2009 City Council Candidate Forum   10/21/2009

P.S.

My name is Jack Brown.

Welcome to the Candidate Forum of the Alliance of Neighborhoods.

Thank you all for coming.

As you see here up on the dais, we have all five candidates running for city council in Charlottesville.

It's a great pleasure to have them here.

My name is Jack Brown.

I'm the moderator for this event.

I'm the president of the executive board of the Alliance of Neighborhoods.

and whenever I start a meeting I like to warn people about what's going to happen so that you all can see what's coming your way.

So what our game plan here is, is that I will give you about a five minute overview, no more than five minutes, of an overview about the Alliance of Neighborhoods and about this event.

Once I do that, we're going to turn the floor over to the candidates for prepared statements.

Each candidate has two minutes for a prepared statement in which they will outline their candidacy, their hopes for Charlottesville's future.

We'll then have about a 45-minute session of question and answer.

The candidates will be answering questions that we sent them in advance so that we could have a chance to get some thoughtful answers out of them, reflective answers.

the candidates will have two minutes to give their answers in that prepared session.

We also, however, want to hear from you.

Those of you who are here in the room this afternoon, this evening.

So the entire second half of this room we set up so that we could receive questions from the audience.

Our procedure for that I'm going to run through carefully with you.

We have three by five coats and pencils in the room.

If you look in the back of the room, Vicki Hose is holding them up.

and we'd like very much for anybody who thinks you even might want to ask a question to get a 3.5 card and a pencil from Vicki right now.

You'll, in the course of that prepared session, you'll have time to write out your question.

And then at about 45 minutes into the prepared session, I'll ask Vicki or Victoria to collect those cards from the audience and they will pass the cards up to me.

The reason then in the open Q&A session,

I will be doing the asking on your behalf.

And it's not that I'm quite a megalomaniac yet.

The reason for this format is to let us move more quickly, rather than taking time for people to come up to a microphone.

So that's why we'd like to do it in that way.

You should feel free, when you write out your question, if you wish your name to be associated with the question, feel free to sign it.

And then when I read it, I'll be glad to say this is a question from Jane Doe in the audience.

So that's how we'll handle the live part and that will run for approximately 45 or 50 minutes.

And then finally the candidates will have a chance to do a closing statement.

Closing statements will be a minute each.

We have a timekeeper here right in the front of the room, Colette Hall.

Colette is a benign timekeeper, a kind timekeeper.

And the reason why she is is that we're not wanting to be too doctrinal about the rules.

We're here to have a conversation with candidates and learn about their hopes for the city and their positions on issues.

So that more friendly tone, I think, will carry us a long way this afternoon.

So that's the URL format.

In brief, I'd like to tell you a little bit about the Alliance of Neighborhoods, which is the sponsor for this event.

The Alliance of Neighborhoods is an umbrella organization that represents homeowners associations in Albemarle County and neighborhood associations in the city of Charlottesville.

At this point we have seven city neighborhood associations have joined as formal members and at this point we have three county homeowners associations that have joined as formal members.

associations, city and county, into membership.

The purpose of the alliance is to represent the interests of those of us who live in neighborhoods, which by definition in this area is almost all of us.

And the alliance originated with the idea that neighborhoods provide much of the quality of life for those of us who live in Charlottesville, but neighborhoods lack dedicated advocates to protect them to advance their interests.

So that's the reason for the alliance.

We also hope very much to bridge the city and county political divide.

So we accept into membership neighborhoods in the county and are delighted to have them along with the city neighborhoods.

We are very avowedly nonpartisan, but we seek to shed light on issues that affect the quality of life in the greater region.

In March, we held a forum on the Meadow Creek sewer interceptor, a big civil engineering project that crosses city and county lines.

We've also held a forum on traffic.

and issues across the city and county lines.

So that's some background on the Alliance.

We have a website.

If you go check our website out, you can learn more about us.

It's www.allianceofneighborhoods.org.

It's interesting when you do a Google search and find that, you'll see that we're not alone, that other nations in the country see the value in having this kind of volunteer umbrella organization to speak out for neighborhoods.

So that's enough about the alliance, so I'm going to turn this over to the candidates.

Now for opening statements, there are two minutes apiece.

The candidates' names were drawn at random to establish an order for the opening statements.

So, and we will hear in this order from

Andrew Williams, Kristin Zakus, Bob Fenwick, Dave Morris, and Carl Long.

That's the audience.

Good evening.

Thank you for coming.

The personal characteristics of my position include qualities such as integrity,

intelligence, empathy, and a positive attitude along with inquisitiveness.

I do recognize I must be willing and able to embrace for changes needed to properly represent Charlottesville's residents across all eight precincts of Charlottesville.

I am committed to continual professional and personal development for the benefit of a strong foundation in public service.

Although I haven't experienced everything there is to experience in life, I do have diverse experiences from being managed to managing a staff to working, labor, customer service.

I try to stay as broad as I can.

So now I want to represent different perspectives here in Charlottesville, hopefully to contribute to Charlottesville's near and distant future.

I think a different perspective is needed.

I think that a new perspective is needed to challenge and to tackle new problems, as well as the old problems that still exist.

Thank you.

Great.

Thank you.

Hi.

Thank you all for coming.

I'm just delighted that we have an Alliance of Neighborhoods.

I've been waiting a long time for this.

I think it's a great thing.

My name is Kristin Sakus.

I'm running for City Council, partly because I really believe that wisdom comes from the grassroots.

As many of you know, I've written two books about community organizing and I've spent a dozen years editing a regional journal about community organizing in Appalachia.

I know there are those who believe that we should leave decision making to the experts and that ordinary people don't know what's best for their communities.

But experience has shown in lots of different ways that people who work together make better decisions as a group than people make as individuals.

And I think that neighborhood associations are a good example of that and that's what I'd like to see our city respond to better.

I think that

Well, I've been following a couple of major themes in my campaign for city council, also kind of in my life, but I believe that people have a responsibility to get involved in their communities.

I want people, I'm sorry, can I just take, is that?

I think that we saw in the Obama campaign a lot of people came together thinking it's not just good enough to say oh those people are never going to change or oh you can't fight City Hall but you actually come out and you do something and it makes a change and I think that that is

That's the sort of energy that I'm hoping that we can really build on, both in the work that you all are doing and in the work that we're doing in City Hall.

I think that the city, on the other side, needs to listen better and respond better and be more responsive when people do participate and when people do bring their issues to City Hall.

One of the ways that I think that we need to show that we do that is to take city council meetings out into the community.

I think we should, you know, it's ironic that you all are meeting here tonight because

I think the city council should be moving out in the schools and the neighborhoods or the community centers in town, have pizza and child care so that people can actually come and be heard.

And I also think that we need to constantly work with the staff to make sure that they're responsive to citizen input and respectful of everything that people come in with.

So I've been doing a lot of campaigning door to door and I've learned an incredible amount and I plan to continue to

Great.

Thank you, Kristen.

No, I was just going to say, was that close to two minutes?

How are you going to...

Okay, good.

Are we good?

Excellent.

Very good.

Thank you.

Great.

Good evening.

I'm Bob Fenwick.

I'm an independent candidate for city council.

And I would pose a question to you.

Who runs Charlottesville?

Does the mayor run it?

Does the city manager, Gary O'Connor, run it?

Does city council run Charlottesville?

I don't know.

But what I do know is who doesn't run Charlottesville.

And that's the citizens of Charlottesville.

The everyday, ordinary, taxpaying citizens of Charlottesville.

We don't run Charlottesville.

Who sets the policy for Charlottesville?

Who sets the future course of our city?

Once again, I know who doesn't.

The voters.

Now, does that strike anybody in this room, except me, as odd?

In a representative republic, the citizens should be the ones who call the shots.

We pay for everything that goes on in the city.

And every two years we elect people to represent us, not to rule us.

We don't have the time normally.

We have families, we have jobs, we have applications, one thing or the other.

I got into this race for the simple reason that city council was dismissive of the will of the people.

Now, lately,

I've been called reckless.

And I would like to ask the members of our community, is it reckless to try to save McIntyre Park?

Is it reckless to try to spend as much time saving money as it is spending money?

Is it reckless to try to stop the Meadow Creek Parkway?

and is it reckless to consider dredging, which we should have been doing many years ago, as an alternative to a new dam at Ragged Mountain?

30 seconds.

If that's the case, then yes I am reckless.

My background is engineering and business.

I get my business by competition.

I know how to solve problems,

So let me interject.

I'm sorry to interrupt.

We're going to have to work on how we manage time.

Candidates up here are urged to keep an eye on our timekeeper who was trying to draw attention to time.

Take about 15 more seconds to finish up, please.

So please remember one thing as we work our way through this forum and through the remaining almost two weeks of the campaign.

The people in front of you are not running for student council.

They're running for city council.

This is important business.

This is $127 million of your money.

It's the future of your city.

Thank you.

Thank you Jack and I want to thank you and the Alliance of Neighborhoods for hosting this event tonight and I am too excited to see this alliance come together and I know there have been efforts over the years to try to bring neighborhoods together in a constructive way and I am proud of your efforts to do so.

I am running for re-election in city council and I am

and doing so in part because I have a lot of irons in the fire, a lot of products that I've been working on and we've been working on that I want to see through to fruition.

Over the last few years, this city council has done a number of things to respond to the needs of the citizens of this community and the concerns of the voters of this community, and we've made some good strides.

