Tag: Kristin Szakos

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Judge explains: Motions still to be ruled upon in Confederate statue lawsuit

Plaintiffs Frank Earnest, Jock Yellott, and Dickie Tayloe leave Charlottesville Circuit Court after the latest hearing in their lawsuit to keep Confederate statues in city parks. staff photos

Judge Rick Moore got one big issue out of the way in the two-years-long lawsuit against the city and City Council for its 2017 vote to remove statues of Confederate generals: The monuments of generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are indeed war memorials under state code, which prohibits their removal.

In court May 1, he started off the status hearing by explaining his April 25 ruling, because of misunderstandings that he said had occurred.

“It was a critical decision, but it is not the end of the court case,” said Moore, who took the opportunity to note the two boxes of case files and how busy he is to explain why it has taken so long to get rulings on the motions that have been filed. “This is just one case. I’m just one judge. This is an important case, but not the only one I have.”

The lawsuit was filed by 13 plaintiffs, including the Monument Fund and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who allege councilors Wes Bellamy, Bob Fenwick and Kristin Szakos unlawfully voted to remove a statue of Lee donated to the city by Paul Goodloe McIntire. The vote to remove Jackson was added to the suit after August 12, 2017, when councilors Mike Signer and Kathy Galvin joined the unanimous vote to oust the Confederates.

All of the councilors were in court except for Fenwick, as were a number of the plaintiffs, including Frank Earnest with the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who has traveled from Virginia Beach for hearings over the past two years, Monument Fund organizer Jock Yellott, and Dickie Tayloe, whose First Family of Virginia was once one of the largest slave owners in the state.

Moore did issue a ruling, and denied a plaintiffs’ motion to keep the defense from using equal protection under the 14th Amendment as part of its case. That argument says because the Civil War was fought primarily over slavery, the statues are part of an effort to intimidate African Americans.

“Equal protection being constitutional, it would be hard for me to say you’re not going to argue that,” he said. “I’m not in a position to say the defendants cannot prevail on that.”

Yet to be ruled upon is a motion to determine whether councilors had statutory immunity when they voted to remove the statues, and Moore said that’s next on his list.

Plaintiffs attorney Braxton Puryear complained that councilors had not provided depositions or discovery that would help him determine whether they acted with gross negligence when they voted to remove the statues, a key in determining immunity.

Legal powerhouse Jones Day is representing pro bono all of the councilors except Fenwick, and attorney Esha Mankoti said that’s why the issue needs to be decided immediately, because if councilors have immunity, their emails would be protected as well.

“That argument has the flavor of a circular argument.” said Moore, who said he sympathized with the plaintiffs, who have been asking for discovery for two years. “You don’t postpone the depositions,” he said.

He said the emails they sent each other the night before the vote could be the “smoking gun” if councilors said, “We can do what we want.”

Still, the judge wasn’t ready to say council’s actions amounted to gross negligence.

Moore also needs to decide on the city’s argument that a 1997 law that prohibited the removal of war memorials is not retroactive, as well as what issues can go before the jury in the September trial.

Outside the courthouse, plaintiff Buddy Weber felt “very good” about the recent ruling that the statues are war memorials.

However, activist Ben Doherty described Moore’s ruling as buying into the Lost Cause narrative because it neutralizes what is “overt white supremacy.”

Attorney Janice Redinger, who is not involved in the case, says, “I think there’s a chilling effect that these legislators may be personally liable for passing an ordinance. Look at all the unconstitutional laws passed by the General Assembly.”

 

 

 

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Beyond the statues: Councilor’s book explores Confederate monument backlash

City Councilor Wes Bellamy spoke candidly about Confederate statues, the controversy over his old tweets, and the effect his career has had on his family. Photo by Mina Pirasteh

By Jonathan Haynes

City Councilor Wes Bellamy sat down for a revelatory interview at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center January 10 to promote his new book, Monumental: It Was Never About a Statue.

The title alludes to the former vice-mayor’s push to remove Confederate monuments from Charlottesville parks, and the racist backlash it inspired, which culminated in the August 2017 white supremacist Unite the Right rally. “If it’s just about the statues, people aren’t going to kill you,” he said. “People don’t drive a car into a group of people over the removal of a statue.”

