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holy shit this is the first time we’ve ever started on time, incredible 
oooops accidentally opened the livestream of the meeting in the meeting at full volume
mayor walker isn’t here tonight — she’s in france visiting our sister city
this is council chief of staff paige rice’s final meeting — she recently resigned.
dailyprogress.com/news/local/cit…
dailyprogress.com/news/local/cit…
is this much turnover normal in a city this size? in the last year we’ve lost a chief of police, city manager, city attorney, council chief of staff... who else?
during announcements from councilors before we get to normal business, councilor bellamy offers an apology to the person he insulted from the dais during the last meeting.
“y’all are pushing us to be better, we don’t have to have the same tactics,” he says.
“y’all are pushing us to be better, we don’t have to have the same tactics,” he says.
kathy galvin says the pride festival this past weekend was “a heck of a lot of fun!”
interim city mike murphy responding to issues from the last meeting: apparently it is NOT legal in virginia to directly elect the city manager, which signer had asked about last time. (our city manager is chosen by city council)
mike murphy acknowledges that they did NOT fully restrict parking access around friendship court during the weekend of august 12th, as he’d previously insisted. (they promised they would. they didn’t follow through.)
wes: the city appointed position for the albemarle charlottesville regional jail board is open. he invites people to apply on the city’s website.
now on to matters by the public. first speaker asks the city to consider a summer diversity program to encourage more diverse hiring in the commonwealth’s attorney’s office.
ahhh your comment on the importance of affordable housing lost me when you said cops should get special tax credits to be able to live in the city.
next speaker talking about the importance of recognizing seizures — he’s working with the transit authority to get training for drivers after an incident in which he had a seizure at a bus stop. seizures can look like intoxication or symptoms of mental illness.
mike murphy responds: all CAT drivers will receive training on this issue & they are updating policy to require supervisors to respond to all incidents that require police, fire, or EMS response.
next speaker brings up the recent failure of the west second project — the developer pulled out.
orher developers failing this community: john dewberry, whose landmark hotel on the downtown mall was supposed to be finished a decade ago. it is a blight.
orher developers failing this community: john dewberry, whose landmark hotel on the downtown mall was supposed to be finished a decade ago. it is a blight.
he urges the city to take action: if dewberry doesn’t make any effort to finish this project, the city should move to acquire this abandoned blight on the downtown mall.
new city attorney john blair says “we can take a look at that again to see what is permitted”
that’s... something i guess.
that’s... something i guess.
next speaker talking about the prevalence of mental illness in the african american community. AA people are more likely to experience mental illness but less likely to seek help for it, she says.
- because of stigma but ALSO because POC would rather seek care from other POC. region ten currently has NO providers of color.
when symptoms of mental illness come from racial trauma, having providers with that experience is vital.
when symptoms of mental illness come from racial trauma, having providers with that experience is vital.
the city provides funding to region ten. she urges the city to make stipulations on future funding — how are they meeting the needs of people of color?
kathy galvin: “i’m not sure how we can begin that” but says mike murphy should have a conversation with region ten’s new director.
murphy says several members of region ten’s board are appointed by council.
murphy says several members of region ten’s board are appointed by council.
re: the open jail board position wes mentioned earlier in the meeting, it looks like that opening isn’t listed on the city’s boards and commissions page, @DrWesBellamy @CvilleCityHall
charlottesville.org/departments-an…
charlottesville.org/departments-an…
paige rice says the region ten board had an ad hoc diversity and outreach meeting today... must not have even well advertised, as no one was aware of it.
community outreach doesn’t count if you don’t reach the community.
community outreach doesn’t count if you don’t reach the community.
wes says nikuyah says hello to everyone! she’s watching the meeting livestream from france.
jeff fogel is called, but isn’t present to take his turn. ms rosia is up next.
“i am so tired of her telling lies, saying they protected us, which they did not,” says ms rosia, a member of the police civilian review board, of the new chief of police.
ms rosia also asks when the chief of police will be responding to complaints that have been filed. it has been more than 30 days.
been a while since this happened. we have reached the end of the list of people who have signed up for public comment and there are still some spots left.
tanesha asks the city to do some research: what was the real estate & property tax revenue from black businesses and residents in vinegar hill before it was demolished and how much of that money went back into that community... and what is that number now?
mike murphy: all FOIA requests are dependent on there being a record. he seems to be implying there is no way for them to determine tax revenue in the 50s and 60s.
tanesha tells the councilors to go over to hardy drive and spend the night in one of those apartments. “it makes no sense” how people are being forced to live. “the way y’all treat people of color in this town makes no sense.”
