Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad, and hike nearly a quarter mile, crossing six lanes of traffic at the McIntire interchange and then climbing a 570-foot asphalt ramp, he says.

To skirt ADA requirements, says Vandever, the city designates the ramp a “trail” even though it’s within feet of one of the city’s busiest intersections. “The thing that ticked me off the most was to call that a trail,” he says. “Even if it’s ultimately legal, it galls me the city would take that action rather than serve our citizens.”

Vandever also calls out the lack of signage to direct people to parking. And if they find parking at the rescue squad—or a half mile away at the YMCA—there are no signs explaining how to actually get to the memorial.

As a member of the Dogwood Festival Foundation, Jim Shisler was instrumental in getting the original memorial built and can recall the exact date of the area’s first casualty: “ November 4, 1965, Champ Jackson Lawson.”

Shisler, 85, says access for veterans is “impossible for a lot of them.” If he walks to the memorial from the rescue squad, it takes almost 14 minutes and he has to scale the last 500 feet up a 5 percent grade. “We don’t believe it’s ADA compliant,” he says.

Photographer Jim Carpenter is a vet with five friends who died in Vietnam commemorated at the memorial, who has made the “dangerous” trek to get there. “If ADA gets involved, it’s going to cost the city a lot of money,” he says. “Five cities went up against ADA and they lost.”

“The city believes the trail up to the memorial meets ADA requirements,” says city spokesman Brian Wheeler. He says veterans were involved in the east McIntire Park master plan, but concedes, “They may have been under the impression there would be access through the wading pool park.”

The master plan “did have a paved entrance using the old golf path through the wading pool up until the last presentation,” says Shisler, who notes planning has been going on for more than 20 years. The final park master plan depicts only pedestrian or bike access to the memorial.

The inclusion of the skate park at the site of the wading pool is a relatively new addition. While a parking lot remains there, the gate to it from the U.S. 250 Bypass is closed and skateboarders must walk from a lot near the YMCA across the new pedestrian bridge.

“The reason it’s closed is for safety reasons, because of the on ramp,” says Wheeler. “The dynamics really changed.” The Vietnam memorial and skate park are not the first to lose convenient access as a result of the McIntire interchange. Across the bypass, the Birdwood neighborhood is limited to one exit, despite residents’ concerns about safety and emergency egress.

Skateboarders seem less bothered about the walk to the park. Says David Juer, “I kind of like it you don’t have a lot of cars pulling up.”

Longtime skate park advocate Duane Brown says while it would be nice to be able to park closer, “everybody’s so excited about the skate park itself.”

The city has no plans to provide closer parking to the Vietnam memorial. “It’s a really constrained location bordered by railroad tracks, the bypass and parkway,” says Wheeler. “There’s not an easy or affordable way to build a road.”

The city is committed to installing appropriate signage, he says. And it’s considering having an on-call golf cart or vehicle to transport disabled veterans—at least those who make arrangements in advance.

“That’s like putting a bandaid on Hoover Dam,” says Carpenter, who wonders how a wheelchair will fit on a golf cart.

At the April 1 City Council meeting, interim city manager Mike Murphy listed the “complex and costly” reasons why nearby parking was a no-go, including that the Warner parkway was limited access.

City Council made it limited access, says Shisler, and could reverse that if it chooses. He also disputes Murphy’s statements that vets wanted the site higher and were in on the planning that did not include nearby parking.

“The fact is, there’s no way to get to the memorial for people with mobility issues,” he says.

Veterans are allowed vehicle access three times a year, says Shisler, and they’re expecting 300 people April 26.

“These Vietnam veterans are 70 now,” says Shisler. “It’s a real chore now to get there. We are concerned why the city positions themselves as in compliance when we don’t feel they are.”

Before the nearest parking lot closed, Beulah Carter visited the memorial to her son, Richard Thomas Carter, an Echols scholar who died in 1970 and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Jim Carpenter

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In brief: Shifting precincts, hefty raise, murky water and more

Know your polling place

It’s been an eventful couple years, and if you want to speak up when it matters (by voting in the midterms on November 6) your deadline to register is October 15. With that in mind, we also want to remind 15,000 voters in Albemarle County that their polling places have changed.

The county has added three new precincts and folded the Belfield precinct into Jack Jouett, says Albemarle registrar Jake Washburne.

Split are Cale, which begat the new Biscuit Run precinct; Crozet and Brownsville, which gave birth to Mechums River; and Free Bridge, which adds Pantops precinct.

And voters in the University precinct who had cast ballots at the soon-to-be demolished U Hall will now do so at Slaughter Rec Center.

The splits will make Election Day lines more manageable, says Washburne, and there’s another deadline he’s considering: “After February 1, 2019, we can’t change any precincts until after the 2020 presidential election.”

