Tag: tim kaine

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Democratic performance down in Virginia, even for reelected candidates

Despite decisive wins by Donald Trump and John McGuire, Charlottesville and Albemarle County overwhelmingly voted blue on November 5. Photo by Eze Amos.

After a turbulent and historic Election Day, most results are in across the commonwealth. From the White House to Town Council, here’s the Virginia Department of Elections’ unofficial results for how locals voted in the 2024 election.

Amid a disappointing night for Democrats, Virginia’s 13 electoral votes went to Vice President Kamala Harris. Voters in Charlottesville and Albemarle leaned heavily blue across the board, with roughly 84 percent and 66 percent of the respective electorates casting their ballots for Harris. Surrounding counties generally leaned toward Donald Trump.

While Harris won Virginia with 52 percent of the vote, she fell short of Biden’s 2020 performance of 54 percent in the commonwealth. Her underperformance in Virginia mirrors the broader results of the election, with Trump sweeping all seven swing states.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine won reelection to a third term in the U.S. Senate, receiving 54.3 percent to challenger Hung Cao’s 45.5 percent. Support for Kaine was down 2 percent statewide compared to 2018, but the incumbent still had ample support in metro areas, including Charlottesville. Almost 85 percent of Charlottesville voters cast their ballot for Kaine, alongside approximately 66.5 percent of the Albemarle electorate.

Voters in both the 5th and 7th congressional districts have new congressmen, with incumbents in neither district on the ballot November 5.

In the 5th District, Republican up-and-comer John McGuire bested Democrat Gloria Witt by roughly 14 points, winning 56.7 percent of the vote. The result was expected despite Charlottesville and Albemarle both leaning heavily toward Witt. The district spans much of the south central part of the state to the North Carolina border, and heavily favors Republican candidates despite the inclusion of Charlottesville. Incumbent Rep. Bob Good will vacate the seat in January 2025.

A small portion of Albemarle and surrounding counties are in the 7th District, which narrowly chose Eugene Vindman (D) over Derrick Anderson (R). While Vindman received approximately 51.1 percent of the vote, the Albemarle portion of VA-7 leaned heavily Republican this election cycle.

At press time, party control of the House of Representatives was still too close to call.

Looking down-ballot, localities largely stuck with the status quo. In the Rio Magisterial District, Albemarle voters elected appointee Chuck Pace to serve out the remaining year of now-Del. Katrina Callsen’s term on the school board. The seat will be back on the ballot next fall for a regular election.

Orange County had multiple Town Council races this year, with Emily Winkey and Stevean Irving II elected to council in Gordonsville and James Cluff and Delmer Seal Jr. elected to council in the town of Orange.

In Scottsville, the mayoral race was still too close to call at press time, with current Mayor Ron Smith ahead by two votes in the deadlocked race. Results are expected in the coming days, with the statewide deadline for certification on November 15.

Beyond the handful of uncontested elections across the commonwealth, Virginians also found common ground on the constitutional amendment on the ballot. Roughly 93 percent of voters approved for the state constitution to expand a tax exemption to surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty.

Unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections were collected by C-VILLE at 2:30pm on November 11. Exact data may continue to change until results are formally certified.

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Tim Kaine and Hung Cao talk policy and priorities

Candidates Tim Kaine (left) and Hung Cao (right). Supplied photos.

Virginia is one of 33 states with a U.S. Senate seat up for grabs this November. Two-term incumbent Tim Kaine (D) faces a challenge from former navy Captain Hung Cao (R). In the lead-up to Election Day, C-VILLE reached out to both candidates via email.

C-VILLE: What are your top priorities if elected to the Senate?

Tim Kaine: The economy, affordable housing, and health care are issues I hear about all across Virginia.

I’ve proudly helped pass legislation to create good-paying manufacturing jobs, supercharge the green energy sector, and rebuild our infrastructure, but we must do more. Our American Rescue Plan ushered the strongest jobs recovery on record and expanded the child tax credit. …  I’m working to bring that tax cut back and make it permanent. To grow our economy, we must also pass a comprehensive immigration reform package to both secure our border and enable companies to hire more skilled workers.

In 2017, I cast a deciding vote to preserve the Affordable Care Act, protecting the health care coverage of 1.3 million Virginians with pre-existing conditions. In 2022, I helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act to slash prescription drug costs. In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, I have introduced the only bipartisan bill in Congress that would guarantee all women the freedom to make their own reproductive choices.  

I have spent my entire career, including 17 years as a fair housing attorney, fighting for fair housing and working to lower housing costs in Virginia. My LIFT [Low-Income First-Time Homebuyers] Act would help first-time, first-generation homebuyers accelerate wealth-building through homeownership. We need to get this passed and signed into law. 

Hung Cao: Securing our open border. In fact, everything that’s going wrong in our country right now stems from our wide-open southern border, and Virginians across the commonwealth know it. … Our wide-open southern border is a huge national security threat.

How does your platform align with and support the best interests of Virginians?

TK: My campaign motto is “Standing Up for Virginia” because my entire campaign is entirely about Virginia. … If I continue to have the great honor of serving my commonwealth, I’ll keep building on my work and keep listening to Virginians and what’s on their minds.

