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Charlottesville, Va.- Estimated 1,500 people attend rally to protest high taxes and even higher spending.Charlottesville, Va.—Here are couple comments I’ve posted recently on the Water Supply Plan debate.
"League of Women Voters Ask: What do we do when the rains stop" by Sean Tubbs, March 5, 2009, Charlottesville Tomorrow
"Crying Drought" Fatigue
"If the model tells us that there’s a greater than 20% probability" [...]
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“You have to do this, otherwise we don’t talk to you.”—Rich Collins on RWSA’s attitude, not his own policy while RWSA’s chairman 2001-03.
The motivation for her remarkable request [that the board vote down the nomination] was the failure of city officials (including herself) to meet terms they had set for themselves respecting response to community concerns.
Charlottesville, Va.- The 30-minute video from April 11, 2000 at the Senior Center captures the speeches given that day by 8 of the 9 candidates. It was the first forum of that year's City Council campaign and, for some of the speakers, it was their debut to the' [...]
(Peter Kleeman, Barbara Haskins, David Brown, Rick Turner, Satyendra Huja, Holly Edwards)
“One evil to pay for another evil” – Jane Foy on WINA referring to the controversial abusive driver fees.
(Photo July 25, 2007)You [...]
Opening remarks: My name is Blair Hawkins. I live at [address]. I’m here to talk about some of the history of Jefferson School since there’s an important vote on that subject tonight. We should know what we’re trying to preserve. I’d like to read a letter I’ve written to The [...]
The Rev. Bruce A. Beard spoke for a few minutes before the Vinegar Hill presentation Saturday afternoon in the First Baptist Church at 632 West Main Street. He’s been pastor since 1993.“Between 1949 and 1973 … 2,532 projects were carried out in 992 cities that displaced one million people, two-thirds of them African American,” making blacks “five times more likely to be displaced than they should have been given their numbers in the population.”
"As of June 30, 1967, urban [...]
But let’s not pretend the Republicans’ bill would cripple municipal economic initiatives or urban renewal. The city councils have an array of potent pump-priming tools, including tax incentives, subsides, favorable zoning concessions and public-private partnerships. If there is to be an error in rewriting the rules of eminent domain, lawmakers [...]
Potential residents and businesses may avoid communities that have a record of taking private property for economic development because of a greater uncertainty [...]
We the undersigned petition the City of Berkeley to replace all future HUD funding shortfalls out of the City's General Fund, as a means to properly maintain the Berkeley Housing Authority for future generations of the poor, elderly and disabled.
This is the 4th time in just over 2 years the Council has been asked to modernize its antiquated precincts.
Charlottesville, Va.-- Tuesday night voter registrar Sheri Iachetta asked the Council to create a committee to study a redrawing of the 8 precincts because they currently are "not optimally configured." [...]
Wanda Yvonne Stevens, director of Staunton Redevelopment and Housing Authority, wants to seize and sell Gerard Labreque's house at 18-20 Stafford St. and others to Staunton Development Solutions headed by Stu Armstrong, director of Charlottesville's controversial nonprofit Piedmont Housing Alliance. Staunton will get $1.4 million in grant money to boot. [...]
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that because the extortion is happening in a "redevelopment zone,” it can’t stop the Village of Port Chester, N.Y.Federal Court Allows Developers To Demand Cash Payments Under Eminent Domain Threat, January 16, 2007, The Free Liberal
Truthiness: Sounds true but isn’t.On the last day of the year, Matt Deegan became the latest local journalist to file a false report on an eminent domain-related story. If one part of a story is inaccurate, how can other parts be trusted?
"Habitat is not a nonprofit organization that the city can give, or sell, or donate land to. So as a result of this, the Piedmont Housing Alliance has agreed to receive the land and convey it later to Habitat" -- Mr. [Ronald L.] Higgins, city planning manager, Feb. 22, 2005
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In January they wanted 30 units, single family houses and townhouses. Now it's 7 houses and a dozen condos. In 2003 they wanted Granny-flat studio apartments above store fronts and a backyard mini-park.
A provision in the constitution that allows lawmakers to define public use for condemnation purposes undermines the purpose of having a constitution...A debtor who refuses to pay his bills in Virginia is given more rights than a property owner.
