Wading in

Juandiego Wade never expected to settle down in Charlottesville, let alone be elected mayor. When Wade met with C-VILLE—in a tiny meeting room in an under-construction City Hall building—on a snowy late January morning, the mayor arrived in a heavy winter coat and hat. He had just finished shoveling snow with a neighbor. Despite the […]

Independent Nikuyah Walker elected first black female mayor

  The first meeting of the new City Council January 2 went into uncharted territory with formerly behind-the-scenes decisions—the new mayor and vice mayor—made publicly, and for some on the dais, uncomfortably. New councilors Nikuyah Walker and Heather Hill were elected mayor and vice mayor, respectively, while the airing of the grievances allowed some rebukes […]

Three votes: Will Signer be the new mayor?

When City Council meets for the first time January 4, the five councilors will vote for a new mayor, which typically is already a done deal, and rumor is Mike Signer, incoming city councilor, has the three votes necessary to secure the mayorship. Signer, understandably, declined to confirm he has the job in the pocket, […]

Mensch: Former mayor Francis Fife dies at 95

If it seems like Francis Fife has always been an integral part of Charlottesville, for most of the 20th century he was. “It’s hard to imagine a program here he didn’t have a finger in,” says his wife of 33 years, Nancy O’Brien, who was Charlottesville’s first female mayor. She remembers meeting him when he […]