City Council   5/15/2017

Oh, wow.

Oh, that's great.

That's a small.

Yeah.

Yeah, well, I mean, the thing that worked for Kevin was that he got on the rowing team.

I think if he had not found that.

All right.

Good evening, everyone.

Calling this meeting of Charlottesville City Council to order.

Thank you.

Before we get started, I want to welcome Ms. Paige Rice back to the front of the room.

With another beautiful baby in the ranks, we're glad to have you back.

So we missed you.

We're glad to have you here.

All right.

Call the roll, please.

Here.

OK, we'll go through awards, recognitions, and announcements before we get to board appointments.

And there may be members who have, if you want to say anything additional, this is the time to do it.

But let's combine the awards and recognitions and announcement going from my right.

May 15, 2017, Superhero Fun Run.

Charlottesville Parks and Recreation will hold its first ever Superhero Fun Run event on Friday, May 19th, 6.30 p.m. at Penn Park, located at 1400 Penn Park Road.

This registered event is for all ages.

Superhero attire is encouraged and prizes will be awarded to best dressed.

The race will be divided into three race lengths of three quarter mile, one mile, and two and a half kilometer.

The event is sponsored by Kids Triple Crown and Charlottesville Parks and Recreation.

For more information, please visit Charlottesville.org forward slash parks and rec.

Or call 970-3260.

We're going to do the proclamation after we do the announcements.

You can do it now.

Okay, let me do the proclamation because this is so cool.

May 15th, Albemarle Amateur Radio Club Field Day Exercise, June 2017.

Mr. Michael Brine, is it?

Okay.

And we're going to ask you to come up in just a second.

Proclamation.

Albemarle Amateur Radio Club Field Day Exercise, June 2017.

Whereas amateur radio operators of the Albemarle Amateur Radio Club have provided many hours of service to Charlottesville's emergency response organizations.

And whereas these individuals have further demonstrated their value in public assistance by providing free radio communications for local parades, fairs,

triathlons, cycling competitions, and other charitable public events and whereas these communication services are wholly uncompensated and the required equipment is maintained and provided solely by the members of the club and whereas the AARL amateur radio field day exercise will take place on June 24th, 25th, 2017

at the Charlottesville UVA Albemarle County Emergency Communications Center and is a 24-hour emergency preparedness exercise and demonstration of radio amateurs' skills and readiness to provide self-supporting communications without requiring other infrastructure.

And whereas the City of Charlottesville acknowledges the value of such volunteer activity,

Well, I was told to bring some equipment.

Many years ago, the federal government gave us some ham radio operators some frequencies, which they decided were useless.

It turns out they're not useless, and the ionosphere bends them very nicely, and it turns out we could talk all over the world.

amateur radio was given these frequencies in return for doing public service.

Gee, the proclamation is wonderful.

Thank you so much.

We do very much

Appreciate your recognition of our contributions.

As the proclamation said, we maintain all of our own equipment.

There is never any compensation.

And there are many ways to participate.

Now, Field Day is a national event.

We are working outside for 24 hours.

We're off the grid.

We use our own power.

and it's to practice and demonstrate our readiness for emergencies.

We also practice our formal communication skills, which allow us to communicate during emergencies with considerably greater efficiency.

And we also use this exercise to try to interest the public in ham radio.

And to that end, we have what we call the go-to station, get on the air, which I will be running

and which is for people who don't have licenses to get on the air and make contacts.

And I missed last year, but two years ago, Mayor Huja came, spent 20 minutes, made no contacts, were very disappointed.

On the other hand, Senator Deeds showed up and within 20 seconds had made a contact with Delaware, which is actually

Pretty good.

So public service, we provide communication for emergencies.

Our tagline for many years has been, when all else fails, amateur radio gets through.

When the fiber optic cable was cut during the 29 Araya Road extravaganza, five fire stations throughout the county were cut off from the emergency communication center

And WeHams provided communication.

Happily, there were no great emergencies with which we had to deal.

When we had Hurricane, I'd forgotten the name.

Back in the days when I worked for a living, I operated ham radio from the top of the tower at UVA and getting in touch with the centers for people to flee to.

Thank you.

Yes.

So most of the public service stuff that we do, we do with these handheld radios.

We maintain repeaters, which are receivers that retransmit on the top of high mountains and whatnot.

And I'm particularly pleased with this one, which sells for about $27 on Amazon.

and people with the most basic licenses can participate in all these public service events.

Thank you once again.

Mr. Fenwick, are you?

Somebody make sure that Flicker can step right.

And of course the sign means Flicker, this is the 10th birthday.

Does anyone smell gas?

I'm not going to touch that.

It was just on the balloon, I just read the balloon.

This is such a joyous crowd here.

Flicker the Flame is 10 years old.

The Charlottesville Gas mascot has accomplished more in 10 years than many people do in a lifetime.

Since the addition of Flicker, Charlottesville Gas has seen a 105% increase in residents recognizing the smell of natural gas and a 75% reduction

and Gasline Damage caused by third-party excavators.

Flickr visits classrooms and summer camps each year to teach children all about gas safety and communicates through social media, television commercials, community events, and a catchy jingle.

The Flickr program has received numerous marketing awards and was officially trademarked in 2016.

Happy birthday, Flecker.

Thank you for helping keep Charlottesville safe.

And Lauren Hildebrand is going to, no, she'll be present.

Lauren's in the back of the room there.

And I guess you don't wanna say a couple words.

Oh, maybe Ms. Galvin can do that now because I think she... Oh, okay.

A damage prevention leadership award to utilities, is that it?

Yes.

Schaussel-Gass was recently awarded the Virginia State Corporation's damage prevention leadership award.

The award recognizes individuals, companies, or stakeholder groups who have demonstrated a significant impact on damage prevention in Virginia through different leadership roles.

Charlottesville GAS's prevention program, Dig With Care, launched in 2014, led to a 75% reduction in gas line damage.

The program includes a series of Marty's Minute radio spots, annual Virginia 811 day celebrations, excavation safety training workshops, distributing Virginia 811 kits to local contractors, and outsourcing the utility location process while internal resources

Congratulations to Charlottesville Gas and the entire utility crew for all their hard work.

This award, we were recognized by the State Corporation Commission this past month and we were very pleased to get this award.

Thank you.

The preservers of the Daughters of Zion Cemetery cordially invite you to attend Decoration Day on May 28th

at 2 p.m. at City Space located at 105th Street Northeast on the downtown mall.

An on-site visit to Daughters of Zion Cemetery is to follow.

Would the Daughters of Zion representatives care to say a few words?

I do have one more announcement, Mr. Mayor, and it's a request from Mr. Alexander that we announce the contest winners for the third annual My Help List contest.

The contest was about writing essays that were on this topic.

Quote, it's important to help others because.

So students were asked to list five things that they have done to help someone

or how they can help someone.

So the contest winners are Haley Davis for the category of grades nine through 12 from William Monroe High School in Greene County, Savannah Lynn Meisner grades six through eight category, Homeschool Charlottesville Albemarle, Ella Mars grades three through five category, Rutgersville Elementary in Greene County, and Aishmaa Gurun

for the category K2 from Greenbrier Elementary School, Charlottesville, Virginia.

So congratulations to the contest winners.

OK, thanks.

I have a couple of announcements and then something I'd like to state.

First things first, good evening, everyone.

Good evening.

There you go.

Y'all are getting it.

They on it, Bob.

They on it.

So much respect.

So the first couple of announcements that I have, the Charlottesville Parks and Rec spray grounds are open.

Charlottesville Parks and Rec opened its three spray grounds on Saturday, May 13th for the 2017 season.

The spray grounds are a fun alternative to traditional swimming pools and offer a variety of water features for all ages and abilities to join.

Spraygrounds are free and open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The locations are Belmont Park, which is at 725 Stonehenge Ave, Forest Hills Parks at 1022 Forest Hill Ave, and Green Leaf Park, which is at 1598 Rose Hill Drive.

The season runs from May 13th to September 17th.

For any questions, you can contact the Aquatics Division of the Charlottesville Parks and Rec Department at 434-970.

3-0-7-2.

Spring bulky waste amnesty dates.

The Ivy Material Utilization Center will be collecting tires on Saturday, May 20th from 830 to 4 PM.

Service is available to Albemarle County, Town of Scottsville, excuse me, Albemarle County, Town of Scottsville, and Charlottesville City residents only.

Okay, please visit www.rivanna.org slash H-H-W for more information.

And with that being said, before I go into the next couple announcements that I have, I do have something rather brief that I would like to state.

