Virginia’s Senate passed bills this week that would allow local governments to use revenue from sales tax increases to fund school construction projects. Lawmakers suspect legislation could pass the House too.
Author Archives: Charlotte Rene Woods
I was Charlottesville Tomorrow’s government reporter from 2019 to 2022. Thanks for letting me be your resident nerd on how local and state governments serve us. Keep up with me @charlottewords on Twitter. If you haven’t yet, consider subscribing to Charlottesville Tomorrow’s FREE newsletter to get updates from the newsroom on the things you want to know.
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Incarcerated people who could not vote were counted as voters in their prisons’ districts. A new Virginia law changes that.
This June, for the first time ever, the thousands of incarcerated people in Virginia who cannot legally vote will no longer be counted in their prison’s district as if they can.
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
With an interim city manager to keep Charlottesville running, Council turns to consulting firm to find new manager and police chief
Robert Bobb Group, which Council turned to for support, was also the firm that helped solve financial issues in Petersburg in 2016 and 2017.
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Charlottesville has a new mayor — but remember, the mayor’s not the one in charge here
“I have to be clear that I do not have administrative power,” Councilor Lloyd Snook said. Neither did recent Mayor Nikuyah Walker or Mike Signer before her.
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Charlottesville City Council said it hopes to announce new interim city manager next week
Council had spent the morning and early afternoon interviewing three prospective candidates that had been suggested by the consulting firm Robert Bobb Group — which Council hired last month to provide “interim services.”
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Charlottesville City Council will interview three candidates for interim city manager in special meeting Tuesday
“There’s a little bit of a misconception about our hiring of the Robert Bobb Group,” Charlottesville’s new Mayor Lloyd Snook said. “The idea is not that we’re somehow going to have this entire consulting group be our city manager.”
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Sacajawea statue still in limbo after descendants say they want ‘generational’ control over monument
The Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center’s proposal to take the city’s statue of explorers Sacajawea, Merriweather Lewis and William Clark seemed a done deal at Monday’s Council meeting. But a hiccup emerged when Sacajawea’s descendants requested they be granted indefinite control over the statue. Rose Ann Abrahamson – a descendant of Sacajawea – tried to […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions, Our neighborhoods, Race and equity
‘Stonewall’ Jackson statue is heading to California to become the centerpiece of a historically contextualizing art exhibit
While Charlottesville’s monument of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is set to be melted down and transformed into new local art, Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson will be sent to California. At its Monday meeting, Charlottesville City Council voted for LAXART, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit arts organization, to take the bronze relic. The organization plans to […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Interim City Manager Marc Woolley withdraws from the position; Council considers ‘contracting with a firm for interim services’
Charlottesville’s new interim city manager has withdrawn from the position shortly before he was set to begin with no explanation as to why. The city is considering entering into a contract with a firm to provide interim city manager services ahead of a planned spring 2022 search for a permanent manager, Councilor Heather Hill said […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions, Health and safety
UPDATE: Charlottesville officials have not responded to Brackney’s demand for a $3 million settlement over her September termination
Charlottesville’s former Police Chief RaShall Brackney gave the city a Friday deadline to pay her $3 million in damages or she said she would sue for wrongful termination. That deadline has now passed and her lawyer said he’s received no response from city officials. “[The city] has not reached out to my office in any […]