Andrea Copeland-Whitsett, director of member education services for the Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce, conducted the interview. She began by addressing the derogatory remarks Bellamy had tweeted about women, white people, and the LGBTQ community between 2009 and 2014, and the outrage that erupted when the tweets resurfaced in November 2016.

Bellamy called the tweets “something evil-inspired,” and described his personal experience of the scandal for the first time. He was spending Thanksgiving in Atlanta with his wife when he got a call from a blocked number. According to Bellamy, the voice said, “Hey n—-r, we’re going to break you down. This is Trump’s country now.” Then he received another call from his office letting him know that his old tweets had been sent to City Council and local press.

He could hardly believe they were from his account. “I was so far past that [kind of attitude],” he said.

Come Monday, “a tsunami hit.” Friends and allies turned their backs on him. Then-governor Terry McAuliffe publicly denounced him. He was devastated. Though he remained on City Council, he resigned from his positions at Albemarle High School and on the Virginia Board of Education.

Ultimately, he said, the experience was humbling. “I used to walk around thinking I was a hero. It was a very necessary lesson to me that I am not.”

Bellamy’s tweets were dug up by Jason Kessler, who organized the Unite the Right rally the following year.

The movement to remove the city’s Confederate monuments is often presented as Bellamy’s idea. But he gives credit to Mayor Nikuyah Walker and local high school activist Zyahna Bryant, who drafted the original petition asking City Council to remove the statues and rename Lee Park.

Bryant contacted him after McAuliffe vetoed a bill that would protect Confederate monuments in March 2016. “You can remove the statue,” she told him.

He teamed up with then-councilor Kristin Szakos, who had been publicly questioning the presence of Confederate monuments, and calling on the city to end its celebration of Lee-Jackson Day.

When Bellamy and Szakos held a press conference, he began to fear for his safety. Staring down “a sea of individuals” bearing Confederate flags and shouting, “I was concerned someone was going to shoot me,” he said. Afterwards, Bellamy began receiving death threats on a daily basis, and “would hear loud beats on the back window” of his home after midnight.

It wasn’t about the statue, he said. “People believed we were going to change what was theirs, that this is their community.”

Though his tenure in office has been tumultuous, Bellamy professed an unremitting love for Charlottesville, praising local residents for coming together to confront racial inequities. There are other cities that have the same issues, he said, “but we’re really willing to talk about it.”

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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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In brief: A new reputation, a boycott and scary statistics

Rebranding hate

If the #cvillestandsforlove looks familiar, like the “Virginia Is For Lovers” logo, for instance, that’s because Susan Payne, wearing her chair-of-the-Virginia-Tourism-Corporation-board hat, created the hashtag using the state’s 50-year-old iconic logo. “It’s the same family,” says Payne. “And it’s all free. No city money is being used.”

According to Payne, Governor Terry McAuliffe instructed his cabinet to do what it could to help the city after the August 11-12 hate fest made Charlottesville a one-word recognizable moniker around the world, much as Ferguson is.

That’s why a LOVE installation is on the Downtown Mall, and Payne hopes the initiative will spark a grassroots effort to change the perception of Charlottesville and get people back to the mall. “I’m concerned when bartenders aren’t making tips, people aren’t shopping downtown and business owners have to get loans to make payroll,” says Payne.

For others, the rebranding effort is way too soon. “It certainly felt tone deaf,” says City Councilor Kristin Szakos on Facebook. But she points out that the city just allocated money to affordable housing, improved transit and programming to eradicate poverty.

UVA regifts KKK donation to hate fest victims

President Teresa Sullivan pays forward a $1,000 pledge the Klan made to the university in 1921, worth around $12,400 in today’s dollars, to the Charlottesville Patient Support Fund to help with medical expenses of those injured in the August violence.

The monuments were first covered August 23. Photo by Eze Amos

Statue stripping

The tarp on the statue of General Stonewall Jackson has been removed and replaced five times, Courteney Stuart at Newsplex reports, and that was before a band that included Jason Kessler disrobed the statue September 18. More amazingly, the tarp was replaced within 30 minutes, according to NBC29’s Henry Graff.

