All seven candidates for Richmond mayor took part in Thursday's Mayorathon forum at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Photo Credit: Jay Paul)

All seven candidates for Richmond mayor took part in Thursday’s Mayorathon forum at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Photo Credit: Jay Paul)

CITY OF RICHMOND

Feds pass over Richmond for $30M grant critical to East End redevelopment
Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ signature initiative to overhaul concentrated public housing in the city’s impoverished East End was dealt a critical blow Thursday with the announcement that federal housing officials again had passed over the city for a $30 million grant. This application marked the city’s fifth attempt to secure U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development dollars through the Choice Neighborhood program for the purpose of deconcentrating poverty in an area that is home to half of Richmond’s poor. “It’s very disappointing,” said T.K. Somanath, CEO of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “This is a setback, but we will move forward.”

Richmond’s once struggling Carver Elementary named National Blue Ribbon School
George Carver Elementary School in Richmond has been named a National Blue Ribbon School, one of only seven schools in the state and 329 in the country to receive the honor. The U.S. Department of Education will honor Carver and the other schools in Washington at a ceremony in November. The schools are recognized for “their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups,” according to the U.S Department of Education.

 

CHESTERFIELD

Chesterfield cuts fee paid by homebuilders by 50%
In a move expected to boost revitalization in several areas of the county, the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday unanimously approved a policy that lowers a fee developers pay when building homes. These so-called cash proffers are per-home fees imposed by the county to offset public infrastructure demands that additional families create when developments are built. The new policy cuts the proffer amount, a maximum of $18,966 per dwelling unit — the highest in the region — roughly in half to a $9,400 maximum.

Chesterfield touts $37 million impact from sports tourism
Sports tourism has raked in $37.7 million in Chesterfield County in the past fiscal year, county officials say. For the entire Richmond region, sports events held in Chesterfield have made an economic impact of $76.7 million during the same time — that’s up from $53.8 million in the previous fiscal year. “Chesterfield County is no longer the sleepy little county on the south side of Richmond. It’s becoming a major sports tourism destination, a place for local and national tournaments,” said John Lugbill, executive director of Sports Backers, in a news conference ahead of Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.

 

HANOVER

Ashland incentives demolishing dilapidated buildings, constructing hotels with up to $550,000 in rebates
Hoteliers who raze and replace dilapidated buildings in Ashland could gain hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax rebates. In an effort to provide an incentive for a costly undertaking and to revitalize neglected sites, the town’s Economic Development Authority last week launched a policy that would reimburse up to 50 percent in occupancy taxes to businesses that demolish and replace “dilapidated and underutilized” buildings with a hotel. To qualify, a new hotel must have at least 85 rooms, generate $100,000 in transient occupancy taxes each year and sit in the town’s designated “hospitality zone,” an area west of Interstate 95 that stretches to South Washington Highway.

Board reaches consensus on PHHS, L-DHS renovation projects
In a Hanover County School Board workshop held earlier last month at The Crossings in Glen Allen, a majority of members reached consensus on two major projects, both of which have been on the planning agenda for years. Renovation projects at Lee-Davis High School and Patrick Henry High School auditoriums will move forward through the normal CIP procedure in the 2018 budget process. Although no formal action was taken, the projects have the support of most board members, and one described it as an approval of the concept.

 

HENRICO

Henrico to include money for sidewalks in capital budget instead of seeking bonds through referendum
When Henrico County officials initially discussed plans for a $419.8 million bond referendum for projects ranging from school construction to road upgrades, they noted that the measure, if passed, would include $12.5 million for sidewalk improvements. That money was later shifted to go toward an effort that would bring artificial turf to high school football fields. County officials say they still plan to allocate the amount toward sidewalks, but it will be over a five-year period. A representative of Sports Backers, a nonprofit that puts on sporting events and promotes community fitness, said he’s encouraged to hear that money for sidewalks will be allocated in the capital budget.