If you look at the fact that we are in the midst of a record level of investment in positive opportunities for the youth of this community,

between a five-fold expansion in our summer youth employment program, a new early childhood education program in our city schools, new parks and recreation facilities and expanded parks and recreation programs, a new boys and girls club next to our middle school, a new YMCA next to our high school, responsible fatherhood programs through our community agency, and other initiatives to help make this community a better place for our youth.

We've made nationally recognized strides in the area of environmental sustainability and clean energy.

With an expanded recycling program, alternative transportation, ridership in our transit system is up from 1.5 million riders two years ago to 2 million riders this past year.

We've invested in new bike lanes and new sidewalks.

There's always more to do, but we're making good strides.

Energy efficiency.

The improvements we've made in our city schools and our city buildings are already saving the tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Significant increase in investments in affordable housing, bold action on some of the infrastructure challenges that we're facing.

And we've done all of this and more while building on our property tax rate while lowering taxes for modern income homeowners and maintaining our AAA boundary.

There is much work to be done.

We have an unconscionably high dropout rate in our schools.

We have big space that's being lost to new roads and new development, or is threatening to be lost.

We have too many people stuck in low wage, dead end jobs.

We have to do more to make this a better community for all of our residents, and that's why I'm asking for your vote on November 3rd.

Thank you.

My name is Paul Long, and I want to thank Mr. Brown and the Alliance of Neighborhood Organizations for inviting me to participate.

I'm running as an independent, but I am a lifelong Democrat, and I'm proud to say that I'm a liberal Democrat.

And the reason I'm saying this is I was asked by a newspaper who my political hero was, and I answered William Jennings Ryan.

I'm made up of the fact that I think it's a disgrace that our public transit system isn't running at full service 365 days a year.

I think it's a shame that in terms of I had a rally and only three people were able to attend to decriminalize drug use.

The Daily Progress reported in the last couple of days that there's two and a half million people incarcerated in the United States.

It's the highest numbers of any free democracy in the world.

500,000 of those people are because they're drug addicts.

They shouldn't be in prison in the federal level or the state level, and they shouldn't be down to complex.

They should be out, and they should be ordered to be mandated to treatment.

I think it's a disgrace that recently it was in the paper that a charitable foundation had to donate $75,000 to help Charlottesville police make a down payment so they can move in the city and buy a house when the average mean cost of a house in the city of Charlottesville is $246,000 when most of our policemen cannot afford to buy a house in the city of Charlottesville.

previous administration and the current administration is inevitably giving billions of dollars to AIG, Recuvia, Bank of America all the major businessmen with $3,000 suits going and begging for money to bail out their companies that got into trouble due to their mismanagement but yet a poor person go and ask for unemployment or welfare

for help to go to school and they're called bums and no good.

There's something wrong with that.

Great, thank you Mr. Warren.

I'm about to listen to the prepared session, but I want to just say how delighted I am with folks coming in and filling up the seats in here.

Someone who came in a little late and didn't hear the program, the format, so I want to get you updated.

We'll have a prepared session for about 45 minutes, but then we want to hear questions from the floor.

To do that, we will circulate, and you can get them right now if you wish, three by five cards, they're available in the back of the room, and pencils, and you'll write out your question.

If you wish, put your name of the question, and that way you can have any time in the next 40 minutes to write it out, and we'll collect your questions from the floor, and then they'll get turned in up here, and I'll be delighted to be your mouthpiece.

So thank you.

But now we'll turn to the prepared session.

And these are questions that the candidates received in advance.

They were submitted by our members in the Alliance of Neighborhoods.

So the candidates have seen these and had a chance to think about them.

Each candidate will get a chance to answer.

So we're starting simply in alphabetical order.

So the first crack at the first question goes to Bob Fenwick.

The rest of the candidates may answer as they choose.

And the first question is, countless surveys, formal or informal, over the past decade show traffic as the top problem confronting every city neighborhood.

too many cars and too much speeding.

But we've seen little effective action by city police, the planners or neighborhood development services.

Quite the reverse, the problem simply gets worse.

What specific actions do you propose to address this problem?

In detail, would you support these measures?

One, additional officers detailed to traffic enforcement in the neighborhoods.

Two, lengthening the work day of the Traffic Enforcement Division.

Three, increased funds for speeding in neighborhoods.

Or four, more use of traffic calming measures.

My approach would be use the simplest, least expensive solution first and see how well that works.

I know for a fact speed bumps work very well on a speeding car.

Traffic stop signs, low speed limits, remember these are neighborhoods that these people are going through.

The difference in time from 35 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour on a three minute trip is under two minutes.

Almost anyone who moves into our area does so because they want to enjoy the small town flavor of Charlottesville.

If they don't want to enjoy the beauty of Charlottesville, they can go Route 64, turn up Fontaine Avenue, and they can get there too momentarily.

Great, thank you.

I believe that we should have speed bumps in the smithereens of the streets.

I believe we should have traffic policemen directing traffic on our busiest highways, including Royal Road and Route 29, like they do in many of the European cities.

I'm old enough to remember when I was a child when President Eisenhower pushed through the interstate highway system, literally spending billions of dollars to create it.

The United States society spends billions of dollars catering to the automobile driver.

in terms of maintenance of highway, state highway policemen, local policemen, dealing and managing traffic.

That's all well and good, but we should have an equal commitment to expand and improve the public transportation system.

I believe during the day every single bus should be running every 15 minutes.

The only way that we can entice people out of their cars to use public transportation at least some of the time is by frequent service, extensive service, and full service on Sundays and legal holidays.

so that automobile drivers would be enticed to use the system at least to come to work and to come to the downtown area if they want to go to the Paramount to see a movie.

People will use public transportation if it's extensive, if it runs frequently, it's proven it's factored.

If you go to New York City, throw it off in Chicago, there are hundreds of thousands of automobile drivers who use public transit because it gets them to work and gets them around town faster and more frequently than if they drove their cars.

Thank you.

First of all, I wholeheartedly endorse the long plan for increasing our, expanding our transit system.

I think Mr. Wong is to be commended for his outspoken support for improved public transit system.

So I'll just say ditto to that piece.

One of the things that we have done in the last year is to take advantage of some state legislation that will allow us to increase speeding fines, $200 fines on certain streets in this city.

The state of Maryland allows us to do this on roads that meet very sort of narrowly specified criteria.

But we did take advantage of that legislation and it has reduced speeding.

We've measured it before,

the fines went into effect, we measured after the fines went into effect, it has reduced speeding and two council meetings ago we just expanded that program and are now allowing other neighborhoods, if they request it, to have those enhanced speeding fines on streets that qualify.

We had enhanced traffic enforcement by the Charlottesville Police Department

One of the things I'm very pleased about is that for the first time in a long time, our Charlottesville Police Department is now fully staffed.

They've had many vacancies that they've been trying to fill.

They've done a great job in filling those vacancies.

Unfortunately, things like traffic enforcement often don't get the attention they deserve when they're short staffed, when the department's short staffed, because of other pressing issues.

Now that we're fully staffed, we're able to do more traffic enforcement.

We've done some traffic calming measures in neighborhoods that have requested them.

We've made pedestrian safety improvements throughout the downtown area that we're going to now expand throughout the city.

Ultimately, cut-through traffic is largely a factor of

Of growth in Albemarle County, that is putting a lot of pressure on residential neighborhoods, where Albemarle County has not built the infrastructure to support that growth, the Sunset-Fontaine Connector is one road that we need to steer traffic, cut through traffic around our residential neighborhoods, and take it to where the drivers are going.

Thank you.

Yes.

I think all of us agree that part of the problem with the fact that we have so much traffic in town is that people are driving cars.

There are alternatives, there are buses, there are bikes, there are feet, other ways to get places, but the way that our city is built and the way that we've traditionally looked at the way that we

I think that we need to streamline our bus systems.

I think we need to find ways to put bike lanes through town off roads so that it can be quicker to get by bike someplace than by car.

So I support all of those proposals.

I'm a big fan of speed bumps.

My neighborhood needed one and got one.

I know they can be troublesome for fire trucks and some emergency responders.

I imagine that there are streets where they wouldn't be appropriate, but I think that they're a great idea, especially those kind of big gentle ones.

I like the idea of having neighborhoods petition for double fine zones.

I think that that's a very democratic way to do it.

because often the people who live in those neighborhoods are the ones who get the tickets.

So it's good that we've developed the way that people participate and decide that that's what they want for their community.

We have the speed machine.

It's on St. Clair right now that just kind of flashes up your speed.

I think that can be helpful without any staff.

It reminds people who are just driving along, talking on the phone, doing whatever they're doing, not realizing how fast they're going.

It reminds them that this is a residential neighborhood.

And also I think just generally, this is the mom and me talking, we need to build a culture of respect and courtesy.

I think that people who drive through your neighborhood

aren't even thinking about you.

They're not thinking about your kids.

They're not thinking about your cat.

They're just getting where they're going.

Thank you.

First off, the gubernatorial candidates, McDonald and Deeds, have proposed transportation plans to help out the state.

Of course, Charlottesville and Albemarle would receive substantial funds.

These plans are quite different.

I'd like to see how the

and how those plans would affect us locally.

Of course, with the busing I would like to see more routes, more lines.

but we do have to consider the resources that we do have.

So I don't want to say let's increase busing ultimately without some other initiatives to assist that idea.

