New City Jail Discussed at Ellen Robertson's Town Hall Meeting

The topic of Ellen Robertson's monthly townhall meeting for Saturday, September 11, 2010 was the proposed New City Jail. Four developers were present at this event. This is one of the first meetings to publicly discuss the new jail project in greater detail.

The clip above includes the opening of the meeting. Vice President Ellen Robertson recognized a number of members from the audience including Council President Kathy Graziano [4th District], Councilman Bruce Tyler [1st District], Sheriff C.T. Woody, Chandra Smith [School Board, 6th District], and former-Councilman Bill Pantele, and Byron Marshall [Chief Administrative Officer].

A prayer was said by Reverand Alonzo Pruitt who works at the Richmond City Jail.

Part 2 - Presentation from Sheriff's Office on New Richmond City Jail - Sept. 11, 2010 from Silver Persinger.

Part 2 is a presentation from the Sheriff's Office. They recount a little of the history of the City Jail, describe its inmates (which they prefer to call 'residents'), discuss the need for a new facility and the desired design, which isolates the individual prisoner and relies heavily on video camera surveillance. This was promoted as more secure and reducing the staff needed to operate the jail.

Part 3 - Administration, Consultant, & Reverend on New Richmond City Jail - Sept. 11, 2010 from Silver Persinger.

In Part 3, top administrators weigh in. Byron Marshall [Chief Admistrative Office] and Chris Beschler [Deputy Chief Administrative Office, Operations/Director, Public Utilities], Walter Ridley, a city hired consultant from Fort Washington, Maryland [his website describes him as President/CEO of the RIDLEY GROUP and ASSOCIATES LLC, "A Criminal Justice and Faith-Based Consulting Firm."], and Reverend Alonzo Pruitt who works at the Richmond City Jail.



In this clip, Councilwoman Ellen Robertson discusses the historic significance of Eastview, the first African American Single Family Home development in Richmond, Virginia which was soon surrounded by public housing and a jail at the bottom of the hill. At the end of the clip, she urges folks to support the decision by Mayor Jones to keep the jail at its current location.

Part 5 - Comments from Eastview Residents - Ellen Robertson's Town Hall - Sept. 11, 2010 from Silver Persinger.

Comments from 50-year residents of Eastview, history of the neighborhood and of land. Interesting history here. 14 acres.

Part 6,
Closing comments coming soon.

Mayor Dwight Jones announces New City Jail will Remain in Shockoe Valley

Mayor Dwight Jones, Sheriff Woody, Michael Herring discuss Richmond City Jail from Silver Persinger.

At a Press Conference on Monday at 12:10 PM, Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced that the Richmond City Jail will remain in Shockoe Valley rather than being located at a new site. Four contractors have submitted conceptual proposals to his administration. They are City Central LLC of Richmond, which submitted the first proposal under the Virginia Public-Private Education and Infrastructure Facilities Act (they also hired Vice President Ellen Robertson's former Council Liason John Westbrook as a consultant for their project; their initial proposal for Commerce Rd. is in Mrs. Robertson's district); Tompkins Builders/S.B. Ballard Construction Co. of Washington, DC/Virginia Beach; Mojave Corrections Co. LLC of Nashville, Tenn.; and English/Balfour Beatty Joint Venture of Lynchburg, VA/London, UK.

Sheriff C.T. Woody also spoke about what efforts were being made to lower the temperatures in the City Jail from 120 degree Fahrenheit. Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Herring said that his office would be working to facilitate the release of between 350-400 non-violent inmates who would be diverted into alternative programs such as drug and mental health treatment.

Finance Committe Meeting - July 22, 2009 - "Accelerating" City Jail Construction Budget

Above, discussion of Ordinance 2009-145 to accelerate funding for the new Richmond City Jail. John Winter, Manager of Special Capital Projects from the Department of Public Works explained the paper.

Mr. Winter said these funds would be for used for procure and initiate the design phase and construction is planned to start Late Summer 2010. Mr. Winter said that the current fiscal year's budget [2010] was adopted at $2 million but they want to increase it to $17.6 million. The new City Jail's total projected cost is $137.6 million [$137,600,000].