I want to continue lowering costs for Virginia families by cutting the cost of child care and slashing taxes for working families.

Communities across the country, but especially northern Virginia, are facing rising housing costs. I introduced the Fair Housing Improvement Act, which would protect veterans and low-income families from housing discrimination, the Low-Income First-Time Homebuyers Act, and am one of the lead sponsors of the bipartisan Housing Supply and Affordability Act. I support an expansion of the low-income housing tax credit, responsible for increasing the supply of affordable rental housing.

HC: We have to make the cost of living, goods, gas, and groceries more affordable. Under Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Tim Kaine’s radical agenda, Americans and Vir­ginians are hurting from the increased cost of goods and prices, making the American dream no longer what it was when my family and I immigrated to this country. But we have to start with securing the border. That’s step one. … We need to put the American people and Virginians first and that begins with closing our border.

How do your policy positions differ from your opponent? How, if at all, do they overlap or intersect?

TK: Unlike my opponent, I trust Virginia women to make their own health care decisions. After the Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs decision, I got to work and introduced the only bipartisan bill in Congress that would codify the core holdings of Roe v. Wade and related Supreme Court cases to protect access to abortion and birth control. 

I proudly helped pass legislation that is expanding high-speed internet, rebuilding roads and bridges, rail and public transit, ports and airports all over Virginia. I also worked to pass legislation that is bringing manufacturing back to America and easing supply chain issues. My opponent opposed all of these investments and the good-paying jobs they are bringing, and would vote against the reauthorization of our bipartisan infrastructure law in 2026.

… I believe health care is a right, which is why I’ve introduced a Medicare-X plan that which would give all Virginians access to a plan similar to Medicare. Furthermore, I will always fight to defend Social Security and Medicare and ensure that these programs are sustainable for generations to come. 

HC: I am running for U.S. Senate to save the country that saved my life. I spent 25 years in Navy Special Operations with combat in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia, while Tim Kaine spent 30 years in elected office. … In the U.S. Senate, I will always put Virginia first and protect the commonwealth.

If elected to the Senate, will you certify election results regardless of party outcome if the election is deemed free and fair?

TK: Of course! 

HC: Yes.

What, if any, concerns do you have with your opponent, his campaign, or his platform?

TK: My opponent has insulted and talked down to the Virginians that he hopes to represent in the U.S. Senate. … He has also continued to insult Virginians by failing to show up for them, when he skipped 12 of 13 candidate forums in his Republican primary election. My favorite part of my job is traveling and meeting Virginians in every corner of the commonwealth. If someone won’t show up for you, they won’t stand up for you.

HC: After 25 years serving our country in the Navy, I’ve been all over the world. I’ve seen communism first-hand and know what it’s like to lose your country. We’re losing ours today and trust me, there’s nowhere else to go. I’ve spent my life trying to repay my debt to America, and I’m not done fighting for us. Tim Kaine is a weak man in a dangerous world and along with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, he is destroying Virginia’s way of life.

This interview has been edited for length.

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Draft congressional budget bills allocate millions for local projects and organizations

Sen. Tim Kaine, who is up for reelection this fall, serves on the Senate Committee on the Budget. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

After a tumultuous budget cycle that led to the ouster of former speaker Kevin McCarthy last year, Congress is diving back into budget negotiations for Fiscal Year 2025. Draft bills passed by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee include more than $3 million in appropriations for local projects supporting Charlottesville and Albemarle County efforts around affordable housing, infrastructure, and youth engagement.

The largest local appropriation included in the draft legislation would support Charlottesville City Council’s work to convert a “defunct commercial building” at 501 Cherry Ave. into mixed-use affordable housing. The $1.25 million in funding falls short of the original $2.4 million requested by Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.

The redevelopment—located at the site of the former IGA grocery store—will reportedly include 71 apartments for “low- and moderate-income seniors, people with disabilities, and families,” according to language in the draft bills. Community members are invited to attend a meeting at the Jefferson School African Heritage Center auditorium on August 24 from noon to 2pm covering community input on the project and local history.

“The construction of 71 affordable apartments … will help provide workforce housing for people in Charlottesville and be a significant investment toward the goal of ensuring everyone can still afford to live in Charlottesville as our economy continues to grow,” said Charlottesville City Councilor Michael Payne in a comment via email.

Further funds have been allocated toward local affordable housing efforts, with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville afforded $1.074 million in the draft legislation. If included in the final congressional FY25 budget, the funds will support Habitat’s construction of 11 affordable units in the Southwood community.

“This funding helps Habitat honor the nondisplacement commitment we made to the original residents … by ensuring that we are able to construct the variety of home ownership and rental options necessary to meet the needs of every family who wishes to remain in Southwood,” said Habitat Communications and Annual Giving Manager Angela Guzman via email. “We sincerely appreciate this vote of confidence in Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville’s innovative, resident-led approach to tackling the affordable housing crisis in our community.”

