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where’s maurice tonight? assistant city manager leslie beauregard is filling in for him.
leslie addressed questions about when the downtown mall crossings are closed. the 4th st crossing is closed to traffic for “special events,” including all ticketed events at the pavilion. incredible that anyone on that dais can assure us that street is safely closed.
acting city attorney lisa robertson is addressing public concern about proposed blasting in belmont. they’ve proposed drafting an ordinance to ensure that blasting is done safely. smattering of applause for this.
two new folks nominated for the housing authority & one to youth council. now on to matters by the public. ms katrina up first, accompanied by another member of our new CRB, reading a letter from that body.
why did denise lunsford, counsel for the police benevolent association, send a letter to the city about the makeup of the CRB prior to their selection? what impact did this have on their decision to exclude jeff fogel?
cbs19news.com/content/news/P…
cbs19news.com/content/news/P…
after the last meeting, at which the members of this board were announced, city councilor heather hill, personally contacted all of the newly selected CRB members begging them not to resign over the council’s controversial decision not to appoint rosia parker & jeff fogel.
a reminder that ms rosia and jeff fogel were in the public’s top 3 choices for this board. council chose to disregard our input.
the letter read by ms katrina on behalf of the CRB says ms rosia and jeff fogel have urged them to move forward as a body. at this time, no member is resigning.
the issue now is that the community was under the impression that the board would have a representative from the low income housing community. council is now saying the requirement is only that one member must BE “low income.” big difference.
ms katrina is the one raising concern re: lack of representation from the low income housing community, so mayor walker’s response that the city shouldn’t be setting parameters & should simply abide by the board’s decisions doesn’t really make sense? this concern is FROM THE CRB.
wes suggests that the board could, at their first meeting, write bylaws that make this requirement. nikuyah asks if there is any reason why they couldn’t appoint another member to the board. they are slowly reaching the concensus that the board can mandate this...
mike suddenly seems anxious about the board having the authority to define itself. “but we still do the appointments!” he interjects.
mike is very concerned that adding a member would make the body an even number, which they try to avoid.
SHOULDA THOUGHT OF THAT SOONER, MIKEY.
SHOULDA THOUGHT OF THAT SOONER, MIKEY.
yesss good comrade up speaking out against corey long’s conviction.
corey long did nothing wrong!
corey long did nothing wrong!
he asks if council has seen the videos of the arrests from that night or if they are aware of attorneys being denied access to the jail. eight members of this community were arrested while protesting corey’s conviction.
mike is responding in his usual defensive, obnoxious, argumentative fashion.
absolutely 100% gonna clip the video of my comrade’s brilliant comment & mike’s shitty response. everything is a fucking mess but there are people here who give me hope.
nikuyah says she was on the phone that night ensuring people’s release and “ensuring that star was not re-injured.” it’s unclear who she is claiming she talked to or on what authority... mike made it abundantly clear that council has no power in this arena.
reverend don gathers up now asking why a paddy wagon was called for jaywalking charges. that’s a great fucking question.
don also calls for council to vote against the monticello dairy project. the “affordable” units in that planned project are at 80% AMI.
he also asks the city to be clear what their plans are for the A12 anniversary.
he also asks the city to be clear what their plans are for the A12 anniversary.
don asked council to find a way to ban firearms from council chambers. wes says they already tried & failed to get the general assembly to allow them to ban guns in “public places.” but that’s so broad! he asks them to try again, narrow the scope.
communications director brian wheeler now talking about the city’s plans to brief downtown business owners re: the city’s plan for the A12 anniversary.
he also offered this website:
charlottesville.org/departments-an…
he also offered this website:
charlottesville.org/departments-an…
this speaker is calling for the city to wait on approving the permit for blasting in belmont. there was more laughter than the joke warranted when he asked why anyone was surprised by the presence of subterranean rock on quarry road.
the fire marshal is now responding to the issue directly.
“i have as many questions as you guys do” & says he still has a lot of research to do before approving the permit.
he agrees that the size & scope of this blasting is unprecedented.