Setting up parking along the city limits to increase basically bus riding

I think would encourage people to ride the bus.

You can't force people to ride the bus.

So we need to think about other things that will encourage people to ride the bus.

Also, a regional transit authority is something I like to consider so we don't have to

We don't have to pay the full cost with the economy in mind.

Ultimately, I don't want to see any tax increases.

And how we're going to do that is if we institute positive, progressive initiatives, some even shared, such as considering a regional transit authority.

Thank you.

So our second question will get first addressed to Mr. Long so that we're equitable as we move through these fine candidates up here.

Second question is, lately Charlottesville has been placing an emphasis on our urban tree canopy.

Almost all can agree that our great surroundings are a matter of civic pride and a draw to tourists and potential residents.

Yes, I would be in favor of requiring them to plant trees.

I'm also going to state this as well.

If I'm elected to council,

I would vote against any residential development, whether it's housing or apartments, unless there's a limit of $80,000, 50% of the housing units sell for $80,000 or less, and 50% of the apartment units rent for $600 or less to address the housing crisis in the city as well.

I wanted to get that in there.

Great.

Thank you, Mr. Long.

In fact, this is something that's come up in City Council recently.

We were discussing our legislative agenda for the General Assembly session that's coming up next year.

We asked our City Attorney to craft an ordinance that would allow the City of Charlottesville to create an offset program so that when developers come in and develop a property that there is an expectation, if not an outright requirement,

that they A, minimize tree loss and B, replace any tree's loss to development.

We don't have the authority currently to require developers to do this.

We certainly set in our comprehensive plan and other documents, we make it very clear that we wish to minimize tree loss and in fact, not only do we wish to minimize tree loss, our overall goal is to increase our tree canopy.

So in addition to working with the development community, there's a couple of other initiatives that we're working on.

One is, or I think we should be working on more, one is green space preservation in general.

And we know there are opportunities, we've asked our staff to come up with a list of opportunities in the city to purchase green space or to require green space through outright donation.

that would allow us to preserve the tree canopy, wildlife habitat, et cetera, in the city.

This is something that would add to the quality of life in our community and has many environmental benefits as well.

We are, for the first time in many, many years, maybe ever, we have money in our actual regular budget this year for purchase of green space, of new parkland in the city.

So we're looking to expand green space

and we've also recently expanded our tree planting program.

Thank you.

Well, I think that the state limits what we can actually require of developers.

I think that there are ways that we can work with developers and encourage them and give them certain benefits for the things that they propose in their

in their proposals for developments and I think that tree canopy is absolutely one of them.

I think we need to make sure that developers understand that in Charlottesville we value trees, we value open space, we want that.

I think there are other things we also need to do on that same level.

line of thinking, traffic abatement, parking, affordable housing, all of those are things that the city is committed to and I think we need to make sure the developers understand that.

That said, we need to do everything we can to preserve and increase the tree canopy in Charlottesville.

We have to replace, remove trees, whether they die of old age or removed.

We need to preserve and create green space and we need to encourage landowners to do the same, not just do it by city fiat, but actually find ways to encourage people, landowners,

When I was in high school, I lived in North Carolina.

It was a small town called Huntersville.

Very scenic, it was beautiful, almost as pretty as Charlottesville.

There were so many changes.

Every time I go back, there were so many changes.

There was development.

It looks like zoning did not exist.

Yes, of course I'd like to do all that I can for Charlottesville to preserve our scenic landscape and it's the reason why.

So many people move here and it's the reason why.

Many people that have been here stay here.

The balance is the key and we want to benefit

as we want to benefit like an industrialized city, but without sacrificing the makeup of Charlottesville.

As Mr. Norris and Ms. Seikos said, it told me so much that we can do as far as mandating certain things, but I do think it's a lot of things that we can do to encourage that idea.

And I'd like to move forward.

Ultimately, it's going to take accurate assessments and we'll need to monitor exactly what's going on all across Charlottesville just to make sure that we can encourage these positive initiatives.

Thank you.

So now I'm going to go with our third question to Mr.

I did.

So, Mr. Feller.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Yeah.

I would consider this to be a neighborhood protection thing almost as much as anything else.

I mean, developers come into an area and they want to sell their product.

They want the trees in the neighborhoods to look good.

And that would be absolutely crucial to require them to re-tramp trees.

If they had to take down a big tree, I wouldn't expect them to

replace it with a little spring.

I mean, you know, if it's a huge tree, they'd better do a bunch of trees to replace it.

There's another city property that is in danger of losing trees as well.

That's the Ragged Mountain Preserve.

They are going to lose 54,000 trees.

Now, I haven't done the math, but I would think all the development in Charlottesville for 10 or 20 years would not amount to replacing 54,000 trees.

Now, they do not have to do this if they would consider the dredging option.

So that's a little way around the neighborhood beautification and keeping the trees and all that.

But just remember, the reservoirs are city property.

They belong to us.

That's it.

Great, thank you.

So now I'll go to our third question, which is first addressed to Mr. Norris.

The question, almost every neighborhood organization has experienced the following scenario.

They go before a council or the planning commission requesting assistance for a problem affecting their neighborhood.

These issues run the gamut from traffic relief to sidewalks to zoning conflicts.

frequently there told that leaders or city staff will look into the problem and revisit the situation within a prescribed number of months.

More meetings will be set up asking for neighborhood input, but more often than not, the request either falls through the cracks or the neighborhood's wishes are ignored, resulting in a carrot and stick scenario.

What would you propose to stop this frustrating and time-consuming cycle?

Well, first of all, I'll be blunt.

I disagree with the premise of the question that more often than not, neighborhood concerns are ignored by the city.

I think it is often the case that neighborhoods come to the city and make very legitimate requests and don't see the follow-through that they would like, and that's unacceptable.

I wouldn't say it happens a majority of the time.

One of the things that we have heard

Loud and clear, Kristin and I have been speaking to numerous citizens throughout this community, throughout this campaign, and numerous neighborhood leaders throughout this campaign, and we've heard loud and clear that they don't feel like they have a real ally in City Hall, somebody that's, when they wake up in the morning,

The first thing on their mind is what can we do to build capacity of neighborhoods to strengthen the voice of our neighborhoods in the decisions that affect them.

The staff in Neighborhood Development Services is so often focused on facilitating neighborhood development that the neighborhoods often feel like they're left out and oftentimes

I feel like they're the last ones to find out about new projects or new proposals that are going to affect their neighborhoods.

We need to change that dynamic.

We heard from a number of neighborhood leaders and neighborhood residents that would like to see the city have either a staff person or an office that could

to do nothing but focus on capacity building for neighborhoods, on engaging with neighborhoods and informing neighborhoods about proposals that are coming down the pike, about doing leadership development in neighborhoods and helping to build neighborhood associations.

We heard that loud and clear.

We had an event a couple weeks ago where we unveiled a series of proposals to help strengthen the voice of neighborhoods in these decisions.

One of them was to create an office of a neighborhood advocate.

I'm not necessarily wedded to that being in one department or another.

Everything that he said on this issue, we're in total accord, I think that the idea of a neighborhood advocate, somebody whose job it is to be sort of the point person for people, not just neighborhood associations, but people who live in neighborhoods, as you pointed out, that's all of us in Charlottesville.

Somebody who you can go to who can tell you

who you talk to about this, somebody who can help you follow through on things.

So I think that that's key.

I think some of the smaller ideas that I think would help.

One idea that some cities have used is when a citizen comes in with an idea or complaint or request, they're issued almost like an order number.

and so they can track what happens to their request.

Their request has a tracking number.

And so you can call City Hall, maybe the Office of Neighborhood Advocate, and you can say, so whatever happened to my request for the stop sign at the corner of St. Clair and Johnson Street?

and they'll say, oh hold on let me check the computer and there it will be, oh well it's before this committee or oops we forgot about it.

So hopefully it will keep that from happening.

I think we need to really make sure that the website has very clear information about how to reach all of city staff so you know who to call so you can find the people that you've talked to.

And I think that notices of neighborhood involvement, when we ask for neighborhood involvement on a project or something that's coming up, we can't just send an email to one person in the neighborhood and expect that it's going to reach everyone.

And Ms. Williams?

This question is oriented around the idea of changes needed at the local level.

Some of these issues, as far as having an open ear to some issues, are important.

and it was important also over the last two years, over the last four years.

Maybe it takes a different or a new perspective.

Maybe everyone is working as hard as they can, but that diverse perspective is lacking, so it's going to trickle down and not every element of our system is going to be represented.

My emphasis on listening, without forgetting a need for positive corresponding action,

at the government level of the city.

It's very important to me.

The ability and the willingness to listen, of course with corresponding action, will contribute to our success.

This idea should radiate throughout the departments.

If our government body at the local level feels this way, it will trickle down to the departments.

Maybe there needs to be a difference in management at that level, as far as I'm concerned.

We need to set up timeframes and monitor performance of our departments.

We need to have an open ear to our departments, such as the police department and various other departments.

And we need to move forward with positive progressive initiatives.

We're not going to do that if we don't know what the issues are and if we don't make decisions

and if we just keep talking about things instead of acting on them.

Ultimately, I believe it starts at the top.

And once there's balance at the top, it's going to trickle down to all of the departments and it will be a more efficient RAN system.

Thank you.

Thank you.

If there's a citizen concern that isn't being met, that's my fault.