Henrico to construct $3.2 million in new sidewalks
Thousands of feet of new sidewalk construction is planned throughout Henrico County. Five projects amounting to more than 4,500 feet of additional sidewalk in the Fairfield, Three Chopt, Tuckahoe and Varina Magisterial districts were approved by the Henrico Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Construction is estimated to cost $3.2 million, which will be paid jointly by the county and the Virginia Department of Transportation through its revenue-sharing program.

 

POWHATAN

Committee learns better broadband access is in sight
Getting more of Powhatan County connected to reliable, affordable wireless broadband connections might be closer than many people think. The county recently announced a new private partnership with SCS Broadband, an Internet provider that is going to be designing a wireless broadband system for Powhatan. Lon Whelchel, CEO of SCS Broadband, spoke to the Broadband Citizen Advisory Committee at its meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 21 to start answering some preliminary questions about what building a system involves and how soon residents will start benefiting from it.

 

ELECTIONS

Rick Tatnall drops out – again – this time from race for Richmond School Board seat
Rick Tatnall, who dropped out of Richmond’s mayoral campaign in May, has withdrawn from the race for the 7th District seat on the city’s School Board, throwing his support behind a competitor. Tatnall, 58, was running for the seat being vacated by Donald Coleman, who was elected in 2008. The 7th District is one of five open School Board seats in November. Tatnall said Tuesday that he made the decision to step away after a dinner conversation late last week with fellow candidate Nadine Marsh-Carter.

In Virginia’s capital, a political ‘bad boy’ upends race for mayor
As he listened to two African American teenagers complain about their decaying high school, the front-runner in this city’s race for mayor pointed to a photo of his wife and children in his campaign brochure. “These are my kids,” Joe Morrissey said, his finger on the image of the two babies as he greeted voters outside a supermarket. “I don’t want them going to a school with mold and no AC. That’s why I’m running.” Morrissey pointed to his wife, seated next to him in the photo, their then-2-month-old girl on her lap.

Former Councilman Bruce Tyler drops out of Richmond mayoral race; cites concerns about Morrissey victory
Former Richmond Councilman Bruce Tyler said Tuesday he is dropping out of the city’s mayoral race, bringing the field of candidates down to seven. “Today, I find that I might actually hurt our city by diluting the vote,” he said. “The unintended consequence of continuing my campaign could potentially ensure a victory for Joe Morrissey, whose values are so far apart from my own.” Recent polling has shown Morrissey, who has faced numerous personal and professional scandals over the course of his political career, with a strong lead in the race.

Realtors’ poll shows Morrissey still has lead, but Berry and Stoney gaining ground
Former Del. Joseph D. Morrissey is maintaining a strong lead in the Richmond mayoral race, but former Venture Richmond director Jack Berry and former Secretary of the Commonwealth Levar Stoney have both gained ground over the past month, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Richmond Association of Realtors. The survey of 600 likely voters found that Morrissey saw a slight bump citywide from 28 percent of the vote in mid-August to 29 percent in the latest survey, which was conducted Sept. 17 to Sept. 21. Berry increased his citywide share of the vote from 16 percent of the vote in August to 25 percent, according to the survey, while Stoney doubled his share of the vote from 7 percent to 14 percent — enough to put him ahead of the two Richmond City Council members in the race, Jonathan Baliles and Michelle Mosby, both of whom were ahead of Stoney in August.

Richmond candidates focus on schools, transportation and river at Mayorathon
The seven candidates for mayor in Richmond turned their attention to public education, transportation and the river Thursday during an hour-and-a-half long forum that posed some of the toughest policy-oriented questions of the campaign. Dubbed “Mayorathon 2016,” the event was hosted by a coalition of nonprofit groups — the James River Association, Richmond Forward, RVA Rapid Transit, Sports Backers, and Storefront for Community Design — and Richmond Magazine. On education, the candidates were asked specific questions about the approaches they’ve said they’d take to address school funding.