This how it breaks down for this year's proposed budget:

$5 million = Projected Design Cost
$2 million = Site related work
$10 million = Phase I Construction, Mid-rise tower, 572 beds

Citizen Comment

Above, I spoke briefly about how the Council and Public weren't receiving sufficient information about this important project. This is the 3rd major presentation given to Council in recent months and the media (ie. Times Dispatch, Voice, Free Press or Style Weekly) has never been present to report this information to the public. Yet here they are asking for a major increase in their budget, and this money will be borrowed against the "City of the Future" line of credit established by Mayor Wilder and Harry Black.

Check out the guy in the upper right hand corner, blah, blah, blahhing, shaking his head, rolling his eyes. I guess he doesn't like transparency in government. His name is William A. Pace and on January 26, 2009 Richmond City Council appointed him a member of the Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks for a term of three years.


WATCH THE ENTIRE MEETING UNEDITED

THE AGENDA

Richmond Public Schools Fund Balance

State PILOT Assessments & Collections – Department of Finance

Papers for Consideration

1. Ordinance 2009-43 (Patrons: Vice-President Robertson, Mr. Tyler and Mr. Samuels) – To amend *** the Code *** for the purpose of providing partial tax exemption in redevelopment or conservation areas or rehabilitation districts.

2. Ordinance 2009-129 (Patron: Mayor Jones) – To authorize the Acting Chief Administrative Officer to accept $1,078,936 from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and to appropriate the increase to the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Special Fund Budget by increasing estimated revenues and the amount appropriated to the Department of Social Services by $1,078,936 for the purpose of providing funding for the Richmond Shelter Plus Care, Housing First and A Place to Start homeless assistance programs.

3. Ordinance 2009-133 (Patron: Mayor Jones) – To authorize the Acting Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to enter into the Sixteenth Commercial Area Revitalization Effort Program Cooperation Agreement between the City of Richmond and the Economic Development Authority for the purpose of providing for the operation of the Commercial Area Revitalization Effort (“CARE”) Program.

4. Ordinance 2009-134 (Patron: Mayor Jones) – To authorize the Acting Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to enter into the Sixth Extra CARE Agreement between the City of Richmond and the Economic Development Authority for the purpose of continuing the operation of the Extra Commercial Area Revitalization Effort (“Extra CARE”) Program in the Belt Boulevard and the Upper Hull Street commercial corridor.

5. Ordinance 2009-145 (Patron: Mayor Jones) – To amend Ord. No. 2009-64-87, adopted May 26, 2009, which (i) accepted a program of proposed Capital Improvement Projects for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 and the four fiscal years thereafter, (ii) adopted a Capital Budget for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 and (iii) determined a method of financing the same, to amend the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Capital Budget by increasing revenues from Commercial Paper Line of Credit borrowings and the amount appropriated to the City Jail Improvement Project by $15,000,000 and to amend the Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 and the four fiscal years thereafter by (i) increasing planned Commercial Paper Line of Credit borrowings and the planned appropriation to the City Jail Improvement Project by $17,600,000 in Fiscal Year 2010-2011 and by $13,100,000 in Fiscal Year 2011-2012 and (ii) decreasing planned Commercial Paper Line of Credit borrowings and the planned appropriation to the City Jail Improvement Project by $22,400,000 in Fiscal Year 2012-2013 and by $23,300,000 in Fiscal Year 2013-2014, for the purpose of accelerating funding for required improvements to the City Jail.

6. Ordinance 2009-146 (Patron: Mayor Jones) – To transfer and appropriate *** $800,000 *** to the Landmark Theater Renovation project in the City Facility Construction and Maintenance category for the purpose of providing additional funding to the “Phase IIA Performance & Performer Infrastructure Project” within the Landmark Theater Renovation project.

7. Res. No. 2009-R93 (Patron: President Graziano) - To approve an expenditure in the amount of $2,034.71 from the Council Districts Funds for the Fourth District to pay Reliance Mailing and Marketing for the mailing of the Fourth District Newsletter for the month of August.

8. Res. No. 2009-R94 (Patron: Mr. Samuels) - To approve an expenditure in the amount of $1,600.00 from the Council Districts Funds for the Second District to pay Reliance Mailing Corporation for sorting, labeling and mailing the Second District Newsletter.

