Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

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The Original Downtown Mall Debate

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 20, 2008 in Development and Politics. 24 Comments

Steve Ashby writes:

Until it shuts down in 6 days, my podcast site will be hosting a series of excerpts from a 1975 Jefferson Cable production “Overview: Downtown Renewal.” With the re-bricking of the Mall, it seems like a good time to look back at just how much controversy the whole idea caused. Despite Hook article article to the contrary, many merchants supported building a pedestrian mall.

I’ve put those excerpts together into a single video, which you can watch here:

Note that it opens with credits, but don’t skip through them—you’ll love the b-roll footage of downtown that’s playing in the background. As a Charlottesville history buff, this stuff is like catnip to me.

12/22 Update: Steve has put an even longer version of the video online in two chunks: Part 1 and Part 2. Thanks, Steve!

It’s Official: Perriello Wins

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 17, 2008 in Politics. 25 Comments

A three-judge panel has concluded, after a recount, that Democrat Tom Perriello is now Congressman-elect Perriello, replacing six-term Republican incumbent Rep. Virgil Goode. Perrillo won by 727 votes. He’ll be sworn into the 111th Congress on January 6.

County Schools Proceeding with Synthetic Turf

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 15, 2008 in Education, Sports and Taxes. 46 Comments

Albemarle’s three high schools are preparing to spend $600k apiece to install synthetic turf, Brandon Shuleeta writes in today’s Daily Progress, and not everybody is happy about it. There’s the obvious mixed economic message being sent, although that’s reduced by the anonymous donor who chipped in $325k/school, and some folks just don’t like the idea of playing on synthetic turf. There are concerns about some nasty chemicals found in the fake grass, a problem that the federal government is of two minds about the seriousness of. The Board of Supervisors has agreed to spend $225k to help get together enough money for the turf, leaving the schools $163k short.

Chamber Endorses Transit Authority

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 10, 2008 in Business, Taxes and Transportation. 9 Comments

The Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the establishment of a regional transit authority, the Progress reports, in a move that should surprise anybody following local politics. The Chamber has historically been pretty far to the right—it was just a few years ago that they suggested that government shouldn’t establish a minimum wage—so supporting the creation of a new government entity and a new taxation structure to support it is a sign either of how badly the state has failed to fund transportation or how far that the Chamber has moved to the left.

This leaves Del. Rob Bell in an awkward position, since he opposes allowing citizens to hold a referendum to determine if they should fund a transit authority. Bell surely doesn’t want to go up against the Chamber, especially not on something this large, so he’s likely left having to justify a 180° on this.

Nelson Supporters Local Food Distribution Hub

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 10, 2008 in Business. 16 Comments

Nelson County has bootstrapped an Ivy-based local-food distribution hub, Erin McGrath writes in the Nelson County Times, providing $10,000 towards its establishment. The non-profit would serve the Thomas Jefferson Planning District (Nelson, Albemarle, C’ville, Fluvanna, Greene, and Louisa), functioning as a badly-needed middleman between farmers and final points of sale like restaurants and grocery stores. It’s the idea of Charlottesville’s Kate Collier and Marisa Vrooman, who figure it’ll take $300,000 to get started. Next they’ll be asking the BoS for $80,000. It’s definitely not a good time to asking any government entity for money, but if they can demonstrate that a significant economic gain will result from enabling this trade, it might be a smart investment for TJPD members.

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