A fellow by the name of John Lowry, of North Garden, is looking to run for Sally Thomas’ seat on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, Brian Wheeler reports for Charlottesville Tomorrow. Lowry is the chair of the Albemarle Economic Development Authority, a William & Mary alumnus, and is retired from a career in finance. Thomas hasn’t stated her intentions for reelection, so it’s a fair guess that Lowry’s decision is contingent on whether or not she’ll be running, too. He’s got a campaign website, and is in the process of collecting signatures to get on the ballot to run as an independent, though he may opt to run with party affiliation. The green color scheme on his website says “Democrat”…but his bowtie says “Republican.”
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for February, 2009
Page 4 of 4
Community organizer Kristin Szakos is running for the Democratic nomination for City Council, Chiara Canzi reports for C-Ville Weekly. Szakos was the volunteer coordinator for the Obama-Biden campaign in Charlottesville, and plans to formally announce her campaign on Saturday. More information about her is available on her campaign website.
Both Mayor David Norris and Vice Mayor Julian Taliaferro are up for reelection at the end of this, their first term. Neither have publicly stated whether they intend to run for another term. Though the general election is in November, the Democrats’ nomination process isn’t yet clear. The party has long held a nomination convention, requiring hundreds of people to pile into a room and remain there through round after round of voting. When there are few candidates (as with the unchallenged Norris and Taliaferro, two years ago), it goes smoothly. But when there are a bunch of candidates (like in 2002), it’s an hours-long process that might make for interesting sport, but it’s hugely unpleasant and not particularly democratic. There’s debate within the party over changing the process this time around, such as moving to something closer to a traditional primary. Since the Democrats just about always win, how the nominees are chosen basically determines who is going to sit on Council.
Republican Rodney Thomas is running against incumbent Democrat David Slutzky for Board of Supervisors, Brian Wheeler writes for Charlottesville Tomorrow. Thomas is a former chair of the Albemarle Planning Commission, owner Charlottesville Press, and was a 1999 graduate of the Sorensen Institute‘s Political Leaders Program.
He’s a good guy for Republicans to be running. He’s a nice guy, thoughtful and capable, rather the opposite of the sort of candidates who Virginia Republicans tend to put forward against incumbent Democrats. David Slutzky may have a fight on his hands.
The whole of Council wants to create a park-and-ride for downtown, Rachana Dixit writes in today’s Daily Progress. The great majority of downtown time-limited parking is in use by commuters, who shuffle their cars around every couple of hours, now that all-day free parking has been largely eliminated from downtown. Council wants to experiment with a commuter-timed bus line that runs from a spacious, free parking lot on the edge of town to downtown, and see if folks prefer that to dealing with the two-hour shuffle.
Albemarle County has gotten permission to enforce the state ban on those horrible signs by the side of the road advertising quasi-scams and fly-by-night operations, Jenn McDaniel reports for NBC 29. County inspectors—who would normally be inspecting buildings, but there’s not much of that going on right now—will be pulling the signs up and fining the advertisers $100/apiece. The new practice goes into effect on February 17, and sign spammers who don’t pull their signs up by then will be fined. It was a mild problem a few years ago, but it’s getting worse every month. Those wretched “Homes from the 300s” signs that litter northern Virginia are starting to appear along 29N, since developers are desperate to sell off their overbuilt subdivisions.
McDaniel called some of the illegal advertisers, who had the balls to gripe about having to find a legal method of advertising. I should spray paint “cvillenews.com” on their front door and then express surprise when they complain. Somebody remind me—on February 17, I need encourage folks to submit photos of signs still illegally posted in the right-of-way. We can save the county a little work and help fill the county’s coffers.
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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