Monthly Archives: January 2023

New city housing committees get members but enough to form quorum

Charlottesville City Council has appointed members to two new committees formed as part of a call to restructure the way funding for affordable housing projects is governed.

“A major portion of the discussion during the Affordable Housing Plan that was developed a year plus ago was talking about the need to separate out the different functions, the different advisory functions into a funding committee and just the general Housing Advisory Committee [HAC],” said Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook. 

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Councilors pick up committee assignments from vacant seat

The resignation of City Councilor Sena Magill earlier this month also means that the remaining Councilors had to fill the vacancies she also left on other committees. In addition to attending Council meetings, each elected official serves on several boards and commissions as the official representative from Council. 

“We’re not filling every position that she had had but these are ones that have something going on right now for which its important to have the members right now,” said Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook. 

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Council briefed on revenue projections; $5M surplus projected for current fiscal year

The end of the fiscal year is 161 days away, and it’ll be about ten months or so until accountants will know if the City of Charlottesville will have a shortfall or a surplus. Council gets a quarterly briefing on revenue collections and spending and got a projection for another surplus from city staff.

“We’re looking at a total of about $5 million,” said budget director Krisy Hammill. “Most of those are driven by the tax revenue sources that we continue to talk about. The real estate tax… reassessment notices for calendar year 2023 will be going out at the end of this month.” 

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City to hire one firm to legal counsel for general operation, another for land use issues

The city is still seeking a replacement for former City Attorney Lisa Robertson with the position posted for applicants. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers had previously announced that Senior Deputy City Attorney Allyson Davies would serve as the interim attorney, but that has turned out to not be the case.

“We will fulfill the role of City Attorney with the law firm of Sands Anderson,” Rogers said. “We made that determination because we are down an attorney in the office and we think the nature of the support we need is with a law firm and not just one individual.” 

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Norris enters race for House District 54 seat

So far, there are no candidates who have filed to run for Charlottesville City Council this year, but two former members are now in the race for House District 54. 

Dave Norris served on Council from July 2006 until the end of 2013 and has filed a statement of organization with the Virginia Department of Elections. 

“I am pleased to have served the Charlottesville-Albemarle community in a variety of ways over the past 30 years, and I look forward to building upon my track record of proven progressive leadership if elected to the Virginia General Assembly,” Norris wrote on his campaign website

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