Candidates from left: Jonathan Baliles, Jack Berry, Bruce Tyler, Lawrence Williams, Levar Stoney, Michelle Mosby, Bobby Junes and Joseph Morrissey appeared at the mayoral forum at St. Paul's Baptist Church on the city's south side on Thursday, August 11, 2016. Photo credit: Joe Mahoney/Times-Dispatch

Candidates from left: Jonathan Baliles, Jack Berry, Bruce Tyler, Lawrence Williams, Levar Stoney, Michelle Mosby, Bobby Junes and Joseph Morrissey appeared at the mayoral forum at St. Paul’s Baptist Church on the city’s south side on Thursday, August 11, 2016. Photo credit: Joe Mahoney/Times-Dispatch

CITY OF RICHMOND

Richmond officials begin search for Boulevard developer but remain quiet on stadium plans

The city of Richmond formally began its search this week for a developer to transform the 60 acres it owns on the Boulevard where The Diamond currently sits, but officials said they can’t yet comment on how talks are progressing to replace the ballpark. In April, the city, Virginia Commonwealth University and the Richmond Flying Squirrels announced they were again working together to identify a new location that would keep the stadium near the Boulevard but move it off the city’s land, which officials hope to transform into an urban mixed-use development to maximize tax revenue. The parties said at the time they expected to issue a report on their progress within 90 days. At this point, more than 100 days have elapsed and all parties are remaining silent, though Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ chief policy adviser, Mark Kronenthal, downplayed the significance of the time frame.

Richmond’s homeless search for relief from the heat
It’s 97 degrees and the benches at Monroe Park burn to the touch. Devon sits on a shaded one with Cynthia, A.J. and two other people. “To be honest with you, I was doing perfectly fine, but I just got my camel pack stolen today,” Devon says. “I have a condition where, if the heat is beating on me too hard, I’m going to faint and have nose bleeds.” They’re here avoiding the heat in the cool of the park, where many of Richmond’s homeless people congregate. It features shade, bathrooms and a water fountain. Devon is a dishwasher and part-time construction worker, but he has no place to live. “As far as being in the heat,” he says, “I always keep a hat, a canteen and a fan with me to stay cool and hydrated. I’ve been blessed with people giving out water.”

HANOVER

Hanover School Board seeking $10.7 million in bonds to restart projects stalled by recession

The Hanover School Board is seeking $10.7 million in bonds for a host of repairs and renovations to the system’s elementary, middle and high schools. The panel passed a resolution 6-0 on Tuesday asking the Hanover Board of Supervisors to issue the bonds to finance various capital improvement projects. The money would be put toward roof replacements, bathroom renovations, HVAC repairs and upgrades, as well as auditorium renovations. Many of the projects were deferred during the recession. The School Board also authorized the county and school system to submit an application allowing for the purchase of the bonds through the Virginia Public School Authority in the fall.

HENRICO

Henrico School Board puts off redistricting for now to explore middle school specialty centers

The Henrico County School Board agreed Thursday to put off redistricting while it considers making changes to how middle schools in the county operate, including exploring the possibility of creating specialty centers. The board, responding to a recommendation from school system staffers, decided unanimously to hold off on redistricting without taking a vote. Middle school redistricting would have helped alleviate overcrowding at Hungary Creek Middle School, but officials asked that they be allowed to delay the process until spring or fall of next year.

REGIONAL

Fredericksburg is requiring special-use permits for Airbnbs

Catherine Dodd wants to rent out the finished basement of her home in Fredericksburg’s Braehead Woods subdivision through airbnb.com. So she did exactly what the 8-year-old online marketplace for in-home lodging suggested: She applied for a special-use permit. A handful of Fredericksburg residents list their homes on airbnb.com, but Dodd is the first to seek the permit. No one commented on her request during a public hearing before the city’s Planning Commission last month. There will be a public hearing on it again when City Council meets Tuesday.

(INTER)NATIONAL

Tokyo may have found the solution to soaring housing costs

San Francisco and other large American cities are facing a massive housing affordability problem, with rents spiraling beyond the reach of ordinary people. A fascinating article from the Financial Times argues that Japan may have found a solution to the problem. Most big American cities and their surround suburbs have housing regulations that strictly limit the number of new housing units that can be built. As a result, the demand for housing in the most economically dynamic cities has dramatically out-paced the supply. For example, Trisha Motter, president of the Santa Clara Board of REALTORS® told Curbed that the Bay Area added 64,000 new jobs in 2015, but it added fewer than 5,000 new homes. The result: Rents are soaring across the region.

