Charlottesville’s Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression has announced the winners of their annual Muzzle Awards. The prominent free-speech group gives out the high-profile dubious distinctions to mark Thomas Jefferson’s birthday each year, singling out the government institutions that have done the most to trammel the right to free expression in the prior year. This year’s winners include the Florida legislature (for making it a crime for doctors to talk about gun safety with patients), Sam Houston State University (for creating a free speech wall, and then threatening to arrest anybody who wrote the word “fuck”), the Norfolk Police Department (for arresting a man for videotaping a police officer), and the Virginia Department of Corrections (for their ban on all non-religious audio recordings), among others.
Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith
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Fluvanna’s got an interesting tax situation, Bryan McKenzie wrote in yesterday’s Daily Progress. The county’s Board of Supervisors has long been dominated by conservatives, and has steadily lowered taxes relative to expenses as election after election has put in office people who promise to lower taxes. As a result, the county has put off some financial problems for years now, leaving them in a terrible financial situation, without enough money to pay their basic expenses. Now some surprising people are supporting a 20% tax increase. Fluvanna residents pay a property tax of 57¢ per $100 of assessed value (they most recently assessed properties in 2006), which isn’t enough to maintain basic services, make payments on their debts, repair buildings, etc. County staff recommends a rate increase to 75¢ (a 31% increase) to maintain service levels, but a budget committee cut those down to a level that requires a rate of 68¢.
Perhaps the most vocal supporter of this tax increase is the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Shaun Kenney, who is as conservative a Republican as you’re liable to find. (Disclaimer: He’s an old friend of mine.) Kenney is advocating what he regards as the real fiscally conservative solution: getting the county’s financial house in order, rather than going into further debt and leaving the problem for some future Board of Supervisors to deal with. A specific problem that he cites is that the county has a $0 budget for capital improvements, meaning that even basic maintenance to schools or replacing old fire trucks requires a tax increase to fund, something that anti-tax groups have successfully fought for years. If the tax rate remains level, Kenney says, Fluvanna will be forced to more than double the rate in four years, to $1.22, to meet their core obligations. Kenney’s zest for tackling this problem has the county’s farthest-right Republicans upset (folks who should be Kenney’s base), notably the Fluvanna Taxpayers Association, a four-year-old organization that opposes any tax increase to fund fixing schools or paying debts.
The Fluvanna Board of Supervisors is holding a hearing about this on Wednesday, which is sure to be lively. This is a showdown worth keeping an eye on, because it’s a perfect encapsulation of a rift in the Republican Party on both a state and a national level, one that divides people who oppose all taxes on principle, regardless of the consequences (e.g., the Tea Party), from those who support fiscally conservative policies (which may include raising taxes, as necessary). Consider the Fluvanna dispute a preview of what’s to come on a larger scale over the next year or two.
The Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority gave a presentation on the safety of treating water with chloramines to City Council on Monday night, Courtney Beale reports for Charlottesville Tomorrow. The RWSA recently decided to make the switch in order to comply with federal pollution requirements. Every water purification method has benefits and drawbacks, and people are inherently nervous about what goes into their drinking water. The RWSA selected chloramines over other options primarily because it’s the cheapest option. There are some legitimate concerns about chloramines, and that’s got folks worried, hence the RWSA’s presentation. Whether that presentation changes the anybody’s mind remains to be seen; I’m dubious.
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has voted on a 2¢ real estate tax increase, Carter Johnson reports for CBS-19, settling on the advertised rate of 76.2¢ per $100 of assessed value. The idea is to retain current revenues in real dollars, which requires an increased rate to offset decreased property values. It was a 5–1 vote, with Rivanna Supervisor Ken Boyd voting against it, saying that “we should give more back to the citizens.”
That 76.2¢ rate makes possible the construction of the Crozet Library, many years after it should have been built, and the board accepted a $5.8M bid from a Roanoke construction firm to do so. Construction starts in July. The board also voted against providing funding for increased rent costs for the Northside branch, Aaron Richardson writes for the Progress, despite that it was the county who negotiated that rent increase with the landlord. That leaves Jefferson-Madison Regional Library to figure out where to come up with $15,000 to make up the difference.
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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