Some are predicting massive turnout in November. Compared to last September, Albemarle has added 2,000 voters. And Washburne mailed over 700 ballots on the first day of absentee voting, compared to 94 on the first day of the last midterm election in 2014. 

In the city, registrar Rosanna Bencoach says there’s always a surge of registrations in September and October from the student population. But according to the state elections website, Charlottesville has 922 more active voters as of October 1 than it did a year ago.

Bencoach issues a caveat to would-be voters: Don’t wait until the last minute to register or to request an absentee ballot, which must be applied for by 5pm the Tuesday before the election.

“With the current postal delivery practices, that’s way too late,” she says.

Quote of the week

“The Court is not typically in the muck and the mire of partisan politics. But this throws it right into the swamp.”—Barbara Perry, Miller Center director of presidential studies, on the Kavanaugh hearing

Lucrative gig

staff photo

City Council appointed Brian Wheeler interim clerk of council at its October 1 meeting. The current city spokesperson and former editor of Charlottesville Tomorrow temporarily replaces Paige Rice, who resigned last month. Since starting with the city in February at $98,000, raises have upped Wheeler’s pay to $116,438, an 8 percent increase in less than a year.

A12 anniversary costs add up

Charlottesville spent $921,334 over the August 12 anniversary weekend putting downtown on lockdown, and the University of Virginia reports its costs were $422,981. Adding the Virginia State Police’s expenses of $3.1 million, that puts the police-heavy weekend at around $4.4 million—and that’s not including Albemarle County’s costs.

Mayor tops duchess

Mayor Nikuyah Walker is No. 51 on the Root’s list of 100 most influential African Americans ages 25 to 45, coming in ahead of No. 52, Meghan Markle.

Chris Greene closed again

After a dog swam in the lake over the weekend and then died suddenly, Albemarle County officials have closed it for water recreation until results from new water quality tests are available.

Pot arrests surge

Despite decriminalization and legalization around the country, Virginia’s marijuana arrests hit their highest levels in a decade last year. Arrests statewide spiked 20 percent and convictions still carry the possibility of a six-month driver’s license suspension and up to $800 in fines, according to the Virginia Mercury.

Indigenous Peoples Day

Karenne Wood. Publicity photo

“We have been categorized as people of the past,” Karenne Wood, an enrolled member of the Monacan Indian Nation, told C-VILLE in March. She pointed out that in school textbooks, American Indians are often written about in the past tense: They lived in this type of house; they ate squash and corn; they wore feathers.

But she also hopes those textbooks will tell the story of Virginia Indians present and future. For Wood, director of Virginia Indian Programs at Virginia Humanities, that means working with textbook writers to tell a fuller—not just colonist—history of Native Americans. “We have adapted to live in this century along with everybody else,” she says.

To acknowledge their history on Indigenous Peoples Day, and to give a native perspective on how the story of Virginia’s first people can be expanded, Wood will give a talk called “Stone, Bone, and Clay: Virginia Indians’ History of 18,000 Years” on Monday, October 8, from 6:30-8pm at Lane Auditorium in the Albemarle County Office Building.

Monacan tribal dancers will perform immediately following her presentation.

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Former police chief still on city payroll

Former Police Chief Al Thomas is still collecting a paycheck. Photo by Eze Amos

Former Charlottesville police chief Al Thomas may have left last year, but it hasn’t stopped him from collecting a paycheck.

Although the city said in December that Thomas’ retirement would be “effective immediately,” it turns out, as first reported by WINA’s Rob Schilling, that Thomas has continued to receive his $134,513 annual salary, and will do so for another nine months.

Though Thomas was largely assumed to have been forced out after criticism of his handling of August 11 and 12, city spokesperson Brian Wheeler’s explanation comes in the form of a distinction between “retirement” and “resignation.”

“Alfred Thomas retired from law enforcement on December 18, 2017. As part of his retirement, Mr. Thomas voluntarily resigned from the Charlottesville Police Department…with an effective date of July 15, 2019,” Wheeler said.

Thomas did not have an employment contract, and the settlement agreement is exempt from FOIA, according to Wheeler, who offered no further justification for Thomas’ parting gift.

Local attorney and City Council gadfly Jeff Fogel questions the legality of that FOIA exemption, and criticized the city for not making the terms of Thomas’ leaving clear.

“This is typical of the city,” says Fogel. “Release as little as you can get away with.”

Before Thomas’ sudden retirement, he disputed many of what Fogel calls “the most damning” claims made against him in former U.S. attorney Tim Heaphy’s independent review of 2017’s white supremacist events.

“He’s still on the payroll, and yet he’s never answered any of the questions about what happened on August 12, 2017,” says Fogel. “We need to know the truth.”

