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i wish there were any way of reliably determining whether it was going to be a pre-11pm or a post 1am adjournment.
getting started right on the dot tonight! wonder how that closed session went? 👀 
announcements: don’t forget about the june 11 primary! you can still vote absentee in person until the 8th. if you do not have a photo ID, you can get one in the voter registration office downtown.
a moment of silence for the victims of the virginia beach municipal center shooting, followed by an already planned but appropriately timed proclamation about gun violence awareness day.
a very rare taker for public comment on a consent agenda item! @RoryStolzenberg applauds council for repealing the statute criminalizing trick or treating above age 12 & encourages them to repeal the preceding section of the code, a teen curfew.
mayor walker asks to pull items C & D from the consent agenda for a separate vote. they weren’t voted on last time because signer wasn’t in attendance.
the consent agenda minus items C & D passes unanimously. items C & D pass 4-1, with mayor walker dissenting.
new city manager dr tarron richardson is taking his second shot at response to matters by the public.
there will be a public meeting to discuss the trolley problem.
they’ve updated the address for the magistrate’s office on the website.
there will be a public meeting to discuss the trolley problem.
they’ve updated the address for the magistrate’s office on the website.
dr richardson’s monotone is really difficult for me.
richardson says the construction should be restricted to 6am to 10pm & his office will check in to make sure this is being done.
the city manager advises residents to contact the city if their neighbor is operating an unlicensed, untaxed airBnB (sure, i know all my neighbor’s tax situation!)
meanwhile the zoning office has not replied to my email from like three weeks ago about this.
meanwhile the zoning office has not replied to my email from like three weeks ago about this.
now for the best portion of the evening: matters by the public. the first speaker is one of several signed up tonight to talk about divestment. there is a resolution on the agenda tonight for the city to begin the process of divesting from fossil fuels & weapons.
another speaker for divestment. “divestment is not just morally, but financially prudent,” he says. (it’s true - even the economist agrees that portfolios focused on renewable energy tend to beat the market average)
after a third speaker for divestment, we’ve got katrina turner up talking about handling of complaints against the police department.
the complaint described in the last meeting has been resolved, with a finding of “sustained”
the complaint described in the last meeting has been resolved, with a finding of “sustained”
ms katrina says this particular officer has had multiple complaints filed against him over the years. she wants to know why the complaint substantiated by several white women was found to be valid when they’ve ignored so many others.
ms katrina: “if a black person complains and nothing is done, then a white person complains and something is done within two or three weeks... that’s showing us” that their concerns are not being taken seriously.
“it would help build trust if someone outside the police department knew what was going on” with complaints against the police department, says the next speaker, who urges council to support a robust police civilian review board with paid staff.
john hall, who’d previously announced & withdrawn his independent candidacy for city council, just re-announced his candidacy. the mayor gently tells him he can’t use this time to campaign.
on the speakers list online, he listed his topic as “mural.” i was worried he was going to revive this mess
c-ville.com/unauthorized-c…
c-ville.com/unauthorized-c…
after being told he can’t campaign, he resumed reading by repeating what he’d just said about how he hoped people would volunteer for his campaign.
i really never know when i’m in the city vs when i’m in the county, but i think the turn lane near wegmans this guy is complaining about is in the county?
tonight’s agenda item about divestment is for the operating budget. this speaker reminds council that we must divest our city’s retirement fund from fossil fuels and weapons, too.
tanesha hudson is up now. she also witnessed the incident at the fifeville neighborhood meeting that resulted in the sustained complaint.
tanesha: “what you do to black people in this city is insane.”
“y’all act like you care about black people. show black people you care.”
dr richardson is staring at her with his mouth hanging open. welcome to charlottesville, bud.
“y’all act like you care about black people. show black people you care.”
dr richardson is staring at her with his mouth hanging open. welcome to charlottesville, bud.
“y’all act like jason kessler & them just popped up. they’ve been here. and more are coming. and we’re leaving,” tanesha says. black people being pushed out of a city that can’t reckon with its racist past & present.
the next speaker is reading a bible passage for reasons that are unclear to me.
the next speaker is an amazing antiracist and immigrants’ rights activists, so i’m surprised to hear her up tonight in favor gender neutral bathrooms 🏳️🌈
happy pride month!
happy pride month!
wes asks if some research can be done and reported back to council, it sounds like it would only require a change of signage on already single-stall bathrooms in city buildings.
another member of the unity days planning committee is up talking about the events they’ve had & the upcoming events they’re planning for this summer. a fund transfer for these events is on tonight’s agenda.
matt points out that this planned programming will cost the city significantly less than hundreds of riot cops, which is what they paid for last summer.
mary carey up now. she’s lived here longer than i’ve been alive. she says she remembers when the slave auction block plaque used to hang on a wall. now it’s embedded in the pavement. it’s disrespectful.
the memorial to enslaved people is a plaque in the ground, but our parks are dominated by gigantic statues to racist generals. mary carey says when she was a little girl, she “couldn’t even go in that park.” that history is important context.