The draft appropriations also provide Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority with $880,000 for vital equipment improvements. “If the funding is eventually approved, we will be using it to replace the existing powder-activated carbon system at the South Rivanna Water Treatment Plant with a new, more modern slurry feed system,” said RWSA Director of Administration and Communications Betsy Nemeth via email.

The congressional funds allow RWSA to lower costs for ratepayers, according to Nemeth, while maintaining access to clean drinking water.

Other notable local appropriations in the draft spending bills include $200,000 for ReadyKids, Inc. and $61,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of Central Virginia. Both programs aim to support local youth, with draft funds slated to support mental health counseling and out-of-school programming in Charlottesville and Albemarle.

“For every child that receives trauma counseling at ReadyKids, there are two children waiting for services,” said Eileen Barber, ReadyKids’ lead communications specialist, via email. “To ensure our counseling programs are sustained, we’re pursuing new opportunities, including earmarks, to bolster these essential services.”

Funding for the Boys & Girls Club will help with “transportation … so youth can access out-of-school-time programs and field trips after school and during the summer,” according to CEO Kate Lambert. “The project presents an opportunity to alleviate the current and persisting transportation issues and give youth access to a safe, inclusive, and productive environment during times when they are most vulnerable.”

While the draft legislation is promising, the funds are by no means guaranteed. Representatives have until September 30 to either adopt a budget or pass a short-term bill to prevent a government shutdown.

Bipartisan support within the Senate Appropriations Committee is a positive indicator for the budget legislation, but the bills must pass by the Senate at large and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. In a joint statement announcing more than $125 million in funding allocations for various Virginia projects and organizations, Sens. Kaine and Warner celebrated the passage of the draft legislation and acknowledged the work still to come.

“We’re thrilled to see the Senate move forward on government funding legislation that includes essential funding to support our servicemembers and military families, implement our seismic investments in infrastructure and manufacturing, promote public safety, invest in affordable housing, curb fentanyl trafficking, improve customer service at the IRS, and much more,” said the Virginia senators. “We are looking forward to advocating for these priorities and working with the House of Representatives to provide robust funding bills that address the needs of Virginia and the country.”

The U.S. Senate reconvenes on September 9.

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In brief

CPD says the investigation into Edward Anderson’s death remains open and ongoing. Photo via Charlottesville Police Department.

Pedestrian fatality

Charlottesville City Police are investigating the death of 42-year-old Edward Anderson, who was fatally struck by a vehicle in the 700 block of Nassau Street on July 6. The driver of the vehicle has not been charged or publicly identified, though there are contradictions between official accounts and claims made by community members on social media.

In a release shortly after the incident, CPD shared preliminary information based on witness accounts and information at the scene. According to the department, “further investigation and statements obtained indicated that Mr. Anderson attacked the female while she was in her parked vehicle. As the female attempted to flee the attack, she struck Mr. Anderson with her vehicle. The attack appears unprovoked, and the involved parties are not believed to be known to one another.”

The driver of the vehicle was an adult female and was still at the scene when officers arrived. CPD says an investigation is ongoing, but no charges have been filed in connection with Anderson’s death.

After the statement by CPD, allegations quickly emerged online contradicting the preliminary official account of the incident. CPD Chief Michael Kochis held a press conference on July 15 to address community concerns about the lack of arrest and contradicting reports.

“This tragedy has not only shaken two families, but also our community,” said Kochis. “In an attempt to communicate why there was not an immediate arrest, we put out preliminary information based on independent eyewitness accounts and initial evidence on the scene. Some may have taken this release as an indication that a conclusion had been reached in less than 24 hours. That is not true.”

Kochis called on community members to cease online speculation, directly mentioning a since-deleted Facebook post that was “very different than eyewitness accounts and the evidence at the scene.” In the post, the user alleged that she witnessed the incident and that the driver backed up over Anderson after hitting him before leaving the scene.

Detectives have reportedly spoken to the poster and determined that she was not an eyewitness but was instead repeating community speculation.

Comments below a livestream of the press conference show some community members remain critical of the official account of the incident. Several people expressed frustration with the withholding of the driver’s identity and race.

CPD is reportedly waiting on several key forensic reports, including the autopsy and lab reports on the vehicle and the weapon allegedly used by Anderson, which Kochis identified as a pair of scissors.

At press time, the investigation into Anderson’s death remains open and charges have not been filed against the driver. C-VILLE continues to follow the investigation.

Communities of care

The Charlottesville Human Rights Commission is hosting state legislators and representatives from HRCs in Virginia Beach, Alexandria, and Fairfax to provide community-centered legislative advice. Democratic leaders including Albemarle County Del.  Katrina Callsen and state Sen. Creigh Deeds will be in attendance. This initiative will help inform the commission’s recommendations for city council regarding the prioritization of human rights in local legislation ahead of the 2025 General Assembly session. Community members are encouraged to attend the  hybrid meeting on Thursday, July 18.

Trailblazing

On Sunday, July 14, Sen. Tim Kaine made a stop in Albemarle County while on the campaign trail. The Virginia Senator attended the canvass launch for the Democratic Party of Virginia’s Coordinated Campaign, where he shared his support for local Democratic leadership. He seeks reelection to a third term in office, having served as a Virginia senator since 2013.

