More than a month after the firing of Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney, city leadership continues to argue over the decision-making process that led to her dismissal. At Monday’s council meeting, after grilling from city councilors, City Manager Chip Boyles once again offered an explanation for his decision that left some councilors unsatisfied. Though Boyles […]
More than a month after the firing of Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney, city leadership continues to argue over the decision-making process that led to her dismissal. At Monday’s council meeting, after grilling from city councilors, City Manager Chip Boyles once again offered an explanation for his decision that left some councilors unsatisfied. Though Boyles […]
Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker has called off her re-election campaign. She had planned to compete this November for a second four-year term on City Council, but pulled her name off the ballot last week in the immediate wake of the firing of Police Chief RaShall Brackney. Walker, the city’s first Black woman mayor, was elected […]
Walker running again Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker officially announced on Friday that she’s seeking re-election to City Council in the fall. The announcement does not come as a surprise: Walker has hinted multiple times in recent months that she planned to run for a second four-year term on the council. During a 28-minute Facebook Live […]
City gets a new manager After more than 15 hours of emergency closed meetings, Charlottesville City Council announced last Thursday that it had selected a new city manager: Chip Boyles, executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. John Blair, who has served as interim city manager for nearly three months, is leaving Charlottesville […]
A fond farewell Charlottesville superstar John Conover, 74, passed away over the weekend. Conover arrived in town in 1970 and started a printing press, before serving as a city councilor from 1980 to 1984. He later worked as an attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center, served on the board of Live Arts, and helped […]
“What’s been the hardest part of this job?” is, to outgoing Charlottesville City Manager Dr. Tarron Richardson, “a loaded question.” The city’s top executive tendered his resignation on September 11, and will finish his time at City Hall on September 30, after 16 months at the helm. (For reference, the three city managers before Richardson […]
Second chance City Council approves Flint Hill development After nearly an hour of discussion, and midway through a meeting that lasted until 2:30am, City Council voted July 20 to move forward with the Flint Hill housing development, a set of new homes to be constructed in Fry’s Spring. Last year, council rejected an initial proposal […]
Statue disposal Many of Richmond’s Monument Avenue Confederate statues are gone, but debate over their removal continues, and people have wondered where the toppled statues are being stored. This week, some sharp-eyed Richmonders noticed a large collection of monument-shaped tarps standing around the city’s wastewater treatment plant. It’s about as close as you can get […]
A report from a private consulting firm has concluded that Charlottesville and Albemarle disproportionately arrest black people, and that race-based disparities exist in the treatment of individuals in otherwise similar situations. The report analyzes adult arrest data from the beginning of 2014 through the end of 2016. During that period, more than half (51.5 percent) of […]
Mayor Nikuyah Walker was re-elected on January 6, after a short but intense discussion at a City Council meeting that left part of the new council feeling put out. Two councilors, Heather Hill (who made her own bid for mayor) and Lloyd Snook, abstained from the vote rather than cast their support for Walker. Just […]