“i have as many questions as you guys do” & says he still has a lot of research to do before approving the permit.
he agrees that the size & scope of this blasting is unprecedented.
don calls out from the audience “you can blast emancipation park!” which is met with laughter and clapping. wes says, jovially, “you can say that again, mr gathers!”
uuuuuugh this woman is from RISE, an organization trying to recall wes, kathy, and mike.
look, i hate kathy & mike, too. but these people are pro-statue, pro-“civility” garbage fires.
look, i hate kathy & mike, too. but these people are pro-statue, pro-“civility” garbage fires.
she started to leave when her comment was done, but wes called her back so she could hear his response. he starts by saying her comment was “repulsive.” she said A12 was the worst thing to ever happen to this city’s good name. he’s not letting that go unchallenged.
THIS IS SO FUCKING SPICY. GOOD GOD Y’ALL. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. TURN ON PUBLIC ACCESS IMMEDIATELY.
ROLL BACK THE TAPE. 🔥🔥
FUCKIN GIVE IT TO HIM NANCY.
BYE BECKY 
i’ve got whiplash. went straight from some raucous hooting & hollering into a thoughtful comment about zoning.
another public comment in favor of changing to strong mayor form of city government. this would require the general assembly to change the city charter. she’s asking for a “chief administrative officer” who would report to a strong mayor, eliminating the position of city manager
i feel like public comment doesn’t usually go on this long? another commenter up talking about the proposed blasting in belmont.
uh apparently a lot of the underground pipes in belmont are TERRA COTTA CLAY? and are very, very old? obviously i know nothing about utilities infrastructure. but that seems like something that might crack if they move forward with all this blasting 🤷♀️
ok, so this IS taking longer than usual
another good comrade at the mic reminding the city that they were warned by activists last summer. they ignored us.
now we’re warning them again.
now we’re warning them again.
brief recess now that we’ve gotten through an unusually long matters by the public.
a ten minute recess is always a twenty minute recess. picking back up now with a VERY long consent agenda.
OH WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ALLEYS AGAIN!
kathy is voicing her support for the alley closure vote. hot stuff here.
unanimous vote on the consent agenda. on to the first agenda item, putting three utility poles on city property at sugar hollow reservoir. presentation lasted about 30 seconds and no one had a public comment. moving along briskly.
next item moved on just as quickly. thrilling evening, folks. the housing needs assessment report is set to take 45 minutes... we’ve got a powerpoint!
this is what you might call a goddamn housing crisis.
charlottesville has a population of under 50,000 people. there are over 1600 people on the CLOSED waiting list for housing assistance. there is an EIGHT YEAR WAIT.
“what developers crave most is predictability.”
no, sweetie, it’s profits.
no, sweetie, it’s profits.
MORE POWERPOINTS.
as bored as i am, this is actually pretty interesting stuff.
mayor walker, at the conclusion of the housing report: “this is bad.”
“i didn’t see one solution.”
“i don’t even know where to begin the comments...”
“i didn’t see one solution.”
“i don’t even know where to begin the comments...”
i wish they’d turn kathy’s mic off when she’s not talking (a rare occasion, to be sure). hearing her go “mmm, mmhmm, mmhmmm!” enthusiastically when mike is talking is slowly driving me mad.
god bless my comrade who exited city council chambers shouting “profit is theft” as we transitioned between powerpoints.
SPCA updates. good news, bad powerpoint form.
i am one of 8 remaining people in the gallery.
unanimous vote in favor of transferring funds from the CIP for whatever sidewalk situation they were talking about. y’all, i’m trying to maintain enthusiasm but like...
councilors are struggling to set a date for a work session... everyone has a lot of scheduling conflicts. mike says it’s unlikely they’ll be able to get all five of them in a room “because it’s summer.” buddy, this ain’t school. there’s no seasonal schedule change.
i regret to inform you that no one said “what’s up, bootlickers?” at tonight’s meeting. my heart is broken. 💔
they are still trying to agree on a time and date to meet for a work session. this is painful.
wait did kathy just say the last planning commission went on until 2am? maybe i picked a good week to not feel up for attending that meeting 😧
i’m... not sure they settled on a date. i’ll have to keep an eye on the city calendar. you know i wouldn’t wanna miss that party!
now for closing matters by the public. gonna be home before midnight again. small blessings.
some good closing public comments & meeting adjourned at 11pm. a blessing.
