Fenwick says he’ll vote to remove statue

In his second press conference of the week, Councilor Bob Fenwick, who abstained during the heated City Council 2-2 vote to remove Confederate statues last week, said today he’ll vote to move the statue of General Robert E. Lee at the next meeting February 6. “Immediately upon the vote being recorded, I will make a separate motion […]

Council chaos: Audience erupts over Confederate statue vote

Charlottesville’s confrontation with its slave-owning past has resulted in difficult discussions since Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy and Councilor Kristin Szakos called for the removal last March of statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and the renaming of the parks where they reside. At City Council’s January 17 meeting, the debate spiraled out […]

Former vice mayor, activist Holly Edwards dies

Even before she received a Drewary Brown Memorial Community Bridge Builders award in October, Holly Edwards was known for her care and compassion, and for bringing people who normally didn’t have voices to the table. The former vice mayor and parish nurse for Jefferson Area Board for Aging died January 7 at age 56. Edwards […]

Who’s a racist? Wes Bellamy and Jason Kessler speak out at City Council

An overflow crowd packed City Council chambers December 5 for Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy’s first appearance since the racist, misogynist and homophobic tweets he made before taking office were released on Thanksgiving. And the man who created the firestorm, Jason Kessler, showed up with a petition calling for Bellamy’s ouster. The majority of attendees were Bellamy […]

In brief: ‘Jihadist Threat,’ local government responsiveness and more

Chief of economic development splits While Albemarle County is all about economic development these days, Faith McClintic lasted 19 months before departing, and cited frustration working with the Board of Supervisors as one reason for taking a job with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in Richmond, according to Charlottesville Tomorrow. Not Republican enough? Downtown Business […]

Bikes in, dogs out at Ragged Mountain

In a 6-2 vote, the Charlottesville Parks & Recreation Advisory Board recommended on October 19 that City Council allow biking on some trails at Ragged Mountain Natural Area, but some sports enthusiasts still have their concerns about the endorsement. Dave Stackhouse, an advocate for shared use of the trails, says he’s disappointed the board recommended […]

Activist calls for boycott of City Council

JoAnn Robertson has had enough. She was appalled at conditions facing elderly and disabled residents at Crescent Halls who spent the summer without air conditioning. Now she’s calling for a boycott of City Council in protest of its new public comment rules that went into effect in February—and that already have drawn a lawsuit. At […]

CPC floats four parking scenarios

The parking wars have quieted since a judge rejected the Charlottesville Parking Center’s petition for an emergency receiver June 27 and CPC owner Mark Brown decamped to Greece. But here in the dog days of August, CPC general manager Dave Norris, whose June 24 proposal was rebuffed by the city, offers four scenarios for settling […]

Council split on Lee Park commission

City Council heard from around three dozen people at its marathon five-hour April 18 hearing on the statue of General Robert E. Lee and the forming of a blue ribbon commission on race, memorials and public spaces. Much like the citizens that spoke before them, the councilors found themselves split on how to move forward. […]

Censorship or civility? Debate about new City Council procedures rages on

City Councilor Bob Fenwick could be in big trouble. He spoke to a C-VILLE reporter recently about his concerns with new council meeting procedures and didn’t “explicitly” state it was his individual opinion and that he was not representing council, as required by the new rules. “I really objected to this,” says Fenwick, who was […]