It's not the fault of any staff member

or any committee, I would not appoint a committee to try to cover for my fault.

Now I've been going through the city a lot the last couple months, people are coming up to me and saying my sidewalk's not fixed, there's a phone pole in the middle of the sidewalk, any number of things.

And I tell them I'm not on city council, you know, what can I do?

People don't think they can come in front of city council, they'll be heard, but there'll be no follow-up action.

That's the problem.

If I fail in this, then I fail myself because this is one of the main reasons I ran for office.

City council dismissing citizen concerns.

It's hard enough for the people to leave their families or their houses to come up here and talk for three minutes or whatever they do.

It's doubly hard when they see blank faces up here and they walk away knowing nobody's going to take care of them.

That's like a double whammy.

Now, there would be ways to follow these things.

The city invested, I think, about seven or eight million dollars in a computer system to track just these kinds of things.

It doesn't work.

Whose fault is that?

The computer operator?

The head of the department?

The responsibility rests right up here on city council.

That's the way it should be.

We're telling you we can do a better job.

Mr. Lewin.

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the reason I mention that I graduated from high school in 1967

and having come of age in the 60s during a period when I believe more people were very active in the political process and had a passion and concern for issues.

I believe that public service is a noble calling and I believe that most people who aspire to public office and serve in public office are doing so with very sincere motives to serve their community.

Having said that, I want to be very diplomatic in how I say this.

My father was born and raised in the Bronx.

My mother was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana.

They met in Philadelphia during World War II.

I have great respect for the South.

But I haven't been born and raised in a big city where you have to be aggressive and assertive.

In many ways, in order to survive in Philly growing up, I exhibited those characteristics.

I believe that if citizens have problems, if there are issues not being addressed, they can't come to one city council meeting and having been rebuffed, just go away and never come back.

If I have a concern and I have an issue,

I'm going to be a council after council after council meeting until they get tired of Siri.

I'm going to start addressing my issues and I think the city of Charlottesville, the residents of this city need not to be rude, not to be ignorant, they need that assertiveness.

I'm looking at all these empty seats here.

You know, why is that so?

That's not right.

And I'm also going to make a comment.

All five candidates are here.

I don't see one single local resident that was born and raised in the city of Charlottesville

seeking office of city council.

Why is that?

Very good.

Thank you, Mr. Wong.

Now, I believe we've run through the panel.

We're ready for the fourth question.

It will help me if I'm doing this wrong.

I want to thank our panelists for their timely remarks, which are very helpful, as it means I don't have to be a bad guy and cut you off.

So the first question goes to Ms. Sakos, and the question is, many people in the city feel that both the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority

and the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority, including our appointed representatives on those boards, are failing to represent the wishes of many residents.

In light of all that's happened over the past few years, should we do away with the authority model entirely?

Or would we propose changes to the existing model?

I recently heard that Virginia has the most boards and commissions of any state in the country, and that often at the state level they're used to reward political patronage and curry favor.

And I think we've seen a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor who sits on various boards and commissions and hardly ever shows up.

and I think that in a way we should count ourselves fortunate that that's not the case here.

I think that most of the people who serve on our local boards and commissions and authorities do it, as Mr. Long was saying, because they care about our community.

They do it because they want to do something to give back to the community.

I think most of the people who appoint them, appoint them because they believe that these folks have a certain amount of perspective or a certain

expertise that's helpful.

That said, I don't think that we're doing a very good job of it.

I think we need to make sure that these folks work for us.

One way to do that is to be more proactive in who we choose to put on those boards and commissions and who we appoint, not just wait for applications to come in but to go out and seek people that we think can offer a broad view

and being responsive to community input.

I think that we need to hold our boards and commissions to the same sort of expectation of transparency and openness that we hold our government to in general.

I think that we need to have their minutes posted online as soon as they are within a couple of weeks of their meetings.

I think that we need to have their agendas posted online.

Some do, some don't.

I think that that's something that

the City Council needs to insist on.

I think it's also something that residents need to insist on.

Thank you.

Mr. Williams?

I don't believe that we should do away with the board.

However, I do think that

And that's because specialization is important.

We do need a team of people who focus and basically tackle certain things.

We have to.

To increase accountability, now that's one way I believe to encourage

the quality of the work.

We need to increase the accountability and we need to establish a more structured system.

But that is only going to happen at the government level.

And as I stated before, that will trickle down to the department and to the boards.

And it's going to take balanced representation when individuals are

appointed.

It's based on whatever circumstance.

It's based on whatever, whom is doing the appointing, feels at the time.

But if representation isn't balanced, it's not going to represent the interests of our major populace.

Thank you.

Mr. Franwick.

The question was about...

Entirely fair.

It's about the responsiveness of, in particular, the authority flown in the Rivanna Weather and School Authority and the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority.

Should we do away with the authority model entirely or change the existing model?

First of all, a lot of people don't really understand there's two different agencies here, RSWA and RWSA, and people get them confused, but it's two separate agencies, same leadership, and that's key.

Both of these organizations have hardworking, competent employees.

I know many of them.

I've been in construction 33 years.

I come in and out of the landfill when it was active.

Tipping fees, I know all about that.

But the leadership is dysfunctional.

RSWA with the dredging damming controversy and the RWSA with their efforts to run out of town a leading edge trash recycling facility.

Now, there is no gag order with Peter Vanderlinden.

There is no gag order, there is no attorney-client privilege that prevents any politician from standing up in front of the public and explaining why they're trying to run this man out of town.

This is a public matter.

They have publicly branded him a criminal.

and he deserves a fair hearing.

Some politician has to stand up and explain to the people of our community why they are doing this.

Tom Frederick said the flow control was off the table for an hour.

Thank you, Mr. Wong.

I don't think that the authority model should be done away with.

I think authority is considered a very useful function if they're well managed and we have good people appointed to them.

Having said this, the whole issue about the dam and New Dam having been cheaper to build the treasures, I'm aghast at that.

Unlike Mr. Williams, I'm not going to say that I oppose all new taxes.

Justice Bradley once made the remark that paying taxes is the responsibility of free citizens in a free country.

And if we want services, if we want infrastructure maintained, we have to be willing to pay for it.

If I want to walk into the milk restaurant, I better have a credit card and the money in my pocket to pay for the meal or else I wouldn't go in there.

Same thing as if you want good roads, if you want good water supply, good dams,

and the police service.

We as a society have to be willing to pay for it.

That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be very careful how every dollar and every penny is being spent.

One of the tragedies that got us into the country, into the mess that it is today economically with the financial meltdown of 15 months ago is with the idea that we could have services and benefits by decreasing taxes and not decreasing services as well and we're in the mess that we're in now.

If we want services, if we want infrastructure, if we want clean water, et cetera, et cetera, we have to take a long, hard look at the cost and make a decision as a free society that we're willing to pay for it.

Thank you.

I think that organizational

Theorists who specialize in organizational culture would have a real field day with what's going on with Rivanna Waters' authority and Rivanna Sullivan's authority.

Because these are two entities that just in the last year or two have really seen some new

Two new forces at play, if you will, two of which are, one, public scrutiny.

I think that both of these authorities have flown under the radar for many, many years, and it's been fascinating to watch how they've responded to groups that are mobilized now on issues like the water supply plan.

and when you have the Citizens for Sustainable Wireless Plan going to all the meetings and asking questions, they weren't exactly used to being asked questions.

They weren't exactly used to having to defend their plans and policies in a very public way, so an increased openness.

And now, on top of that, both the city and the county have added elected officials to the boards of those entities.

So there's more accountability to the public.

And again, now you have both of those authorities who are asking other questions, frankly, than had been asked before.

So it's a really fascinating example of organizational change and words and all.

I think there's a very good question as to whether or not, and Kevin Lynch asked this question years ago when he was still on city council, and it's still a very good question today as to once all the dust settles with the Solid Waste Agreement that we have with the county, whether it even makes sense for the city to be a member of the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority.

That's a very good question and we're going to need to answer this coming year.

Thank you, Mr. Norris.

Just a reminder to the audience, we're going to have one more of these prepared questions and then we'll start to draw questions from you.

So please make sure, if you have a question, that you write it out in the 3x5 code, which you can get from the two kind ladies in the back of the room.

and turn it into them and then they'll pass the questions up to me after we do this last Q&A in the prepared session and we'll hear what's on your minds.

So the last question in our prepared session, we'll start out going first to Mr. Williams.

The question is, what specific areas, perhaps institutions or joint services, could and should be administered jointly

with the city and Albemarle County.

For example, would you support joint city and county charter schools?

They draw from the best of both school systems.

And if so, how and when?

I would like to consider the idea of

joint charter schools between Albemarle County and Charlottesville and how it may or may not benefit students and their families in Charlottesville and the county alike.

It's our neighbor.

As far as what I would like to see in more consideration is a regional transit authority such as I mentioned a little bit earlier.

Potentially what we can do

is have basically a trial period or basically a test and watch the performance and watch what the benefits are.

We don't want to say yea or nay without some good numbers, some good statistics.

We want to make sure that it works, but we don't want to not have the option to dismantle programs that don't work.

As far as

Merging our first responder services, I'll say no and I'll go back to specialization.

To ensure proper and fair management and to ensure the quality of life

As far as safety for our communities, our diverse, unique communities, we need to have specialized areas, specialized departments, and keep some things separate.

