Informal Session - Convention Center / 2nd Street Connector / Unassigned Fund Balance / Budget Timeline / Docket Review

Part 1/2 - 2012 Feb. 27 • Convention Center/ 2nd St. Connector • Informal Session • Richmond, Virginia from Silver Persinger.

Richmond City Council's Informal Session began at 3:14 PM.

Jack Berry, President & CEO of the Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors' Bureau showed a 4 minute, $150,000 video that had recently been produced and gave Council an update about the Convention Center. [0:55]

Jeannie Welliver, Project Development Manager, discussed the proposed 2nd Street Connector. [20:00]

Part 2/2 - 2012 Feb. 27 • Unassigned Fund Balance /Budget Timeline /Docket Review • Informal Session • Richmond, Virginia from Silver Persinger.

Hi-Lights from the March 23, 2009 Meeting -- My comments

I spoke to the City Council on various topics that were discussed on the evening of March 23, 2009. First I spoke in opposition to the appointment of Thomas A. Silvestri, Publisher and President of The Richmond Times-Dispatch, to the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau on the grounds that it would pose a conflict between objective reporting and supporting the goals of the Visitors Bureau, it represents a continuation of the "good ol' boy network," and the Bureau needs a more gender-balanced board -- currently only 5 of 21 members are women -- and Mr. Silvestri was appointed to replace a woman who had resigned, Nicole G. Hood.

I also spoke against the naming of an alley "Herbert Hamlet Alley" because the current process gives developers too much power to assign alley names rather than having a process where the public has a role in determining the naming of a public right of way. I also included the comments from the applicant for the alley name, Jane Allman from Monument Construction.

And finally I pointed out the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget which they were adopting (finally, after former Mayor Wilder declared the Council's adopted budget invalid) did not include $5750 for the Virginia Cooperative Extension, which the City previously had to restore to a recent annual budget.