Richmond City Council Meeting for September 13, 2010

Entire Formal Meeting - Sept. 13, 2010 - Richmond City Council - Richmond, Virginia from Silver Persinger.

Revealing Session with Richmond City Council - Fall Retreat '09

Richmond City Council Fall Retreat - October 5, 2009 from Silver Persinger.

Above,if there is only one two hour and twenty minute Richmond City Council meeting you watch this year, this is it.

Watch as the meeting opens briefly for 12 minutes before going into closed session as Councilman Bruce Tyler [1st District] lets it be know to his fellow Council members and the public via my video camera that he was not happy with the process for selecting the three members to the GRTC Board. Particularly since none of his three recommendations were even granted an interview. Councilman Doug Conner [9th District] explains why he withdrew Mr. Tyler's recommendations.

After the Closed Session, the meeting convened with the acceptance of the Land Use, Housing, & Transportation Committee's recommendations for appointees to the GRTC Transit Board.

The recommended appointees are Linda Broady-Myers and James Johnson, current members being reappointed to the Board, and Sheila Hill Christian -- formerly the City's Chief Administrative Officer under Mayor Doug Wilder before she quit, former transition aid to Mayor Dwight C. Jones, former director of the Virginia Lottery, former Executive Director of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority [RRHA], former chief operating officer for the GRTC Transit System, and former Assistant City Manager under Calvin Jamison, former City Department Director, and former Chief of Staff for the City of Richmond.

The appointees were accepted by a vote of 5 to 3. Councilman Chris Hilbert [3rd District] was not present. Councilmen Tyler [1st District] and Charles Samuels [2nd District] and Ms. Reva Trammell [8th District] voted against the recommended Board appointees.

Watch as Council Chief of Staff Daisy Weaver loses Council members' attention. Watch as City Council members discuss abolishing the Open Citizen Comment Period at the beginning of meetings. Watch as they decide not to video tape their committee meetings (with the exception of President Kathy Graziano [4th District], and Councilmen Hilbert and Tyler). Watch as they discuss ways of increasing citizen participation and making City Hall more assessable.

All around a great meeting to watch to get a deeper understanding for the members of our beloved Richmond City Council.

* * Hi-Lights * *

Discussion of Doing Away with or Limiting Citizen Comment Period at the Opening of Committee Meetings


Discussion of Starting Committee Meetings Later to Encourage Citizen Attendence and Participation



Discussion of Video Recording Committee Meetings and Closed Captioning

Socialist Party of Central Virginia Meeting - June 28, 2009

The Socialist Party of Central Virginia met on Sunday June 28, 2009 at Deep Run Park in Henrico County.

The meeting was attended by Chairman Forrest Cook, Secretary Brandon Collins, Treasurer Reagan Greenfield-- all three live in Charlottesville, Aaron a member from Harrisonburg, Dick, At-Large Executive Committee Member from Montross, Virginia and Silver Persinger from Richmond attended as an observer.

Bulk of the meeting was consumed with amending the by-laws and "Rusty's Rules of Procedure."

This is just the first hour and a half of a near three hour meeting. We were not near electricity and the battery is only good for 90 minutes.

For more information, email spvirginia@comcast.net

This Week's Council Meeting, May 26, 2009

Opening Formalities

Above, the Richmond City Council May 26, 2009 meeting included an opening prayer delivered by John Westbrook [of Morning Star Baptist Church and Councilwoman Ellen Robertson's legislative assistant], the pledge of allegiance, roll call [all members were present], the fire evacuation plan, the appointments of Neville C. Johnson and Anita Randolph as members to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Oversight Board, and amendments to the agenda.



Awards and Presentations

Above, two awards were presented at this meeting. One award was presented to Richmond Public Schools' 2009 Graduating Class Valedictorians [Charmesa Cousins (Armstrong HS), Sheltia Strickland (Franklin Military Academy), Gina Gabriel (George Wythe HS), Marshé Minor (Huguenot HS), Dakeisha Bowman (John Marshall HS), Michelle Lewis (Richmond Community HS), Juan Wilson (Open High), Lamont Banks (Thomas Jefferson HS)]; another award was given to Richmond Public Schools' 2009 Mind Games Team Winners from Westover Hills Elementary School and Fisher Elementary School.



Citizen Commment Period

Theodora Parham commented on poor service of GRTC Care Vans and drug dealing neighbors. [0:30]

Ted Moody urged funding Recreation Workers for city youths. [4:15]

Keery Keenan and Todd Schall-Vess urged City Council's support for Friends of Dogwood Dell Arts Program. [6:45]

Allender Griffin opined the Echo Harbor development and baseball in Shockoe Bottom. [10:50]

Pamela Bohannon requested financial assistance to send her daughter on a trip to Japan to take part in the People to People Student Ambassadors Program. [14:40]

Jackie Kothe questioned the Council regarding legality of panhandling at the I-95 South Exit onto Cary Street. [18:00]



The Donald Hatcher Incident

Above, Council regular Donald Hatcher expressed his views on the 26 separate ordinances that constitute the City of Richmond's budget. However, after 3 minutes had expired, he wasn't done talking and challenged the limitation.

What followed was a tense standoff between President Graziano, Mr. Hatcher, an officer from the Richmond Police Department and Councilman Marty Jewell stepping in with a motion to allow Mr. Hatcher additional time to speak. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Reva Trammell. The vote was 3 [Jewell, Trammell, Tyler] to 5 [Graziano, Robertson, Hilbert, Samuels, Conner] with one abstention [Betty Squire].


Up until last year, citizens had the right to comment up to 3 minutes per ordinance or resolution. In an effort to curtail citizen participation (including my own), Council amended their Rules of Procedure [on Feb. 11, 2008, with Resolution 2008-R18-27, See page 11; Ms. Trammell and Mr. Jewell were the only Council members to vote against the change] and enacted an even more rigid standard where citizens are given only 3 minutes to comment on the Consent Agenda [which is commonly made up of 10 - 40 separate items] and papers that are called together [ie. bundling papers to limit opportunities for citizen comments]. Under the old rules, a citizen could spend his entire allotted 10 minutes speaking to the Consent Agenda alone.



My Comments

As usual, I hadn't planned to speak so much but found I had much to say. I spoke in opposition yet one more time to the use of inmate labor as currently proposed in the Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] Budget [Ord. 2009-50] under a line item entitled "Environmental Code Enforcement" managed by the Dept. of Community Development, the Richmond Sheriff's Office, private contractors HDL Services LLC and F.U.N. Construction and budgeted at $260,000.

I also spoke in opposition to continued support for Venture Richmond [Ord. 2009-97], a group that markets the city and operates the "Clean & Safe" program, operates the canal boats, and maintains the Canal Walk and Brown's Island, and is funded by a $1.7 million special assessment fee on properties located in the downtown and river front special services districts, in addition to a $700,000 contribution from the city; in opposition to the way the budget was prepared with almost no input from the public; in opposition to 8 papers that were being expedited in order to expend Council District Funds before those funds reverted to the General Fund.