Many of us are aware of what transpired this past weekend in the park that I'm not going to call it what it's currently named.

And several of us have a lot of different emotions of what transpired Saturday.

And while I am very troubled, angry, extremely disappointed,

I'm also rather encouraged by not what I saw on Saturday, but by what I saw last night Sunday in that same park.

I saw a variety of different people from different ages, different races, different backgrounds decide to come together and use their collective voice to stand up for something.

And while that did lead me to be very encouraged, even today, even while I sit beyond this dais, I am conflicted because it seems as if that we are happy

when we like to do the ceremonial and happy and easy things.

It is very easy for us to say that yes, we should recognize Daughters of Zion, although it took us decades for us to get that straight, and they went silent.

It's very easy for us to say, yes, we should look and become an equitable and have quality for all and we are indeed the capital of the resistance and a welcoming place for all and so on and so forth with what I believe to be sometimes very strong just rhetoric.

But

Whenever we look to speak for equity, and when people look to speak not for equality but for equity, it is oftentimes met with what we proclaim ourselves to be, resistance.

Often times when we ask, not to be treated as someone quote unquote special, but when we ask for what we deserve to be rightfully ours in spaces, in this city, in this community,

When we ask, sometimes politely, sometimes not so politely, but when we ask to be treated fairly and with equity, it is met with not only rejection, not only with resistance, but excuses.

And just for this individual, I can't speak for anyone else.

While I do have a lot of faith in this community, while I am extremely encouraged by what I saw last night, I remain to be unmoved until we collectively decide

to respect the feelings of everyone in our city.

At no point should we believe that one group of people are superior to another group.

And if we do believe that that is not the case, then how can we side with the individuals who we saw do what was reminiscent of what my grandparents gave me stories about in that part on Saturday night?

You see, my aunt and my uncle, who I remember him having Alzheimer's disease telling me, son, if you're in a street or you're walking on the sidewalk, a person can just walk up and take a dollar out of your hand and snatch it out of your hand.

And then they can give a cross and burn it in your neighborhood or on your street.

And I remember crying, being a little boy and crying, and saying, what in the world is my uncle talking about?

And I thought he was out of his mind.

But what I saw Saturday?

What I saw Saturday was reminiscent of just what he was talking about.

But what I saw last night is a plight for the future, and that's what I hope we become.

But what I'm going to do today, and what I hope all of you do, not only today, but in the future, is not ask for equality, not ask to just do kumbaya, just not ask to do something that's easy, but demand justice and equity for everyone in this community.

Because if you do not respect and understand the feelings of other people who may not look like you, or who are from a different place from you, or who have a different educational background from you, then you, my friend, are not one of us.

You are not allowed to be able to say that you stand and you believe in what we believed in from last night.

You are not allowed to say that you believe in equity or justice or in the beautification for all people.

You don't believe those things if you stand with the individuals from Saturday or if you subtly agree in the same things in which they believe in.

If you are with us, and when I say us, I mean us from last night, if you are with us, then you will not tell us how we should feel.

You will not tell us what we should do.

You will understand and respect us, and you will move forward with us.

So the choice is yours, to this city, to this area, and even to this council, whether you can be on the side of justice and equity with us, or you can stand on the side of those from Saturday night.

That being said, we have a couple more announcements.

People often ask, what are we going to do next?

Thursday, there will be a cookout at Tonsley Park for the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Process update

and that will include also a conversation with Chief Thomas and our NDS department.

NDS standing for Neighborhood Development Services.

So we want you to come out, meet Chief Thomas and hear an update and provide input to the city's comprehensive plan.

This is important for you to be at.

We will be discussing land use, development and growth, housing, affordability and access, transportation, all modes including transit and parking, economic development,

which includes jobs and economic opportunities.

Again, that's this Thursday, May 18th.

The cookout starts at 5 and the community meeting will start at 630.

That's at Tonsler Park.

Don't talk about it.

Be about it and be there.

Wednesday, the Vice Mayor and myself and the African American Heritage Center will hold a minority business roundtable discussion.

So in collaboration with the board of directors from the Jefferson School, we'd like to invite you to a roundtable discussion to consider the state of minority businesses in the city of Charlottesville and the greater surrounding area.

We hope to engage in frank conversation about the experiences as minority business owners and how we increase equity within not only minority spending, because the city's doing some things to work with this, but we have a responsibility also as individuals, but also how do we create wealth

in this city for individuals who have been on the short end of the stick for so long.

And then lastly, this Saturday, May 20th, there will be the talk.

This is being hosted by the Office of Human Rights.

And it says, Saturday, May 20th at 10 a.m. at Carver Rec Center, have you had the talk with the young people in your home about what to do if they're stopped or questioned by police?

The fact that we even have to have this meeting is indeed troubling in the year 2017, but it's necessary.

So I hope that you will be there again Saturday, May 20th, 10 a.m. at Carver Rec.

This is a community discussion and our local police departments will be there.

So when you look at what's going on this week,

Not just what happened this weekend, but this week as a whole.

Wednesday, you have an African American and Heritage Center Minority Business Roundtable discussion.

Thursday, you have a community event at Tonsler Park to talk about the comprehensive plan.

And Saturday, you're going to have the quote unquote talk with our law enforcement.

I also have two announcements and I also prepared a three-minute statement which I would like to enter into the record after this announcement.

So the first is from the voter registration office.

The deadline is Monday, May 22nd for voters who still need to register to vote or update information for the dual primary on June 13th.

So May 22nd, next Monday, if you're not registered to vote or if you haven't changed your address, do it.

Voter registration, registered voter at his or current

his or her current address does not need to re-register.

Seventeen year olds who will be turning 18 by November 7th may vote in the primary if they meet the May 22nd registration deadline.

Voter registration applicants must be received in the voter registration office by 5 p.m. on May 22nd or their registration form must be postmarked by May 22nd or if you have a Virginia driver's license or DMV ID or you're only updating your local registration information

You can complete the application online at vote.virginia.gov before midnight on May 22.

The Republican and Democratic primaries, June 13, any qualified voter may vote in either primary, but when two primaries are held on the same date, the voter may vote in only one.

Absentee voting is already underway.

You may have noticed it as you came in today.

In Virginia, voters must have a reason for voting absentee.

You can't just vote early, such as being away on Election Day or having a disability or illness or taking care of someone who can't leave home.

Eligible city registered voters may vote absentee in the city voter registration office through June 10th.

The office is open 830 a.m. to 430 p.m. Monday through Friday.

We'll also be open for absentee voting on two Saturdays, June 3rd and 10th.

The voter registration office is in City Hall Annex next door, next to the pavilion.

Parking validation is available.

Voters must show a photo ID when voting in person, just as they are required to do on election day.

Voters who do not have an acceptable ID may apply for a free photo ID for voting during office hours in the voter registration office any day.

The deadline to apply for a mailed absentee ballot is June 6th, but voters are encouraged to apply earlier to allow time to receive, vote, and return the ballot by election day.

Voters may apply online at vote.virginia.gov.

Call the voter registration office at 970-3250 if you have any questions or need an application.

And the second is a LEAP event.

LEAP stands for

Local Alliance, Energy Alliance.

What does LEAP stand for?

Mr. Jones, do you remember?

I call it LEAP all the time.

It's all about renewable energy and energy conservation and wonderful things.

So, on May 25th at the Paramount Theater, oh, there it is.

The Local Energy Alliance Program will host a special event about climate change where guests will have the opportunity to watch a free screening of National Geographic's climate change movie

before the flood.

Speak with a panel of climate experts from NASA Langley, Union of Concerned Scientists and Southern Environmental Law Center.

Meet with organizations that offer climate solutions and get information about what individuals can do to fight climate change.

To learn more, visit leap-va.org slash before the flood.

And I also just wanted to announce real quickly that I am heading to Washington D.C. tomorrow as a lobbyist with the National League of Cities on behalf of cities across the country.

I'm the vice chair of the National League of Cities Public Safety Committee and the chairs and vice chairs of all the policy committees are gathering in Washington this week to go and tell Congress what to do.

specifically around infrastructure so wish us luck.

So here's my three minute statement and I believe I will keep it within three and unlike Mr. Bellamy who is a great extemporaneous speaker I am not so I'm going to read mine.

So I believe that it's important for us to respond to the events of this weekend to make it clear that the sentiments of white nationalists spouting fascist rhetoric

do not speak for Charlottesville or represent who we aspire to be.

The fear they expressed of being replaced, the rage they expressed about change and difference, the anger they expressed about those who don't share their ideology were frightening to many and repulsive to most in our community.

