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is this a trick? where is the rest of the agenda?! 
meeting should be starting momentarily. it’s being livestreamed here
i missed the last meeting & watched the one before that from home because i was sick... feels weird to have been away from these chambers for so long!
nikuyah moves to pull item J from the consent agenda for discussion at the end of the meeting. wes seconds.
don gathers spoke briefly in support of item I & the consent agenda (minus J) passes unanimousBA8a
don gathers spoke briefly in support of item I & the consent agenda (minus J) passes unanimous
BA8aacting city manager mike murphy now responding to matters from the last meeting.
there had been a request to consider a needle exchange - murphy references state requirements that prohibit it.
there had been a request to consider a needle exchange - murphy references state requirements that prohibit it.
our fire & EMS personnel carry & are trained to administer narcan, but murphy says there are things to consider re: asking police to carry it.
“it’s a good sign that we don’t qualify” for a needle exchange, murphy says. our HIV & overdose death rates don’t meet the state requirements. wes says we should aim to be proactive rather than reactive.
murphy says it may be something to consider adding to the legislative packet, but the city currently has no authority to act on the issue. there is so much localities cannot do under the dillon rule.
first speaker tonight says residents at carlton views deserve outdoor space. he calls these high density multifamily dwellings with no recreation space “people warehouses” & encourages the city to build a place they’d be proud to call their home.
next up is harold folley from LAJC talking about the people’s coalition.
he says there has been a lack of support from the city for the police civilian review board. requests for data have gone unanswered.
nikuyah asks harold to clarify what specifically he means when he says there has been a lack of support from council. it seems the biggest issue is still the data being withheld by the police department, but also some confusion about the CRB’s mission.
i missed a couple of CRB meetings recently, but it seems the confusion about where this missing data is and why the board doesn’t have it is... ongoing. nikuyah says chief brackney thought the data had been shared. harold says the data was “full of holes.”
the next speaker encourages council to “think hard” about the comprehensive plan.
he is giving a brief history of using zoning regulation to enact segregation.
he is giving a brief history of using zoning regulation to enact segregation.
next speaker is an NLG representative for the people’s coalition speaking about stop & frisk data from the police department. chief brackney told them they are using a part time data professional to create the reports based on this data.
part of the issue with the data is that the department changed the software they use for these reports earlier this year. this speaker says the department’s statements about the data problems they’re having aren’t consistent with what she knows about databases.
the chief has also made past statements that this part time data person is triangulating reports based on data entered into the program & reviewing body cam footage — this is NOT the “purely administrative” task the chief also described as this person’s role.
mike murphy’s response is that the software is not functioning as was requested in the RFP. galvin asks if the city has legal recourse if the company hasn’t fulfilled the deliverables. murphy defers to city attorney john blair.
the speaker is back at the mic responding - “we don’t need easy access,” we just need access. they want to see the RFP, the failed deliverables, we need transparency. apparently the software’s provider, tyler industries, is being sued by many parties for failure to deliver.
the speaker clarifies - the company is being sued over another software, NOT the one we’re using here (new world). she wants to see the information.
“any database can be queried and scraped.”
“any database can be queried and scraped.”
next speaker encourages council to expedite site approval for the “learning cottages” at walker upper elementary. the school is terribly overcrowded.
oh for fuck’s sake, i found DOZENS of articles, going back years, about cities sinking millions of dollars into contracts with tyler technologies for failed implementations of their software. who authorized this?! did they do any research? were they BRIBED?
next speaker asks how we can break out of the pattern in which council is presented “two bad options” when it comes to affordable housing. current zoning regulations are a de facto ban on affordable housing.
mary carey at the mic. she asks wes, who is on the CRHA board, about the relationship between CRHA and PHAR & asks kathy galvin again for an apology for an interaction they had at a previous meeting.
wes says it’s his understanding that PHAR & the housing authority are working hand in hand. mary disagrees.
another member of the people’s coalition (and a very small sleepy baby!) speaking against the stonewalling of the CRB by the police department. they’ve refused to provide data about use of force incidents that the board has requested.
she says she was present during a meeting with the chief of police. brackney made them feel like there would be some transparency... but she doesn’t feel like that promise is being fulfilled.
the CRB has drafted temporary bylaws which council has chosen not to vote on. their final bylaws are due in may.
nikuyah says she’s confused about the process. a representative from LAJC says the working bylaws contain provisions about data collection for their own knowledge about police practice & policy. they need this information in order to write their final bylaws.
without authorization from council, they can’t collect this information. so without a council vote on the temporary bylaws, they CANNOT write the permanent bylaws...
nikuyah says (paraphrasing something someone else, a city attorney?, said at a previous meeting) that it would take a year to collect this data, so the request isn’t possible.
A YEAR? what database takes A YEAR to query?