Adds Fogel, “If Mr. Thomas is still employed or still receiving money, we oughta get him to come here and explain what happened. That’s the least he could do for [$135,000] a year.

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Out and in: A turnover of top local leaders

Former Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas and current Chief RaShall Brackney. Former Virginia State Police Superintendent Steve Flaherty and current Superintendent Gary Settle. Former UVA President Teresa Sullivan and current President Jim Ryan. Former UVA Police Department Chief Michael Gibson and new Chief Tommye Sutton. Former Mayor Mike Signer and current Mayor Nikuyah Walker. Former City Manager Maurice Jones and current Interim City Manager Mike Murphy.

It was an unprecedented year for the city, but also one in which we saw a major shift among people in positions of power. Some heads rolled, some quietly retired, and the list of local leaders is almost unrecognizable from this time last summer.

Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas abruptly resigned in December, making way for Chief RaShall Brackney, who took her oath in June. Thomas wasn’t the most popular guy in town after Tim Heaphy released his independent review of the summer of hate, which alleged that Thomas deleted texts, used a personal email to skirt FOIA, and told law enforcement when white supremacists and counterprotesters went to war in the streets to “let them fight a little,” because it would make it easier to declare an unlawful assembly.

That wasn’t the only law enforcement shake-up. After nearly 15 years as Virginia State Police superintendent, Colonel Steve Flaherty retired in December, and was succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Gary Settle. At the University of Virginia, Police Chief Michael Gibson also retired this summer, and new Chief Tommye Sutton was sworn in August 1, the same day as new UVA President Jim Ryan.

Ryan took the reins from Teresa Sullivan, who was highly criticized for having prior knowledge that white supremacists planned to march across Grounds last August 11, not warning students, and initially denying that she was privy to any of it. She had plans to leave before last summer, and on her way out, Ryan said he admires that she stayed focused on what really mattered to the university. “These were turbulent times and I think she demonstrated remarkable courage,” he said. Nevertheless, the Beta Bridge was decorated with the words, “Nazis love T. Sully” as she left.

The university also appointed Gloria Graham as its first-ever vice president of safety and security after emboldened neo-Nazis in white polos and khakis encircled and beat several students with their torches.

Poor planning for the weekend of the Unite the Right rally also fell on the head of City Manager Maurice Jones, and City Council decided not to renew his contract on May 25. Jones took a job as town manager for Chapel Hill, and in came former assistant city manager Mike Murphy, who will serve in the interim—but not without a fight from Mayor Nikuyah Walker, who challenged the first person offered the job.

Walker wasn’t mayor, or even on City Council, last summer. She replaced then-mayor Mike Signer, whose leadership came under fire when it emerged that he threatened to fire Jones and Thomas during the height of the August 12 violence. He was also suspected of leaking emails and was publicly reprimanded by his fellow councilors. Vice-Mayor Heather Hill also joined the ranks in the November council election—Kristin Szakos did not run for re-election and Bob Fenwick got the boot in the June primary.

City Attorney Craig Brown said goodbye, and was replaced by John Blair, who most recently served as deputy county attorney in Albemarle.

And last but not least, city spokesperson Miriam Dickler stepped down as Charlottesville’s director of communications in January, and former Charlottesville Tomorrow executive director Brian Wheeler filled her shoes.

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Anniversary prep: City on lockdown

The city prepares for the anniversary of last summer's Unite the Right rally. Photo by Eze Amos

During the weekend of August 10-12, the anniversary of last summer’s violent and fatal clashes, the city will be on lockdown—or so it seems.

Interim City Manager Mike Murphy today announced additional measures that will affect many people in the downtown Charlottesville area during the Unite the Right anniversary weekend, including closing city parks and pools, the City Market, and an early closing of City Hall.

The city had already planned to close streets in the immediate downtown area. Now parking is restricted on additional streets around Friendship Court, and the closures will begin at 6pm Friday, August 10, and have been extended to 6am Monday, August 13.

“We understand that the city and the task force are concerned with safety, however, does closing down the city out of an abundance of caution play right into the hands of the Nazis and this negative anniversary?” asks Janet Dob, a City Market regular.

She and Cynthia Viejo, the Bageladies, have held a booth at the market for over a decade, and Dob says downtown businesses are still reeling from last summer. “Revenues were down, not just on that weekend, but longer-term, and a year later when there seems to be little recovery, we’re all hit again.”

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” says Viejo, quoting Patrick Swayze. Adds Dob, “That’s exactly what the city is doing—putting all of downtown in a corner and not allowing its goodness to shine.”