Although you don't have to keep everything separate.

I don't think that the first responder services should be merged.

Unless I misinterpret, I just want to make a correction to Mr. Long's statement regarding taxes.

Just for the record, I don't...

At this point in time, I don't want to see any tax increases.

I do think that we have the resources to manage the best that we can with what we have.

I do think that there needs to be some adjustments, and we need to reallocate funding.

I don't support any tax increases at this time.

Thank you, Mr. Williams.

Well, we already do have cooperative programs in several situations.

Probably the most successful of which is VOTEC or CATEC.

We have students from the city and the county going there and it's very successful.

We have it in a smaller way at Murray School as well, so we do do this.

My theory of operation would be, specifically for the emergency service providers, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Both my boys had accidents when they were going to Barley Moran School.

The rescue squad responded within three minutes to both of them, from which I was very grateful.

They have a terrific program there, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If you see a situation where the community can save money by joining programs, I would agree with Andrew, I would call it instead of a trial period, I would call it a pilot program.

Start out small, see if it works, if it does build on it, if it doesn't, abandon that and try something else.

Thank you, Mr. Law.

Mr. Raines, I wasn't in C of A. I hear what you were saying.

What I was saying was I would not make a blanket statement that I would never support taxes.

I think that's irresponsible for somebody running for office.

I'd be very careful, but I think sometimes perhaps tax increases would be necessary.

In terms of cooperation, I believe in a regional transportation authority, but I think it needs to be much larger than the city of Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

The metropolitan population of Charlottesville's area is over 200,000 and that includes more than ever in our county and the city.

I would invite Greene County, Madison, Nelson, Savannah, and Buckingham Counties to join the table in the creation of a regional transit authority.

There are literally hundreds of residents of those outlying counties

who work in the city of Charlottesville, and many of them told me that they had the option of taking a regional transportation bus into Charlottesville to get to work and go home, they would do so.

Now the only option they have is to drive a Quora.

I think in terms of traffic management, that's an area that we should be working closely with Alamo County.

I don't know how many people have ever had taken the Route 7 bus to the fashion mall and tried to cross Rider Road to the other side

You are literally taking your life in your hands and people have been hurt and taking a UVA medical center's emergency room simply because with their six lanes of traffic there's not enough time to get across it.

They should have traffic policemen in the middle of the street like they do many European cities.

directing traffic because the problem has gotten that bad that some areas of Route 29, Lyre Road and other areas need that type of intense traffic management.

That's an area that we should be working with in collaboration with Albemarle County.

I think there's other areas that we could be working with them as well.

One of them is affordable housing.

I think the housing situation in the greater Charlottesville area is terrible, that the average price by a house as listed in the daily progress

It's $246,000.

That's terrible.

Something needs to be done about it on a drastic basis.

Thank you, Mr. Long.

We have a uniquely dysfunctional system of government in this Commonwealth.

Virginia is the only state in the country where cities are wholly independent of the counties that surround them.

If this were anywhere else in the country, the city of Charlottesville would be a city within Albemarle County.

We wouldn't have this arbitrary and really unhealthy legal divide and administrative divide between city and county that causes so many roadblocks to progress in our region.

We do have a revenue sharing agreement with Albemarle County that's helped to mitigate some of the impacts of this dysfunctional system of government in Virginia.

And one of the aspects of the revenue sharing agreement, a lot of people don't know, is that the agreement explicitly called for the city and the county to take proactive steps to collaborate, to consolidate where possible, to cooperate in many areas.

So we have a joint library, we jointly administer our airport, we jointly administer our jail, our technical education center, our water sewer authority, solid waste authority, commission on children and families, etc.

I certainly agree with the premise of this question that there is more collaboration and consolidation that we should pursue.

I am a fan of charter schools, public charter schools, and whether or not those are city-county charter schools or just a city charter school, I'm certainly in favor of exploring that.

A parent in the city school system came to me not too long ago.

and said, you know, it's really absurd, both the city schools and the county schools spend so much money and so much effort every year administering tests, they all have to do tests left and right now, standardized testing, why not join forces and have the city and the county cooperatively administer tests, save money, they are using the same tests, but they're spending a lot of money individually, we are, on administering those tests and scoring those tests.

Regional Transit Authority,

Thank you, Mr. Norris.

Yes, I think that we should look at the things that we do do together and see how they work and obviously we do this all the time but I think that Ivy Creek School is a school that one of my daughters went to is a cooperative arrangement with several schools because they realized that none of the schools could provide the services that were needed with their own budget.

and they could do much better coming together.

There are lots of ways that we can do that, not just through the library and the jail and the places that we're doing it.

I have a little bit of a hesitation with the idea of public transportation.

I do support the idea of a public transportation regional authority and I like Mr. Long's idea about taking it beyond the border of Albemarle County, but I don't think that we should just give up ownership of our own bus system as well.

I think that we can have our own system and be part of a larger

authority as well.

Because if I were a very rural resident of Albemarle County, I'm not sure that I would want to pay my taxes to support an urban bus system that would never serve me.

And so I think that you get these troubles with localities dealing with very limited amounts of money, with politicians who are reluctant to raise taxes at the federal level, at the state level, at the local level.

where we often are kind of struggling over these things and I would hate for somebody in Scottsville to feel like they had to vote against a tax levy to pay for a bus in Charlottesville.

There are things that bother me about that whole system.

But I think that we do need to work together in much better ways.

I think urban planning is an area that we should do far more cooperative work with with the county.

The county has actually very good urban planners.

But politically they end up doing some things that I think are pretty short-sighted.

They do a lot of development without putting in infrastructure.

They do development that affects the city.

And I think that if the city were able to participate in that process better, we wouldn't have situations where all of these apartment buildings that have been put in south of town have traffic coming through the city constantly.

And I think that economic development is the other place that we need to do that because a job that is in the city might

Great, thank you.

So this is the end of the prepared session, and I see we have folks even turning their own questions right as I speak, and that's fine.

In this more spontaneous question and answer from the floor, the candidates are asked to be brief, to get the remarks in in one minute, which should have let us cover more questions.

and now my trusty helpers in the back are being deluged with questions, which is great.

Why don't you guys give me a few of them right now and then if you want to do a little more organizing since I will say to you, I can see quite clearly, thank you for your contributions, but unfortunately it seems unlikely we'll get through them all.

So with these questions we will again go through the order because we have five candidates.

We did five questions before.

We would start with Bob if he's going to be in good enough shape to do it.

Jack, because we have so many questions, I'd like to ask the candidates if we put these all together and send them to you by email, can you answer them and then we will then post all questions

and all responses on the Alliance's website.

Thank you.

Yes.

That's fine.

Lovely.

Thank you.

Indeed.

Exactly.

Which they've already worked hard to come up with their answers to.

So, Bob, I don't want to put you on the spot.

Of course you'd fire away.

All right.

Great.

Thank you.

So the first question from the audience.

And again, everybody, please try and remember we're aiming for a one-minute answer here so we can move this along.

What is

Well actually it would be three things, jobs, education, and neighborhood association.

We are in the middle of

probably the worst recession in 30 years.

Now I go back to the Carter-Reagan recession and this is almost as bad as that and it could be worse.

We're going to have a major unemployment problem in our city and if there's anything that will destroy a family quicker than unemployed people in the home, I don't know what it is.

So jobs

Work on the education, the dropout rate for a world-class city is appalling.

And I know we can do better than that.

Thank you.

Mr. Long.

In the last year, the federal government under President Bush and under the current administration, President Obama, has spent well over $1 trillion bailing out big business and with President Obama's $750 billion economic stimulus package.

I believe that hundreds of millions of dollars should be devoted

to vocational and technical training for all citizens to receive technical training so they can move into better jobs and be able to reenter the job market with more competitive skills.

I believe that the city of Charlottesville has the opportunity to reinvent itself with Martha Jefferson's campus being opened with other available sites.

to bring in Fortune 500 companies and a variety of other types of businesses and companies so that we can have a variety of jobs in this city.

The major employer in this city is the University of Virginia.

With all good respects and deference to them, we need a broader spectrum of job opportunities for our citizens to be able to pick from so they are enforced to work in one particular place.

Thank you.

If you spend any time talking to low-income residents of our community and you ask them the kind of challenges they face, overwhelmingly you'll hear, loud and clear, is the high cost of housing in our community.

We have, depending on how you look at it, the first or second biggest gap in the state in terms of the gap between wages,

and housing costs.

For two years I tried to get an affordable housing investment fund, a dedicated fund for affordable housing in the city budget and it's an initiative that is going to dramatically improve the quality of life for working members of our community, low-income members of our community

and ensuring that the people who do the hard work of making the city function can afford to live here, which in many cases they cannot.

I'm very pleased to say that Kristin Sakis has agreed to support that initiative if and when it's reintroduced, when it's reintroduced next year.

That's a change that's going to have a significant impact.

We need to change the dynamics of poverty in our community, job creation, workforce development, family dynamics.

all that both of them said plus.

When I moved to Charlottesville 16 years ago I was told that Charlottesville had one of the highest achievement gaps in the state between poor and rich students and also between black and white students and as the mother of two African-American children that really concerned me and as they went up through the school I saw one by one

Classmates, schoolmates drop out, get in trouble, get pregnant, give up.

And I kept waiting for somebody to do something about it.

I saw programs that would come up and I'd think, ah, maybe this will do it.

