The Board of Supervisors has selected Rio District representative David Slutzky as its new chair, replacing Ken Boyd, of the Rivanna District, the county has announced via press release. But the shift is more than geographic—Slutzky is probably the most liberal member of the board, while Boyd is surely the most conservative. With the election of White Hall District’s Anne Mallek in 2007, the BoS became majority-Democratic. (Mallek was named the BoS’ vice chair today.) Slutzky can drive conservative Republicans to distraction, so expect today’s change to lead to some anger and hand-wringing in some quarters of the county.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith
Page 130 of 549
- Bricks on 5th St. NE get pulled up, back in November, as a demo of the work to come.
The Downtown Mall rebricking has begun, Rachana Dixit writes in today’s Daily Progress. Beginning at Central Place, the $7.5M project will work outward from there, continuing six days a week for the next four months. The city did a legendarily terrible job working with merchants when the Downtown Mall was initially constructed, and did little better when bricking over 3rd St. last year. This time around they’re working closely with merchants, timing the work to avoid disruption, even skipping work on Saturdays, at the request of businesses. But lots of downtown merchants remain dubious of the whole project, fearful that it will be more expensive, more disruptive, and lengthier than the city has promised.
Want to follow obsessively each day’s progress? You’ve got a couple of options. There’s C-Ville Weekly’s “Brick Watch!” And there’s also, impressively, the city’s own blog dedicated to the project, complete with a Flickrstream. (Though all their photos are copyrighted, rather than being released into the Creative Commons, so I’ve had to illustrate this with an old photo of my own. That’s my sole quibble in an otherwise great effort.)
Brian McNeill reports in today’s Daily Progress that Robert Hauser Homes appears to be in some financial trouble. One homebuilder is suing Hauser, alleging that Hauser was contractually obligated to buy $2.56M in lots, but didn’t, and the builder is now stuck with the land (and mortgage payments). And one of the developers behind Old Trail has sued Hauser over a similar matter, in that case nine lots worth $1.4M. And a county flooring company went after Hauser in court for unpaid bills, though that’s since been sorted out. Like many local businesses (especially developers), they’ve laid off employees, shut down one of their offices, and dramatically scaled back construction plans. Bob Hauser tells McNeill that “it’s been slow…it’s been very challenging.”
This is something I’ve had my eye on for a while now. To my eye, Hauser was hugely overextended when the bubble burst. They’d expanded to construction in developments near Fredericksburg (Fawn Lake and Somerset, if memory serves) while riding the bubble hard here in town. I’ve worked with and gotten estimates from a bunch of guys in the construction business in the past year, and more than a few have told me that they’re hurting because of outstanding debts from Hauser.
Courtesy of the Albemarle County Historical Society, from the Russell “Rip” Payne Collection. Merry Christmas!
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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