But I caution against feeding too deeply into that group's clear desire to be the center of attention, to grab the headlines, and to be the subject against which everyone else reacts.

because that rally was not the most important story in Charlottesville this weekend.

The real news this weekend was the celebration on Saturday morning of young black men from Charlottesville and surrounding communities for outstanding academic achievements by the 100 black men of Central Virginia.

The real news this weekend was later that same afternoon at the Festival of Cultures, where hundreds gathered to celebrate the multiple cultural streams that make up our city.

Immigrants, refugees, people of various religions and ethnicities, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, native.

Beautiful displays and the music and dance of many nationalities represented were a delightful reminder of who we are.

The real news this weekend was the gathering in the park last night of hundreds of people declaring to the white nationalists that their message is not who we are as a community.

As several speakers at that event pointed out, Charlottesville is not yet the great beacon of equity and welcome that we aspire to be.

We have a lot of work left to do to counter generations of racial and economic inequality and injustice that have kept people from realizing the full potential of this community.

Yes, we welcome immigrants, but sometimes those immigrants are discriminated against and subject to hate speech.

Yes, we are committed to racial justice, but we know that our African American citizens are more likely to encounter the criminal justice system, more likely to work in low wage jobs, and more likely to be the victims of crime than their European American neighbors.

And finally, I'd just like to note that there are those who believe that those of us calling for the removal of monuments to the Confederacy are the cause of the white supremacist assault on our city this weekend.

But it would be naive to imagine that the sentiments of those rally participants were recently formed or that by somehow staying under their radar by not taking positions on racial justice, we might cause them to subside.

On the contrary, I would argue that we have only to look at our recent presidential election to know that those forces have existed and have been building for years.

And they have been long identified with these symbols of white power, these monuments to the lost cause.

They clearly believe, and said so on Saturday at their rally, that most white people agree with them.

If our actions as a city to remove the statute of Robert E. Lee remind them that Charlottesville is not their ally, I'm glad of it.

Thank you.

OK, first of all, a recognition.

This is remembrance of Gunther, a Dutch vote, a former Charlottesville mayor.

He was a longtime resident and former mayor of Charlottesville, who passed away on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at his son's home in Knoxville, Tennessee.

He was born on July 9, 1921, in Utabug,

Germany to Henry and Lucy Bethke Vogt.

He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1924.

moved to Charlottesville and began working at Oven Air in 1959.

Dutch was a member of the First Baptist Church of Charlottesville.

He served faithfully in many capacities, including as chair of the board of deacons, as chair of the building committee, as choir member and dedicated Sunday school teacher.

In 1966, Dutch was elected to the Charlottesville City Council.

In 1968, he was chosen mayor, one of the few Republicans to ever hold that post.

His love for Charlottesville and the people of Charlottesville never waned.

He was an accomplished musician playing piano.

guitar, trumpet, as well as singing.

He was equally accomplished on the tennis courts, winning multiple local tennis championships in his age groups.

And coincidentally with tonight, he communicated with fellow ham radio operators, what a coincidence, throughout the world via Morse code.

Let's please pause a moment in silence for the former mayor.

I also am going to read a statement about what happened this weekend.

I don't think it will be as eloquent as my colleagues.

The irony is that this event happened this weekend because Charlottesville is so diverse and welcoming and progressive.

We have a major office, the International Rescue Committee here, which brings hundreds of political refugees to our city who settle here peacefully and are our neighbors.

We have declared ourselves a welcoming city.

We recently acted to give $10,000 to the Legal Aid Justice Center to support Know Your Rights events and litigation in support of detainees.

We have an Office of Human Rights.

We've had several African American mayors.

We have a very progressive track record in what we do in terms of policy.

We voted for Bernie Sanders last year.

We had a democratic decision to move a statue within this body.

As has been noted, I voted against this.

I cited my concern about removing irritants from our public realm, overcoming these offenses visibly by rebutting them.

in the public and talking, citing the Blue Ribbon Commission report which said that many local African Americans stood for wanting them to be here so that we didn't repeat the past.

If you forget the past, you'll repeat it.

That's paraphrasing.

However, this deeply divides many members of our community.

It was a good and transparent debate.

The Blue Ribbon Commission, which Mr. Gathers here helped chair, had 19 public hearings over six months and

In the end, I was outvoted in my position and I have not tried to block that outcome.

That was according to our rules.

That was the result of this body.

I did join the unanimous decision to put up to a million dollars into the effort to put new memorials to recontextualize these parks to our current values and to tell the full story of race in Charlottesville.

So we had a debate.

We had the process.

We had democracy, deliberation, and action.

But these folks who came here this weekend, most of whom are outsiders, they do not want to engage in debate.

They don't, I think, believe much in democracy.

They're instead interested in intimidation and theatrics and name-calling and more of the extremist tactics we have seen from the alt-right during the Trump era.

and even from the President himself.

This includes things like torches at night which sends a clear message of visual terror and it includes the anti-Semitic trolling that I've been the recipient of over the last couple days.

All of those aim to intimidate and they all aim to shut down debate and prevent people from having this sort of discussion open even if some people are going to be unhappy with the outcome like we saw here in our Democratic body.

And we're not going to put up for it.

Our greatness here is our tolerance, our diversity, our ability to systematically rise above hatred.

Hatred and conspiracy theories, no matter who they're directed against, try and shut people down.

They flourish in the dark.

We overcome this through truth, through light, through transparency, through the power of democratic ideas in action and through our democratic institutions.

I have to say I admire my colleague Mr. Bellamy's passion and effectiveness as an advocate a tremendous amount.

I do take exception to this you're with us or against us approach.

I just take exception to that.

I think that we can be together even if we disagree with the outcome of very difficult issues.

But I respect the passion a great deal.

On the anti-Semitism specifically, I want to say, because I've gotten a lot of questions about it, these people hide behind anonymous Twitter accounts to promote, I think, dangerous political agendas and to mainstream hate.

I'm very thick-skinned.

I can take it.

I've got a long view on this, but I do worry about people who are more easily frightened.

My message to anyone who wants to use Charlottesville as your soapbox is this.

Anti-Semitism and racial bigotry are already in the trash heap of history.

You will not succeed in coming here to intimidate us.

We are the birthplace of freedom in central Virginia, ideas of religious toleration.

and political freedoms and we are going to stay that way and I will say I do agree with Mr. Bellamy.

I will not refer to that park by its prior name anymore.

We are going to act the next city council meeting to rename these parks.

We are moving ahead with the process to redesign these parks.

Those are meaningful actions that we have unanimous support for in this body and I do think that they will

move us ahead in changing Charlottesville and redressing the past.

And tonight we are talking further about the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission.

Mr. Mayor, I would like to say something.

On Saturday night, I was actually in Richmond celebrating my son's graduation from Virginia Commonwealth University, VCU.

And it's interesting to note that VCU student body is over 50 percent

people of color.

It's 60% female.

Being in that place, being among those young people, such a diverse crowd of people gave me much hope.

It was so much excitement.

And to see that my son was part of that was just really, gave me a lot of feeling that there was a lot of promise of the future for all of us.

I had no idea that this was going on in Charlottesville, the torches,

the horrific statements of bigotry and hatred.

I was in another place with another group of people that was kind of actually living the American aspiration of being a more perfect union.

So tonight we are going to be talking about how to begin the process of telling the more full story of the north downtown parks

in the area called Court Square, in the area that's called North downtown.

That is something that we, as the mayor said, was unanimously voted upon and at the same time that it was voted upon to relocate, remove the lease statute.

As many of you know, there was an injunction request slapped on all change and the circuit court judge ruled that

The injunction stood with regards to the statue, moving the statue, but everything else can go forward.

So we tonight are going to be expediting that as quickly as possible.

And I really would like our council to consider the request that's been made, which is to add to that telling more of a fulsome story, a marker commemorating the 1898 lynching of Mr. John Henry James.

May I just offer one note of just completion, because it wasn't unclear, but in case anyone did not know what happened in that court case, the judge did grant an injunction for six months against moving of Mr. Lee, just until the court case gets resolved.

Okay.

Like many citizens, I woke up to the appalling pictures of the flaggers Saturday night and their torches at night in our park.

Their purpose was to intimidate, but what they did was motivate.

And I applaud the appropriate, measured, and peaceful response by citizens of all ages last night.

Thank you.

Boards and Commissions.

Mr. Fenwick.

I move the following appointments for the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau, Yolanda Harrell and Kirby Hutto.

to the Historic Resource Committee, Madeline Hawks, and to the Piedmont Virginia Community College Board, Robert Hodes.

Is there a second?

Second.

All in favor?

