VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Interested in helping out RPAC endorsed candidates on election day, including Dawson Boyer (1^st School Board), Shonda Harris-Muhammed (6^th Council), Michael Jones (9^th Council), and Jack Berry (Mayor)? Email Jo Gehlbach at jgehlbach@rarealtors.com.

CITY OF RICHMOND

GRTC offers $1.4 million for city property at Grace and Adams for potential transfer center
GRTC Transit, in search of a permanent transfer plaza and hub in and around the central business district for two decades, has made an unsolicited offer of $1.4 million for nine city-owned parcels at West Grace and North Adams streets that together encompass about two-thirds of an acre. David Green, GRTC’s chief executive officer, made the offer in a letter to the city dated Oct. 21, according to a memo sent last week to Mayor Dwight C. Jones and City Council members by Selena Cuffee-Glenn, the city’s chief administrative officer. “The intent of the letter is to start the process of assembling the following properties for the expressed use of an estimated five-story transit hub that will provide up to 12 bus bays for GRTC’s fixed-route bus system and a parking structure of no more than 350 parking spaces,” Cuffee-Glenn wrote.

City of Richmond files annual finance report 11 months late
The administration of Mayor Dwight C. Jones on Thursday announced the filing — 11 months late — of a mandatory annual financial report to the state wielded in recent years by his detractors as a reoccurring symbol of municipal dysfunction. The audited, technical snapshot of Richmond finances was due to the state Auditor of Public Accounts last November; the report was submitted Oct. 31, according to a release. A few forms needed to technically finalize the city’s obligations have yet to be submitted, according to Rachel Reamy, the local government audit manager for the state auditor. Among them are an internal control and compliance report and a single audit of the city’s use of federal funds.

CHESTERFIELD

County says no to transient rentals – for now
The Virginia General Assembly may yet establish a statewide regulatory framework that would allow citizens to legally rent out their homes through a popular worldwide website. Until it does, the Chesterfield government has clearly signaled it wants no part of such activity. The Board of Supervisors last week unanimously denied a local couple’s application for a conditional-use permit to continue using their home as a bed-and-breakfast.

HANOVER

Heavy voter turnout expected
“We are expecting the largest voter turnout this county has ever seen.” That’s how Teresa “Teri” Smithson, general registrar and director of elections for Hanover County, views the Nov. 8 General Election. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. She said she and her staff came to that conclusion following the March Primary Election. “We had 73,834 registered voters. As of this morning (Oct. 27), we have 77,515 voters.” As Hanover County voters prepare to head to the ballots Tuesday, Smithson also reminds them that they need to have their photo identification “out and ready when they arrive.” She also asked that they not forget their patience when going to the polls.”

HENRICO

A breakdown of the Henrico bond referendum on 2016 ballot
Since August, teams of Henrico County officials have fanned across the county delivering presentations at town halls, meetings and other community gatherings, informing and encouraging residents to familiarize themselves with a series of referendum questions that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. The county is seeking voters’ permission to issue $419.8 million in bonds — more than half of which would go toward schools — for 26 capital projects that would be funded throughout the next six years. The projects include a new elementary school, two new firehouses and a replacement library in the Fairfield area. The projects are broken down into five spending categories. Voters must approve or reject each category individually.

POWHATAN

Middle school tour shows modifications
Pocahontas Middle School has a new mantra – two schools, one team. With the closing and subsequent demolition of the majority of Powhatan Junior High School this summer, Pocahontas Middle School (PMS) has seen some of the biggest changes in the district in the last several months. With the middle school now housing seventh and eighth-graders as well as splitting the sixth-graders with Pocahontas Elementary School, the months leading up to the 2016-2017 school year and even the first few weeks of school were all about making the new configuration work.

NATIONAL

Why don’t black and white Americans live together?
In 2016 the issue of race will remain high on the agenda in the United States. The police killings of unarmed black men and women over the past few years reignited a debate over race relations in America, and the reverberations will be felt in the upcoming presidential election and beyond. Ferguson, Baltimore and Chicago are three cities synonymous with racial tensions – but all three have another common denominator. They, like many other American cities, are still very segregated. In my reporting across the United States I’ve seen this first hand – from Louisiana to Kansas, Alabama to Wisconsin, Georgia to Nebraska. In so many of these places people of other races simply don’t mix, not through choice but circumstance. And if there’s no interaction between races, it’s harder for conversations on how to solve race problems to even begin.

