At last night’s City Council meeting, the second and final vote was held on the matter of moving City Council elections to November, approving the measure with the caveat that the move not take effect until 2007, WINA reports. Newcomers David Brown and Kendra Hamilton sided with Rob Schilling, who had protested having his term cut short. (Note that all councillors terms are cut short by this change.) Like all such election-procedure modifications, the change must be approved by the Department of Justice before it takes effect. 5:20pm Update: The Progress has Liz Nelson’s story on-line now.
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
foursix 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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It is amazing to be that Rob Schilling is either a) so appallingly stupid or b) so baldly disingenuous that he would say that it’s just not clear if moving the elections to November will increase turnout, and that we should consider alternative methods of doing so.
Duh. Of course it will increase turnout. There is no question about this. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Anybody who claims otherwise simply lacks basic knowledge about elections, is lying, or is stupid. To propose that other options be considered other than moving the elections to Election Day is laughable. What should we do instead, Rob? “Ladies Vote for Free”? “Cast One Vote, Get One Free”? “Happy Hour”?
From my knowledge of Rob Schilling, he does not lack basic knowledge about elections (he did, after all, manage to get elected), and he is not, as best as I know, merely stupid. I can only conclude that he is lying (or, to provide a positive spin, being manipulative and disingenuous in pretending to believe otherwise) for the purpose of keeping his own seat longer than the majority on Council. This, rather than doing the right thing and ensuring that as many people are able to vote as soon as possible. That’s about as self-serving as a politician can be.
because i sure haven’t. i think there’s also no question that the rest of city council wants schilling out asap, and that even if their intentions were in part to increase voter turnout, the fact that 6 mos. would be shaved off of rob’s term was an extra added bonus.
sure, everyone points out that moving the election up would decrease every council member’s term. but think about it…the odds of any of the other four not getting reelected are about the same as me sprouting wings and flying to the moon.
maybe the extra time they now have will allow rob to change some minds in this town, and help people realize how badly council is putting the screws to them.