A YEAR? what database takes A YEAR to query?
the lawyer from LAJC says if the 7 years of data requested can’t be fulfilled, what CAN be? the answer can’t just be no.
mike murphy says chief brackney provided information to the CRB a week ago. jeff fogel, from the gallery, says this is not true.
nikuyah ask ms katrina or ms rosia, who are members of the CRB, if they’d like to respond... but enough members of the board are present in the gallery that they can’t legally discuss board business without it being a public meeting of that body.
the lawyer from LAJC says that reading of the law is overly conservative & is stifling those board members’ voices as private citizens.
(we are still technically in matters by the public, for those of you keeping track at home)
city attorney john blair disagrees, but don & gloria just walked into the hallway, leaving katrina & rosia free to speak to the issue. ms rosia starts by rebuking nikuyah for calling her out in the gallery, which she says was inappropriate.
@JLRLaw just asked me “what was the original question?” and honestly i don’t know.
the last speaker was 20 minutes ago. this has been a very long, confusing, and messy sidebar.
“don’t keep coming at the community combative,” says ms rosia. and that’s really the takeaway from that long messy aside. now onto the next speaker.
(don & gloria have re-entered chambers now that ms rosia is done speaking on CRB business. the proper letter of the law re: public meetings has been adhered to.)
another member of the people’s coalition up next. the PC wants council to publicly hear & vote on the CRB’s temporary bylaws, but it seems they won’t do that.
she acknowledges the chief did give SOME data to the board, but it hadn’t been received at the time of their last meeting
she acknowledges the chief did give SOME data to the board, but it hadn’t been received at the time of their last meeting
another NLG member of the people’s coalition. i’m a little surprised how bored nikuyah looks in the face of concerned residents speaking out about lack of transparency... what about that illusion she wanted to unmask?
nikuyah is now reading the text of an email sent to members of the CRB by chief brackney. the email also had as attachments the powerpoint presentations she’d given at council meetings re: stop & frisk data
the email included what seems to be a complete list of complaints about officer conduct over a certain period of time. after nikuyah finished reading, jeff fogel says there was a complaint he filed during that window that wasn’t included. if his wasn’t, how many others weren’t?
another speaker echoes the importance of council voting to approve the CRB’s temporary bylaws. it would not only be a symbolic gesture that council has the board’s back, but would facilitate their efforts to get the data they need from the police department.
there’s not much on tonight’s agenda after we get back from this recess.
the second half of the meeting will be streaming here
council chambers have damn near totally emptied out during the recess. we’re back in session now.
the city planner says there was no clear consensus among councilors on the first reading of the carlton views project, so it was not put on the consent agenda tonight. council’s discussion on the matter resumes now.
city attorney john blair reminds us that item J on tonight’s consent agenda, which nikuyah pulled for discussion, also relates to this project.
reading livetweets from the meeting i’m livetweeting while i’m listening to the meeting. the universe is a snake eating its own tail
i hope i’m misunderstanding what i’m hearing. but it KIND OF SOUNDS LIKE kathy is feeling sour that poor people are getting to live on what she calls some of the best real estate in the city.
nikuyah said she visited the complex last weekend & talked to residents. one resident said she is moving because the conditions there are making her sick. a mother of five says she wishes there were places for kids to play outside. many residents complained about holes in walls.
many residents complained about the air quality. nikuyah herself noted a strong odor in the elevator.
“you have to have human beings living in a place” - extremely wise words from councilor kathy galvin
(i’m not looking forward to tomorrow’s all day city council retreat - she doesn’t do well in long meetings 🤦♀️)
(i’m not looking forward to tomorrow’s all day city council retreat - she doesn’t do well in long meetings 🤦♀️)
“i’m a staunch advocate for more housing, no matter what,” says wes, but he is concerned in this case because of how much we’ve heard about the condition of the property.
wes referenced the odor nikuyah says she smelled in the elevator & she says SHE didn’t say she smelled it, but that other people told her they did (i’ll have to check the tape on that)
the property manager says he believes all of the problems have been fixed & that there is no mold problem.
this project would bring 48 new affordable units. wes says this makes it really hard for him to say no. “while i may not agree wholeheartedly,” we need the units. heather agrees, saying “i don’t think this is a slam dunk for any of us.”
sorry, i don’t know if the speaker here is the property manager, as i previously referred to him. he is, at least, the applicant for the rezoning for the project.
kathy: “the families i talked to admitted there were problems in the past but the families i talked to said that they love their units.”
nikuyah points out that kathy’s visit was planned & the families she spoke to were chosen by the applicant. nikuyah spoke to random residents.
nikuyah points out that kathy’s visit was planned & the families she spoke to were chosen by the applicant. nikuyah spoke to random residents.
the vote on the rezoning was 4-1, with nikuyah dissenting.
the vote on the pulled consent agenda item J was the same - 4-1, nikuyah dissenting.
the vote on the pulled consent agenda item J was the same - 4-1, nikuyah dissenting.