File photo.

Keeping cool

The city of Charlottesville celebrated the expansion of crucial food bank cold storage with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 11. With the completion of the expansion project, the cold storage capacity at Blue Ridge Area Food Bank has nearly tripled to 560 square feet. According to Charlottesville City Hall, the center provided aid to 22,000 community members in 2023. The expansion of the space will enhance the center’s ability to distribute fresh fruit and nutritious vegetables through its pantry networks and related services. “The City of Charlottesville is extremely proud to support them in their important work,” said Grants Analyst Anthony Warn in a press release.

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In brief: Kaine on Iran, police withdraw cameras, speaking in CODE

Senator Tim Kaine speaks at Batten about US-Iran relations. Photo: Sanjay Suchak

Kaine argues for peace

War with Iran may well be on the horizon—but U.S. Senator Tim Kaine has a few objections. He spoke about his new war powers resolution and his hopes for a return to diplomacy during an event at UVA’s Batten School of Public Policy on January 17.

Kaine has recently managed to drum up bipartisan support for a resolution that would limit the president’s powers of war and put more responsibility back in the hands of Congress. The resolution will almost certainly be vetoed by President Trump, but Kaine argued that on some level the veto is beside the point. “Congress should do whatever we’re supposed to do, [regardless of] what the president does,” the Virginia Democrat said. 

Trump’s decision to walk away from the United States’ nuclear deal with Iran was “one of the worst decisions” the country has ever made, according to Kaine. “If you abandon diplomacy, you make war more likely.”

“We won the Iraq war, and yet looking back at it, most people say it was a catastrophic mistake,” said the senator, who serves on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees.

Kaine delivered his remarks in his usual wonky, earnest style, invoking everything from Thomas Jefferson’s interactions with Barbary pirates to his own experience as a lawmaker with a child in the military. Ultimately, however, he made his opposition to war with Iran clear. “There is not a war scenario with Iran that is a simple, easy mission accomplished,” Kaine said. “There’s just not.”

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Quote of the Week

“Twelve handguns a year is more than enough, for most citizens. If you need more than that, go to Texas. They don’t have any laws.”

­—State Senator Dick Saslaw, speaking in favor of Virginia’s proposed one-handgun-a-month law earlier this week

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In Brief

A police camera hanging on a telephone pole near Westhaven.

Caught on cameras

C-VILLE reported last week that the city had installed four surveillance cameras near Westhaven and Prospect, two majority black public housing neighborhoods in town. Since the article was published, the police have removed those cameras just as quietly as they hung them up. When asked why the cameras were taken down, police department spokesman Tyler Hawn said any questions about the cameras should be referred to city spokesman Brian Wheeler. Wheeler has not yet responded to requests for comment. 

Bias unmasked

Only one arrest was made at Monday’s massive pro-gun demonstration at the state Capitol: Mikaela Beschler, a 21-year-old Richmond woman, was arrested for covering her face with a bandana. It’s a felony to wear a mask in Virginia, but many gun-toting protestors had also covered their faces. “It’s become abundantly clear that the mask ban, which was intended to combat the Klan, is now only enforced against anti-racist activists,” tweeted Delegate Lee Carter.

Speaking in CODE

Construction is chugging along on the gigantic CODE Building, the office and retail space coming to the west end of the Downtown Mall in 2021. At a press conference last week, organizers promised that the building will emphasize “entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ideas” as well as “the principles of wellness and sustainability,” foster “unplanned interdisciplinary cross-pollination;” and have spaces where people can “maybe do a webinar, film it, blast it out.” 

Don’t Byers it

Albemarle County Police Department sent out a warning this week about a telephone scam: A mysterious caller has been ringing up locals, identifying himself as Captain Darrell Byers, and telling the marks they have an arrest warrant on their head that can be resolved by wiring money. Don’t fall for it. The local police aren’t perfect, but we’re pretty sure they’re not that corrupt.

 

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In brief: Plogging craze, Crozet shuttle, marathon man, and more

Plogging and other Earth Day events

A combination of jogging while picking up trash—who wouldn’t want to go plogging? Easter Sunday, from 1 to 5pm, is your chance.

“Instead of hunting for Easter eggs, we’re hunting for litter,” says organizer and self-proclaimed tree-hugger Brady Earnhart. He’s never been plogging, but was immediately intrigued when he read about the European craze in The New Yorker.

Earnhart says his event will probably be more of a stroll than a jog, and will start and end at Rapture on the Downtown Mall. “Get some exercise
while you’re making Charlottesville a prettier place, and hang out with a crowd who feels the way you do about it,” he says.

Participants will break into smaller groups and collect as much garbage as they can from the designated zones, which can be found on a map on the Facebook event page, “Easter Plogging: A Holiday Litter Hunt.”

Bring your smartphone and plastic grocery bags (for collecting) if you’ve got ’em, says Earnhart.