“you have to give black people some damn space”
“every one of y’all campaigned on affordable housing. if you can’t do anything about it it, get out of council!”
tanesha is, as always, a force of nature.
“every one of y’all campaigned on affordable housing. if you can’t do anything about it it, get out of council!”
tanesha is, as always, a force of nature.
“thank you ms hudson,” heather keeps saying when tanesha pauses to breathe, trying to make her stop.
“ain’t no ‘thank you,’ i’m not done. start caring.”
🔥
“ain’t no ‘thank you,’ i’m not done. start caring.”
🔥
the next speaker suggests that we begin the process to become a sanctuary city. there are none in virginia and the process requires starting with the general assembly.
wes says we would lose our federal funding, which he says is $40mil (the speaker corrects him, says it’s $26mil — “we could find the money,” she says)
she reminds us all to show up for the next jail board hearing - november 8th, 12:30pm at the jail. they’ll be voting (again) on their policy of notifying ICE about release dates.
city attorney john blair says (which the speaker ALREADY ACKNOWLEDGED) that this would have to start in the general assembly. so put it in the legislative packet.
“it doesn’t matter if they’re going to or not, take the initiative and at least try,” the speaker says.
“it doesn’t matter if they’re going to or not, take the initiative and at least try,” the speaker says.
ugh this proposed compromise makes me queasy
the jail board will be voting in november on their ICE notifications policy. this proposed compromise is... not even close to enough. and it’s still far from a sure thing. the board is packed with xenophobic racist bootlickers.
wes asks if charlottesville becoming a sanctuary city would have negative unintended consequences for undocumented people in neighboring counties. i’m not entirely sure what he means by that?
that long aside took place during matters by the public. heather is chairing the meeting tonight and was VISIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE for most of it - anxious to move on. next up is reverend don gathers, just briefly speaking about the jail board opening.
“mold can get in your lungs and kill you!”
“honey, you wouldn’t like to live that way if it was you.”
“i know good and well you can do something” about the terrible conditions at hardy drive & crescent halls
“honey, you wouldn’t like to live that way if it was you.”
“i know good and well you can do something” about the terrible conditions at hardy drive & crescent halls
“another problem i have is gentrification,” there’s an understatement in this town.
really moving along quickly tonight! public comment is over, brief recess before moving on to the rest of the agenda (which is very short!)
wow and a ten minute recess that actually only lasted ten minutes. this is some twilight zone shit.
we are... on the last agenda item? folks we could be out of here by nine like some kind of normal city.
no vote on it, but they’ve concluded the first reading on establishing a permit parking zone in belmont. that’s the last of the scheduled agenda items.
other business: heather introduced a budget item to send the police civilian review board to an annual conference of such bodies. she’s proposing allocating a lump sum of $10k for the board to travel to this as well as visit other municipalities’ boards.
mike says he agrees with the idea generally but would prefer a clear budget ahead of time.
wes agrees that he’d also like to see a full budget from the board but isn’t opposed to this one time request.
sounds like the conference is very soon — next week.
sounds like the conference is very soon — next week.
“i think we all agreed that we’d have separate lanes for the city manager and the review board,” says kathy galvin.
(the city manager oversees the police department. it’s wise to keep his hands off this board.)
(the city manager oversees the police department. it’s wise to keep his hands off this board.)
i’m so naive
mike keeps insisting they need a budget before they can get the funds for a conference next week. the city atty finally interjects with what i’ve been barely refraining from yelling for ten minutes: they’d have to have a public meeting (with 3 day’s notice) to make that budget.
the police civilian review board’s current yearly operating budget is $2500. sounds like they are going to expand the budget by $7500 to a total of $10k.
funds will be reallocated from council’s discretionary funds.
funds will be reallocated from council’s discretionary funds.
paige rice, outgoing council chief of staff, says the city does not typically make travel arrangements for boards & commissions (there are over 40, she says) - board members make their own arrangements & request reimbursement.
kathy makes the motion, mike signer offers a friendly amendment that the allocation come with a requirement that they submit a full budget within a reasonable time frame (kathy suggests 2 months), she accepts, mike seconds, it passes unanimously.
[picture of empty council chambers]
this could be us, but kathy galvin won’t stop talking
this could be us, but kathy galvin won’t stop talking
now for the last item of the evening: closing matters by the public. folks, it’s only 9:08 what the hell
nancy back at the mic talking about a 2017 housing needs study — nearly 40% of renters nationwide are not prepared for an evacuation. this hurricane missed us, but we need to be prepared for emergencies.
oh shit y’all, meeting adjourned.
