In this evening’s meeting of the Charlottesville Republicans, they nominated two candidates for Council, Kenneth Jackson and Ann Reinicke, WINA reports. Jackson is the president of the Ridge Street Neighborhood Association, and has been talking about running for Council since November. Reinicke is a block captain for Prospect-Orangedale, and has worked at UVa for 20 years. 02/10 Update: Liz Nelson has the story in the Progress.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
four six and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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Kenneth Jackson works a real-world restaurant job. He knows what it’s like to compete for housing against no-risk taxpayer-funded city salaries.
He’s no demagogue talking poverty after enjoying the grant-funded leisure to multiply footnotes in a PhD program. He really has pulled himself up by his own bootstraps.
And Reineke has actually been out the street, talking to neighbors. She’s no political hack aspiring to local office on soundbites and a well-thumbed Rolodex.
I’d say the Repubs. this time have a real chance. Good thing, because I have to pay taxes. All the Democrats want is more government programs, using my tax dollars. Property tax. Car tax. Fee for the sticker to prove you paid the car tax. City utility bills, and city utility taxes on top of their own bills. Sales tax, and a meals tax on top of the sales tax, on food the restaurant already paid a sales tax on.
I say lets have less. Maybe we should just stop paying the the taxes, and FORCE the city to cut back.
shhhhhhhh, I want to have more art thingies on the side of the roads.
Kenneth Jackson always struck me as kind of odd.
But then again, so did Rob Schilling, so what do I know?
One side note; restaurants do not pay a sales tax for food that they are then going to turn around and sell to the public. No double-dipping.
One side not; most retailers or anyone who is a resellers of goods does not pay sales tax on things they resell.
Shilling still strikes me as odd.
Also as not working very hard on the council.
Will the other Republicans follow in his footsteps and do nothing to make the city a better place?
Charlottesville is a special place to live, and that didn’t happen by accident. That happened because of the vision of councilors many years ago.
Our problems come from that success:
1) We have a parking problem downtown because so many people want to come to the downtown mall, created by hard-working Democrats who took A LOT of flack at the time.
2) No one can afford to buy a house downtown because so many people want to live there, because of the stewardship of hard-working Democrats.
There are solutions to these problems that don’t involve turning the whole city into pavement.
If you want to see what happens to a city that is run by Republicans, go to Harrisonburg and try to find people walking around downtown.
If you want to see what happens to a city that is run by Republicans, go to Harrisonburg and try to find people walking around downtown.
That’s a severely simplistic view. If you REALLY want to see a city living under long-term Democrat rule, take a nice evening stroll through the District of Columbia. Or Detroit. Or any number of decaying, crime-ridden northeastern cities.
It’s not the party in charge that makes the city. Charlottesville owes its success much more to the University and to geography than it does to one party or another. It could just as easily be said that Charlottesville is doing relatively well IN SPITE OF many years of what could justifiably be categorized as ultra-liberal government.
There are certainly factors in a city’s success or failure that are outside of local government’s control, I don’t dispute that.
But cities that are much larger than C’ville have a different set of problems. You should compare cities that are approximately the same size.
But there are a number of things available in C’ville that only exist because of past councilors with a vision.
The downtown mall is an example.
The preservation of beautiful old archetecture is another.
The free trolley and the bike lanes on Main and Preston make it practical to get across town without a car during the day.
Fridays after Five.
Those are just things off the top of my head that make my day more pleasant that can be attibuted to local government. I’m sure others can add to that.
Fridays After 5 is not and never has been a local government initiative. It was started by local business people ABOVE the tepid objections of the city. It was maintained IN SPITE OF constant irrational interference from the city. And now it costs $3-$5 to get in BECAUSE OF greed on the part of the city. City Council had NOTHING to do with starting or maintaining this particular event, but they’re certainly doing their part to bring an end to it.
Charging CDF $4,500 for "mall security" is an absolute abomination.
In fact, truth be told, if there was a singular driving force behind Fridays After 5, that would be John Bright, a local business owner who ran unsuccessfully for Council several years ago, as a Republican.
Very, very bad example of the largess and greatness of Charlottesville’s local government.
I knew he was putting his foot in his mouth when he brought up FA5, especially with you!!!
That said, this does not mean I agree with your comparison with big cities in the Northeast. First, Charlottesville cannot be compared in any way to Detroit, Chicago, Boston or New York city. Charlottesville is a peanut, okay? And btw, what makes you think DC is Dem? Because of the mayor? Do you really think the mayor has free reign in the same town as the Bush dynasty? Gimme a break!
Second, Paul is absolutely right: compare Cville to Harrisonburg, Fredericksburg, Roanoke, Danville. Now you’re seeing straighter. Also, compare Cville now to real Dem mid-sized towns (‘cuz cville isn’t *really* Dem with Albemarle snapping at its gates 24 /7): Concord, New Hampshire or Burlington, Vermont. Know them? I tell you, other than the winters there, Cville ranks real low in comparison.
You know those Steve Martin movies where they portray small town America and how wonderful it is? Well they sure don’t choose southern, Repub dominated towns. Oh yeah, except “In the Heat of the Night”, but then, the portrayal is more redneck than All-American Family Bliss!
That said, this does not mean I agree with your comparison with big cities in the Northeast. First, Charlottesville cannot be compared in any way to Detroit, Chicago, Boston or New York city. Charlottesville is a peanut, okay? And btw, what makes you think DC is Dem? Because of the mayor? Do you really think the mayor has free reign in the same town as the Bush dynasty? Gimme a break!
I know, I know – I was reacting viscerally to the ridiculous portrayal of Charlottesville as a liberal Utopia.
I’ve never been to Burlington, but you’re not the first person I’ve heard tout its virtues.
> I know, I know – I was reacting viscerally to the ridiculous portrayal of Charlottesville as a liberal Utopia.
I’m not saying that C’ville is a utopia. There are plenty of problems here. I’m just saying it is better than the surrounding towns that I’m familiar with.
That’s the reason that we need councilors who are willing to work to make it an even better town.
Unfortunately, Shilling has done nothing but grandstand. He has been given advice about how he can be more effective, but his strategy seems to be to get in front of the cameras as much as possible, and do nothing else.
yes, but you rebutted only one of his examples of the past council’s wise decisions.
Shilling seems to me to be an example of what happens when you define the world in terms of good and evil. As I understand it, he sees his mission on Council as that of opposing evil, that is, the Democrats. He doesn’t see his mission as coming up with his own plans or ideas–he sees himself as obstructor of the evil Dems. I guess if that’s how you see the world, then you can tell yourself you’re doing good by not actually doing anything more than sitting back, waiting for the others to do something, and then opposing it.
The disturbing thing to me is that so many people are apparently satisfied with a representative who doesn’t act, but reacts.