“you haven’t given the black people anything in this town,” mary carey tells kathy galvin 🔥
this city was built on genocide and slavery, reverend don gathers tells council. he tells them to revisit the recommendations of the blue ribbon commission.
he also reminds everyone to get out & vote in the primary on june 11.
he also reminds everyone to get out & vote in the primary on june 11.
the final speaker is a woman who says her ten year old son was attacked by another student on the school bus. she says the driver did not stop the bus to deal with the incident. her son had to be taken to the emergency room.
she says she was told by the superintendent that the school had a safety plan for her son. the boy who assaulted him had organized harassment of her son & tried to attack him again. the school did not do enough to keep the boys apart.
she says if her black son did this to another student, if her older son retaliated, they would be in jail. she’s probably right.
“mentally, my son is broken.” he is afraid to go back to school. he hasn’t slept in weeks. she says the school did not do enough to keep her son safe.
she did several times refer to the child who assaulted her son as “a foreigner,” which is... not ideal.
i’m kind of surprised our friend jenna didn’t turn up at public comment, which is now over.
city attorney john blair is explaining the rules against campaigning during council meetings to john hall during the recess. $10 says it happens again before november.
here’s what we have coming up after the recess.
the live-stream for the second half of the meeting is here: facebook.com/Charlottesvill…
it’s powerpoint time!
it’s powerpoint time!
it’s a great powerpoint.
i think they’re trying to bore us into not noticing our utility rates are going up?
oh, but not a lot.
this is a public hearing, so we’ve got public comment on the utility rates. a woman says utilities don’t operate on a for-profit basis, so why are rates going up?
she’s really upset about some kind of tax collected on gas bills she claims is being deposited into the general fund, rather than being used solely for operational costs for the utility. i have no idea if this is true, just reporting what she’s saying. 🤷♀️
former councilor dede smith is also talking about the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes). apparently we pay a tax AND this payment in lieu of taxes on our gas bills. she says the total cost of these payments is over a third of the average gas bill.
i don’t read the itemized costs on my utility bills. i guess i should.
dede smith says the city is charging $5-6mil/year to utility customers that is being deposited into the general fund.
“that is absolutely not true,” dede smith says of the claim that the utilities do not operate on a for-profit basis.
wow i learn something new about municipal government every day!
sorry, i have a disorder that makes me unable to hear when landlords complain about the burdens they face. this guy is somehow working in complaints about the real estate tax - that’s not what this hearing is about!
the utility guy says the PILOT fees are a substitute for the real estate & other taxes a private company would be paying if a private company operated the utility. so it’s just the city paying itself out of our pockets? he says it’s “commonplace.”
mayor walker asks if there is any way to charge this fee to only UVA & county customers, not city residents. city attorney john blair says no.
i’m optimistic that the remaining 7 agenda items will not all take 45+ minutes...
the utility guy said something dismissive about how most of the cost of a utility is within the control of the customer based on their usage. mayor walker says we should be careful with that narrative & tells an anecdote from her own childhood with ineffective baseboard heating.
we’re coming up on an hour for this agenda item about utility rates. kathy galvin is asking now about solar power which is nice but has nothing to do with what we’re talking about. the city doesn’t provide electricity.
on to the next item. the utility rate change will go on a future consent agenda.
(why did the police chief just show up?)
(why did the police chief just show up?)
mayor walker asks about the demographics of the foster families, specifically if it’s mostly children of color being placed with white families. kaki dimock doesn’t know specifically, but generally that does seem to be the case.
it’s just the first of two readings, so no vote tonight. on to the unity days appropriation. that will get voted on.
i wish i hadn’t forgotten my meeting blanket
wes says, with absolutely no offense intended, the events he sees listed “aren’t extremely appealing” to his demographic. he wants to explore bringing in “some higher profile artists.”
charlene green asks if anyone who has concerns about the diversity of the offerings have submitted event proposals of their own. wes says yes, they’ve been in touch with tanesha hudson (who serves on the committee & has voiced concern that the black community needs more events)
i’m getting extreme little red hen vibes off this whole interaction
the information about this budgetary request starts on page 83 of the agenda background.
