Jo Gehlbach, Government Affairs Coordinator.

Jo Gehlbach, Government Affairs Coordinator.

CITY OF RICHMOND

Mayor sets six meetings to discuss development on Boulevard

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ office has set six public meetings to “explore possibilities for developing and using the city’s land in the Boulevard area.” The first meeting is scheduled to take place Jan. 19 at the Department of Motor Vehicles headquarters on West Broad Street.

The public meetings follow a resolution passed in a controversial, late-night vote by the City Council during its last meeting of 2015.

Judge dismisses rezoning lawsuit against Richmond School Board

A Richmond Circuit Court judge has dismissed a racially charged lawsuit against the city School Board that emerged as a campaign issue for Republican state Sen.-elect Glen H. Sturtevant in a bruising contest against Democrat Daniel A. Gecker last fall. In a five-page decision issued this week, Judge W. Reilly Marchant declined to address the thrust of plaintiff Kimberly Jones’ arguments because she no longer has a student enrolled in Richmond Public Schools. The complaint filed in 2013 centered on the closing of Clark Springs Elementary School and associated changes to attendance zones. Jones also raised concerns about transparency and the way in which Sturtevant and other School Board members discussed redistricting plans, a criticism highlighted by Gecker’s campaign and supporters in mailers and TV ads.

Mayor breaks silence on church issue as more emails emerge

As he oversaw construction of Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ new church, the city’s director of public works used his official email account to communicate with contractors who had business before both the city and the church, according to an inspector in the city auditor’s office. And of the five contractors who engaged in church-related communication with the director, three listed city account numbers on proposals they submitted for church-related projects. “So that obviously raised a flag for the investigation to try to look for that needle in a haystack,” said city investigations manager Craig Johnson. “And it’s trying to find a needle to match that dollar amount to see if there was any city funds expended for the church project.”

Report sees stadium near, but not part of, a Boulevard project

Richmond officials say a redeveloped Boulevard with housing, retail and a hotel could generate $339 million annually in economic impact and $8.8 million a year in direct tax revenue by 2035. The analysis, presented to City Council members this week, came with one major caveat: that a stadium not be maintained on the city’s 60 acres of property there. “Currently, baseball on the Boulevard does not have the highest and best economic impact,” said Tyler S. Verin, a project manager for Tripp Umbach, a Pittsburgh-based consulting firm hired by the city.

Mayor Jones asks Va. State Police for review of church-city ties

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones on Thursday asked the Virginia State Police to review questions raised by an audit that said the city’s public works director also oversaw the construction of a new campus for the church that Jones heads. Jones released the letter late Thursday. It follows a report last week by city auditor Umesh Dalal, who found that Emmanuel O. Adediran was supervising construction for First Baptist Church of South Richmond while on city time. “I welcome a third-party, independent review that isn’t complicated by my role as mayor and as senior pastor of the church in question,” Jones said in a letter to state police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty. “Your involvement can also assist the city auditor with respect to the direction his reviews may take.”

CHESTERFIELD

County seniors still pressing for long-awaited facility

Local government leaders have known for some time that a massive age wave is bearing down on Chesterfield. Unless something changes over the next few years, say citizens frustrated by the continued lack of funding for a senior center, the county won’t be ready when it hits. “We’ve been talking about this for more than 10 years,” said Gloria Easterling, a longtime Chesterfield resident. “I don’t know what they’re waiting for.”

Chesterfield supervisors extend policy on prayers and elect new leadership

Chesterfield County’s Board of Supervisors elected its leaders for the coming year and extended a prayer policy at its first meeting of 2016 on Wednesday. The policy, which was instituted a year ago, calls for supervisors to deliver a prayer or moment of silence themselves — rather than religious leaders — at the start of their meetings. Wednesday’s meeting was the first for board members Leslie A.T. Haley and Christopher M. Winslow, who were elected in November.

GOOCHLAND

Goochland Middle wins national honor

Goochland Middle School been named as a Schools to Watch by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. The organization chose the school its “academic excellence, social equitability, and responsiveness to the developmental needs of middle school students.” Schools to Watch is a nationally recognized, state-operated school evaluation program that focuses on students in fifth through eighth grades. The forum works with the Virginia Middle Schools Association here.

