Thread by @socialistdogmom

i was a few minutes late so naturally i worried tonight might be first time city council ever started on time... don’t worry, we started more than ten minutes late as always.

starting with the city manager’s response to matters by the public from the last meeting.
outgoing city manager maurice jones has nothing to say. moving on...

heather read the names of the people nominated for the police civilian review board:

gloria beard
josh bowers
sarah burke
don gathers
juan gonzalez
katrina turner
guillermo ubilla

approved 3 to 2 with wes & nikuyah dissenting.

please correct me if i got the names not quite right, she read ‘em quickly.
it’s important to note that jeff fogel was NOT SELECTED which is a fucking travesty.

there was no public discussion (the closed session prior to tonight’s meeting was about these board nominations) so i can only guess why wes & nikuyah dissented... i hope it’s in protest over jeff not being selected.

the public was asked to vote on the candidates. if the city doesn’t plan on releasing the results of that survey, we will be making a FOIA request for it. it’ll be interesting to see how those votes align with the selections.

paul long up now to speak on the city manager.
he’s calling for direct election of a mayor who would serve four year terms and be directly accountable to the public & a change to a ward system (5 wards + 2 at large council members).
we currently have a city manager style govt.

wes responds: he’s talked to delegate toscano about the possibility of changing cville to a strong mayor style of govt, which richmond does already have. the state legislature would have to make this change for us... wes says it’s worth looking into.

kathy: it’s important to understand the process that would be involved to make this change, says she’s “not saying” how she feels about it one way or the other, but is emphasizing how difficult it would be to change the city charter.

wes wants a report from staff on what this process could look like. he seems very interested in exploring this as a real option.

mike is whining about how hard it was to be mayor because of how little actual power the office holds.

this speaker is complaining that the downtown mall is “safe 51 weeks out of the year” but not during the film festival? this is a new one...

aha, he’s arrived at this in a confusing way but he seems to be advocating for the permanent closure of the 2nd & 4th street vehicle crossings on the downtown mall.

i’m firmly in favor of this. i’ve lived here ten years, most of it downtown, and i’ve never driven my car across the pedestrian mall. BECAUSE YOU DON’T NEED TO.

this speaker appears to be doing some vermin supreme cosplay. if i hadn’t recently met vermin, i might think it was him!

he’s talking about tom garrett’s record of avoiding & evading constituents and brought up this now famous picture of our congressman with jason kess0BwO

go off, mr wizard 🔥

the second speaker on tonight’s list, john heyden aka racist santa claus, was a no-show 🤷‍♀️

https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1003691534011813888?s=21

our own hometown wizard resembles, but is NOT, vermin supreme. the real deal pictured here last month at AmRen —

https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/990353540362264576?s=21

reverend don gathers, who was just named to the police civilian review board, up now.
he starts by thanking city manager maurice jones for his years of service. he says there is a “job genocide” for black men in power in this city (alluding to chief thomas’ ouster last year)

don calls out mike’s refusal to vote for funding for the equal justice intiative’s lynching memorial trip & calls for council to fund the efforts to bring high speed internet to public housing residents.
no response from council to don’s remarks.

mary carey up next, spitting fire 🔥
to mike: “you put down the whole black community of fifeville”
(before he was mayor, signer was head of the fifeville neighborhood association)

mary carey to kathy: “ms galvin, you can’t stand criticism because you’ve done so much wrong and karma is gonna eat you up!”

