There will be more segments in the future based from the Charlottesville City Council meeting, with information on how the collective bargaining discussion went. At this time, let’s learn a few more things from the report of Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers.
A community survey to take public input on Charlottesville’s next police chief is underway. The city has hired the firm POLIHIRE to conduct community engagement and the first questionnaire had been due yesterday.
“We will extend the deadline until next Monday night and give people an opportunity to go on,” Rogers said.
You can fill out the survey in English or you can fill it out in Spanish.
“It’s confidential and we encourage people to really us what you think,” Rogers said. “What do you want to see in your next police chief?”
There’s no public word yet on what the process will be to find a new City Manager. The city’s contract with the Robert Bobb Group has been extended through the end of the year.
That was the only public comment Rogers made from the ten-page written report. Here are some other highlights:
- The city closed July 19 on the purchase of a parking lot at 921 East Jefferson Street. The city paid $1.65 million for the 0.4 acre property. The spaces will be available for monthly leases in the near future. (See previous story)
- A Committee for the Preservation, Maintenance, and Security of the Downtown Mall has begun meeting to plan for the 50th anniversary of the pedestrianized space. The firm Raftelis has been hired to work on the project.
- The city is recruiting for several vacancies including Housing Program Manager, Grants Manager, Senior Transportation Project Manager. View all of the open positions on the city’s jobs website. The Housing Program Manager position is not yet posted but the written report states that the role “will manage all the City’s affordable housing efforts in an expanded role previously titled Housing Coordinator.” That position has been vacant since the summer of 2020 when John Sales became executive director of CRHA.
- Applications for the Charlottesville Homeowner Assistance Program (CHAP) are being taken through September 1 for relief from property taxes. Here’s the form.
Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook said he encouraged people to read the full report.
“We tend to report on things only when there is crisis of some sort and its useful to know what’s happening on a month-by-month basis,” Snook said.
Snook also encouraged people to attend tomorrow’s Town Hall on Greenhouse Gas Reductions from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The registration page is here.
Snook also said he is working with Delegate Sally Hudson on bringing a new form of voting to Charlottesville now that the General Assembly has authorized localities to proceed.
“If you are interested in the question of ranked choice voting or instant runoff voting, both at the nominations process and at the elections process, we would have the ability to get it up and running before the 2023 Council nomination and election,” Snook said.
Next year there are three seats up on City Council including Snook’s seat as well as the seats held by Sena Magill and Michael Payne.
The Charlottesville Democratic Committee utilized instant run-off in a firehouse primary in the 2011 race. In a seven-way race, Kathy Galvin and Satyendra Huja both qualified in the first round of voting, but it would take five rounds for Dede Smith to get the nomination. Paul Beyer came in fourth place and was 29 votes below Smith.
Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the August 16, 2022 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.