charlottesville.org/home/showdocum…
charlottesville.org/home/showdocum…
nikuyah walker picks out one specifically and asks how the cville culinary experience, for which $10k is requested, will benefit the entire community. brian wheeler says downtown business association president joan fenton is leading that one. 👀
wes says the events sound very informative but not very appealing to broad sections of the population. charlene again says people who don’t feel like the offerings appeal to them should come to the meetings and propose their own events.
wes asks there these events are being held. (they’re all over - cityspace, council chambers, etc) but he says we’re using a traditional model and expecting it to reach different people.
wes has a very good point but i fear it’s too late for this kind of criticism. i wish this conversation had been held in greater detail 3-4 months ago.
no one wants criticism from people who aren’t helping with the work, but the level of defensiveness from those involved is making me uncomfortable.
i’ve not been keeping up with the unity days planning. the early meetings i attended were painful to sit through - that kind of group decision making is my achilles heel.
but my overall impression about the city’s motivation is to let residents make their own events so no one can complain. so no matter what happens they can say, well if you don’t like it you should’ve done it better yourself.
honestly though, at the end of the day, as long as we don’t end up with the heather heyer memorial tom tom fest, featuring the national guard, i’m satisfied.
the $100,000 fund transfer for the unity days programming passed unanimously.
the city treasurer says there’s no risk to the stability of the city’s investment portfolio in divesting the city’s operating fund from fossil fuels and weapons.
mike signer says he’s not comfortable with divesting from weapons systems. “we have a military for lots of reasons” and says his grandfather served in WWII, then vaguely fear mongers about north korea and china.
this is shamefully stupid. he isn’t just licking the boot, he’s fellating it.
the resolution to divest the city’s operating fund from fossil fuels and weapons manufacturing passes 4-1, with mike signer dissenting because he loves the military industrial complex.
this will go on a future consent agenda. mayor walker has indicated she will abstain when the time comes for this vote.
city council meetings are (ruining) my life
some things never change. different drive thru at issue, same arguments.
the special use permit was approved 4-1, with galvin dissenting
the new city manager just addressed city attorney john blair as “attorney,” like it was his name
this passed unanimously sorry i wasn’t paying attention
hearing from assistant city attorney lisa robertson now. the thomas jefferson planning district’s 2019 general assembly summary starts on page 115 of this agenda packet
charlottesville.org/home/showdocum…
charlottesville.org/home/showdocum…
robertson recommends they start thinking ahead to the legislative packet sooner than later, aiming to have it finalized in sept/oct. (one of the things council candidate lloyd snook picks on this council for is how late they were getting the legislative packet together last year)
kathy & wes both express interest in being one of two councilors to begin working on the legislative packet for next year. (remember that kathy is currently campaigning for state delegate, it’s not surprising she’s interested in getting involved here)
i wonder if working on this project will be really depressing for her if she loses the primary next week?
mayor walker says she would also be interested in the legislative packet work if either of the two councilors who already volunteered can’t do it. personally i’d love for all three of them to do it (because that would trigger public meeting requirements & i wanna watch)
we’re now on “other business” which could take one minute or ten thousand years. no one knows. we could die here.
mayor walker is asking where the city holiday calendar is codified. john blair says it’s in an ordinance.
she wants to replace april’s thomas jefferson’s birthday with a march liberation and freedom day
(PLEASE let’s knock off the TJ worship!)
she wants to replace april’s thomas jefferson’s birthday with a march liberation and freedom day
(PLEASE let’s knock off the TJ worship!)
the city attorney will come back with a draft ordinance at a future meeting. now on to closing matters by the public. newly re-announced candidate for city council john hall is back up to talk about the lewis & clark statue.
he wants to have sacagawea’s name engraved on the statue (i’m surprised to find out it isn’t on there!) but tbh fuck that let’s just tear the horrible thing down. it’s offensive.
a member of the unity days planning committee thanks them for authorizing the fund transfer for the programming & wants to talk to them a little bit about the programming & the ongoing efforts to engage the community.
“it is definitely an older whiter crowd,” he says of a lot of the unity days events he’s been to, but notes that that is true of many events in charlottesville and that’s a bigger conversation that needs to be had.
he says the committee discusses diversity, inclusion, and outreach at every meeting (but also notes that there are maybe 3 members under 40) - the youth demographic is not well accounted for.
meeting adjourned! at 10:30! we’re doing great!