“this is the worst city council to ever ever serve this city”

mike tried to interrupt mary’s criticism of her DURING HER THREE MINUTES. we shouted him down so she could finish. he’s now using his response period to defend himself... he claims he wasn’t the one who made the remarks about black women doing sex work behind the ABC store.

mary carey’s a tough act to follow, but the next speaker starts strong by asking folks to show up at district court friday morning to support corey long.
“he did more than the police did” to protect this community on A12.
corey long did nothing wrong!

he also scolds council for not selecting jeff fogel & rosia parker for the civilian review board.
asks if the survey results were released & makes a formal request for them.

two black men have been forced out (chief al thomas and city manager maurice jones) but the white man in power on A12 is still sitting on the dais (pointing to signer).
no response to ANY OF THAT from council.

wes responding to harold foley’s comment about the selections for the CRB, by says since he voted against it someone else should speak to harold’s concerns.

mike tries to throw wes under the bus, but the crowd isn’t having it. a member of the audience offers signer a small plastic penis, placing it on the dais in front of him, saying “you got the dick award. a tiny white dick.”

ms katrina, who was selected for the CRB, up now asking which of the selected members fulfills the stated requirement that a member of the board be a representative from “the low income community” and reiterates the concern that jeff & rosia weren’t selected.

ms katrina asks them to “go back and do the right thing” and put jeff & rosia on the board.
council is AFRAID of jeff fogel. it’s clear.

gloria beard, also a newly selected member of the CRB, is up now, reiterating concerns that the board doesn’t adequately represent the needs of the community. she admits she herself has had little contact with the police.

gloria says if they can’t have a representative board, she doesn’t even want to serve on it. she’s concerned that someone as knowledgeable as jeff fogel was not selected.

ms rosia up now. “i’ve fought 13 years, watching the police abuse my people.” ms rosia is a low income housing resident & a strong black activist. not selecting her for the board was a serious mistake.

don gathers: “i don’t think there’s anything else to be said. what happened here tonight is a travesty.”

next speaker says the only thing to do is go back & try again. why did council even get to choose? we voted, why not let the people choose? (i’m very interested to see the results of that community survey, @CvilleCityHall!)

quick break now at the end of matters by the public.

i hope mike is enjoying his prize

https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1003778764311072768?s=21

mary carey tries to talk to heather in the hall during the recess... three cops guard the door to the bathroom to keep constituents away from her. and we expect this council to select the board that will try to bring our police dept in line?

back in session & mayor walker says we’re going to have some discussion of the CRB...

thank you @CvilleCityHall for getting us these survey results so quickly! jeff & rosia were the first and third highest vote getters in the community survey, unsurprisingdWKQ

not selecting civil rights attorney jeff fogel for this board is a message. a loud, clear message. the community spoke. they didn’t listen. it’s clear they don’t want this board to serve our needs and that they don’t want it to succeed.

heather says “we were aligned on this...”
a member of the audience says “the WHITE PEOPLE WERE ALIGNED!”
(the two non-white members of council voted against the nominations)

wes asks the city attorney if they can speak about the discussion held in the closed session. three members must agree. mike says he’s ok with it, but is lecturing us about why these matters are confidential.

kathy says it’s “potentially harmful” to discuss this matter publicly. THERE WAS A PUBLIC FORUM. these people have already agreed to public discussion of their involvement in this process.

wes points this out to kathy & she concedes this point.
nikuyah opens public discussion: her recommendation was to select the top 4 community choices and have council choose the remaining 3. this is obviously not what happened.

wes: “if i’m just being candid, i’m appalled” that we didn’t select the civil rights attorney. he even says he’s had disagreements with jeff in the past, but not liking him personally doesn’t mean they can’t select him for the board.
“i’m just really disappointed” (me too)

heather: “that was the slot that was really the greatest debate” re: jeff fogel.
yeah i bet.
heather says she’s “very uncomfortable” and she “didn’t look at this as individuals” but rather as “a body of people who could work together.”

heather says jeff fogel “just isn’t someone i could support”

kathy: the survey was just “additional information” and “this was not an election.”
“we are here making the decision.”
“it is clear that many of you are disappointed.”
says the board “wouldn’t be effective” with “one person commandeering” it.

mike on the survey: “it’s information to take in and we process it”

he thinks the board will work better without jeff.

resign, mike.

