City Council voted 3-2 last night (Mayor Cox and Councilor Lynch in the minority) to seek the opinion of Attorney General Jerry Kilgore in the debate over the Meadowcreek Parkway. The majority on Council is seeking to dodge a constitutional restriction on the supermajority required to sell parkland by simply giving the land to the state for the next few decades. The minority believes that this is a questionably-legal dodge of the state constitution, and they enjoy the backing of the primary author of the state constitution, Dick Howard. Liz Nelson has the story in today’s Progress.
Archive for January, 2004
At a League of Women Voters forum yesterday, Del. Mitch Van Yahres (D), Del. Rob Bell (R), Del. Steve Landes (R), Del. Watkins Abbitt (R/I) and Sen. Criegh Deeds (D) debated the upcoming General Assembly session, during which the biannual budget must be established. The Democrats came out in favor of tax increases along the lines of Governor Warner’s proposals, but the Republicans were unwilling even to commit to tax increases for the purpose of maintaining basic services. The event was a preview of the 60-day session that begins on the 14th, although with considerably more decorum. Bob Gibson has the story that begin shortly.
The Fourth Circuit Court has refused to hear an appeal from the Albemarle County Schools Board in the suit brought against them in late 2002 by the family of a Jack Jouett student, WINA reports. Twelve-year-old Alan Newsome was not permitted to wear his NRA t-shirt to school, despite there being no rule to the contrary. (Notably, the logo of Albemarle High School is a man carrying a gun, and the logo of UVa is two crossed swords.) With the support of the NRA, Newsome sued for the right to wear the shirt, and won last month. With the denial of the school board’s appeal, that ends the case in Newsome’s favor.
The eastward expansion of the Downtown Mall was approved by City Council on Monday night, ending two years of debate on the matter, WINA reports. “Presidents’ Plaza,” which is what the city is calling it, will extend the Downtown Mall another block east to the amphitheater and provide a building that will serve as the mass transit hub. Those who favored the plan felt that it would popularize the east end of the Mall, but opponents believed it to be a wasteful use of federal money. It was approved by a single vote, with Kevin Lynch and Rob Schilling voting against it.
cornelious writes: Republican and Democrat political activists are searching for candidates for City Council and, according to the Progress, Republicans may have one or two and the Democrats four or five candidates. I hope there will be more interest from well qualified Republicans to take on a campaign for a seat on the council but I can certainly understand their reluctance to compete with the odds. I have this feeling there are some voters (especially “new voters”) out there willing to elect “something other” than a Democrat to Council - - could be interesting.
It’s plain that things are still developing on this front, but with the Democratic nomination convention approaching in three weeks, things are going to have to start happening soon.
cornelious writes: Per Police Chief Longo, City Crime reporting rate dropped by 10 % in 2003 as compared with other years. Longo attributed the drop to “community policing efforts” and a `destabilization` of drug markets. From the Daily Progress, Monday 19 Jan 04
With just one homicide and serious crime having dropped in 11 of 14 categories, these results are pretty impressive.
At long last, somebody has announced that they are running for City Council. Chiropractor, SOCA volunteer, and former Charlottesville Democratic Party chairman David Brown has announced that he is seeking the Democratic nomination for Council, WINA reports. Brown has been exploring a run for several months and, according to WINA, “he supports higher-density for some parts of Charlottesville and a more efficient public transit system.” The three incumbents who are up for reelection — Democrats Maurice Cox, Kevin Lynch, and Meredith Richards — have not yet announced if they will seek reelection. The Democratic nomination convention is scheduled for February 7th, less than three weeks from now. Traditionally, this would be the height of campaign season for Democrats seeking the nomination, but that simply hasn’t happened this time around. 01/20 Update: See Elizabeth Nelson’s story in the Progress for the complete story. It looks like Liz is going to be playing the role of Jake Mooney this election, which gives her a lot to live up to.
UVa doctoral candidate and Rose Hill Neighborhood Association president Kendra Hamilton has announced that she is seeking the Democratic nomination for City Council. Hamilton has named police/community relations and race relations as issues that she’d like to tackle on Council. The three incumbents who are up for reelection — Democrats Maurice Cox, Kevin Lynch, and Meredith Richards — have not yet announced if they will seek reelection. The Democratic nomination convention is scheduled for February 7th, less than three weeks from now. Elizabeth Nelson has the story in today’s Progress.
Belle writes: The Jefferson School Task Force has forwarded its recommendations of three options for City Council to consider when disposing of the property that was once a school for Charlottesville’s African-American children, but has more recently lapsed into dilapidation. Elizabeth Nelson has the story in today’s Daily Progress. [Previous cvillenews.com discussions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
City Councilor Kevin Lynch has announced that he is seeking reelection, WINA reports. Lynch was elected four years ago by the Democrats for Change group, having been a well-known neighborhood activist for some years prior to that. He wants to continue his work supporting community policing, public transit, and education. He is the only one of the three incumbent Democrats up for reelection that has yet announced his intentions, although Mayor Maurice Cox intends to make his announcement Thursday morning at 11am. Just seventeen days remain until the Democratic nomination convention, and only three people have yet declared their candidacy for the three seats, with chiropractor David Brown having announced on Monday, and UVa doctoral candidate and Rose Hill Neighborhood Association president Kendra Hamilton having announced today. 01/22 Update: See Liz Nelson’s story in the Progress for the detailed story.
Mayor Maurice Cox, a two-term City Councilor, has announced that he is not seeking reelection to Council this May, citing an interest in spending more time with his family and his career. Cox has made major changes in the city’s approach to transit, development, and architecture in the past eight years. With Kevin Lynch having announced that he’s running for a second term, that leaves only Councilor Meredith Richards to announce her intentions, something that is expected next week. Liz Nelson has the story in today’s Progress.
City Councilor Meredith Richards has announced that she is seeking reelection, WINA reports. Richards was first elected eight years ago, and is currently the only woman on City Council. Richards is the fourth Democrat to announce their intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the three council seats, and one of two incumbents in the race. Richards sought the party nomination for Emily Couric’s seat in 2001, but lost out to now-Senator Criegh Deeds, and ran against Rep. Virgil Goode for the U.S. House of Delegates in 2002, but was defeated in that effort, as well. With the nomination convention less than two weeks away, any new candidates that are interested in the nomination ought to announce their intentions as soon as possible. 01/27 Update: David Dadurka has a story in today’s Progress.
Ever since Louisa chief of police John Wilson was arrested on Thursday, Louisa Online has found itself a hotspot of activity, as Wilson has used the site’s discussion board to defend himself against charges that he assaulted Sgt. Robert Rigsby Jr. one month ago. Site operator Amy Collier reports that the site has gone from receiving about 30 posts per day to around 130. Braxton Williams has the story in today’s Progress.
Ron Hutchinson, superintendent of Charlottesville schools, has made his budget recommendation to the school board, and it’s ugly. There’s a $1.76M shortfall, or 3% of the budget, resulting in the worst funding situation in memory and requiring that Hutchinson recommend a large number of cuts. All but a million of that is a result of an adjustment in state funding. 61% of the school budget comes from local funds, 31% from state funds, and 8% from federal funds, but unfunded mandates like the state Standards of Learning and the federal No Child Left Behind Act have left the schools scrambling to find the money for these new obligations. Since much of the cost of funding schools is staff, Hutchinson has recommended eliminating a number of faculty positions, while sticking to his assurance of a 6% raise to work on making teacher pay competitive. Julie Stavitski has the story in today’s Progress.
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