HANOVER

Hanover supervisors elect chairman, appoint Planning Commission member

The longest-serving member ever on the Hanover County Board of Supervisors was elected Wednesday to lead the seven-member governing body for the year. Aubrey M. Stanley, who is entering his 33rd year as the supervisor representing the Beaverdam District, was nominated by Chickahominy District representative Angela Kelly-Wiecek and unanimously elected chairman at the board’s first meeting of the year. It will be the fifth time Stanley serves as chairman, said public information officer Tom Harris.

HENRICO

Supervisors elect Nelson to lead board, Marshall appointed to Planning Commission

In the Henrico County Board of Supervisors’ annual shuffle of leadership, the panel selected Tyrone E. Nelson of the Varina District as its chairman and Richard W. “Dick” Glover of the Brookland District as its vice chairman. Also at the meeting Tuesday night, Sandra M. “Sam” Marshall was appointed to the Henrico Planning Commission to represent the Three Chopt District. The seat was vacated after Tommy M. Branin won the November election to the Board of Supervisors. The board was led in 2015 by Frank J. Thornton of the Fairfield District. Nelson, who is in his second term, served as vice chairman. This is Nelson’s first term as chairman.

POWHATAN

Board appointment causes tense moment

A round of appointments to boards, commissions and committees by the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors during its meeting last week grew tense when voting on two regional positions unexpectedly ousted a member currently leading one of those groups. Of the 16 separate boards or groups voted on by the board at its meeting on Monday, Jan. 4, only two hit any snags: appointments to the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission (RRPDC) and the Richmond Area Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). The RRPDC is a regional planning agency with major emphasis in the areas of transportation, local technical assistance and information services including demographic, economic and geographic information systems, according to its website. It is comprised of elected officials and citizens who address mutual problems and develop solutions for the local governments which benefit from intergovernmental cooperation.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

As Va. General Assembly convenes this week, freshman legislators face a pile of issues

The 2016 Virginia General Assembly convenes Wednesday for a 60-day session with a newly elected legislature that will reflect a significant loss of lawmaker seniority from the Richmond region during an important budget year. Three new local senators with no previous legislative experience — Glen Sturtevant, R-Richmond; Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield; and Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico — will occupy seats formerly held by lawmakers with key committee chairmanships who combined had more than 60 years of Senate seniority and 95 years of legislative experience. The turnover could influence how the Richmond region fares when Gov. Terry McAuliffe and lawmakers debate and decide how and where taxpayer money is spent for the next two years under a proposed $109 billion budget.

In call for unity, McAuliffe urges lawmakers to avoid ‘political sideshows’

As he enters his crucial third year in office, Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday night called on the Virginia General Assembly to work with him to strengthen the state economy, while promising to block any efforts to curtail Democratic priorities such as gay marriage, abortion rights and gun control. As lawmakers convened at the Capitol for the start of the 2016 legislative session, McAuliffe used his State of the Commonwealth address to hit a familiar theme: The need to grow and diversify the state economy during a two-year pause in federal spending cuts. “It is my hope that our work together this session will be devoted to productive areas where there is room for compromise, and not political sideshows that distract from matters that demand our urgent attention,” McAuliffe said in a speech that ran a little less than an hour.

Bill would make Airbnb legal throughout Virginia
Guests are flocking to Airbnb to book rooms in Richmond’s luxury lofts and quaint row houses, despite it being illegal to rent out your house for short-term stays. But that could change during this session of the General Assembly. Demand for the online house-sharing site peaked during the UCI Road World Championships, with a few hundred rentals reported. But city attempts to regulate Airbnb and other temporary online rental platforms stalled before the big races.

REGIONAL/STATE

Richmond foreclosures down 67 percent from peak, but rose 51 percent last year from 2014

Foreclosures in the Richmond area fell to what’s considered a healthy rate last year, but not all is well, according to a year-end market report released this morning by RealtyTrac, a real estate data researcher. A total of 3,371 households here received a foreclosure filing — a notice of default, trustee or foreclosure sale — in 2015, down 67 percent from a peak of 8,724 properties with foreclosure filings in 2010, according to the report. However, the area saw a 51 percent increase in year-over-year foreclosure activity in 2015, the report shows.