“your opinion on this means nothing” — thank you, comrade.
shut up signer. resign.

kathy wants to move on. we don’t.

nikuyah calmly encourages the public to attend the CRB meetings. oh we will.

don gathers raises the issue of alternates. if someone can’t fulfill their duties on the board, who will replace them?
(if the guy who admitted at the forum that he’s new here & knows nothing resigns, can we replace him with jeff?)

member of the audience laments that the two dissenting votes (wes & nikuyah’s) are the ones that the public respects & the ones that represent the will of the public are being overridden.

oh spicy, nikuyah said she voted for ms rosia over ms katrina (the pair are close friends and i almost always see them together!)

oh thank you kathy for this brilliant neoliberal analysis of the DIVERSE DEMOGRAPHICS of your wrong choice!

activist @ZyahnaB calls out the secretive nature of heather & mike’s backroom conversations and asks how we can expect the CRB to be anything other than split when the council was so split on the appointments.

oh another spicy take! heather says she thinks they’ve been very clear in their communication... @ZyahnaB says they’re plenty clear with each other but NOT with the public. 🔥

mike suggests that these discussions happen in the open in the future, like we did with the mayoral election this year (that has historically been done in closed session)
yes, let’s do that.

kathy says it’s not good for “public morale” for the public to “yell negative comments” about candidates for boards and commissions. she says it’s “not healthy for the community” and wants to move on.

council clerk says she will reach out to the new board members to find a time for the first meeting of the CRB. i’ll let y’all know when that’s scheduled.

moving on to the consent agenda. mike wants to discuss one of the items, heather seconds without even knowing what it is.

mike wants to congratulate wes on his work re: item F, the internet for low income housing. but actually he’s just congratulating ting on being such a great company with such good values?
then raises concerns about whether the contract will be honored if ting is bought out.

as always, kathy can’t let anything get said without trying to get the last word in. i keep meaning to bring a stopwatch to time the length of her comments vs every other councilor’s... maybe on the replay 😂

oh interesting. wes points out that there were not nearly so many questions & concerns [from signer] when ting wanted to offer internet on the downtown mall. so why so many questions about their contract with the housing authority?

this is why it’s important to have these discussions publicly. no one in the dais is saying they won’t vote for this item, but the discussion is enlightening.
mike counters: the downtown contract with ting predates the council term of all sitting members (2009)

mike says he has “one more thing” to say and there’s an incredible collective groan from the audience.

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acting city attorney interjecting now about what appears to be an unrelated matter? there’s a request from the commissioner of revenue to add a clause to a sentence to the ordinance on property tax relief program? i don’t think that’s even on the agenda.

they voted unanimously, but that was just for the motion to change the language of that individual item... most of the councilors thought they were voting on the consent agenda. some confusion, then a second vote, unanimously passing the consent agenda, too.

i second this motion.

https://twitter.com/absolutboi/status/1003798908777172994?s=21

on to the first actual agenda item, a public hearing on closing an alley behind a church on dice street.
details start on p.65 of the agenda background, if you’re interested in the history of this alley

charlottesville.org/home/showdocum…

gettin’ deep into this alley talk, y’all. a real thrill ride.
just three items left after this. strong possibility that we’re home by midnight tonight!

a resident at the mic giving us a history lesson on the properties that were torn down adjacent to that alley in the 70s.
this is the small town city council i envisioned. not armed white supremacists screaming at little old ladies in the hallway.