But the poverty rate has continued to grow in our community and the achievement gap is still one of the highest in the states.

I began to realize that the achievement gap in our school is really just a symptom of an opportunity gap in our community.

We don't have enough living wage jobs, we don't have enough housing for people who make poverty wages.

But if those kids, if the kids of these families can't succeed in school, then we're sentencing them to a life sentence of poverty.

And that's just something that's not acceptable in a town like this.

It's not a school problem, it's a community problem.

Thank you.

Mr. Williams.

Last year, going to school full-time and just trying to manage the best that I can because I had a hope of a good future.

I had a part-time job.

It was difficult to find another job or even a second job.

I was fortunate enough to do so.

I only averaged maybe $125 a week.

$125 a week.

Difficult and it is extremely hard.

It is frustrating to not have that hope or to not see the light at the end of the tunnel.

There will not be economic development unless there is workforce development.

There will not be workforce development unless there is positive progressive initiatives at the government level to encourage and increase technical and vocational support.

What we need to do is create jobs that don't exist and that's not going to happen without an educated population and that's why we need to move forward with those type of progressive initiatives and all those will follow.

Thank you, Mr. Williams.

The next question from the audience goes first to Mr. Long.

It is, are there city management issues that give you cause for concern?

What are they?

First of all, I believe that the office of mayor of the city of Charlottesville should be in an elected position apart from serving the city council.

And I think that the city council is a legislative body, it should continue to function as such, and that the city of Charlottesville needs an executive in the office of mayor who does not serve on the city council.

Having said that, I really don't know whether there are management issues or not.

I think the city manager

has treated me with great respect and deference.

I think he's quite capable.

And if there are management issues, then it's the responsibility of all five members of City Council to be aggressive and keep on top of it and try to solve them as quickly as possible.

Thank you.

I think the biggest challenge that we have when it comes to city management is the fact that we're in the middle of an economic crisis right now in this country and that's affecting finances at our level of government.

We're seeing our funding from the state to our city services and the schools being slashed significantly.

We're not seeing the funding that we need from the state for transportation improvements.

Our own revenues are flatlining.

These are causing the city to have to make some very difficult choices.

And so as a management concern is how do you manage that dynamic?

And how do you

dampen the expectations of the citizenry who want to see us do a lot of things.

Thank you.

I think in any city there are always issues of management and governance that should concern us all.

I think it's why we have a democracy.

We're supposed to be concerned about these things and we're supposed to be always looking and watching.

I think that in Charlottesville, one of the things that

I want to make sure happens is that we need to make sure that the city management, the way that we carry out the business of the city reflects the way that the city council envisions for its carrying out.

I think that often people come to the city council, the city council makes decisions

But then the staff has to carry those out.

And I think sometimes there's a disconnect there in who shares that vision, where that vision comes from.

Thank you.

Mr. Williams?

I spoke with Paul Long a number of times regarding the idea of having a mayor elected from the people as opposed from city council.

Separation between the legislative branch and the executive branch is very important in any government body.

The reason why I keep touching on balanced representation is because

How can you manage a group of people and only manage certain areas or certain sections?

I'm not saying that that's what has happened over past councils, but I'd like to encourage balanced representation through a ward system and through having a mayor elected through the people.

An award system represents all eight precincts.

Secondly, as far as proper and fair management, we need to have accurate assessments.

We need to look at our goals, make clear our goals, and monitor the performance of our departments.

The vision comes from the top.

If our departments are suffering,

We need to radiate that enthusiasm from the city government.

Thank you.

Mr. Fenwick, I started out my remarks this evening by asking who was in charge.

Now the city is not well managed when the concerns of citizens are dismissed.

And I would flip around what has already been said.

I would not dampen the expectations of the citizens of Charlottesville.

I would raise them.

So that you have confidence when you come into this chamber and you say my sidewalk has not been dealt with for eight months, something's going to be done.

Somebody is going to be held responsible.

Remember, you pay every penny of everything that goes on in this city.

Thank you.

The next question goes to Mr. Norris from the floor.

This is a question from Jim Moore.

The city assessor has indicated assessments are down this year.

Will you be more inclined to increase taxes?

On the flip side, my comment about the tremendous pressure that all localities are under when it comes to managing finances is the fact that we have been very well managed fiscally in the city, but it's very important that we make it clear that this is an era of fiscal restraint.

and that also demands in my mind of us that we continue to hold the line on the property tax rate.

I have no interest, thank you, I have no interest in increasing and will not support an increase in the property tax rate this coming year.

I don't believe it's warranted.

I also don't support a tax increase.

I think that Charlottesville is about the middle of the state, the state is about the middle of the country.

I don't think that our taxes are abnormally low or abnormally high and I think that we should hold the line.

But I do think that there are ways that we don't have to cut services in order to

to deal with a tightening budget.

Volunteerism is one way that I think that we can really push to get citizens involved in the workings of the city.

I think that we can pursue grant opportunities.

I think we can work in alliance with other localities on some of the cooperative things we were talking about before with Albemarle County.

Thank you.

Mr. Rams.

I've already mentioned how I feel about raising taxes in general, especially property taxes.

I do think that we need to reallocate funds and basically stop the flow of monies to initiatives and to ideas that don't work.

Research is important, but there has to be a cutoff period, and we need to make a decision.

and we need to move forward with some progressive initiatives.

Let's just make a decision and have those decisions open for adjustment.

It doesn't have to be set in stone.

Let's just make changes along the way and that's not going to happen if we don't take progressive steps forward.

Charlottesville is a very fine and unique city filled with a lot of wonderful people I think and I do think that we can get or consider investment.

If we don't have money and if we're doing the best that we can to make sure that we're spending on the best things, Charlottesville can be invested in and I think that Charlottesville is worth it and we don't need any tax increases.

Thank you.

Mr. Fenwick?

This tax rate assessment business is a little game that's played every year with budgets.

Property owners see their taxes go up.

They complain and they are told tax rates haven't gone up.

But what's happened, the assessments have gone up.

That's why their bill is higher than it was before.

Now we're in a serious economic downturn

and I would bet there is no house in this city today that is worth more today than it was a year ago, but their assessments have gone up and the assessment is a measure of the value of the house.

As far as what programs would be cut, I would cut the expert study program, whatever that is in the budget.

We have competent staff people to do almost anything we ask them to do.

We do not need to spend money on experts, usually from outside of our community, who do not know our community.

And one last thing, the dam at Reagan Mountain, my position is no more dam money.

Thank you, Mr. Fenwick.

Mr. Wong.

I'm never going to say that I would never consider raising taxes, but saying that I want to say this.

I think it's very unfortunate that most cities are in the same position across the country that they have to rely predominantly on the real estate taxes of homeowners to support the city budget.

I have proposed at the University of Virginia, which is a state institution, you ride around Virginia, use child's hall, and look at all the new buildings that are going up,

The University of Virginia is operating a $2 billion a year budget.

They have $2 billion in their reserve fund and they are fundraising to raise another billion dollars as a wealthy institution.

I've called for the governor of Virginia and we're electing a new one to come forward with the jungle assembly.

and proposed paying the city of Charlottesville $3 million a year in lieu of paying taxes because they're obtaining a great number of services from the city, their employees and their students.

We have the Martha Jefferson Campus, we have the White Elephant Hotel that isn't finished, we have the Water Street parking lot, three prime locations that we can be enticing businesses to move in the city to give our citizens new jobs and also so they can join in paying real estate taxes

to give relief to the homeowners in this city.

I think I'm up to date.

Here I am.

So the next question from the floor is for Ms. Sakos.

We all think of ourselves as nature lovers.

That's an interesting question.

I'm not sure that I have a pat quick answer to that, but it's a fascinating way of looking at it.

I like that.

I think that one of the things that we can do in our community and that we need to do, and that I've been talking about a lot, is reducing the carbon footprint of every resident who lives here.

I think we can talk about growth or non-growth, but I think that what we can do is we can make sure that we conserve water, we conserve electricity, we conserve fuel, we figure out ways to produce electricity in our buildings and in our community.

We find ways to

make it possible.

I went to an alternative energy meeting, lots of ways that localities can encourage the use of solar power, of locally generated electricity.

So I think that that's the way that I would go at it.

Mr. Williams?

Could you please repeat the question?

Fair enough.

We all think of ourselves as nature lovers.

The actions the city takes, they're directly correlated with how that's going to affect our residents.

We need to make sure that there are green initiatives, more importantly progressive initiatives, that balance our need for funds, our need for more resources,

and our community.

Ultimately, balance is key.

We can't say that no, we don't want to have any growth, but we don't want to make some areas so dense that it's going to be difficult to manage.

I'd like to look more into that question and I'll be happy to take phone calls or emails regarding that matter.

And even though I don't know the definite answers now, I'll definitely find it.

Thank you.

Mr. Fenwick?

My response would be don't damage the city in the first place.

One of our early forums, a fellow asked, why do city councilors make bad decisions?

and I believe the response was they're getting bad information or they just don't know what they're doing, something like that.

When people in city council make a decision, they should understand what the consequences of their decisions are.

Narrow Creek Parkway, 24,000 vehicles a day coming into our city.

How do you mitigate that damage?

I mean, you know, there goes 20 years of work on pedestrian travel, bicycle travel, mass transit, gone.

because of the Meadow Creek Parkway, which doesn't benefit the city, which benefits the county.