9. Res. No. 2009-R95 (Patron: Mr. Hilbert) - To approve an expenditure in the amount of $1,090 from the Council Districts Funds for the Third District to pay Magic Carpet Bus Tours for transportation to the Smithsonian Museum on July 23, 2009, for the summer camp program held at Battery Park.

Electric Guard Dog Fence Company Wants to Electrocute You - July 20, 2009

Richmond City Council's Public Safety Committee met on Monday July 20, 2009 at the Richmond Police Academy. The meeting began at 5:03 PM.

Above, the meeting opened with comments from five individuals. Normally there may be one or two, many times there are none. Jim Szilagyi, owner of Plaza Bowl [ one of the few remaining and original Duck Pin Bowling Alleys] spoke to the committee about recently being cited by CAPS for code violations and stated there was no clear path for his business to comply with or an established process to address issues and still stay in business. A man representing the bowlers at Plaza Bowl also spoke in support of the city working to assist Plaza Bowl.

[17:30] Council regular and concerned citizen, Linda Herman spoke on three items, 1) Tree Maintenance / Danger of falling tree limbs 2) Mopeds and Bicycles not following the Rules of the Road and 3) Cars blocking the intersection of Broad and Belvedere during morning and evening rush hour traffic.

[26:30] William Andrews, self described resident of the 8th District and Lieutenant for the Richmond Fire Department, presented a proposal to the Committee to require bicyclists to be licensed. He also complained about bicyclist not following the Rules of the Road.

[31:00] Then I spoke. I agreed with Ms. Herman's concern about the intersection of Belvedere and Broad and suggested they post "Don't Block the Box - $250 Fine" signs. I expressed my opposition to Mr. Andrews' suggestion that bicyclists should be licensed but I agreed that there ought to be more awareness raised regarding better bicycle behavior. The #1 complaint I hear is bicyclists riding the wrong way on a one way street.

I also presented a petition to the Committee which had been signed by 29 individuals requesting the Council to adopt an ordinance lowering the fine for not having lights on your bicycle from $100 to $15. I also read several comments from individuals who had signed the petition.

Above, Irvin Carter, Budget Manager at the Sheriff's Office discussed the program where inmates are charged a dollar a day. Mr. Carter reported it cost $47 a day to keep an inmate or as the Sheriff's office prefers to call them, "residents." [ See ] He also said between April 17 and

[16:30] Next, Chris Beschler, Deputy CAO of Operations gave a thorough report to the Committee describing the timeline and plan for construction of the new City Jail.

Above, it wasn't listed as a presentation to the Committee on the Agenda, but Cindy Vaughn from Electric Guard Dog Company [Columbia, South Carolina] made a presentation about her company's electric fence. The presentation was related to the committee's discussion and review of Ordinace 2009-143 , which would allow electric fences, currently all electric fences are prohibited within the City's limits.

A number of business men were there to speak in support of the electric fence.

Dick Menendez, Chief Operations Officer of Richmond Auto Auction. [1:17:30]

Bill Stratton of Stratton Metals on Brooke Road reported he had installed the fence in mid-2005. [1:25:40]

Kenneth Treat, Terminal Manager for Old Dominion Trucking. [1:29:40]

And an individual representing Wayne Bombard Trucking. [1:31:50]

I spoke in opposition to the ordinance. [1:32:45]

News on New Richmond City Jail

Council Vice President Ellen Robertson (6th District) and Finance Committee co-members Bruce Tyler (1st District) and Charles Samuels (2nd District) as well as Council President Kathy Graziano, Doug Conner (9th District), and Interim Council Member Betty Squire (7th District) attended the meeting.

This clip from Tuesday's Budget Work Session is the most significant description of the new jail that has been given to the Council.

Philip "Tony" Jones, Operations Manager, Facilities for the City of Richmond opens video discussing the proposed $250,000 in this year's budget for "stabilization of the [jail] building until we can build a new jail."