“speak to folks that were born & raised here,” he tells the council. this should be taken to heart in discussions beyond alley closings.
“if you want to learn about vinegar hill, you should have gone to the first families of west haven.”

he didn’t seem to have a firm stance on whether or not to close the alley, but it was the kind of public comment we need more of. i’ll try to clip the video tomorrow maybe.

next speaker says he was concerned that the staff report said the alley contained “no public utilities” because “an alley IS a public utility.”
i gotta be honest, i has no idea alleys were so contentious.

next up on the alley, the pastor of the church that is requesting to close the alley.
this is an incredible amount of public comment on that little patch of land.
he says they’ve maintained that land for years & seen “no activity but church activity” on that alley.

kathy is asking if drawings have been submitted for changes to the space, says this is basically a request for consolidation of the parcels on either side of the alley.
city atty says if the 12ft alley is closed, 6ft will be ceded to the properties on either side.

robertson: closing the alley, by definition, changes the boundaries of the adjacent lots.
it seems like kathy is trying to make this out to be something more than it is.

seems like everybody zoned out while kathy & lisa were talking. kathy finally wrapped up and there was a long moment of dazed silence.

i have a bad feeling we’re in for a lot more alley talk in the future.
heather moves they close the alley. wes seconds. kathy asks if they’re going to have a discussion, nikuyah says she thought that’s what we just did...
BACK INTO IT! more alley talk.

the city has never identified this alley as one they have a documented legal interest in and has never maintained it. apparently alleys that predate the subdivision laws of the 1940s don’t automatically belong to the city.
folks... i think i’m intrigued by this alley situation.

i will have to check the tape tomorrow, but i think kathy has taken every other speaking turn. after ANYONE says ANYTHING, kathy responds.

wow some cowards out there can’t handle my hot takes on whether or not my small town should close the alley behind a church, huh? i see you unfollowing me.

nikuyah says she’s glad she has until the next meeting to make up her mind on how to vote on this alley situation. this was only the first of two readings on the issue.
moving on to a powerpoint on updates to the utility rates!

background on this issue starts on page 73 of the agenda background

charlottesville.org/home/showdocum…

the majority of the city’s water lines are 2” lines, which is an issue because you can’t put fire hydrants on 2” lines.
look, it ain’t all exciting.

proposed rate changes are on p76 of the agenda doc
the average residential customer will see a monthly increase of just under $5.

it’s important to keep bandanas in your purse because you never know when you might need to bloc up or wipe the melty chocolate chips from your granola bar off your fingertips.

https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1003393195324203008?s=21

well that’s just uncalled for & also spelled wrutVJ

no interest from the gallery in making a public comment on the utilities updates.
aaaaaand here’s kathy with just one more thing to add!

“this community has been demanding excellent water for the last six years.” kathy, what?

i move we apply time limits to councilor galvin’s comments, with a total meeting cap.

it’s unclear what kathy’s 5 minute monologue was meant to add to this discussion.

nikuyah highlights the water assistance program — low income folks can apply for assistance with their utility bills.
charlottesville.org/departments-an…

mike is worried that it’s not equitable to make some customers pay more... wouldn’t it be MORE UNFAIR to charge residential customers an additional share of the services provided to large industrial customers?

heather makes a motion to accept the new rates. kathy seconds. this is the first of two readings, so no vote tonight.
on to the next item, the south rivanna reservoir to ragged mountain reservoir water line project.

watching another absolutely thrilling powerpoint and thinking about dinner...

so sorry, i’ll try to find a copy of this powerpoint about the reservoir. i got distracted posting pictures of my dog running in tall grass...
i’m so tired.

https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1003818365138427905?s=21

unanimous vote in favor of... something.
we’re on the last agenda item and i could conceivably be home & eating dinner in my pajamas by 11pm?W6jq

this is just the first of two readings in this item, so no vote tonight.

info starts on p. 99 of the agenda background.
charlottesville.org/home/showdocum…

and here we are at the closing matters by the public! as much as i’d like to go home, i’m glad to see a very sharp comrade up talking about the water pipeline!

apparently the proposed water line goes right by albemarle high school. if construction were to take place during the school year (and apparently it will take 8 years, so... probably), that’d be very disruptive.

kathy, of course, would like to respond.
“point well taken,” well that’s a surprising response! she says she will follow up on the route & what can be done to minimize the impact of the route.

meeting adjourned! at 10:20! a miracle.