Richmond is the nation’s fourth hottest housing market in 2016

Richmond scored as the nation’s fourth-hottest housing market in 2016 in a prediction released Tuesday by Zillow, a real estate and rental data firm. Denver, Seattle and Dallas-Fort Worth top the list, based on home value appreciation, current unemployment rates and recent income growth. All are major tech towns, ideal for job growth, according to the prediction. Richmond scored lower in the forecast for home value appreciation — 2.2 percent this year — than the 10 hottest markets but strongest in income growth at 1.2 percent and lower than three other cities with an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent.

Arlington reaches a milestone in housing homeless military veterans

After almost a decade of effort, Arlington County has effectively ended homelessness for military veterans, officials said Thursday, part of a national effort to house those who have no place to live. Arlington is the second jurisdiction in the country to show it has no more homeless veterans than it can house in any given month, said Adam Gibbs, spokesman for Community Solutions. The D.C.-based nonprofit group is the organizer of the national effort to end homelessness, which the Obama administration launched in 2010. Seventy-five communities are participating.

NATIONAL

What the LA Rams deal says about cities building stadiums

After 21 years in St. Louis, the Rams are heading back to Los Angeles for the 2016 season, and the San Diego Chargers may join them. Owner Stan Kroenke is developing a nearly $3 billion facility for the team in Inglewood, California, the Los Angeles Times reported. When the stadium is completed in 2019, it will be only the second NFL stadium built in the last 20 years solely through private funding. (The other is the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.) Until then, the team will play at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. While many L.A. football fans and city officials are celebrating the news, the economics of hosting a sports team are complicated.

ELECTIONS

Richmond’s elections chief says critical report overblown, politically motivated

Richmond’s voter registrar told the State Board of Elections on Friday that concerns over “consistent and alarming” problems during the last election are either overblown or inaccurate. She suggested the state board had an ulterior motive for bringing forward the issues. “I don’t have an affiliation with either political party and that makes me vulnerable,” said Kirk Showalter, who has served as general registrar for 15 years. “And in a presidential election year, the parties are interested in having influence wherever they can.

Five takeaways from Virginia’s Congressional map changes

A federal panel has scrambled congressional district lines in ways that would have big impacts for Richmond-area voters. The panel was assembled to redraw lines in the 3rd District after a court ruling last year that the district was gerrymandered to pack in black voters in ways that give white candidates advantages in adjacent districts. The district is held by a Democrat, U.S. Rep. Robert C. Scott.

Forbes says judges overreached in redrawing of his district

Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-4th, is criticizing the decision of a three-judge panel that overhauled his district as part of fixing constitutional flaws with the 3rd District. “I am confident that the Supreme Court will conclude that the overreach of these two judges is not appropriate, and that it will agree with the opinion of Judge (U.S. District Judge Robert E.) Payne that their plan is, ‘neither required, nor permitted’” Forbes said when asked to comment about the new map.

Republican’s in Va. delegation ask US Supreme Court to halt new Va. congressional map

Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-4th (left), would gain voters from Richmond and Petersburg from Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-3rd, under the redrawn congressional map. Lawyers for Republicans in Virginia’s congressional delegation on Wednesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to block implementation of Virginia’s new congressional map and order the Nov. 8 elections to proceed in the former districts. The lawyers argue that imposing a new map now risks “electoral chaos” in the five districts with new boundaries if the Supreme Court later rules that Virginia should revert to its previous congressional map.

Powhatan Republicans pursue election lawsuit

A challenge to state election law that originated in Powhatan County was back in front of a federal court judge last week. U. S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck presided over a hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 7 that saw the Powhatan County Republican Committee and four men who ran as Republican candidates for the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors in the fall suing the Virginia State Board of Elections. The lawsuit challenges a state code the plaintiffs say unconstitutionally prevents the political party affiliation of local candidates from being included on official ballots next to candidates’ names.

d the three members of the City of Richmond Election Board to appear at a State Board of Elections meeting today to discuss the issues and how to fix them.