We have a structure on the east end of the downtown mall that would do 20 times for business what the Meadow Creek Parkway would ever do.

It's called a pavilion, Fridays after five.

And remember, when we lose parkland, you can't mitigate that.

Thank you, Mr. Long.

Like Mr. Fenwick, I'm totally opposed to the Parkway and I'm opposed to anything being developed in the McIntire Park and I'd vote against those two things if I was elected to City Council.

I think one of the great problems with our natural beauty in the city and across the country is America's love of beer with the automobile.

I'm going to point out the fact that three years ago I had what I call many self-induced illnesses due to being overweight.

I started walking a lot.

I didn't join the ACC or any health club.

I lost 80 pounds and 10 inches in my waistline.

People need to be encouraged to walk, to ride bicycles, to get public transportation.

and to, you know, leave everyone of yours alone some of the time.

I'm not saying give them up and I'm not calling for a return to the horse and buggy era, but we have to, we spend too much money funding and accommodating automobile users and a lot of that money should be spent on public transit, bicycle paths and other alternative ways of getting around the city.

Thank you.

I think the first thing would be, as I said earlier, is adding to our green space and park land in the city.

Using capital improvement dollars, surplus dollars, etc.

for purchase and preservation of green space has to be front and center.

And as I said earlier, this year is the first year in many years we actually have money in our budget.

It's not enough, but money in our budget

to actually purchase green space for additional parkland in the city.

Secondly, I fully agree with Kristin Sakus in terms of promoting more conservation of water and energy.

Third, we need a commonsense water supply plan that puts water conservation front and center, that minimizes loss of trees at Ragon Mountain and improves the ecological health of our streams and rivers.

We need measures as we touched on earlier to expand our tree canopy in the city.

Five, we actually this year, it hasn't gotten much attention, but we implemented a natural landscaping policy in the city which allows for taking sterile lawns and actually doing some more ecologically friendly landscaping to them.

Thank you.

Well, to our 10th question, and I hope you'll agree with me, this is a fascinating conversation.

And the 10th question goes to Mr. Williams.

It reads, do you favor requiring all landlords to conduct regular quality maintenance?

I certainly agree with encouraging and communicating why it is important because we do need to maintain our communities.

We do need to make sure that they're safe primarily, but also that we keep our, the strategic environments.

As far as, now, as far as

Regulation, I'm not sure what the limit in regulating that would be, but I believe that definitely we should certainly encourage that idea.

And if we can regulate that, I do think it should be regulated, but making sure that we don't micromanage them.

Ultimately, you know, balance and taking constant assessments, I do think is important.

Mr. Fenwick?

Inspect the property every three years?

I'd inspect it every one year.

I mean I used to have rental property in the city and I couldn't get away with three or four months.

If there was a complaint by the tenant, they would go to the building department.

And I'd be on that as quick as I could get on it.

Three years really is a long time for a tenant to be in an apartment without somebody making sure that that property is well maintained.

A tenant who will maintain your property in spick and span condition is like gold.

Mr. Long.

I have no problem with being mannered every three years like Mr. Fremlich.

I think it should be done on a yearly basis.

Mr. Morris.

We do have staff here at the city that do regular building code inspections.

They do a very good job.

In fact, they're routinely honored for their professionalism and the work that they do.

And so I think we also have a blight ordinance to deal with the structures that are eye sores or public health hazards in our neighborhoods.

And we've actually not shied away on occasion from using it.

In fact, there's a hotel downtown that we might need to use that ordinance on as well.

So I think we're doing a sufficient job.

We do have a problem when it comes to substandard housing in our community.

One of the things that we've tried to do on the proactive side, rather than cracking down on building code violations, is actually increasing funding for home renovation and rehab, particularly for homeowners.

who cannot afford to make the improvements whose houses are in some cases literally falling down around them.

Thank you.

I agree with Mr. Morrison that I would rather do a carrot than a stick, but I think that there are cases where we have people who are

You could turn them slum wards in Charlottesville and I think that that can't be allowed to happen and I think that I would propose certain regulations that would address that.

Great, thank you.

Our next question goes to Mr. Fenwick first.

Why say there's a YMCA?

I do mess up but not that time.

So thank you.

So this question goes to Mr. Fenwick.

Well, because it will be next to Charlottesville High School.

We have spent a great deal of time, a lot of people know me because of Save McIntyre Park.

We have spent a great deal of time, and I would say more than the YMCA or the city has, in trying to find an alternate location for the YMCA.

The YMCA is a great organization.

We believe it should be closer in town to the youth of the city.

And there are several very good locations they could use.

They do not have to take McIntyre Park, which was left to all of us.

as a gift.

The city did not buy that land, it was given to us.

Thank you, Mr. Long.

I don't believe, I don't support building the YMCA in McIntire Park.

I believe it should be built in another location.

I think the warehouse district, and I don't know if it's just right below, the downtown area would be a good location for the YMCA.

I think the YMCA should be in a central location where it would be available equally to all members of the community.

If I believed all the lies and distortions that have been told about the blind see, I would certainly oppose it too.

I think it's been shameful, outright shameful, the campaign of lies and distortions against this fine community organization.

The reason for putting it where it's going to be built is because of its proximity to the high school.

It's the exact same reason why we are working with the Boys and Girls Club to build their new facility next to our middle school because you want to put programs, after school programs and other kinds of supports where the highest concentration of young people are that these programs are targeting.

The YMCA is going to provide after school tutoring, enrichment, leadership development, nature education, recreation, you name it, for high school youth who can walk across the pedestrian bridge from the high school and take advantage of these valuable services at very little cost to them.

This is a community that's losing far too many of our youth, far too many of our teenagers,

to violence, to drugs, to gangs.

We need more positive opportunities for them.

I fully agree and I do support the placement of the YMCA in the park.

I think people talk about that we're giving this away and I think that they don't understand that the YMCA has agreed to serve our low-income kids for nothing.

These are programs that we haven't been able to afford to offer for the kids in our community and the YMCA will be providing them.

and finally Mr. Williams.

I think we should consider potential alternatives that we may have before we make a decision and have it set in stone.

Although I do encourage making decisions.

Definitely.

We have to

Now with Mr. Norris' statements regarding the proximity to the school, I mean, you know, when children get out of school, they'll need something to do afterwards.

But I would like to see alternatives before we make a decision.

Thank you.

Our next question goes first to Mr. Long.

Well, I don't think the Council should support the Meadow Creek Parkway if I'm elected on November the 3rd, and I will vote against any proposals to build the Meadow Creek Parkway in the City, and that's my use.

Thank you.

I've been clear in my opposition to the Meadow Creek Parkway.

I don't think it's a good deal for the city.

I think it's going to make life easier for people who live in Albemarle County that want to get from one growth area to another at the expense of dozens of acres of city parkland and at the expense of making our city center.

more congested with vehicles, less pedestrian-friendly, less bicycle-friendly.

So I have consistently closed the Niner Creek Parkway.

The Parkway is obviously now under construction, at least the county portion of the Parkway.

There's an active debate going on right now about what's going to happen with the city's portion, what's going to happen with the interchange.

There's a public hearing October 29th.

I believe it's at seven o'clock at city space to discuss the design of the interchange.

Well I think that the conditions have not been met and that's very clear and I think that the current city council is at fault for having approved the Meadow Creek Parkway when those conditions hadn't been met.

The present company accepted.

I think that it may well be that the courts will rule against it and if that's true I certainly wouldn't support it because I've always opposed the Meadow Creek Parkway.

Thank you.

Well, I do try to look at all aspects of a circumstance to make a decision.

It's hard almost being last answering the same questions because it's like, well, no, it's the same thing, but no.

If we can go back in time that things would be done differently, I do think we should monitor exactly what happens in the surrounding areas and I do think that we do need to take a stand and not make things worse than what they are.

We need to consider what can we do to mitigate harmful decisions.

Thank you, Mr. Fenwick.

The Meadow Creek Parkway is a decision, is a plan that was set into motion back in the 1950s and back then they wanted to funnel traffic and shoppers into the downtown area, particularly of Charlottesville.

It is now 2009.

We think differently about traffic flow and how to route people around the city.

The Meadow Creek Parkway today is a terrible idea.

If I'm successful on November 3rd, I will be the third vote against the Meadow Creek Parkway.

I will oppose the Meadow Creek Parkway, I will join any demonstration against the Meadow Creek Parkway, and I will join any litigation against it.

Thank you.

Our next question goes first to Mr. Norris.

We do not yet have a state approved 30 to 50 year water plan required by law by 2011.

Absolutely, I mean this has been my mantra all along is that we need better information on a variety of alternatives to the current water supply planning, including, as I said earlier, we need to put conservation and efficiency front and center.

We need to adjust the demand projections, which we now know

to be or we strongly suspect and not outright know to be grossly over-insulated.

Based on the current realities, people are getting smarter about water consumption.

This is going to impact long-term demands, long-term use of water.

Our technology is improving.

We are getting better about stopping leakage in the pipes.

We haven't even really scratched the surface when it comes to rainwater harvesting, when it comes to greywater reuse, other technologies that are going to continue to reduce our per capita consumption of water.

Yes, because we do need to take accurate assessments, not only with water, but with everything.

We need to make sure that things are being managed properly, and if not, we need to figure out how to fine-tune

and all the elements of our government.

Thank you, Mr. Fenwick.