State Dems want Wheeler to resign

State board of elections member Clara Belle Wheeler told Republican women at a country club lunch that “massive, well-organized, well-orchestrated voter fraud…happens every day,” and that it’s a tactic of the Democratic party, the Winchester Star reports. Wheeler says she was misquoted, but has not asked for a correction, according to the Roanoke Times. Star reporter Onofrio Castiglia says he stands by his story.

Quote of the Week: We are boycotting all Charlottesville businesses, and that includes C-VILLE Weekly.—Response from Boycott Charlottesville’s Facebook page (which has 1,800 followers) when we tried to learn more about its endeavors

Thing you can do while DIP

Open carry a gun. Brian Lambert was arrested for being drunk in public September 12 at the shrouding of the Jefferson statue. Doing so while open carrying: perfectly legal.

Rape victim testifies

A judge certified charges against Ruckersville’s Matthew Buckland, accused of raping his then girlfriend in March 2016, to the grand jury after the victim quietly testified September 14 that he pushed her down, pinned her with her arms above her head, choked and had nonconsensual sex with her. He is also accused of raping a Mary Baldwin University student, and is scheduled to appear in court again October 16.

And in Buckingham

A woman found dead in the road there September 14 led to the arrest of the man whose farm-use plated Jeep she’d been riding in and who was standing over her in the road when state police arrived. Neal E. Fore, 29, of Cumberland was charged with DUI, driving without a license and improper use of farm tags.

Spate of murder arrests

 

Walter Antonio Argueta Amaya, 20, is charged with second-degree murder in the July 4 slaying of Marvin Joel Rivera-Guevara in Woolen Mills on East Market Street. Huissuan Stinnie, 18, is wanted in the September 11 homicide of Shawn Evan Davis on South First Street.

Scary statistics

Larry Sabato. Photo: UVA University Communications

In the aftermath of the summer’s deadly white supremacist rally, the UVA Center for Politics measured racial sentiments from more than 5,000 respondents nationally. “Let’s remember, there are nearly 250 million adults in the United States, so even small percentages likely represent the beliefs of many millions of Americans,” says Larry Sabato, the center’s director. Read it and weep.

  • 39 percent of respondents strongly or somewhat agree that white people are under attack in America, while 55 percent say racial minorities are under attack
  • 31 percent strongly or somewhat agree that the country needs to protect and preserve its white European heritage
  • 57 percent say Confederate monuments should remain in public spaces
  • 54 percent of African-American respondents say all monuments should be removed
  • 67 percent of white respondents say they should remain in place
  • 16 percent agreed that marriage should only be allowed between people of the same race
  • 8 percent expressed support for white nationalism
  • 6 percent said they strongly or somewhat support the alt-right
  • 4 percent expressed support for neo-Nazism

Corrected September 25 at 9am to show that the UVA Center for Politics conducted a national poll. It was originally reported as a local poll.

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Do Robert’s Rules of Order mask white supremacism?

Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy says he has to “stand with the people,” and not let politeness mask white supremacy. Photo Eze Amos

After City Council’s chaotic August 21 meeting where outraged attendees commandeered the meeting to vent about the deadly Unite the Right hate fest, many have suggested that trying to immediately conduct business as usual probably wasn’t the best idea, and that a wounded citizenry needed a chance to vent its hurt, anger and frustration.

At its September 5 meeting, council conducted a town hall on the events of August 11-12. Even with opening the meeting to extended public comment, Councilor Kristin Szakos struggled to maintain order, and Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy declared that “white supremacy masks itself through politeness.”

Are Robert’s Rules of Order out the door at City Council?

Bellamy says politeness encourages people “to get over it” and tries to “shut people up” when they’re trying to express themselves. And he disagrees that people were shouting out their feelings at the council meetings.

“People were expressing themselves civilly,” he insists. “We have to empathize with people who are hurt over this.”