And if you’re in the mood for more environmentally-friendly (and plogging!) events, here are just a few options:

Plog with the prez

Join UVA President Jim Ryan on April 19 at 7am at Madison Hall for running and litter pickup, one of more than 20 university-sponsored Earth Week events. A full schedule can be found at sustainability.virginia.edu.

Break out your bike helmet

Piedmont Environmental Council and other groups are leading a casual ride April 19 at 5:30pm through neighborhood streets, along bike lanes,
and greenways, with an optional social hour and advocacy brainstorming session to follow. Meet at Peloton Station.

Lace up your hiking boots

Join Wild Virginia on a guided two- to three-mile hike at Montpelier April 27 from 10am to noon. The cost is $10 with a $5 recommended donation to Wild Virginia, and those interested can sign up by searching “Nature Exploration Hike at Montpelier” on Eventbrite.

Quote of the week

“[Discriminatory symbols] certainly include Confederate imagery, which evokes a time when black people were enslaved, sold, beaten, and even killed at the whim of their masters.”—Educator/activist Walt Heinecke to the Albemarle School Board April 11

In brief

Don’t go

A petition started by UVA alumna Lacey Kohlmoos asks the men’s basketball team not to visit the White House in the wake of their NCAA championship win, and at press time, the online document had 10,900 of the 11,000 requested John Hancocks. But here’s the catch: While the winner may traditionally be extended an invitation to the president’s abode, as of yet, the Cavaliers have not been invited.

Rebel students

Since Albemarle Superintendent Matt Haas banned white supremacist and Nazi imagery on clothing as disruptive, six students have been counseled, Haas told the school board April 11. The first, reported as wearing a hat with Confederate imagery, also had on a Confederate T-shirt. That student spent several days at home.

Eze Amos

Riot free

Charlottesville police reported minimal mayhem as Hoos celebrated UVA’s national basketball championship into the wee hours of April 9. Police made three misdemeanor arrests for drunk in public, trespassing, and assault. UVA police reported three calls for vandalism, and fire and rescue responded to seven burned sofas/bonfires.

Crozet express

JAUNT is planning to launch a new bus service from Crozet to UVA and Sentara Martha Jefferson starting August 5, with other stops to allow riders to connect with transit options, according to the Progress. JAUNT, which is still seeking input, aims to keep the ride to no more than 45 minutes and will charge $2 each way.

Good pork

Virginia’s U.S. senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine get $43 million in federal funding from HUD for affordable housing in Virginia, including $875,000 for Charlottesville Redevelopment & Housing Authority.

Ryan’s run

UVA prez Jim Ryan ran his ninth Boston Marathon April 15 in honor of 26 teachers, one for every mile. Donors contributed $260 to get an educator who had made a difference listed on Ryan’s shirt.

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In brief: America’s Dad, Virginia’s tampons, A12’s price tag and more

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine stopped by York Place for a pizza party with UVA students. Eze Amos

New contender for America’s Dad?

Senator Tim Kaine stopped by his campaign office in York Place September 21 for a pizza party with nearly three dozen University of Virginia Democrats.

Supporters passed around campaign signs that said “America’s Dad,” although Kaine may have some competition for the title—a spokesman for Bill Cosby told reporters recently that Cosby is still America’s Dad, despite his conviction for sexual assault.

In an exclusive interview on the vital topic of “dad jokes,” Kaine confessed that he groaned when his staff introduced the signs during his 2016 vice presidential campaign. “I kind of found myself in the center of all these dad jokes. And I mean, this is a very dad thing to say, but until I was in the center of them, I didn’t know there was such a thing as a dad joke.”

Urban Dictionary defines a dad joke as an “indescribably cheesy” or dumb joke made by a father to his kids. “We’re in a business where people get called a lot of names, and being made fun of because of my dad quality? I’ll take that,” says Kaine.

Smells of pepperoni and cheese wafted through the air as Hillary Clinton’s former running mate also fielded questions about his favorite type of ’za.

“I will always have Canadian bacon, mushroom, and black olive if I can,” he said. “Not everybody has Canadian bacon. It was more popular back in the day, and with Trump in a trade war against Canada, I’m sure there’s no more Canadian bacon.”

Believe it or not, he was also there to talk politics. As was 5th District congressional candidate Leslie Cockburn, who was preaching to the choir when she said one of her top priorities is debt relief for folks with student loans.

Like his young constituents, Kaine said he believes in climate science, marriage equality, and reasonable rules to “stop the carnage of gun violence.”

“I feel like politics is a lot like a train that’s run away and we need to pull the emergency brake,” Kaine told the crowd of students. And when recruiting young supporters, he said he no longer just talks about the differences between Republicans and Democrats.

“It’s not just that there’s a difference between the two sides,” he says. “It’s that you make a difference.”

As for defeating opponent Corey Stewart? “I feel good about what I see, but we take nothing for granted.”

Quote of the week

“If someone chooses to visit a Virginia Department of Corrections inmate, he or she cannot have anything hidden inside a body cavity.”—Spokeswoman Lisa Kinney tells the AP why women can’t wear tampons or menstrual cups when visiting state prisons.