ELECTIONS

9^th District Richmond City Council candidates stress jobs and crime
There are four candidates for City Council in the city’s 9th District: Leon Benjamin Sr., a 48-year-old bishop and pastor at New Life Harvest Church; Michael Jones, a 49-year-old pastor at Village of Faith church; Germika Pegram, a 37-year-old clinician policy consultant; and Marcus Omar Squires, a 24-year-old paralegal and instructional assistant. Here’s where they stand on the election and the issues facing the city.

Two constitutional amendments on Virginia ballot in 2016
Virginians on Tuesday will vote on two proposed state constitutional amendments. One would put provisions of Virginia’s right-to-work law into the constitution. The other is meant to aid the families of first responders killed in the line of duty by allowing localities to exempt a surviving spouse’s real property from taxation. Virginia’s right-to-work law says participation in a union may not be a condition for employment in the state.

Joe Morrissey pledges to continue campaign amid allegation of sexual impropriety
For the second day in a row, Richmond mayoral front-runner Joe Morrissey issued a forceful denial of allegations he exposed himself to a client in his law office and cast aside her case when she refused his advances. Morrissey invited reporters to come to his campaign headquarters Saturday afternoon for a news conference he billed as an update on the status of his mayoral campaign. The update, said Arnold Henderson, a lawyer representing Morrissey, is that he will not be dissuaded by the latest allegations against him.

Berry takes fundraising lead in Richmond mayor’s race after $360k October haul
Former Venture Richmond executive director Jack Berry took in more money than the rest of the Richmond mayoral field combined last month, raising nearly $360,000 from Oct. 1 through Oct. 26, according to new campaign finance reports. Berry’s October report, led by a $150,000 loan from businessman Jim Ukrop, pushed his total fundraising for the campaign to $896,184, ahead of the $842,989 raised by Levar Stoney, a former aide to Gov. Terry McAuliffe and secretary of the commonwealth. Stoney raised roughly $105,500 in the final pre-election reporting period, putting Stoney behind Berry for the second reporting period in a row despite Stoney jumping to an early fundraising lead this spring.

Jon Baliles says he’s dropping out of Richmond mayoral contest in effort to block Morrissey
Richmond City Councilman Jon Baliles said Wednesday that he’s dropping his mayoral bid, citing concerns that his continued presence in the crowded race would only aid front-runner Joe Morrissey. “While there are other candidates who can ably fill the mayor’s job duties, there is one who simply cannot,” Baliles said of Morrissey in a statement. “That is the controversial and divisive candidate who has received national and international negative attention. Regrettably, that candidate’s selfishness and stunts only grow with the approach of Election Day. “I can no longer risk splitting votes with other candidates if it means electing someone who so plainly cares only about himself. If there ever was a time we need collaborative people in City Hall to address our city’s problems, now is that time.”

Baliles still weighing whether he will endorse in Richmond mayoral race; Morrissey responds to party criticism
Richmond City Councilman Jon Baliles, who announced Wednesday he’s dropping his mayoral bid, says he hasn’t decided whether he will endorse one of his opponents. In a phone interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Thursday, Baliles said no specific events preceded his decision to exit the race less than a week before Election Day. He had said publicly earlier this week that he planned to continue his campaign until the end. What changed?

Democratic Party to take legal action against Morrissey over claim he is party’s mayoral candidate
State and local Democratic Party officials say they’re taking legal action against mayoral front-runner Joe Morrissey’s campaign over sample ballots he mailed to 35,000 residents that say he’s the party’s pick for mayor. “The Morrissey campaign is engaged in a flagrant and intentionally misleading violation of campaign regulations,” Rebecca Slutzky, executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said in a statement. “Morrissey does not have the endorsement of the Democratic Party of Virginia or the Richmond City Democratic Committee, and we are requesting that he cease these activities immediately.”

Jack Berry releases poll showing lead in battleground 3^rd District; opponents dispute findings
Jack Berry’s mayoral campaign released a poll Thursday that shows him leading Joe Morrissey and Levar Stoney in the north Richmond 3rd District, which is widely considered a battleground in the coming mayoral contest. The live survey of 175 voters, conducted by political polling firm American Strategies, shows Berry with 31 percent of the vote, Stoney with 24 percent and Morrissey with 19 percent. Berry’s opponents disputed the findings, though they declined to release any internal polling of their own in response.