Okay, congratulations everyone.

Mr. Bellamy?

Motion carries five to zero.

All right, Mr. Rice, may I have

We go on to city manager response matters by the public from the last meeting.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Just a couple of items from the last meeting.

Mr. Tyler Hamel and several students from Monticello High School expressed their support for speed detection cameras in the city.

This was an issue that several residents brought before the city council last year.

The council agreed to include speed cameras in our legislative packet for the General Assembly, but unfortunately, the measure failed to become law, the authority for us to consider putting speed cameras

that bill on a legislative agenda again in the future.

And both Ms. Ashley Davies and Ms. Nicole Scrow spoke about the code audit review that's taking place right now.

Ms. Lisa Robertson has invited them to attend the comprehensive plan kickoff events to make sure that their input is included in the process.

Thank you.

We go on now to Matters by the Public, our first session.

We have another one at the end of the meeting after its conclusion.

Guidelines for public comment.

We welcome public comment.

It's an important part of our meeting.

Time is reserved near the beginning and at the end of each regular city council meeting for Matters by the Public.

Please follow these guidelines.

If you're here to speak for a public hearing, please wait to speak on the matter until the report for that item has been presented and the public hearing has been open.

We have one public hearing tonight on our utility rate ordinance.

Each speaker has three minutes to speak.

This is your timer.

Please keep an eye on it so I don't have to be the bad guy when you hit yellow and then when you hit red.

Please give your name and address before beginning your remarks.

Please do not interrupt speakers whether or not you agree with them.

I will read the improper comments and disorderly conduct.

This is Rule 9 under our Rules of Procedure.

Improper comments and disorderly conduct are not permitted.

Persons appearing before the Council may not use this platform to campaign for public office, promote private business ventures, use profanity or vulgar language or gestures, threaten violence toward Council, city staff or members of the public, engage in behavior that intimidates others,

interrupt other speakers or engage in behavior that disrupts the meeting.

Any speaker who violates the rules will be called to order by the mayor.

If the remarks or conduct persists, the mayor shall order the speaker to cease speaking and be seated.

If the order is not heeded, the mayor shall direct the sergeant-at-arms to escort the individual from the meeting room.

Okay, that said, we have ten spots that you sign up for in advance by nine o'clock in the morning of the meeting and then we have a remainder of five spots under our new rules that you can sign up for in person.

Hello, my name is Tiana Graham-Shelton and I'm a student at Montrell High School and we have been researching about a bill, HB 1480, that requires first responders like policemen and firefighters to have training to deal with people who have mental illnesses and we interviewed some people about this bill who deal with people who have mental illnesses on a daily basis

Emma Wood.

Okay, thanks.

Ten to thirty percent of first responder calls involve behavioral mental health issues.

And lastly, we know the funding may be difficult, but we would really appreciate it if you would advocate for this bill when the session does meet again, so that if we see it making a difference in one place, then it can help make a difference in another.

Thank you very much.

Katrina Turner, Rock Creek Road.

I'm here tonight in front of Council to discuss a dispute about actions

that occurred the night of 4-30-2016 when my son called 911 for help.

When the officers arrived, my son was bleeding from his ear, had scratches on his face, hands, and arms, but the officers arrested my son instead without reading him his rights.

Because of the actions of the officers that night, my son and I filed a complaint against two of the police officers that were on site.

While under investigation for racial bias, untruthfulness, excessive force, and more,

One of the officers was allowed to testify in court against my son to help get him convicted.

What kind of justice is a citizen supposed to get if the officer assaulting him is allowed to testify against him in court while he himself is under investigation?

When the decision of the complaint came, my son was accused of putting three police officers' lives in danger.

I was accused of providing false information just to help my son's case.

I have yet to see any proof

of the False Information Internal Affairs said I provided.

Monday morning when my son got out of jail, he was let out on his own recognizance with no mention of endangering three police officers' lives.

These accusations only came after my son and I filed a complaint against the two police officers.

I have reached out to many people about this, including counsel and personally speaking to Mr. Jones,

and Chief of Police with no results.

My son has filed many FOIA requests and has been denied any information in this case, including his police report.

Chief Thomas informed me that the only thing we can do

is go to court, get a lawyer, and appeal the decision.

The case is closed.

As a mother, I should not have had to witness my son being thrown against the wall in police car and seeing a set of keys thrown by one of the officers hitting my son in the head when he was the one who called them for help.

All this while he was handcuffed the whole time.

I have contacted the Department of Justice personally to ask for an outside investigation because Chief Thomas refuses to have an outside investigation done.

I am not doing this for myself and my son.

I'm doing this for every citizen who has the right to call for help and not get assaulted and arrested instead.

Domestic violence goes both ways.

The stories of citizens calling for help, but instead of getting help, they get arrested or sounding off in my community.

Out of all the complaints that have been filed against the police, how many officers have been made accountable for their actions?

I am publicly asking for the statistics on this.

How many citizens have been believed when an officer is reported for assault?

We know officers do wrong because of the reports.

Charlottesville just had to arrest one of their officers, but you all refuse to believe your officers are assaulting people or maybe you just don't care about the citizens of Charlottesville.

My name is Elizabeth Frieden and I live at 981 Old Lynchburg Road.

I've given you all each a copy of this as a brochure.

I am on the Dialogue on Race, Vinegar Hill Monument Committee and I hope that we can get your support.

We have every belief that our

National Endowment for the Arts grant is still in process and has not been turned down.

We spent a long time when we first were assigned this task talking about the difference between a monument and a memorial, and this is a monument.

The difference is that a memorial is about dead things.

but a monument is about ideals and about things that we hold to be what we wish to continue to discuss.

This monument, though abstract, is not only about the gone neighborhood of Vinegar Hill but also about the strength of the community that a chain is stronger than a rope because it's links that support each other.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Joe Starzia, I'm a resident of Charlottesville.

Dr. Archana Pathak, a scholar of gender studies who teaches on critical whiteness at VCU, writes that morning is when you wake.

For many of us white folks in Charlottesville, racism was a far off thing, not something that happens here.

So for many white folks, the neo-Nazi, pro-Confederate gatherings in Charlottesville this weekend felt very foreign.

But they are not.

Jason Kessler and his group of white nationalists are from here.

Richard Spencer went to UVA.

For him, this trip was a homecoming.

Hate has always had a home here, and we will choose to fight it, or we will allow it to devour us.

About their own Confederate statues, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu wrote, and I quote, these monuments stand not as mournful markers of our legacy of slavery and segregation, but in reverence of it.

They are an inaccurate recitation of our past and a front to our present and a poor prescription for our future."

What will this council prescribe for our future?

In New Orleans, they too faced threats and violence from white supremacists, they too faced legal challenges, and yet they persisted, bravely united against hate.

Does our city have the courage to do the same?

In Charlottesville, we talk a lot about resistance.

Well, resistance is not a hashtag.

It is a day-to-day commitment to solidarity with our most marginalized neighbors.

We talk a lot about fighting hate, but you do not fight hate with a tersely worded statement.

On Saturday afternoon in Jackson Park,

I was proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with activists of color and white residents against white terrorists invading our city.

At the end of it, I was bumped and bruised, shaken and proud and angry.

Not angry at the white supremacists who called the women of color the n-word or threatened to beat up a group of preschool teachers.

angry that there are women of color and preschool teachers and doctors and students in this community willing to put their bodies on the line to drive hate out and there are two members of this city council who do not have our backs.

Those men in the park on Saturday understood perfectly what the Lee and Jackson statues represent.

Mayor Signer and Councilor Galvin

You are educated people.

Can you not now understand that whatever educational and historic values these objects may have is far outweighed by their power as symbols of hate?

Too long, you have sat on the fence.

with the fictitious transform in place option and created a permission structure for our white moderate community to do the same.

Can you not now see the potential power of our city council standing united behind the removal of these symbols?

My name is Ben Doherty and I live at 104 Village Court here in Charlottesville.

None of us should be surprised that a group of white supremacists and neo-Nazis held a torch-lit rally around the Lee statue on Saturday night.

That is why that statue is there.

It was built in the 1920s as a threat, a reminder that this city was enforcing a racial hierarchy, a code of white supremacy enforced through violence.

The torch-lit Klan rally we saw on Saturday night was a frightening emphasis of that threat, but the underlying threat of violence, the daily irreparable harm, comes from the statue itself and everything it represents.

There is no middle ground here.

We either remove that Lee statue or we continue to support an emblem of white supremacy under which Klan members will rally, whether they carry torches like we saw on Saturday night or whether they wear

Jacket and tie and carry legal briefcases like we see with the Monument Fund's lawsuit against the city.