In brief

Tourism bureau slam

Adam Healey, interim executive director for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau, called the agency a “weak marketer,” its messaging “confusing,” and its positioning “dusty” rather than modern, according to Allison Wrabel’s story in the Daily Progress. And he wants to bump the bureau’s advertising budget from around $400,000 to $6 million.

Weekend traffic fatalities

UVA engineering grad student Rouzbeh Rastgarkafshgarkolaei, 27, died on U.S. 29 in Culpeper around 4:50am September 23, when his 2006 Audi sideswiped a Dodge Caravan, ran off the road, and caught fire. Virginia State Police said speed was a factor. That same day, Mary Elizabeth Carter, 19, died when her Mazda crossed the center line in Louisa and struck a Ford F150. Police said she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

Jowell Travis Legendre faces multiple charges. Charlottesville Police

Student assaulted, robbed

A UVA student was robbed and sexually assaulted around 9:30pm September 19 on the 500 block of 14th Street NW, city police said. Louisa resident Jowell Travis Legendre, 29, was arrested the next day and charged with object sexual penetration, forcible sodomy, robbery, grand larceny, and credit card larceny.

Well endowed

UVA’s endowment jumped almost $1 billion in the last fiscal year, from $8.6 billion to $9.5 billion. Even more impressive, the endowment has seen a 10.9 percent annual return over the past 20 years, according to COO Kristina Alimard.

Nuts wanted

The Virginia Department of Forestry is seeking acorns and nuts from 12 different species, mostly oaks, from state landowners. The department wants to plant them at its Augusta Forestry Center for tree seedlings.

 

 

Pricey preparations

While Jason Kessler was in D.C., Virginia State Police sent 700 officers to Charlottesville during the
August 12 anniversary weekend that brought out hundreds of anti-racist activists, students, and
mourners, but little to no opposition. The cost?

$3.1 million, according to VSP spokesperson Corinne Geller, who says the department has submitted the bill to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management for reimbursement. That number includes: $953,000 for equipment and vehicles,
and $885,000 in salaries (for officers who would have been working anyway). It does not include costs for Charlottesville, Albemarle, and UVA.

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In brief: Interim imbroglio, Miller Center imbroglio, gunman imbroglio and more

Mayor Nikuyah Walker takes it to social media.

Infighting implodes council

The hiring of an interim city manager, an event that usually takes place behind closed doors, has become heated and public, with reports of shouting at a July 20 closed City Council session. Mayor Nikuyah Walker has gone on Facebook Live twice to express her concerns that the process is part of the old boys’ network because someone suggested a candidate for the position to Vice Mayor Heather Hill, which she calls a “white supremist practice.”

On July 23, councilors Hill, Mike Signer and Kathy Galvin issued a five-page response to Walker’s Facebook Live video. “We regret that our rules requiring confidentiality about closed session discussions for personnel choices—which are in place under Virginia law, to protect local elected officials’ ability to discuss and negotiate employment agreements—were broken by the mayor.”

The search for an interim city manager became more urgent when Maurice Jones took a town manager job in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, leaving the city without a chief executive as the anniversary of August 12 looms.

Chris Suarez at the Daily Progress reports that three sources have confirmed U.S. Army Human Resources Command Chief of Staff Sidney C. Zemp has been offered the job.

In the councilors’ response, all three say they’ve never met the candidate, and that review panels are not used when filling interim positions.

In her July 20 video, Walker walked back a comment she made on Facebook and Twitter July 19: “We might have to protest a City Council decision. Are y’all with me?” She said she didn’t want supporters to shut down a council meeting, but did want them to pay attention to the process.

Walker was back on Facebook Live July 23, blasting her fellow councilors for their “very privileged” backgrounds and questioning their integrity.

She says she favors an internal candidate—the two assistant city managers and a department head have been floated—which councilors Wes Bellamy and Signer initially favored.

Bellamy issued his own statement: “Elected bodies agree and disagree all of the time” and that can lead to “healthy debate.”

Will council actually vote for an interim city manager at its August 6 meeting? Stay tuned.

Mayor Nikuyah Walker expressed concern in a July 20 Facebook Live video about the hiring process for an interim city manager.

In brief

Too much heritage

The Louisa County Board of Zoning Appeals said the giant Confederate battle flag on I-64 must come down because its 120-foot pole is double the county’s maximum allowable height. Virginia Flaggers erected the “Charlottesville I-64 Spirit of Defiance Battle Flag” in March and argued that after putting up 27 flags across the state, they wouldn’t have spent $14,000 on this one without confirming county code.

Controversial hire

A petition with more than 2,000 signatures of UVA faculty and students objects to the Miller Center’s hiring of Trump legislative affairs director Marc Short as a senior fellow. The petitioners are opposed to Trump administrators using “our university to clean up their tarnished reputations.”

Presidential paychecks

New UVA president Jim Ryan commands a higher salary than his predecessor, but can’t touch Brono Mendenhall’s paycheck. Photo UVA

Outgoing UVA prez Teresa Sullivan’s base pay of $580,000 and total compensation of $607,502 last year makes her one of the higher paid university chiefs, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Her successor, Jim Ryan, starts with a $750,000 base pay, but to put those numbers in perspective, remember that UVA football coach Bronco Mendenhall makes $3.4 million—with a possible $2 million-plus bonus. At this week’s ACC Kickoff event, media members predicted—for the fifth straight year—that UVA will finish last in the conference’s Coastal Division.