One speaker urged compromise on the Confederate statue issue. As he walked away from the podium, Bellamy said, “You left your hat, and when you get your hat, take that compromise with you.”

Szakos chastised her colleague, whom she had  joined in calling for the removal of the monuments last year. “We are here to hear all voices, whether we agree with them or not,” she said, an admonishment that drew jeers from some of those in attendance.

Two days after the meeting, Bellamy is unabashed at his dismissal of a speaker.

“My question is why the oppressed always have to compromise,” he says. “Why is it they can’t express themselves?”

On Facebook, he posted a photo of himself making the black power salute at council, with the comment, “It’s OUR turn now. I’m tired of ‘compromising,’ I’m tired of ‘meeting in the middle,’ and I’m tired of other people who know very little about us trying to tell us how we should be or act or conduct ourselves.”

As for whether Robert’s Rules should be pitched for future City Council meetings, says Bellamy, “There are no norms. I don’t get why people are in a rush to get back to convention in an unconventional time.”

And while he reiterates that he is “embarrassed and ashamed to be part of a system that masks white supremacy,” he doesn’t intend to leave council before his term is up in two more years. “I don’t quit on anything,” he says.

After the meeting, Szakos declined to comment on Bellamy’s remarks. “It’s going to be awhile before we can know what a new normal is,” she says. “People are still reeling.”

One of those interjecting comments during the meeting was Rosia Parker, who ended up being escorted out of the meeting by activist Don Gathers, rather than being hauled out by police, which happened to three people August 21.

That, says Szakos, was not something she asked Gathers to do, and that police removing citizens “is the last thing we want.” Gathers and Parker did not immediately return phone calls from C-VILLE.

Others, however, are not denouncing civility or justifying the outbreaks that have plagued council meetings over the past two years, and say it’s a small group that doesn’t like the way the things are and have targeted City Council.

Former mayor Kay Slaughter attended both the August 21 and September 5 meetings. She came to the most recent meeting “because I felt there should be average citizens who weren’t raging.” Others, including former mayors Virginia Daugherty, David Brown and Bitsy Waters, came to support City Council, she says.

“There are thousands of people who may be upset who do not behave that way,” she continues. “It becomes a show. We need civility.”

Slaughter says the country as a whole needs civil discourse and should be able to discuss issues—and disagree.

“We should be able to stand up to white supremacy but not demonize everyone who believes they should not remove the statues,” she says. To those who conflate the hatred of the KKK and white nationalists with anyone who has a differing opinion, she says, “We should be better than that.”

Slaughter says she attended other post-August 12 forums, such as one at the Jefferson Center, where people were angry, but didn’t attack others there.

“It is troublesome that people feel they’re empowered to not let other people express their views,” she says. ”We are a democracy.”

 

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Council coup: Angry citizens take over meeting

Anarchy ruled at the first City Council meeting after the August 12 alt-right rally. Eze Amos

Barely 30 minutes into its August 21 meeting, City Council was in chaos. Three demonstrators were reportedly arrested, city officials left the chamber and the meeting’s video and audio feeds were cut off as protesters stood on the dais holding a banner that read, “Blood on your hands.”

The rage, frustration and trauma from the August 11-12 events that brought white supremacists and neo-Nazis to town were palpable among the more than 50 people who spoke when councilors came back into council chamber, and they blamed City Council for allowing it to happen.

Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy took control of the meeting, jettisoned the agenda and turned it into a public comment with speakers allowed to talk for a minute—or as long as they wished—for nearly four hours.

Mayor Mike Signer took the brunt of citizens’ rage. “Mr. Signer, it seems to me we should change your name to Dr. Frankenstein, because you’ve created a monster and the villagers are storming,” said council regular John Heyden.

Mayor Mike Signer struggled—in vain—to bring the meeting to order. Photo Eze Amos

At about that point, Signer said the meeting was canceled and left the chamber, but he was not followed by his fellow councilors. “Signer has shown his true colors,” said Don Gathers, who was chair of the city’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces.

Upon his return about 10  minutes later, Signer was derided, particularly by independent council candidate Nikuyah Walker, who demanded that he leave. “You just showed us you’re not a leader.”