White supremacy is enforced not just by torch-wielding fascists, but also through daily complicity.

Daily capitulation to a system that enforces racial hierarchy and violence.

The Monument Fund sues the city to prevent it from removing or even altering the lease statute.

Mike Signer and Kathy Galvin rely on the threat of this lawsuit to defend their votes against moving the statute.

Judge Morin joins the city from moving the statute during the lawsuit, indicating he thinks the law would likely prevent the city

from even altering the statue in any way that would change its meaning.

Each of them are simply providing excuses so that they can pretend they are somehow different than the Klan members with their torches.

So do we just go along with this complicity?

Do we just go along with these excuses for defending white supremacy?

No.

This is where we resist.

Like New Orleans, we can reject the place white supremacy holds in Charlottesville.

Another world is possible.

but only if we stop our daily capitulations to a system that serves only to reinforce the racial hierarchy.

If they truly care about the city, Jock Yellit, Elliott Harding, and the Monument Fund and Sons of Confederate Veterans will realize that the irreparable harm is in keeping the statue in place and they will drop their lawsuit.

If Judge Moore truly cares about the city, he will realize that surely the good people of the General Assembly would never have intended to forever bind the city to maintaining a rallying point

for Klan members and Nazis.

If they truly care about the city, Mike Signer and Kathy Galvin will provide their full support of the council's decision to remove the Lee statue and do everything they can to get rid of this emblem, this beacon of white supremacy.

Because I'll tell you one thing, that statue is coming down.

Good evening.

I am Emma Hale, and I live at 110 Northwood Circle here in Charlottesville.

I attend Charlottesville High School, and I'm on the state governing board of Virginia Organizing.

I'm 17, so I can't vote yet, but I'm still worried about the future of health care.

I'm afraid that someday, pre-existing conditions will take away my chance and my friend's chance at affordable health care.

And I know that I am not alone in my fears.

It is terrifying to watch policy makers try to restrict our future access to health care without the power to vote.

So I'm asking you to do everything you can to make sure that my generation is able to grow up without the fear that we will get sick and not be able to afford medical care.

Everyone deserves access to healthcare.

As a member of the Virginia Organizing State Governing Board, I have been to meetings and public events where I hear story after story about people who do not have adequate healthcare.

Why is it that in a country with as much wealth as the United States, we have high rates of infant mortality, people dying of treatable diseases, and thousands and thousands of people going to work every day who don't get health care because they cannot afford health insurance?

Good evening everyone.

Don Gathers, 11th Street, Northwest in the city of Charlottesville.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land, here at our seawash sunset gate shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning and her name, Mother of Exiles.

From her beacon hand glows worldwide welcome, her mild eyes command.

The air bridge harbor that Twin Cities frame,

Keep ancient lands your storied pumped, cries she with silent lips.

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless tempest tossed to me.

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Words engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's ask that I have intentionally remained mostly silent since the conclusion of the work of the Blue Ribbon Commission.

However, after the reprehensible events of this past Saturday evening, I can no longer do so.

What we saw was not an exercise in free speech, but rather a very blatant attempt at intimidation.

It was sickening and deplorable, repulsive and oppressive, and I praise those conservatives that moved quickly to denounce their actions and distance themselves and their appointed mission from those who organized and participated in the evening.

What we saw on Saturday evening forced us to a revisitation of America's ugly past.

It recounted Virginia's role in the demeaning and belittling of its citizens of color.

By modest accounts and estimates, there were some 100 or so known lynchings in the Commonwealth of Virginia's history.

We cannot and should not be forced to face that undesirable truth in the heart of our city.

Those who brazenly have taken it upon themselves to come into Charlottesville and turn out ten and a quarter square miles into a dungeon of shame must be stopped.

Corey Stewart, Richard Spencer, and their minions do not represent what is good and best and bright about Charlottesville.

They do not have our best interests at heart.

Instead, they plan to further their ideals of white supremacy, white nationalism, and segregation through venomous dialect, angst, animosity, and vitriol designed to do nothing more than instill fear and intimidation.

They must be stopped, as Malcolm X stated, by any means necessary.

Please make no mistake, I'm not issuing a call to arms, but rather demanding a call to action.

As my brothers and sisters in Christ, I love each of you.

Therefore, I implore you, before this racist tsunami gets any higher, before the cesspool created through those who wish to turn back the clock on civil rights gets any deeper, I pray that you step up individually and collectively to take a stand against this foolishness, against those harboring mean spirits and ill will, against those who mean our city no good.

I ask that our city leaders as well as our citizens stand up against oppression, against tyranny, against intimidation and threats.

New Orleans has presented us a blueprint.

Good evening, I'm Tomas Rahal, 404 Commerce Street.

I too was shocked by the events of this past week.

Why is Charlottesville being targeted by white nationalists?

Because we're their worst nightmare.

We're a unique blend of cultures, stories, cooperation, histories and values.

But also we succeed.

This threatens their hateful agenda and lost cause.

They want to silence us, but they cannot.

Our public spaces deserve better than the demonstrations we saw.

They're no longer places of fear and oppression.

They're for music, arts, education, community, unity, festivals.

We're a nexus for democracy and liberty, but we are not perfect and our community deserves better.

My family came to America in two waves of immigration.

19th century, 20th century.

We were sailors, merchants, craftsmen.

Later, we became nurses, lawyers, architects, and chefs.

Our story is not unusual or unique, and with the help of family and neighbors, friends, church, and community, we rose, survived, thrived in this country of opportunity.

Our journey was voluntary, not forced or determined by nefarious means.

We fought in five great conflicts for this country.

shed blood alongside our fellow men and women, then helped to heal the wounded and comfort the dying.

We have acclimated, assimilated, adopted, and fed this culture for five generations, not that long compared to the first peoples.

We have embraced.

Thank you.

We have embraced the hopes and ideals, we've sworn oaths, we've raised our hands to our hearts, fired shots in anger, whatever was required of us, regardless of the cost.

Our only asking requirement was safety, freedom and liberty to pursue our dreams and raise our families, free from the forces of evil, lynch mobs, Klansmen, Nazis, communist infiltrators, and of course, redcoats.

There are forces at work today that will drag us back to the days of slavery and Dred Scott, concentration camps, gulags.

They foster hatred of our fellow men, women, and children by exposing our toxic racist past, that radioactive core of humanity long thought to be buried for good.

Germinating new racist camps and manifestos, these are not leaders but followers of lost causes and losers.

Their hate kills people, it divides and suffocates communities, it attacks our societies in the most pernicious ways.

Having been vanquished, banished, defeated, reviled, and placed in history's dustbin,

Those domestic terrorists would like to see their seeds flourish here.

Thank you.

And we'll read the rest.

Thank you.

Jacob Robb.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Jacob Robb, and I live in Scottsville, Virginia.

I attend high school in Monticello.

The council had a very tough year.

Some topics the city council has dealt with were heavy, especially regarding the statue.

I know that the Blue Ribbon Commission had a recommendation to contextualize these statues.

But like you, I do not think that's enough.

I agree with your decision in February to move the statue.

However, I do not think to put the statue up for auction is the best way to do this.

I fear, in a worst case scenario,

that the statute will sit for months on end waiting for a buyer that may never come.

I am aware that the court has issued an injunction asking that the statute be removed for at least six months, and I hope you would consider for a more speedy resolution for the statute to donate it.

Thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Clifford Hall, 1990 Avon Street extended, Charlottesville, Virginia.

What I'm going to talk about is economics and two business models that were applied.

One in Ada, Michigan and the second in Orlando, Florida.

Currently, and these statistics are from the Department of Numbers, currently the average per capita income in the state of Virginia

as of 2016 was $81,751.

The average mean income as of 2015 was $63,918.

The minimum wage of course is $7.25 per hour.

If somebody at $7.25 an hour is getting

40 hours per week, that's $304.50 per week.

Per two weeks, it's $609.

Per month, it's $12,000, $1,218.

Per year, that's $14,616.

Just based on those numbers, there is a wide diversity between wage earners in the area of Charlottesville, Virginia.

My solution to the problem would be to adopt what the people of Ada, Michigan and Orlando, Florida have adopted.

Not only by that, but also infrastructure.

We have a monstrosity standing here

that has been there forever.

Ada Michigan had a similar situation where the Amway Corporation came in, purchased the hotel, and put the money into it to building.

That hotel is now called the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

Next, in Orlando, Florida, they now own the Orlando Magic.

What they did was rebuild the arena with agreeing to pay certain monies to the county.