New tourism director

Adam Healy, the former CEO of online wedding marketplace Borrowed and Blue, which closed abruptly last October, will now serve as the interim executive director of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Standoff on Lankford

A state police vehicle on the outskirts of the standoff.

About 50 city, county and state police and SWAT team members were on the scene of a four-hour standoff with 29-year-old Alexander Rodgers, who had barricaded himself inside a Lankford Avenue home on July 19. Someone called police around 8am and reported shots fired. Rodgers, who has a history of domestic violence and was wanted on six outstanding warrants, eventually surrendered and was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor.

Quote of the week:

“The fish rots from the head.”—Senator Tim Kaine, after U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and UVA alum Kirstjen Nielsen said about last summer’s violence in Charlottesville at a July 19 press briefing, “It’s not that one side was right and one side was wrong.”

County crime report

The Albemarle County Police Department released its annual crime report for 2017 last month. Here are a few things that caught our eye.

-Police misconduct has been reframed in a new “cheers and jeers” section, where police complaints are compared side-by-side with commendations.

  • Complaints: 57
  • Commendations: 69

-The award section may come as a surprise, because Detective Andrew Holmes, who faces five lawsuits for racial profiling, was granted a community service award.

-Albemarle County had the second-lowest crime rate in the state while Charlottesville had the highest. Crime rate is measured by tallying the number of crimes committed per 100,000 people.

  •   Fairfax: 1,273
  •   Albemarle: 1,286
  •   Prince George: 1,334
  •   Arlington: 1,355
  •   Prince William: 1,370
  •   Chesterfield: 1,450
  •   James City: 1,611
  •   Roanoke: 1,638
  •   Henrico: 2,548
  •   Charlottesville: 2,631

-County police officers made 2,296 arrests and used force “to overcome resistance or threat” on 14 occasions.

-Assaults on police officers have gone up and down.

  • 2015: 3
  • 2016: 10
  • 2017: 7
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News

Soering supporter: Sheriff Chip Harding says evidence points to his innocence

Albemarle Sheriff Chip Harding wrote the governor that he believes Jens Soering is innocent and that two unknown killers involved in the case are walking around free today. Photo by Sarah Jane Winter

Former UVA student Jens Soering has insisted for decades he’s innocent of the notorious double homicide for which he’s been imprisoned for 31 years. He was an international sensation even before then-Governor Tim Kaine agreed to ship Soering back to his native Germany, a decision rescinded by his successor Bob McDonnell immediately upon taking office in 2010.

That didn’t slow the drumbeat that Soering, 50, was wrongfully convicted of the 1985 murders of his girlfriend’s parents, Derek and Nancy Haysom. Now, along with the German Bundestag and Chancellor Angela Merkel calling for his release, Soering has another heavy hitter proclaiming his innocence.

No one would call Albemarle Sheriff Chip Harding soft on crime. He’s spent a career going after the bad guys, most of it with the Charlottesville Police Department, relentlessly investigating crimes and lobbying the General Assembly to fund Virginia’s moribund DNA databank back in the late 1990s and turn it into a national model.

So when Soering’s pro bono attorney, Steve Rosenfield, asked Harding to take a look at the investigation and trial, Harding says he knew little of the case, thought Soering was probably guilty and that “McDonnell did the right thing” in nixing the reparation.

Two hundred hours of investigating hefty case files later, in a 19-page letter to Governor Terry McAuliffe, Harding says, “In my opinion, Jens Soering would not be convicted if the case were tried today, and the evidence appears to support a case for his innocence.”   

Even more disturbing: Recent DNA results from the crime scene indicate “not only was Soering not a contributor of blood found at the crime scene, but two men left blood at the scene.”

Harding’s theory is that the dead couple’s daughter, Elizabeth, whose uncommon type B blood was found at the scene and who has claimed her mother sexually abused her, had the motive for the savage slayings and used either an emotional or a drug connection to entice the unknown accomplices.

“I totally understand why the jury found him guilty,” Harding says. But multiple factors convinced him that the jury had been misled and that Soering had an inadequate defense, including a lead attorney who “was mentally ill and later disbarred,” he writes the governor.

“If I had to pick one thing,” he says, “it was the DNA.”

The DNA databank was established in 1989, the year before Soering’s trial. “There was a lot of blood available at that crime scene,” says Harding. “Why it wasn’t tested, I don’t know.”

He also mentions the bloody sock print found at the scene, about which a so-called expert was allowed to testify that it was likely Soering’s. “That was totally outrageous,” says Harding. Qualified experts have since said the print excludes Soering from the scene, but one juror said in a 1995 affidavit that the sock print testimony swayed him to convict.

Echols scholars Soering and Haysom met his first year at UVA in 1984 when he was 18 and a virgin, he’s said. He was smitten with the 20-year-old Haysom. The weekend of the murders, the two went to Washington in a rental car. Soering initially confessed that he was the killer to protect Haysom because he mistakenly believed he would have some sort of diplomatic immunity.