I would say yes first.

I mean, you have to get the information before you can make the decision.

We don't suspect demand is down.

We know demand is down.

We've got a citizen committee who has done work for three years to turn this conversation around, and they've done a tremendous service to our community.

It could be because of them, and I'm worried about the city, not the county, but we are one community.

It could be that their work will save this community $300 million, plus or minus.

Now in a major recession, that is a major accomplishment, and I applaud them.

It's the Citizens for a Sustainable Water Plan.

And last of all, as part of this discussion, because a lot of people know me as Dr. Dredge or something like that, I would say, Dredge here, Dredge now.

Thank you, Mr. Ralph.

If I understand the question right, it's a state mandate that there be a 50 year projection of decade by decade in terms of warding needs.

I just turned 60 last month, and the reason I say that, if you live long enough, I think it's difficult to project what's going to be the needs 50 years from now.

When I was 10 years old in 1960, I had no conception of what 2009 was going to look like and a whole lot of barriers.

But having said that, if it's a state requirement, yes, I would support it.

But I think technology is improving.

I think people are learning more intelligently in terms of water use.

Thank you.

I'm mindful of the time.

I think we're probably going to finally have time for one more question.

I want to make sure we leave time for the candidates to give their closing statements, which we'll run a minute.

But we do seem to have time, certainly, for one more question here, which we'll start out with Ms. Sakas.

And it reads, why did city council allow the Rivanna water and sewer and the solid waste authorities to, quote, fly under the radar, close quotes?

Isn't it the responsibility of city council to make sure that proper maintenance is done for the reservoir?

Why wasn't dredging done?

Of course I can't really answer the question, but I understand what it's asking, I think.

Thank you.

Ms. Williams.

Perhaps we didn't, maybe because of the lack of enthusiasm.

I don't know.

But perhaps also unbalanced representation could have been a factor in why there are some decisions that have been made, maybe wrongfully, if I can use that word.

The lack of accurate assessments also.

I strongly believe that we do need to take accurate assessments ultimately with everything, not just the water, not just the traffic, but government-wide, board-wide, department-wide, accurate assessments.

Thank you.

Many city councils in our city have ignored this.

And this is part of infrastructure maintenance.

It also includes things like sidewalks.

It seems that the city council would rather put up a glitzy building than take care of basic maintenance.

And that's where the problem is.

That problem continues to this day.

There's an item in the city budget now that says they will have as a goal

a certain percent, 3.7% or something for infrastructure maintenance.

I guarantee you that money has already been allocated to somebody.

Mr. Long.

I don't know why previous city councils may not have done that.

I would like to say in regards to whether I'm elected to city council or not, I think as citizens in general,

need to take responsibility for the city government.

And if it wasn't being done by city council, citizens needed to be on city council's back for not doing what they were supposed to be doing.

You know, I'm very cautious about people blaming previous city councils for not doing their jobs.

If that was the case, the citizens should have been here raising holy hell and demanding why weren't they doing their job.

Thank you.

And Mr. Norris?

I too can explain why previous city councils did what they did.

I can justify and talk about what this city council has done, which is we are now paying the cost for years if not decades of deferred maintenance.

We have inherited a water system, a sewer system, parks facilities,

down the line that have needed and that we've had to invest millions of dollars to bring them up to speed, if not replace them entirely.

I think this is the direction we need to continue heading is to be honest about our infrastructure challenges, to welcome and encourage citizen involvement.

It was because of citizens who started asking hard questions about these authorities that we are now, that we've now put the plans on hold and demanded more information and better information before we move forward.

That was because

Thank you.

We've now heard almost 15 questions, 14 questions, and software responses to them.

In a moment, I'm going to ask the candidates for their closing statements, and they agree to an order, a random order, which I'll tell you in a moment.

No, we're not done?

No, no, no.

Come back.

We can't do this without you.

So we are almost done.

We're going to be done in six minutes here.

But I just want to take one moment with this audience and with anybody looking through television eventually.

The Alliance of Neighborhoods is the kind of volunteer and umbrella organization that's trying to help make government accountable.

and trying to help protect the interests of neighborhoods.

At this point, alliance members include JPA, this is the city membership, JPA, Kellytown, Martha Jefferson, Meadowbrook Hills Rugby, North Downtown, Venable, Roland Mills.

In the county, we have us members Fontana, Peacock Hill, and Johnson Village.

Have I missed anyone?

Bill Knott is also a member.

So those are our current members.

If you didn't hear your own neighborhood association mentioned, I urge you to go off and speak to folks in it and certainly also in case of county homeowners associations, we can do good work, the larger we are with the more commitment we have from volunteers.

So I would appreciate your help with that.

Now when it comes time for closing statements,

Luck of the Draw said that Mr. Long would get his first crack at closing statements.

And Mr. Long is an efficient man.

Thanks, John.

We're delighted you're with us.

And if closing statements are limited to a minute apiece, please keep an eye on our timekeeper.

Ronald Reagan wasn't the only dramatic actor who made a very good politician.

And I'm very glad I was here.

And I believe in spirit of debate.

And I got a letter from the vice president of the Blue Ridge Builders Association, who gave me holy heck and a very nice letter about my proposals on CAP's own housing.

and I wrote him a letter up here to talk to him.

I appear on Rob Schoen's radio show for two times even though I'm philosophically opposed to anything that Mr. Schoen stands for.

I believe that I introduced myself deliberately as a liberal Democrat when I was on this program on purpose.

I believe that spirited discussion done in a civil matter is very good for the community.

I think that's been going on.

You may agree or disagree with me, but whichever way, go to the polls and vote.

It's good for the city to have this kind of discussion, these kinds of debates, or this kind of exchange of viewpoints.

I hope everybody, come Tuesday, November 3rd, goes out and votes for the cabinet of your choices.

Thank you, Mr. Long.

I also agree in a spirit of debate and on an earlier forum I mentioned something about a political monopoly and somebody took issue with that.

Well here's my opponent's palm card and James you take a better picture than I do, you're not included in this.

Two people, one position.

Where is a spirit of debate going to come from?

concern from the beginning was that city council needs an independent voice for just that.

To get a different view of anything that comes before the city council.

Now on election day, election day has power and it has magic.

The people in this room and watching on TV can change the direction of the city.

That's the power.

The magic is when you close that curtain behind you, nobody knows how you're going to vote.

You are not bound by an oath taken in a primary.

You can vote for two, one, nobody, or you can write in Andrew's name.

You can do whatever you want.

Save the shot.

Independent voice on city council.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Williams.

Originally, at the infancy of the campaign, I was asked, why didn't you run as a Democrat?

Why on earth did you run as a Democrat?

And why are you running anyway?

You're only 20-something, aren't you?

All of my, most if not all of my family, are Democrats.

But I wanted to focus on the most important element in this city, and that's our residents.

That's who I want my party to be.

I want to have an open ear, regardless of party.

I don't think that partisan politics at the local level is needed.

Why?

Because the more that there's discussion, there's less action.

Let's move forward and let's make some decisions.

Balance representation I talk about.

I support a world system.

Charlottesville has eight precincts.

We need to have consistent representation across all areas of Charlottesville.

We need to separate the legislative branch from the executive branch here in Charlottesville.

We will move forward because we have the potential, the light, and the beauty in our residents.

That's the party I represent.

As far as, I also agree with Mr. Fenwick.

I'll also be the third vote, but perhaps if there was two independents there would be four votes.

Four votes set in stone.

I don't have many disappointments.

I have, my experiences may be what I am today.

But one of my disappointments are being a write-in as opposed to having you easily just check my name.

But please, if you find it in your heart, please write me in.

Last night I went to a lecture at UVA by Bakari Sellers who is a 25 year old legislator from South Carolina.

When he was elected at 21 he was the youngest

Representative and a state legislature in the country.

And he said that he ran for office the first time while going to his first year in law school.

He was canvassing four hours a day, trying to get his law studies done, trying to raise money for a campaign.

And somebody in the audience asked him, why would you do that?

What kept you going?

You know, when somebody slammed a door in your face, why did you keep going?

He said, because I knew I had something to offer my community, and they needed me, and I didn't want to let them down.

And I feel that I have something to offer this community.

I've had a wonderful experience of raising my children here.

I've empty-nested.

I want to make sure that other people in this community have equal access to the sort of benefits that I've had here.

We have many complex challenges facing this community and I think that the obligation of the voters when you go into the booth on November 3rd is to consider the five candidates that you have before you and think about which two of these candidates are going to do the best job of reaching out, bringing diverse people together to try to understand the complexity of these challenges and come up with positive, constructive ideas for addressing these challenges.

Which of these two candidates

Can you trust to give you open, honest, truthful information?

Who is going to do everything they can to make sure that children and families in this community have a better shot?

I would submit to you that those two candidates are myself and Kristin Sakis.

I'm proud to be on the palm card with Kristin Sakis and with James Brown on the next show.

It's not because I expect that Kristen and I are going to always vote the same.

In fact, we disagree on a number of things, and that's okay.

But I know that Kristen is somebody who wakes up every day and says, how can we make this a better place for our children and families?

Thank you, Mr. Norris.

Finally, let me say thank you to this audience, to city staff, in particular to Joe Lice.

Thank you to Charlottesville Tomorrow for its coverage in the daily progress.

For more information about the Alliance of Neighborhoods, go to our website, allianceofneighborhoods.org.