Now they also made an agreement that they would keep the revenue from the ticket based sales.

Now, my point and what I'm getting to is that the minimum wage is 22.

The face.

We'll read it if you send us an email.

Thank you.

Good evening, folks.

Mr. Pickett, are you presenting an audio?

I am.

I want everybody to understand that there was discussion previously with our council about, because there's an issue of a disability that prevents

Correct, understood and thank you.

I'm going to speak about bullying.

The mayor said yesterday that Charlottesville wouldn't tolerate bullying or fear tactics.

I totally agree.

You're speaking about the Tiki Light event.

I want to know why I haven't heard him speak out about the same tactics used last night in a much worse way.

Don't know what I'm talking about?

I'll be glad to tell you.

One of the speakers said that they would follow people home from, they followed people home from the Tiki Light event and they know where they live.

They said that they made note of what kind of cars they were driving so they'd recognize them in the future.

They even said that they got their license plate numbers and they were going to find out who those people were.

And I can't quite remember how they worded it, but the television people have, it's on tape.

So do you really want to know what's going on or do you just want to chastise one side?

Now the Tiki Light thing was just not correct, but it wasn't nearly as bad as these personal threats to people.

Then I want to tell you about how I got bullied and hassled.

I looked over my shoulder and Pam Starr's ear was just staring at me.

Well, we don't get along.

The reason we don't get along is because I tell the truth and she can't stand it.

And I move away and she follows me.

And I move away again and she follows me.

That's fine.

It's a childish maneuver.

And then a scuffle breaks out and she disappears.

And I think to myself, well that's good, she's gone.

But I turn around and she has a goon standing behind me.

I turn around and he goes, I know who you are.

Oh man, this is just unreal.

And I walk away and he follows me.

And then I said, you know, don't you have anything better to do?

And he said, hit me.

You know you want to hit me, hit me.

Well, there was not a cop to be seen because of the scuffle.

And I just tried to fade away from him.

And it did happen, I faded away from him.

But Charlottesville's hit an all-time low.

And some people are speaking out about one side and not the other.

Well, I lay at the foot of one person, the feet of one person, and that would be Ms. Szakos.

I just, I just, I believe that she'll go to any tactic to get what she wants.

I think she has such a desire that she'll overlook whatever needs to be done.

Thank you.

Okay, Katie Cannell.

Hello, my name is Katie Cannell and we are seniors at Monticello High School.

I have been working with a group of four other students on our citizen action project and our topic of interest was the reconstruction of the Belmont Bridge.

We were interested in the process of planning and reconstructing the bridge.

From our research, we found that the Belmont Bridge had originally been planned to be reconstructed several years ago, but the project failed due to lack of public input and an incompatible bridge design.

However, this time around, the Belmont Bridge reconstruction project has included the public in many ways, including a mobility summit with the MetroQuest survey,

steering meetings, a design charrette, interviewing local businesses and community members as well as an open house.

Thanks to all of the planning and community involvement done by the Neighborhood Development Services and Kimley Horn, the current project is a success.

Thank you.

My name is Aaron Winston.

I'm a resident of Charlottesville.

I'd like to echo the earlier statements that have been made tonight about the shock and disgust and

Frankly, feelings of just disbelief at the events of Saturday night, but also the sentiments of hope for the future that have been laid out tonight.

But I would like to emphasize that we are known by the company that we keep.

And there is, as was said before, no middle ground on the issues of these monuments to white supremacy that exist in this community.

We are either in support of erasing and eradicating that virus from our community, or we're condoning it.

And while recontextualizing those monuments may be a solution, but it does not change the fact that in any context white supremacy is still

a destructive force that has a vicious history in this community.

And so I just would like to call on this council to join with this community in removing those statues and putting the full weight of our representative government in this community behind the decision to remove those monuments.

Andy Orbin.

I'm actually Sadie Goodman, but I'm speaking for Ty Schuler today.

Hi, I'm Sadie Goodman from Monticello High School, and I've been researching the possibility of an arts administrator position for the city over the past few months with my group, Adam Miguel, Ty Schuler, and Maya Barnes.

We believe the city should pursue the creation of an arts administrator in order to facilitate cooperation between local arts organizations, increase the efficiency with which grants are secured, and promote artistic activity within Charlottesville.

The idea of an arts administrator originated from the issue of inefficiency and uncertainty about how to distribute unallocated arts coordination and planning funds within the budget.

The city council made it clear that instability was an obstacle to distributing the money.

since the Piedmont Council for the Arts application was denied partially based on the absence of an executive.

This instability is a symptom of many Charlottesville nonprofits.

Of the applicants for the funds, three were without executives.

The issues of funding for the arts in Charlottesville is not new and one of the many issues mentioned but not resolved by the PCA's cultural plan.

The question is now whether or not to allocate funds for an arts administrator for the city.

We believe that this position would strengthen the role of arts within the community, resolve issues with funding, distribution, and efficiency, and ultimately benefit the city.

An arts administrator would provide stability to the arts community, offering a permanent medium between the multiple organizations within Charlottesville and city government, while pursuing issues relevant to the arts community, even as an organizational directors come and go.

The communication of common needs is an unverified manner, would be another important function of the city-funded position.

Events such as the Virginia Film Festival spark economic activity and creative output.

An arts administrator within the city could help organize more festivals, increase collaboration on events between arts organizations.

There are several areas that have already opted to create positions or councils similar to the proposed arts administrator position.

Virginia Beach has an arts commission dating back to 1979, which promotes arts organizations within the community, streamlines the grant process, and returns comprehensive reports to the city annually.

The reports include the revenue from festivals stimulated by grants and the grant money returned to the city through the rental of workspace.

Alexandria, Richmond, and Arlington, Virginia have similar government positions aimed at supporting local arts.

The cultural plan proposed in 2013 by the PCA was met with approval by the arts community and government.

However, four years later, the plan is stagnated.

An arts administrator could provide the permanency and vision necessary to push forward with the plan.

An administrator can give arts within the community a forum for communication between community leaders and government positions and provide impetus for festivals and execution of PCA's plan.

OK.

I want to thank everybody for taking the time to come up here.

It takes a lot of courage to come up here, especially to speak on controversial issues.

We are about a foot higher than the microphone, and we take these comments very seriously.

We also read every email we get sent to us, either to council at charlottesville.org or to us individually.

Our emails are all on our website.

Yes, ma'am?

I found this on the map, which at the end.

Which?

Oh, you signed the public hearing.

However, do you sign the public hearing?

You're speaking by utility rates?

My name is Gloria Beard and I live at 1116 Page Street.

And I have a few things just to bring up because I just really found out about all this stuff, you know, because we were doing a lot of stuff at church and I didn't have time to look at the news.

And it really bothered me about what I saw on television about Kessler.

And this man has been really staring up.

I just think it's horrible.

And the burning of torches takes me back.

I was born in 1950.

Takes me back was cross burners.

People wearing sheets.

I have grandkids.

I don't want them to come from the world like this.

And I was older people.

Who was going to protect us if these people start really doing violent things?

Because burning torches is violent to me.

And then I heard the police on television today stating, it's the Constitution rights.

Until it gets really violent, they're not going to interfere.

They're going to let these people do this.

I think it's wrong.

And then there's another concern that I have, because I keep up with what's going on in my community, because I care.

Gentrification.

There's a house across the street that was built by Piedmont Housing.

The woman, I guess she sold out.

I didn't even know that.

They got $325,000 for this house.

What does it do to me as a senior?

It raises my taxes.

I live on a set income.

If I can't pay my taxes, what's going to happen?

because I had five offers to buy my home and I told the last man to knock on my door, I'm not ready for the nursing home and I'm not going to the Salvation Army.

And he had a nerve to laugh.

To me it's not funny because y'all keep, you know, it's a way.

If you can't afford your taxes so you lose your home, if you don't sell out, find a way to get us out.

This is my neighborhood so don't come in there raising all these, building all these high priced houses or putting prices on it to make it hard for us seniors.

I worked hard for what I have.

I wasn't given anything.

And then the last one I got, I found out about these planners, are they called planners, builders, or contractors, whatever they're called, coming in, want to know where are we going to put houses and buildings and this and that.

Well, when I went to the meeting, it was just me, if I was black.

No seniors were there.

All this was going to affect these people as well.

So I found out on Facebook, but our seniors don't go on Facebook, I know, because I belong to the church where I know they don't even do computers.

So I should have seen some older people at these meetings.

I was the only one, and I came in.

So the guy said, oh, yes, Ms.

Beard, and he let me speak.

But when they got the person to speak for the group, my point wasn't brought across.