Adds Priya Mahadevan, who operates the Desi Dosa stall at City Market, “While I understand that they are trying to keep us safe, closing down businesses means thousands of dollars in losses for all the market vendors. Basically disrupting business is the police’s way of telling us they are incapable of ensuring the safety of people who are trying to do their work and earn a livelihood.”

Rapture owner Mike Rodi says the street closures are “a terrible thing for Downtown Mall businesses.” But he also points out, “If we put an end to this that weekend and on Monday morning have no images to haunt us, if we pause on the anniversary, nothing happens and there’s no will for a 2019 repeat, that benefits us.”

According to Rodi, “A lot of the business community feels it’s overkill in compensation of last year.”

“We’re going to be open because it feels like it’s standing up to the alt-right,” says Joan Fenton, chair of the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville. “Nobody expects to make money. It’s really about making a statement.”

A year ago, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and counterprotesters clashed in the streets without police intervention. Heather Heyer was killed when a car plowed into a crowd on Fourth Street and two Virginia State Police two pilots died in a helicopter crash. VSP have said they’ll be in town in various uniforms all week.

Rodi says he’s “disgusted” by the Virginia General Assembly, which refused to add Charlottesville to a list of cities where open carry of guns is prohibited. “While you can’t bring an aerosol can or pocket knife into a restricted area, you can bring an AR15,” he says.

“I don’t see how [the city] can do anything else,” he says of the restrictions. “If anyone gets hurt, it’s blood on the city’s hands.”

Some of the recently announced closures conflict with events on a city website called #ResilientCville, which also has a calendar. It lists a nonviolent action workshop for August 11 at Carver Recreation Center, which is now closed for the weekend.

And city spokesperson Brian Wheeler did not immediately respond to an inquiry about why the city is closing its pools, spraygrounds and golf course for the August weekend.

Not everything is shutting down. Fridays After Five will proceed—”unless we hear anything from police that we should cancel,” says Sprint Pavilion general manager Kirby Hutto. “We think it’s important to get back to normal.”

And despite the difficulty parking, he says, “We want to give people a reason to come downtown.”

The University of Virginia, which endured the horrifying spectacle of torch-carrying neo-Nazis marching through Grounds last year on August 11, announced plans to restrict access over the weekend to the Lawn (except for residents and attendees of a ticketed event August 11) and to the plaza on the north side of the Rotunda, where a small group of counterprotesters were surrounded by white supremacists at the statue of founder Thomas Jefferson.

UVA Students United plan a rally at the Rotunda’s north plaza from 7 to 9pm August 11. The group’s Facebook page says students met with Gloria Graham, VP of security and safety, who said there will be access to most of the plaza except for barricades six feet around the Jefferson statue. University spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn confirms that access limitations only extend to part of the plaza, and that a UVA representative talked with rally organizers to gauge the appropriate safety and security measures.

Though it’s unclear whether there will be any white supremacist demonstrations in town this weekend, here’s what’s on Charlottesville’s calendar, and a link to all city closures:

Sunday, August 5

  • Cville Fights Back poster launch party at Champion Brewery. 2:30 to 4:30pm.

Monday, August 6

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • City Council meeting and update on August 11-12 preparations in City Council Chambers. 6:30pm.

Tuesday, August 7:

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • Why We Protest activist panel at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. 7 to 8:30pm.
  • Documenting Hate: Charlottesville, a Frontline and ProPublica documentary, debuts at 10pm on local PBS stations and online.

Wednesday, August 8:

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • Lawyers’ panel on free speech and anti-racism at Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. 7 to 8:30pm.

Thursday, August 9:

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • Interfaith worship service: Making Our Way Together at The Haven. 7 to 8pm.

Friday, August 10:

  • Charlottesville Clergy Collective prayer session at Market Street Park. 6 to 6:30am. Noon to 12:30pm.
  • Shabbat service at Congregation Beth Israel. 6:15pm.

Saturday, August 11:

  • The Hope That Summons Us: A Morning of Reflection and Renewal at the Old Cabell Hall auditorium at UVA. Ticketed event with clear bag policy. 9am.
  • Congregate Charlottesville: A Service for Repair at First Presbyterian Church. 3pm.
  • VA Students Act Against White Supremacy: Rally for Justice at the Rotunda. 7pm.

Sunday, August 12:

  • Community sing-out to celebration harmony, diversity at Ix Art Park. 4 to 6pm.
  • NAACP’s Time for Reflections and Healing forum at Zion Union Baptist Church. 4 to 6pm.
  • Better Together: Lament, Repent, Rejoice at the Sprint Pavilion. 6 to 8pm.

Corrected August 3 at 9:05am with the correct location of Congregate Charlottesville’s August 11 service.

Updated August 3 at 9:25am with remarks from UVA spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn.

Updated August 3 at 11am with Joan Fenton comment.