now for the second (and last) agenda item - an update on the comprehensive plan. planning commission chair lisa green is at the podium.
i saw city attorney john blair leave chambers with planning commissioner lyle & wes left with planning commissioner rory. lisa seemed surprised lyle & rory were gone when she turned around to acknowledge them. heather told her not to wait for wes to return. ❓
we’ve got a powerpoint AND some supplementary visual aids 📊
as we saw earlier tonight when don & gloria had to leave so rosia could speak on CRB matters, lyle is waiting in the hallway during lisa’s presentatioykwb
lisa is talking about the extensive community engagement the planning commission has done this year. they asked people where they go, what they like about the city. they heard from many residents about their community.
they met with representatives from every city board & commission to try to learn how to do better community engagement.
there are some very interesting graphics in this presentation! is it available online somewhere @LyleSollaYates?
lyle is tweeting his thoughts on the presentation from the hallway
lyle & rory have now switched places, with lyle back in chambers & rory in the hallway. only 2 members of the commission can be in chambers at any time without violating the law about public meetings. (this is ridiculous)
charlottesville is ten square miles. we’re fully surrounded by albemarle county. we are out of land. the population is currently 48k. projections indicate we’ll be at 56k in 2045, 71k by 2060.
if i had a dollar for every time kathy galvin interrupted someone who was giving a presentation to council...
(this presentation has been going on for over an hour)
(this presentation has been going on for over an hour)
mike wants to know exactly how many accessory dwelling units have been constructed in the city in the last 5 years. a city staffer says they get 4-5 requests per month for the permits for ADUs.
most accessory dwelling units are being constructed solely for use as airbnbs — they COULD help with the affordable housing problem, but that’s not the use we’re seeing. there’s no financial incentive for people to go that direction.
councilors agree that it is acceptable, necessary, and correct for the planning commission to seek outside expertise in finishing the comprehensive plan.
this conversation has gone off the rails. people are just taking turns making mostly unrelated statements about buildings. it’s nearly 11. this was the second of only 2 agenda items. let’s just call it a night.
“are you clear on anything? because i’m not,” says nikuyah to planning commission chair lisa green who is very clearly trying to end this presentation after an hour and a half.
we’ve reached the point in the meeting where i’ve mostly stopped listening and am just wondering if we’ll be out of here in time for me to go to the grocery store before it closes at midnight.
“i’m unclear on what we’re talking about here,” says mike signer.
how many times tonight have we completely and totally lost the thread of a conversation? folks are just talking past each other.
how many times tonight have we completely and totally lost the thread of a conversation? folks are just talking past each other.
lisa green says albemarle county has a dedicated staff member whose entire job is the comprehensive plan. she says the planning commission in the city is all volunteer & doesn’t have the staff support they need.
it felt like we were winding things down but now we’re in the weeds on a brand new topic! we went from “year long RFP process for a consultant for the comp plan” to “hiring a third assistant city manager to be assigned to the comp plan full time”
heather wants a staff presentation on the options for addressing this. kathy agrees.
missy creasy from neighborhood development services says they’re in the recruitment phase of backfilling some positions. long term issues end up taking a back burner when they’re backlogged on more immediate issues.
they’ll address at a january meeting the options from here — whether a consultant or a permanent hire would best address the planning commission’s needs.
before we get to closing matters by the public, wes brings up an issue — he says he recently learned preston avenue was named for a staunch supporter of the confederacy. he proposes exploring changing the street’s name.
wes says there are other people we can name our streets after aside from “individuals who not only owned slaves but fought staunchly for the confederacy.”
“i don’t enjoy riding up and down a street named for somebody who could’ve owned me”
“i don’t enjoy riding up and down a street named for somebody who could’ve owned me”
he would like to discuss the possibility of renaming the street at a future meeting.
and now closing matters by the public. ms gloria has concerns about snow removal.
and now closing matters by the public. ms gloria has concerns about snow removal.
the city can fine residents who don’t clear the snow from the sidewalk outside their residence 24 hours after the snowfall ends. but what can residents who cannot physically shovel snow do?
heather suggests calling the city manager’s office & they can connect you to neighborhood association leadership who may be able to connect you with a willing volunteer in your neighborhood.
nancy up next. she says she witnessed an interaction between a downtown resource officer & some houseless individuals downtown last week. the officer chased the individuals off the mall.
officers should be trained to help people connect with resources. treating houseless folks with contempt is not the way to react to their existence.
me: i love public comment. it’s such an important part of city government. civic engagement is critical.
also me: people who speak at closing matters by the public should be banished from the city. let this meeting end. burn it down. salt the earth where city hall stood.
also me: people who speak at closing matters by the public should be banished from the city. let this meeting end. burn it down. salt the earth where city hall stood.
oh damn, they’re going back into closed session. and they’re convening at 9am tomorrow morning for their all-day retreat. they’re gonna be CRANKY tomorrow.