He said, you want to get up?

No, you didn't even bring what I told you about all of this contractors coming in.

So I say, you'll see me at the next meeting.

I will be there.

Now, this is 2017.

I'm worried about my children, my grandkids, the older people, the seniors.

I hope and pray that we bring an end to all this stuff.

Can I just finish my wrap-up?

So read every email we get very carefully and thank you all for speaking.

I'll just say I've been on city council for seven years, five months, and people ask me, you know, about being, about serving on council, and I always tell people that this is like my favorite part, which isn't to say that I agree with everything that everybody says, but we have an amazing city, and I just want to thank everyone who spoke today, the high school students who spoke,

I have one thing I'd like to respond.

Ms.

Beard, not only to you but other individuals in your situation I promised last night at the speech that I would no longer do quote unquote nice politics and I'm going to say something that may not be popular meaning that the developers may not like it but this is the fact of the matter

We, specifically when we see these individuals who like to see traditionally African-American neighborhoods as prime real estate and they want to come in and purchase our homes, we cannot sell.

What I've heard so often from several different people who live in

Fifeville who live in several different parts of the community that used to be a lot of places where it felt welcome and inclusive in the neighborhood and the vibrancy of the neighborhood has changed.

We can't sell.

You cannot sell your home just because you may not be able to pay the taxes at the time.

The city offers tax assistance for individuals in need.

And all that requires is a phone call down to City Hall.

We can make the proper contacts for you.

We have resources available for you to help alleviate those tax issues.

But we cannot just sell our homes to the first developer or individual who comes by because they offer us a couple pieces of dollars.

because essentially, thank you, essentially it's pennies on the dollars in comparison to what they're going to make for it.

We haven't had this conversation in my opinion on a very large scale and I think it's time for us to do so.

So if we want to know more, just feel free to contact me or let me know.

But we cannot continue to sell our homes, allow other people to just buy them up for nothing, move on in, push us out, and then we have nowhere else to go.

Any others?

Okay.

All right.

We now move on to the regular portion of our agenda.

We are going to begin with our consent agenda.

Item A, minutes for May 1st.

Item B, appropriations CDBG home funding for FY 2017-2018, second of two readings.

Item C, an appropriation of Clark Elementary School's Safe Routes to School Grant, $13,992, second of two readings.

Item D, an appropriation, Virginia Trees for Clean Water Grant, $5,500, first of two readings.

Item E, a resolution reimbursement agreement with La Vanna County for Sheriff Circuit Court Judges' administrative costs, first of one reading.

Mr. Mayor, I am a volunteer for City of Promise, which is recommended for one of the grants here.

I actually wrote the grant proposal.

That said, I was not paid for it.

I get no benefit from it.

And I believe that I can vote fairly on this.

And with that, I make the motion.

Or it's already been made a motion.

So that part is already made a motion.

I'll second.

Second.

Any further discussion?

All in favor?

All right, consent agenda carries five to zero.

Let's move on to item number two in our agenda, public hearing and ordinance.

This is utility rates for fiscal year 2018, first of two readings.

We need a motion to approve in a second.

Good evening, mayor and councilors.

We're pleased to present the rate report this evening.

I'm going to be doing the operational overview and Sharon O'Hare will address the financial aspects of the utility rate report.

I'm going to do a little overview on the four different utilities, which includes water, wastewater, stormwater and natural gas.

A little bit about the water distribution system.

The city maintains over 1,000 fire hydrants, 3,300 water valves, and 180 miles of water line ranging in size from 2 inches to 18 inches in diameter.

To address our aging water infrastructure, we developed a water prioritization study in 2009 that

We looked at fire protection, main breaks that we were experiencing in the system, improving overall water quality and also looking at undersized lines.

And we identified many, many projects that we needed to replace the water lines on.

Since 2009, we've completed over 58 projects and we've spent over $12 million.

We've replaced about 11.4 miles of line and we average about two miles of replacement per year.

In addition, we're looking at other projects that are apart from the prioritization program and these projects have some difficult construction.

like the 17th Street Main Extension.

We're getting ready to start that project.

It actually involves a bore under the railroad that's in close proximity to 17th Street that'll provide redundancy through our system and additional fire protection to the Madison Avenue area.

And we've also listed Emmett and Ivy and High Street.

And these are projects that we're doing

in coordination with the SmartScale program that NDS is implementing.

In addition, we are implementing a meter testing and calibration program, and this is where we look at the large meters that are usually an inch and a half or larger that has the higher water consumption in our system.

and we look to calibrate those very often to see whether they're within 95% of tolerance.

And if they're not, then we replace the meter.

But we found when we were doing this calibration project that a lot of our meters you can't gain access to and the vaults need to be replaced or they don't have the proper piping for us to test those meters.

So we're also replacing a lot of meters and vaults within our system along with that program.

In addition,

The city performs a leak detection survey of our entire system every year to determine if we've got leaks within the system that we don't know about.

They may be on the household side or within the city's distribution system.

And if we find them, then we fix those with in-house staff.

In 2016, I also want to recognize the water conservation efforts

They won for the second time in a row the WaterSense Partner of the Year Award.

And in addition, American Water Works Association Virginia Chapter also recognized the water conservation program for their public information and communication efforts.

A little bit about the wastewater distribution system.

We have over 170 miles of pipe, which the city maintains, and over 5,700 manholes.

and again to address aging infrastructure, the city is involved with a very comprehensive rehabilitation and rehab program.

This work is to address our old infrastructure, leaking pipes and what happens is crews actually televise sewer lines and then if they find any deficiencies in the system,

we give these to that contractor who then fixes those pipes.

To date we've completed about and fixed about 39.7 miles of sanitary sewer line and we've spent over $16.4 million.

I do want to address that we were recently under a Department of Environmental Quality consent order that was issued in 2011 and because of the efforts of the rehabilitation program

We have met all the terms of that consent order and so it was terminated by the Department of Environmental Quality this past year.

A little bit about the stormwater conveyance system.

Stormwater utility was created in March of 2013 and the city maintains approximately 130 miles of pipe and 8,250 structures that is within the public and the private properties.

In conjunction with the sewer project, we actually handle our stormwater rehabilitation program as well.

It's all done under one contract, so it's pretty efficient.

And to date, we've completed approximately 10 miles of pipe.

We've rehabbed and fixed 120 structures, and we've spent about $5.7 million.

In addition, we've just completed the water resources master plan.

and this identifies water quality and drainage improvement capital improvements moving forward.

And it was, what's interesting about the Water Resources Master Plan, it developed a dynamic tool so that if projects come up in new, in upcoming years, we can add this to the tool with in-house staff and see how it falls out in the priority list and then figure out whether we've got funding and to address those needs.

Moving on to the gas system, Charlottesville has been serving the Charlottesville area and Albemarle County urban areas for 150 years with safe, reliable gas.

We've got over 21,000 customers, maintain 330 miles of gas main lines and 270 miles of gas service lines.

In the last year, we've had over 230 new connections and this is by

utility staff working closely with developers and builders in the area to make sure that they add natural gas to their new homes.

In addition, we survey existing neighborhoods that may not have gas but may want gas in the future.

And then we are partnering currently with Albemarle County Service Authority when they replace new water lines in certain neighborhoods and we've got a need for gas.

We've worked cooperatively to replace both of those services together so that we can save on the paving costs

when we have restoration needs at the end of the project.

And in 2007, in order to comply with more rigid regulations dictated by the state and federal government, we launched a new gas safety program and as many of you saw, flicker the flame tonight and that's all I need to say about flicker, all about that.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Sharon who's got some

In fiscal year 2018,

For the average residential consumer who consumes 422 cubic feet of gas, we expect the rate to go up $1.47, so 1.36%.

About 86.2% of our customers have gas in the city of Richmond.

We expect the, excuse me, the city of Charlottesville.

Sorry, I love working for the city of Charlottesville.

I really do.

We love you.

Yes, yes, that's monthly.

With the impacts on the water rate, we see that the wholesale rate from Rivanna changed.

and increased the rate by $1.07, but the rate stabilization change went up by $50,000 for water and it caused a reduction in the rate.

The debt service went up by $25,000.

The expense and revenue went up as well, but the volume and loss changes reduced the rate back down to $54.51, which is where it was in fiscal year 17.

for the Waystrutter rate.

The Rivanna rate again went up for us by over 6% for both operations and debt.

The rate stabilization went up by $100,000, reducing the rate by 73 cents.

The debt service went up by about $25,000 as well.

And the expense and revenue also went up.

But the volume changes when volume goes up for our wastewater utility.

