Yesterday, David Brown and Kendra Hamilton took the oath of office, and became Charlottesville newest two City Councilors. The two, along with Kevin Lynch, swept the May elections, badly defeating the Republicans. Lone Republican councillor Rob Schilling didn’t show up at the swearing in, though incumbent Blake Caravati and outgoing Mayor Maurice Cox were present. At the occasion, Lynch pointed to Brown as being his favorite for mayor, which was followed up by today’s special meeting of Council in which Brown was chosen, 4-0 (Schilling abstaining). Lynch was named Vice Mayor, 4-1 (Schilling opposing.) This marks the first time that a newcomer has been named mayor since Bitsy Waters, 16 years ago. Elizabeth Nelson has the story on the swearing in, while WINA reports on the mayoral vote.
Archive for July, 2004
Albemarle County’s website has been ranked as one of the best in the nation, WINA reports. The Center for Digital Government and The National Association of Counties named the top ten most technologically-advanced counties for four different population categories, and Albemarle (whose most prominent use of technology is their website) placed #8 for counties with populations of less than 150,000. It was a year ago this week that the county launched their current website, which proved a vast improvement on their old setup, for both the public and county employees. From their A-mail service to their on-line job applications, their forms library to their rational URL schema and site structure (ahem), Albemarle has improved their use of technology considerably in the past couple of years.
Council has gone back and forth on the issue of moving elections from May to November, but after the election of three strongly pro-November candidates, a move seemed certain. At last night’s Council meeting, the first of two votes (the second will be held in two weeks) was taken, and the measure passed by a bare majority. One of the two dissenters was, of course, Republican Rob Schilling, but the surprise was newly-appointed and newly-elected Democrat Mayor David Brown, who campaigned on the promise of moving elections. Brown voted last, expressing sympathy for Schilling, who is opposed to having his term (like everybody else’s) cut short by six months by the move. If the majority remains, and if the vote happens in two weeks as scheduled, the next Council election will take place in November of 2005. Elizabeth Nelson has the story in today’s Progress.
Last night, the Greene County Board of Supervisors approved a 75-acre residential and commercial development in Ruckersville, which stands to change the town considerably. “Ruckersville Village” is slated to include 121 houses and 24 acres of commercial space, all fronted on Route 33, just off Route 29. The developer, oddly, promised that there would be no car washes or car dealerships on the land. Ruckersville Village is just one of three developments up for approval at the meeting, along with “MountainVu” (I swear I’m not making that up), with 650 homes, “WoodPark,” with 400 homes, and “Preddy Gables, a 350-apartment complex; the vote hadn’t happened by press time, but all were presumably approved. Olympia Meola has the story in today’s Progress.
In May, Waynesboro High School named Moreko Griggs the graduating class valedictorian. This was noteworthy because it was the first time in the history of the school that black student had been named valedictorian. A few hours before graduation, after objections were raised by parents, there was another first: two more students were named valedictorian, both of them white, and the motives for doing so are fuzzy, at best. Since then, the local press has bubbled over, with the AP having run a story that has appeared nationally today. At the rate that this is snowballing, it’s likely to get worse before it gets better.
Last night, a hundred people went to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors to ask that Planned Parenthood be barred from opening a new office on Hydraulic Road, and their request was denied. After a group prayer — which Progress writer David Dadurka writes “went unanswered” — a series of speakers requested that the zoning permit be yanked, preventing the family planning center from providing contraception, birth control, prenatal care, abortions, HIV testing, and other services at the location. They objected to the location, which is a mile from Albemarle High School and on the same street as a pair of churches. The BOS said, simply, that they lack any legal authority to make any such restriction. David Dadurka has the story in today’s Progress.
At last night’s City Council meeting, the second and final vote was held on the matter of moving City Council elections to November, approving the measure with the caveat that the move not take effect until 2007, WINA reports. Newcomers David Brown and Kendra Hamilton sided with Rob Schilling, who had protested having his term cut short. (Note that all councillors terms are cut short by this change.) Like all such election-procedure modifications, the change must be approved by the Department of Justice before it takes effect. 5:20pm Update: The Progress has Liz Nelson’s story on-line now.
At last night’s Council meeting, City Manager Gary O’Connell warned that the city’s finances are altogether too dependent on real estate tax revenues, which he described as unhealthy and bad for the market. O’Connell advocates a 5% limit on new real estate tax revenues and raising other fees and taxes in order to compensate. O’Connell’s suggestions normally come along with the issuance of an annual financial report to Council, presented each November, but he felt that the urgency of the situation necessitated some earlier notice. Elizabeth Nelson has the story in today’s Progress.
Two weeks ago, the three major local media outlets (WVIR, WINA, and the Progress) all reported extensively on the attempted kidnapping of an eight-year-old boy at Fashion Square Mall and its prevention by an anonymous hero. Oddly, in the time since, there’s been no followup, no police leads, and no evidence. It’s become unclear whether or not the story is true, but none of these media outlets have followed up to let people know what’s going on. In a great bit of news analysis, Lisa Province follows up in this week’s Hook.
Charlottesville resident Larry Monroe has filed suit against Detective James Mooney for harassment, alleging that Mooney repeatedly sought a DNA sample from Monroe to remove himself from the pool of potential suspects in the rape case, despite Monroe’s refusals and the fact that he does not substantially resemble the rapist. His attorney, Deborah Wyatt, says that the detective’s actions were not those of the police department, and is seeking just $15,000 in damages. The fact that somebody would file suit has seemed all-but-inevitable, after the national press that the Charlottesville Police got because of this profiling before they suspended the testing in April. Liesel Nowak had the story in Wednesday’s Progress.
Disclosure: Deborah Wyatt represented me in Schleifer vs. City of Charlottesville, the youth curfew case, some years ago.
The Jefferson Madison Regional Library board has rejected the Jefferson School Task Force’s recommendation that the library relocate to the Jefferson School. The library director cited a lack of space and structural problems, saying that perhaps it would be better suited for the library’s administrative offices or for a Mont-AVV expansion. Elizabeth Nelson has the story in today’s Progress.
Nelson and southern Albemarle have been abuzz the past few days with word of an unusual item being seized before it could be auctioned off at a property sale: a WWII-era floor lamp with a shade made of human skin. Before it could be sold, a sharp-eyed investigator at the Nelson Sheriff’s office saw the auction notice in the newspaper and prevented the illegal sale of the lampshade, should it actually be made of human remains. Now its owner would like for the Holocaust Museum to test it, to see if it’s real. Odds are slim: it has long been rumored that the Nazis made lampshades out of human skin, but one has never turned up. Claudia Pinto has the story in today’s Progress.
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