“Why did you think you could walk in here with business as usual?”—independent City Council candidate grills officials. Photo Eze Amos

Again and again, speakers said the city had been warned those coming to Unite the Right rally intended violence.

“I told you so,” said one, a woman who described herself as a child of the ’60s. “I’ve seen this movie before,” she said.

“You want to call yourself the capital of the resistance,” said Emily Gorcenski, who videoed white nationalists marching through UVA Grounds August 11. She said the real resistance was from the medics who were there, and added, “Charlottesville is the capital of the antifa.”

Don Gathers said he was “filled with righteous indignation” and “morally outraged.” Phote Eze Amos

And when citizens blamed council for allowing the alt-right rally, Signer pointed out that a federal judge ruled against the city. “We really tried hard to get it out of downtown,” he said.

For hours, there was no placating citizens, who were ready for council to ignore state and federal law and remove the statues that night.

More than 50 citizens lined up to tell City Council how they felt, including former vice-mayor Kevin Lynch (in plaid shorts). Photo Eze Amos

“Will you charge us if we take them down tonight?” asked Jonny Nuckols.

It was around 11:30pm before City Manager Maurice Jones could begin to respond to questions about the event that left Heather Heyer dead and at least 30 injured when a neo-Nazi-driven Dodge Challenger plowed into a crowd on Fourth Street.

The number of those hurt was challenged by a woman whose daughter was injured in the deliberate crash and had two broken legs. The daughter was taken to Sentara Martha Jefferson, which had at least another dozen victims beyond the 19 reported taken to UVA, said the woman.

Jones explained that in Virginia, state law prohibits the removal of war memorials, unlike places such as Maryland and Texas that have removed Confederate monuments in the past week.

He also pointed to a federal judge who did not allow the city to move the rally to McIntire Park and issued his ruling about the same time polo-shirted neo-Nazis were swarming the Lawn. When asked why the city didn’t shut down the event after the tiki-torch march Friday night and the attacks on protesters at the Thomas Jefferson statue, Jones said, “We’d already lost in court.”

Councilors listed actions they wanted to take to prevent such an invasion of hate happening again.

Earlier that day, Councilor Kathy Galvin said at a press conference that she would introduce a resolution to remove the statue of Stonewall Jackson at Justice Park, as well as the statue of Robert E. Lee that she and Signer voted against removing in February. Galvin said the events of August 12 had shown her that keeping the statues in place was “untenable in the long run,” but it would be around 12:30am before she could introduce her resolution.

On August 18, Signer said he was changing his vote and he called upon the General Assembly to hold a special session and allow localities to determine the fates of their Confederate monuments.

At the council meeting, Signer said it was time for the Constitution to change to address “intentional mayhem” that is not covered in the First Amendment, much as courts have ruled it’s not okay to shout “fire” in crowded venues.

Among other questions from citizens, Jones denied that police had been told to not intervene. “There was no stand-down order from anyone in city government. None,” he said.

It was after 11:30pm before City Manager Maurice Jones could start responding to questions raised about the alt-right weekend. Photo Eze Amos

To concerns about the weapons-carrying militias, Jones reminded everyone that Virginia is an open-carry state, but admitted, “It caused great confusion having those gunmen in our parks.” Councilors want legislators to give them leeway to regulate that, as well.

The protection of Congregation Beth Israel on Jefferson Street was another concern, and Jones explained that there were almost 50 officers in the block and a half around the synagogue, including snipers on the roof of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. “I completely understand people feeling unsafe,” he said. “We had people keeping an eye on it.”

Perhaps one of the biggest questions is why Fourth Street was open in the first place. One woman said it was barricaded when she went by it around 6am August 12, and Jones said that is being investigated.

The other was why UVA police were not visible as torch-carriers terrorized Grounds. A question for the university, responded Jones.

Close to 1am, Councilor Kristin Szakos made a resolution that passed 5-0: to drape the statues of Lee and Jackson in black cloth for a city in mourning.

The meeting is officially out of control—and it had barely gotten started. Photo Eze Amos

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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.”

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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.

