Council Candidates Forum   10/5/2011

So Deborah.

Thank you again.

So Scott, you can begin your opening statement.

On with the show.

All right.

Thank you.

I like the work, I applaud the efforts of the previous councilors before me but to tackle these new issues we need a new perspective.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

How will this honor affect our citizens who feel neglected, ignored, are living in poverty or are currently homeless?

within the means of air budget.

Would anyone else like to comment on this question?

And I think everybody will come out better for this.

Then once we tackle some core issues, then we can move forward and bring some new people to the city.

Yes, Kathy.

That does need and demand that we grow, but we have to grow responsibly.

Thank you.

I love having these surveys come down, but let's not forget that to be a complete city, everybody has to be part of it.

We can't just rely on the same old strategies that have failed us.

And if there is no African-American that is appointed to city council, will this community still have an advocate on the council?

We are people who represent all the total community, not just one part of the community.

We don't want you to take precedence over them, I don't think, but how do you assure them that they will not be forgotten?

I think one of the things that we have done in the last few years is dialogue and race, which has tried to resolve our concerns and issues between us, but I think that makes a difference.

Andrew?

Have someone on council that understands them.

Yeah, we'll take two more responses and then move to the next question.

Those are the kinds of things we also need to think about in terms of getting back our African American middle class.

and until everybody has that voice, some people in this community are going to feel left out.

The neighborhoods, the distinct character of our neighborhoods needs its own representation besides an at-large representation of the citizens.

How do you engage them?

There are so many different things that could be done to engage individuals on a personal level, to bring them in not just to council but to the different committee meetings.

OK. Brandon?

and I think if we can make Charlottesville a place where all documented and undocumented immigrants feel comfortable, that's going to go a long way towards their feeling included into our society.

These are staggering statistics.

But I think it's a great start and the model that they use about partnering with our large institutions that do have commerce that can be imported into our community I thought was a good model.

This is available to anybody up on Hydraulic Road.

And so we need to encourage small businesses in our community and prepare the workforce to be ready to use those jobs which are created.

Okay, one more, Mr. Williams.

And that is only through education, particularly with the underrepresented populace.

What are these jobs?

So again, the Office of Economic Development combined with the Neighborhood Services Office can work together to create the environment that makes it attractive to come here.

Okay, Scott?

Let's stop trying to be like opening up trade to China for the first time.

Anyone else?

Bob?

It's the people at the bottom that the policies of the city should address.

And education is paramount in that discussion.

But have these issues been made so big, Mr. Huja, at the expense of other important issues, homelessness, poverty, the achievement gap?

We've been discussing it for 45 years.

That's a long time.

We need to do likewise for the future.

Andrew?

In order for Charlottesville to be a world-class city we need to make sure that we are taking care of our weakest links and those are the underrepresented neighborhoods and only through education is that possible.

David?

It's not, they're all related.

Okay, Brenda.

If we want to talk about water, let's talk about subsidizing more water bills for more people.

What do we do about these things?

We've ignored these issues and they've caught up to us.

OK, Mr. Huja, we haven't heard from you in a while.

Okay.

I hope that includes the Woolen Mills Pumping Station.

Andrew?

We need to move forward with results.

Brandon

Thank you.

The issues are one thing, but having people on council that understand the different areas of the city is another valuable asset, as well as the possibility that we could diversify in terms of cultural background.

I would represent the citizens of Charlottesville and not the party.

That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be having party politics.

Please vote for at least two independents in this election November 8th.

Again, bringing in additional people to serve in this very time consuming, arduous position is going to be something that we have to really look at seriously and how to entice people to come and do the job.

It doesn't matter, it's time that this be brought about.

Now this part will be about 45 minutes long, so because we have so many, we're going to be very selective in who answers what.

So, yeah.

What can we do to fix that, Brandon?

It's their world that we're ruining for them and they should have a lot more say in a lot of things and that's about it.

Thank you all for that question.

Do we have time to do that?

Would you be willing to support an expansion of this coming home to work program to fund full-time jobs for more ex-offenders?

So I think it is going to be a successful program and could be expanded.

Didi?

one segment and I think the re-entry issue is a sort of wonderful one to include in this initiative to bring more industry into Charlottesville and I think we need to think about this holistically, not that I'm at all opposed to the city with their pilot program but in the big picture we really need to be including everybody who needs this kind of employment.

And how will you make sure that no one is left behind?

Okay.

Short of rescinding the panhandling law, I have to agree with Ms. Galvin.

Has anything been done to offer scholarships to the children of housekeepers, cafeterias, workers, et cetera?

Andrew?

you know on a tuition reimbursement basis or if we have the opportunity you know put the monies up front and you know make sure that they understand that they need to get you know beyond a certain GPA or grade point average and then go ahead and pay like a hundred percent I think that that's easy to do it's a you know cost friendly and I encourage people to start at community colleges especially if they don't know you know what they want to do in life.

I don't know if your audience is aware that there is a scholarship program which Citi helps set up so it gives scholarships to children from this community to any college they want to go to.

Brandon.

They do not house enough of their own students and it's really, really hurting us out here.

