When Charlottesville City Council and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners meet today at 4 p.m. in CitySpace, the latter body will still have two vacancies. (meeting info)
Council did not appoint any new members at their regular meeting on September 8 nor did they fill expired seats on the Charlottesville Planning Commission. The PC positions held by Ross Harness and Carl Schwarz ran out on August 31, 2026.
As for the CRHA, an at-large seat held by Javier Raudales expired on June 30, 2026 and he did not seek reappointment. A seat held for a resident commissioner has not been filled since Alice Washington died on July 22, 2025.
Council had concluded their 4 p.m. work session yesterday with a motion to go into closed session to consider filling a vacancy on the Planning Commission as well as to discuss the acquisition of a property “recently made available for purchase.”
There are no materials in advance for today’s joint work session with the CRHA and there was no substantive discussion of the relationship between the two entities during Council’s discussion on affordable housing. Council did learn that the first new households have begun to move into the second phase of South First Street. More from that work session in a future edition of the newsletter.
One area that Council will discuss in the near future will be a review of the supplemental housing voucher program that Council pays $900,000 a year to administer.
Another potential topic today might be an update on the lawsuit filed against the CRHA and other Virginia governmental entities alleging they fraudulently received COVID-era paycheck protection funding. On August 29, attorney Mark Churchill of the firm Holland & Knight filed a motion to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim. I’ll have a detailed update on that at some point, too.
Yet another topic might be the succession at CRHA now that the CRHA Board has announced executive director John Sales will soon leave the position.
Council met with the CRHA board on August 6, 2025. There was a “partnership report” created for that discussion which you can read here for background. Additionally, Council agreed to designate CRHA as a “fundamental agency” beginning with the FY2027 budget.
Since then, I’ve written the following stories:
- CRHA asks City Council for direct funding each year to support public housing maintenance, resident services, August 20, 2026
- Second development plan for Westhaven increases number of units to 266, December 26, 2025
- NDS approves “Major Development Plan” for Westhaven, March 19, 2026
- CRHA defaults in lawsuit seeking $1.5 million over ineligible PPP loans, judgment still pending, June 14, 2026
- Council appoints one to Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board, June 18, 2026
- Council agrees to another extension of agreement with CRHA for additional housing vouchers, June 26, 2026
- Judge in CRHA fraud case agrees to set aside default, August 26, 2026
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