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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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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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UPDATED: Biking greenlit at Ragged Mountain

If approved, hikers and bikers will have access to 13 miles of trails at Ragged Mountain Natural Area. City of Charlottesville

After a year of debate, and a plea last week from the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors to delay a decision, the Charlottesville City Council voted 3-2 December 19 to allow mountain biking and trail running at Ragged Mountain Natural Area.

“We are looking forward to working collaboratively with the city parks staff and all the friends of Ragged Mountain to be good stewards of this treasured public area for the benefit of all of our community,” said Jon Ciambotti via e-mail the day after the vote. Ciambotti was speaking on behalf of the Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club, which has already built a number of the trails at the natural area, though its members were prohibited from riding on them.

Councilor Kathy Galvin gave CAMBC a nod at the recent meeting, saying that erosion is caused by poorly built trails, not by the activities taking place on them.

Mayor Mike Signer and councilors Kristin Szakos and Galvin voted yes to allowing biking and running, while councilors Bob Fenwick and Wes Bellamy voted no. With the majority vote, they also passed a resolution to have city officials, within the next six months, determine whether biking and hiking should be allowed on the same trails and to study the best ways to maintain trail traffic. In addition, they passed an ordinance to ask the county to support their decisions.

“The county’s existing regulations applicable to [Ragged Mountain] do not allow biking with the express purpose of preventing pollution of the public water supply,” county spokesperson Jody Saunders said in a press release December 15. “The Board has asked for the deferment to allow for the possibility of more discussion and assessment regarding this issue.”

While Ragged Mountain is owned by the city, it’s located in Albemarle County, and Signer said at the meeting that each locality’s legal staff has disagreed on who gets to call the shots.

Members of the public using Ragged Mountain “will be confused as to what activities are allowed if the city’s and county’s regulations are in conflict with each another,” Saunders said in the county’s statement. “This, in turn, will create enforcement problems for the county if the city is, in effect, inviting bikers into RMNA despite the county’s regulations.”

Currently, Ragged Mountain’s rules are enforced by the city, says city spokesperson Miriam Dickler.

But Szakos says City Attorney Craig Brown indicated at the December 5 City Council meeting that the council had received all the necessary information to make a final decision, and should feel comfortable going forward with it.

“The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority has said that they have no concerns about the water quality,” Szakos says, debunking the county’s main reason for asking for a decision deferral. “I would hope [the county] would take that up with the authority.”

Albemarle’s request that the city defer its decision comes at a time when city/county relations are not at their most cordial. On December 14, county supervisors okayed a consultant to study, among other things, locations to move general and district courts from the city because of parking and cost concerns about remaining in Court Square.

 

Updated December 20 at 12:30pm. Original story below.

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While the majority of City Council has publicly supported giving mountain biking at Ragged Mountain Natural Area the green light, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors is asking them to consider stopping their decision in its tracks.

“The county’s existing regulations applicable to [Ragged Mountain] do not allow biking with the express purpose of preventing pollution of the public water supply,” county spokesperson Jody Saunders said in a press release. “The Board has asked for the deferment to allow for the possibility of more discussion and assessment regarding this issue.”

City Councilor Kristin Szakos says City Attorney Craig Brown indicated at their December 5 meeting that council has received all the necessary information to make a final decision, and should feel comfortable going forward with it.

“The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority has said that they have no concerns about the water quality,” Szakos says. “I would hope [the county] would take that up with the authority.”

But City Council’s potential noncompliance may not matter.

Citing Virginia Code, Saunders says the city, as the locality-landowner, is prohibited from adopting regulations that are in conflict with the county’s since Ragged Mountain is located there.

Members of the public using Ragged Mountain “will be confused as to what activities are allowed if the city’s and county’s regulations are in conflict with another,” she says. “This, in turn, will create enforcement problems for the county if the city is, in effect, inviting bikers into RMNA despite the county’s regulations.”

Says Szakos, “That’s a difference of opinion.”
The request comes at time when city/county relations are not at their most cordial. County supervisors yesterday okayed a consultant to study, among other things, locations to move courts from the city because of parking and cost concerns about remaining in Court Square.