Andrew?

So we need to find a balance, and that's only going to happen with balance representation November 8th.

So again, it's one of those things that can help us all if we get a little bit more diversity in our economy.

Mr. Huja.

So they ought to have some input into that process and to make sure that what benefits their neighborhood and their community and they need to be active part in that process of designing and building their community.

so that's a lot of the things we're talking about tonight come down to the economic situation in our city whether we're going to promote job growth and if we do we don't have to raise taxes the sales tax will come in we'll have more sales taxes and then we and then the neighborhoods will actually be making the decisions of how that money is spent

We need multiple vehicles to get citizen input and to be sure that we're getting all of the perspectives that we need to make these important decisions.

In order to provide a new solution, you need a new perspective.

What will you do if elected to ensure that residents are involved in all aspects of decision making?

So this is residents of public housing and being involved with decision making on what levels?

Thank you, Joy.

What that did is it cultivated a sense of ownership and in fact many of the sites that we saw actually were run better, had better rapport with all their residents when there was that sense of ownership on site.

and appoint residents of public housing to the CRHA.

And elaborate a little bit what you mean by it's a scary thing to live in these neighborhoods.

They need to have the final say in everything that happens to that.

Did I ask you right, Debbie?

Okay.

and it is the city's responsibility if they're funding to be sure that they're not, you know, throwing money just because it sounds good.

They're setting goals, objectives, as well as performance measures for each program so that, and they're being monitored now starting this year.

Okay, Mr. Williams, one more.

We need to go ahead and expand those services for the working class here in Charlottesville.

Does that conflict of interest bother you?

Scott?

This would have been a moot matter because both sides of these issues would have had a fair say

I think it's just a false statement in my mind.

Mr. Fenwick?

It bothers me greatly.

one of which, Nestle, the Nature Conservancy itself is an international five billion dollar organization and I think it's the role of city councilors to protect city assets and that is what we've asked all along is that the city council play the role of protecting the city assets.

It already is.

Or you want to?

That's a late connection.

I think we should all commit to never privatizing our water supply at all, ever.

If you believe in partisan politics and competition, why aren't you running as a Republican or another party's candidate?

And what was the last part of that question?

if you believe in partisan politics and competition.

I have friends on both sides that I couldn't put together, but if I'm there with them, I can keep them apart and we can get things done.

Why are you not running as a Democrat or Republican?

So, even if Albemarle County and some, you know, other surrounding, you know, entities or elements want to do their own thing, my relationship and my responsibility is to you and I think that those characteristics are independent and they are pure and that's why I'm running.

Yeah, what's your question?

Okay.

Okay.

Well, tell me your name again, ma'am.

Andrew, you wanted to expound on that?

That's what I'd like to see as an independent.

Bob, you wanted to add to that?

So while we're attracting new businesses, don't forget about the businesses and the people that are already here.

We will take your questions for about another 10 minutes or so.

The day before they were going to be sued for misrepresenting the facts, they decided not to pursue that permit anymore and said they were going to come up with a new plan and started bulldozing an RU4 road that City Council has not even seen a complete design for and that has been shown to actually increase traffic in downtown Charlottesville neighborhoods.

So the two have similarities and I think it's the responsibility of our elected officials to make responsible decisions based on a full set of design.

Mr. Huja and Mr. Williams.

So I think it is something which is good for our community.

But I pretty much think someone shot from the hip, but as in many decisions there are, there needs to be room for adjustment and I think that with good judgment we can make sure that it's the least negative impact on residents, which the water plan doesn't have.

Do we have another question in the audience?

Brandon?

And maybe I'll get into that later.

We had another question here.

Just to inform on this item, there is a program where the city does help low income families with utility bills, and it is available.

Thank you for your question.

Kathy?

And I totally support that.

Okay, we'll take one more answer.

They have to be at the table.

Of the three Democrats, who do you see yourself working with?

Not because he's for the dam, but he had the tenacity to at least stand up and say to his credit that the one thing that matters is water coming out of the spigot.

Kathy Galvin, of The Independence.

I am completely in awe of that and I think that's the kind of dedication that would serve the city well.

If she was given the opportunity for a leadership position that you can sleep well at night because she's going to make sure it's done.

So I think he fits all the bills.

You're getting a lot of endorsements, Mr. Williams.

All right.

She can fix it.

and think that everybody brings a special gift and talent and perspective to this race.

Of the Independents.

Frankly, I'm going to abstain from this and I apologize for that, but there isn't anybody I would want to disrespect here because I think everybody has a wonderful gift to bring.

It's closest to it than anybody else on this team.

We're only on one choice.

We have those conflict of interests.

One minute.

I'm going to move for guaranteed employment and expansion of public transit and a lot of things, but I'm out of time, so thanks.

I hope you all will come out on November 8th and have your voice heard.

So thank you.

Thank you.

So, andrewforcivo.com and I would appreciate you coming out regardless of who you vote for.

Thank you.

Please exercise your right to vote on November 8th.

Now, wasn't someone here that had another question that they wanted to address real quick to anybody?

Good.

Thank you.