He quickly recanted and said it was Haysom who disappeared for hours and drove to Bedford, but Haysom, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory before the fact, still maintains Soering was the one who single-handedly butchered her parents.

Harding notes that her court-appointed doctors said at her sentencing “Haysom had a personality disorder and lied regularly.”

Last year Rosenfield, who is the attorney for now-exonerated Robert Davis, filed an absolute pardon with McAuliffe. A German documentary, The Promise, details the case and concludes Soering is innocent.

To have Harding, who has a national reputation in law enforcement, agree, only bolsters Soering’s case, says civil rights attorney Jeff Fogel. “What a coup.”

Harding, who investigated the wrongful conviction of Michael Hash that led to Hash’s release, joins the list of those who believe Soering is innocent, a position not shared by many in Bedford, including the case’s lead investigator, Major Ricky Gardner, who did not return a call, nor current Commonwealth’s Attorney Wes Nance.

Nance says the DNA evidence is not new, and he takes issue with concluding it proves two unknown males were in the Haysom house. “I do take some issue with [Harding’s] self-reported investigation,” such as talking to former lead investigator Chuck Reid, but not Gardner, citing a “movie with an obvious bias position,” and failing “to account for Ms. Haysom continuing to accept responsibility for her role in her parents’ death and continuing to confirm Mr. Soering’s role in those brutal killings,” he writes in an email.

“When you make a false confession in Virginia, it’s hard to get it changed,” says Harding, even when Soering had multiple details from the crime scene wrong. He mentions the Norfolk Four, who were convicted of a 1997 rape and murder and just received pardons. “It was just unbelievable how much evidence there was these guys didn’t do it,” says the sheriff.

“DNA is the truth,” avows Harding. “It proves the innocent, it convicts the guilty. It’s not that I’m hard on crime. I’m just trying to get it right.”

Correction: Elizabeth Haysom’s blood type—B—was found at the scene but it has not been tested to determine whether it’s actually her blood.

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News

In brief: Tim Kaine drops by, Dish drops Newsplex and more

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine visits with UVA School of Medicine Dean David Wilkes during a recent trip to Charlottesville. Eric Swensen

Kaine’s campaign continues

Fresh on the heels of an unsuccessful run for vice president, Senator Tim Kaine was in Charlottesville January 13 at UVA’s Claude Moore Medical Education Building for a town hall with med students on the Affordable Care Act, which faces repeal by the GOP in Congress.

Kaine on health care under Donald Trump:

  • Repeal without replacement: “I will jump off a cliff and figure out how to land once I’m in the air.”
  • Worst victims of repeal: Rural hospitals, reproductive health
  • Upside: Trump’s negotiating skills could help prescription drug costs
  • Cooperation across the aisle in reforming Obamacare: It’s possible.
  • Overall mood: Optimistic and maybe a little naive

ACA repeal protests

Two separate rallies January 15 drew demonstrators to the Downtown Mall and to Republican Tom Garrett’s Charlottesville office to denounce plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Jane Dittmar’s latest gig

Jane Dittmar was unable to overcome the odds in the GOP-heavy 5th District. Photo Eze Amos
Photo by Eze Amos

The former 5th District congressional candidate joins House of Delegates minority leader David Toscano as his chief of staff, succeeding Carmen Bingham. Dittmar has served as chair of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and as president of the Charlottes-ville Regional Chamber of Commerce. She lost in November to Garrett.

Weekend woundings

Police responded to two separate stabbings January 14. Marc Gardner Carson, 58, is charged with malicious wounding following a 5am call to 7½ Street SW, where the incident resulted in a 58-year-old man being taken to the hospital. Sadie Michie, 27, is charged with malicious wounding for a Sixth Street SE incident that injured a 26-year-old male.

Dish drops Newsplex

The local ABC, CBS and Fox affiliates—found on channels 16, 19 and 27—will no longer be available to Dish Network customers, according to a press release sent January 17. “We are shocked and disappointed,” says Jay Barton, the station’s vice prez and general manager.

School bus fire

schoolBusFire2-I64_VSP
Virginia State Police

An Albemarle County bus carrying the Monticello High swim team began smoking and then ignited on I-64 on Afton Mountain around 5pm January 13. All 23 team members, three coaches and the driver escaped unharmed, and the cause of the conflagration is under investigation.

By the numbers: The General Assembly

Virginia’s legislature kicked off its short session January 11 with Governor Terry McAuliffe giving his last State of the Commonwealth address. So far, a bathroom bill is getting attention, but for many, there are more pressing issues.

45 – Number of days Virginia’s part-time legislature meets

1,272 – Number of bills introduced in the House of Delegates

843 – Number of bills carried in
the Senate

$1.2 billion – Budget shortfall and biggest issue

Quote of the Week:

“[T]his bill serves as a vehicle to undo the monstrosity that is Obamacare.” —U.S. Representative Tom Garrett January 13 after the House approved a budget resolution that would begin the process of dismantling the Affordable Care Act.