John Winter, Special Capital Projects Manager for the City of Richmond, Virginia discussed some design concepts and policy decisions that were going into the designing of the proposed new Richmond City jail. Mr. Winter said the total project cost would be $137.6 million. The rated capacity at the current city jail is 882, the inmate population varies between 1200 - 1500, usually at the higher end. The new facility would be built by 2013 at the current location and most of the old jail would be torn down. The new jail is proposed to have a rated capacity of 1032 and a key component of the jail would be the development of alternative programs to keep less serious offenders out of jail. This is to be implemented over the next 2 - 3 years.

There were about 30 people in the audience, all city employees whom I recognized for the most part. There were no other private citizens nor news media present at the meeting. Watch the video, it's only 16 minutes long.

Mayor Jones speaks to 6th District Saturday, March 14, 2009

Mayor Dwight C. Jones addressed citizens of the 6th district at Ellen Robertson's monthly town hall meeting held on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at the Bank of America building in downtown Richmond, Virginia.

With introductory comments Vice President Ellen Robertson explained her new meeting schedule for the 6th District. In addition to her regular monthly meeting at the Bank of America Building (Second Saturday of each month), since January she has been holding additional district meetings, that alternate monthly between the North and South Sides. The focus of the Southside meetings is improving education for children. The Northside meetings will emphasize the issues of housing, abandoned property, blight and illegal rooming houses.

At 6:00 minutes, Mayor Jones took the podium and opened with a prayer. Mayor Jones referred to Mrs. Robertson as "an energizer bunny" that "is handling the business." Mayor Jones said "City Council meetings are not fun. They take a lot of time." Mayor Jones recalled Mrs. Robertson's early support for him as a mayoral candidate, "When things were not going so well during the last four years, she was one of the first ones who came and said, We gotta do something and you oughta be the one to do it."

Mayor Jones repeated the mantra of his administration, "Collaboration, communication, and cooperation." The mayor said a vast majority of the city's 4,000 employees are "good, competent people who want to do a good job." Mayor Jones said he wanted employees, as well as City Council and the School Board, to know that they are valued.

At 9:00 minutes, Mayor Jones spoke about the Dove Court development and cited goals of decentralizing poverty and acknowledging "our need and responsibility to those who need affordable housing." At 10:00 minutes, Mayor Jones discussed his decision to drop the appeals filed by former Mayor Douglas Wilder which had cost the city $1.2 million dollars over the last couple of years. Mayor Jones expressed his hope that the Charter Review Commission would iron out any ambiguities that currently exist in the charter.

Then Mayor Jones repeated his goal of establishing a Tripe A bond rating for the City of Richmond to dispel "the perception of being inept and improperly managed."

At 14:00 minutes, Mayor Jones said that he had "inherited the need for a new city jail." The current city jail has a designed capacity for 800 but it currently holds 1500 prisoners. Mayor Jones said, "I'm not going to accept the projections of a jail that's so huge, that what we'll do is just keep on filling up the beds... I refuse to build a jail that is so huge." "We're going to find a way to handle the mentally ill by not sending them to jail, that's not where they belong." Mayor Jones also mentioned alternatives for non-violent offenders (ie. non-payment of child support, traffic violations) such as ankle bracelets as a means of saving money.

At 17:15, Mayor Jones spoke again about the need for regional cooperation. Mayor Jones told us he had been participating in regional meetings and working with county managers and supervisors. Working with Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, Hopewell, and Petersburg.

[18:30] Mayor Jones discussed working with the City Auditor to implement suggestions made by the auditor, and his support for implementing the recommendations of the City Master Plan.

At 20:00, Mayor Jones got a question about affordable housing. Mayor Jones responded, "We don't [want to] replace these depositories or concentrations of poverty with other concentrations of poverty." "The plan is to spread affordable housing out," mixing affordable housing with market rate housing. "Our goal is to make sure that we have affordable housing but that you don't know where it is."

The mayor's comments wrap up around 24:00 minutes, followed by four more minutes of Vice President Ellen Robertson. Mrs. Robertson said we would be seeing more in the way of regional cooperation because of Mayor Jones' initiative in working with other local governments. She also talked about the mayor appointing her to the Regional Workforce Commission and the previous way workforce development had been handled in the past with Richmond receiving just over a million dollars a year and the 8 surrounding counties collectively receiving about half a million dollars.