A Massachusetts state legislator has a big idea to ease the urban rent crisis

Boston is one of several big coastal metropolitan areas suffering from a severe housing shortage driven by excessive limits on housing construction. A bill by Massachusetts General Assembly member Kevin Honan that’s cleared the housing committee offers a glance at what a solution to the housing crisis gripping the United States is likely to look like. Not action by the federal government, which is too remote from local land use issues to make a decisive difference. And not action by local governments, which are too tied up in picayune concerns and risk aversion to make the changes America needs. What America needs if for states – particularly states like Massachusetts, California, and New York – to take the lead and recognize that housing policy is too important to be left up to a motley assortment of town councils and neighborhood committees. If the economies of America’s highest-wage, best-educated metropolitan areas are going to grow, then they need to have places for people to live, and it’s state governments that are going to have to make them do it.

ELECTIONS

Redrawn map could lead to McClellan vs. Bagby contest for Richmond-area Senate seat

Virginia’s redrawn congressional map has already opened a door for Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, but two other Richmond-area Democrats are eyeing the possibility of moving up if McEachin’s state Senate seat comes open. Dels. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond, and Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, have expressed interest in the 9th District Senate seat that could become vacant if McEachin wins his run for Congress in the Democratic-leaning 4th District. If McEachin prevails against his Republican opponent, Henrico County Sheriff Mike Wade, Gov. Terry McAuliffe would call a special election to fill the state Senate seat. That election would probably occur near the end of the year to ensure the district is represented in the 2017 legislative session beginning in January.

In early move in 2017 Va. governor’s race, Ed Gillespie launches policy work groups
Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie on Wednesday announced the formation of nine work groups to help him develop policies for the state he wants to win in 2017, a move supporters touted as unusually early and substantive. Co-chaired by two General Assembly heavyweights, Gillespie’s “policy leadership team” also signals broad support among GOP legislators for Gillespie, a Republican strategist and former White House counselor who faces two rivals for his party’s nomination: Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and Corey A. Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. Gillespie, who narrowly lost a race to unseat Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) in 2014, has set up nine work groups to help him develop policies on the economy, education and other issues. They will be led by many of the 53 state delegates and senators who have endorsed him.

Richmond School Board candidate left in limbo by reversal of felon rights restoration

State elections officials are still trying to decide whether a felon who had his rights restored as part of Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s now-overturned order can continue running for a seat on the Richmond School Board. Kevin Starlings, who has an embezzlement conviction, is challenging incumbent Jeffrey Bourne for his 3rd District seat. Starlings appears to be the only candidate in the state immediately affected by the court’s decision, state Elections Commissioner Edgardo Cortés said Wednesday. “It’s a thorny issue that we haven’t run into before,” he said. Cortés’ comments came after a State Board of Elections meeting that dealt with a number of other potential ramifications of the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision to reverse McAuliffe’s sweeping rights restoration order.

Watch editorial board interviews with candidates for Richmond Mayor
This year’s race for Richmond mayor is unusual. It is the first time since the start of the elected-mayor system in the city that residents confront a wide-open field of candidates. This year’s race for Richmond mayor is also important. The city faces several serious challenges, from a backlog of structural needs in the schools to dysfunction in the finance and social-services departments. The Times-Dispatch is giving the race special attention. The Editorial Board has asked candidates to answer a set of questions, and will publish the responses. A Public Square will feature a debate with all eight candidates on Sept. 15 at the Library of Virginia. And the Editorial Board is not only interviewing the candidates, but videotaping the interviews and putting them on Richmond.com.

Richmond mayoral candidates talk schools, buses and housing at forum
The eight candidates vying to be Richmond’s next mayor laid out their visions for affordable housing, public transit and schools Thursday evening at a forum hosted by St. Paul’s Baptist Church. The event, held at the church’s Belt Boulevard campus and attended by about 70 people, saw no debate or flare-ups among the candidates, who largely retread ground covered at the half-dozen previous mayoral forums. On public transportation, former state Del. Joseph D. Morrissey pledged to establish bus service from Richmond to Hopewell and Petersburg.