We expect the price to go down and so the price will be $74.83 per MCF or 1,000 cubic feet of water per month.

This is the first year that we've had fund balance used for rate stabilization in terms of the gas utility.

We expected that the rates would go up for gas because of market conditions, but we used

and we also were gonna increase the capital budget for gas as well.

But we increased the fund balance usage for capital budget by 1.5 million and that reduced the rate by $1.05 and we've used another 1.825 million in rate stabilization to reduce the rate additional $1.74.

that produced a rate of 72.09 cents per decatherm per month, which is going to be an increase in the rate for us of about 3%.

In terms of cut-offs, the City Council has adopted many programs over the last couple years

in terms of being able to pay for the city to pay for gas, water, and wastewater accounts.

Also the city has produced rebate programs and voucher programs for the toilet, the gas incentives, and rain barrels.

And we have an aggressive program identifying high water bills and high gas bills for customers

so that we can notify them if they're going to receive a Hive bill the next month.

So in fiscal year 2016, which is the last full year that we have, we had 0.37 percent, that's less than one half of one percent, of cutoffs and less than one half of one percent

.35% through April of this year.

Last year, City Council also asked us to put onto the bills.

On the back of the bills, there is a statement that defines what the pilot payment is, the payment in lieu of taxes.

And we also have on our website available for people to

enter in the amount of their bill for water, wastewater, or gas depending on whether they live in the city or outside the city.

And we have the results for that.

Vice Mayor stepped out for a second.

We have a quorum, so we can go ahead.

No, I think it's great.

And I really appreciate the use of the rate stabilization to keep rates

Yeah any further questions comments okay all right let's open the public hearing.

Oh, okay.

Is there anybody who would like, I'm opening the public hearing now, we have an open sign up sheet here for anybody who would like to comment about this matter, this ordinance.

Opening, closing public hearing, okay.

Is there a second?

I just have one question for discussion since it's been seconded.

Good question.

In terms of the cutoffs that we've had for the fiscal year 16, we have less than one half of 1% of people being cut off.

The first thing that we ask them to do and the most important thing is to call us in utilities.

We have gap funds for gas, we have water assistance program funds, and we have waste water assistance program funds available for consumers.

But we can't really do anything unless they tell us that there's a problem because we have over 30,000 accounts for each individual

We also have rebate programs for toilets, for gas incentives, for rain barrels.

We let people know when they're high water or gas bills.

And we try to make payment arrangements with individuals when they call us.

We will call individuals when we're about to cut them off.

So we'll call a first time person

in person with a live body and people who have been cut off before with automated phone calls to remind them that they have a certain amount of time that they need to pay or to call us or they'll be shut off.

Thank you.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

So this comes up in a future meeting.

We now move on to item number three in our agenda report, the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces recommendations.

We've got 30 minutes allocated to this.

Under agreement with Ms. Rice, I'm going to keep track of the amounts for the different agenda items on my handy device here.

And then we have our

Well, because this is a report, we don't, well, if there's a, there's going to be a motion, so probably, so we have a five-minute limit for council when they make a motion and three minutes for discussion afterwards.

These are under, under our rules.

Actually, Mr. Murphy's going to present, but, but I just wanted to, to remind the mayor that we're coming up on our two-hour break.

And we have a half an hour discussion, might be a good time to take a break.

Time has been flying, okay.

All right, so let's take a break right now.

And if everybody could be back in here, it's six minutes to nine.

you you

If we could come back.

Councillor Galvin.

Good evening, members of council.

I'm here tonight to update you and also potentially request action on some items regarding the work of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race Memorials in Public Spaces.

We are certainly well aware

of some of the more significant recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission that the council has taken action on, including the potential renaming of the parks and movement of the statues, increased support for the African American Heritage Center, master planning for downtown parks, etc.

I'd like to give you updates or ask for your input on 10 items tonight.

The first of which, and each of these are recommendations that were from the Blue Ribbon Commission and have not perhaps had the express weigh in from council about where you'd like to head with them.

The first though is just an update.

You know that

Ms. Galvin helped to craft a resolution that you all had about an RFP for the planning for the downtown parks.

Your agenda item talks a little bit about that.

And staff has been meeting.

We have another meeting this Friday to get an RFP out on the street.

We've been having some discussion about whether that will include the design of the memorial itself to the enslaved laborers.

Understand that your resolution and the million dollar budget

contemplates that that all happened at once and we've had meetings with the volunteers that you appointed to the Blue Ribbon Commission about the RFP draft that we created and understand that we're going to be bringing in experts from many domains in order to accomplish all the work that council has asked for there and we hope to update you

in the next couple weeks about that RFP being posted.

The second item is on the Daughters of Zion Cemetery.

The Blue Ribbon Commission recommended that in addition to the $80,000 that you already appropriated that should there be additional needs identified in future years that you think about additional operating funds.

You'll see in the memo that

We just bring that to you to remind you that you took no additional action in the FY18 budget that was just passed.

This is on the radar of staff as we move into next fall.

We'll be tracking the expenses that have been committed from the $80,000 that have already been appropriated.

And it's possible that in the FY19 budget, we would alert you if the caretakers of that cemetery identify additional needs.

Again, the purpose of tonight's item is really to make sure that we concretely addressed each of the recommendations of the commission.

The Blue Ribbon Commission expressed an interest in having the Vinegar Hill monument that Ms. Breeden spoke about this evening, designed by Mr. Edwards, be funded

with city dollars that some general fund appropriation be made.

And while the council in FY18 has made an appropriation to the AAHC and has discussed a commitment of another half a million dollars in FY19, it's very explicit that those dollars are for the operating costs over the next five years for the African American Heritage Center and potentially any extra dollars would go towards a development officer.

The item as to funding of the monument itself remains in question and requires your guidance.

There's a lot of language and a lot of discussion that the group had about historic surveys and linking places.

I've had some discussion with Mary Joy Scala about this.

You all remember that you've approved a capital improvement budget for that purpose of $50,000, but that's for the entire five-year period.

she believes that they'll be able to do some of this historic survey work including the downtown mall in the upcoming year put that out there for you realizing that for those of you who will be on council when we talk budget next year there may be another request from NDS in order to accomplish the work that the Blue Ribbon Commission imagined which included not just our

historically African American neighborhoods and Native American areas but also labor neighborhoods as you'll recall from the report.

Five and six on our list are about new names for places or new memorials.

And it's just a reminder that the Blue Ribbon Commission thought that

when new buildings were created or new roads were created or new bridges were created that you might think about naming those things rather than existing structures.

And similarly, that the

Commission didn't believe that we should continue to have statues and memorialize individuals, but that there should be more work done to decide what sorts of public art or recognition there should be for heroes or events in our community.

And staff is not currently working directly on either of those items.

And we haven't heard of any naming opportunities that the council would consider.

So it alerts you to those two things.

Seventh on the list is that there were two recommendations about history that the Commission really believes strongly ought to go into our public schools.

This isn't really an item for staff so much in that

You may direct the city manager's office to make outreach to the superintendent, or you may choose in some future meeting with your elected colleagues on the school board to take this up at a luncheon that's certainly not within the purview of city staff to make these curriculum changes something that we believe that you all would need to take action on at the elected level.

The eighth item is you've seen a number of emails today about folks who have

added to a petition about the EJI lynching memorial initiative and staff needs some guidance on this.

We see that EJI and we've had some outreach to the, sorry, I apologize for the acronyms.

We've made some outreach to them to get some clarification because they've listed Charlottesville

as a lynching site.

And it is clear from talking to commission members and historians that both the criminal act of the assault and then the lynching occurred in Albemarle County.

And so I know that a commission member reached out to EJI during the period that the commission was working to see if they were going to correct that in their report.

I know that there's a lot of interest from the commission and local folks about placing that memorial in downtown Charlottesville, potentially in Jackson Park.

And the question remains, although there's certainly some local and regional interest, do you want to engage Albemarle County in some fashion since we believe that the criminal act and the lynching both occurred in Albemarle County?

and if so what would you like staff to do to facilitate that.

Number nine is that I believe at the February 6th City Council meeting Mr. Bellamy read a proclamation about March 3rd as Freedom Day or Liberation Day and I think that the Commission kind of contemplated that that might be acknowledged by an action of Council and while we still understand the proclamation was made there's no

I have one other question.

By city holiday, there are two versions of a city holiday.

One is that the city marks it every year as a city holiday and celebrates it.

The other is that

Staff have it off, which I don't think is what we were talking about.

If I may, this might be a good time to ask just for a point of clarification on the procedures.

Is that correct?

Absolutely, yeah.