A Q&A with a public official
Category: Government and public institutions
Our coverage prioritizes how our community can engage with government, nonprofits and public institutions that we entrust (and often pay) to lead us. We don’t just report what they say, we investigate what they do.
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Do you support downzoning in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood?
The Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association’s request to downzone parts of that community came before the Charlottesville Planning Commission last Tuesday – and got shot down. The Planning Commission voted 3-1 to recommend that City Council deny the rezoning. According to Missy Creasy, the city’s planning manager, the proposed amendment would rezone 356 parcels in the area. […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Planning Commission recommends denying Fry’s Spring downzoning
After more than a decade, the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association’s request to downzone parts of that community had a public hearing before the Charlottesville Planning Commission on Tuesday — and got shot down. “We have been trying to keep this debate in the public for many years and we’re grateful to have this opportunity,” said […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Council approves study to rezone parts of Fry’s Spring neighborhood
The Charlottesville City Council has agreed to consider a request from the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association to study rezoning of three streets. “Essentially, they are asking for the properties on Stribling, Crestmont and Shamrock to be downzoned,” said Jim Tolbert, director of the city’s Neighborhood Development Services. Specifically, the neighborhood association has been asking for […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Marnie Allen, City of Charlottesville
Marnie Allen, Specialist of Community Attention Foster Families, City of Charlottesville Where were you born (and raised, if different)? I was born and raised outside of Princeton NJ. When and why did you move to the Charlottesville/Albemarle area? I moved here immediately after high school graduation in 1991 to live with my grandmother. […]
Posted inHow we learn
Supervisors want clearer picture of school cuts
Even though Albemarle County’s budget deadline is nearing, the fiscal waters aren’t becoming any less muddy for the school division. And that murky financial landscape is just what Albemarle Supervisor Liz Palmer wanted more clarity on during the School Board’s update to the Board of Supervisors Wednesday. “My question is still the ‘what if.’ What […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Divided council adds demolition protection to several W. Main buildings
The owners of seven buildings on West Main Street will now have to ask city officials for permission should they ever wish to demolish their structures. The Charlottesville City Council voted 3-2 earlier this month to amend the West Main architectural design control district to add a layer of review to the structures and to […]
Posted inHow we learn
Albemarle School Board sets budget priorities & other school news
As the Albemarle County School Board kicks off its FY2015 budgeting process, the focus is on professional development and modernizing education. At a budget planning session last week, Assistant Superintendent Billy Haun said Albemarle is still reeling from past professional development cuts—which saw that portion of the budget slashed by 57 percent from 2008 to […]
Posted inHow we learn
Albemarle parents call for increased challenge in classrooms
Monticello High School parent David Blaine called it “the race to the middle.” At a community conversation with Albemarle School Board Member Ned Gallaway Thursday, Blaine and others criticized the division for what they see as a lack of academic rigor, and inconsistency in course offerings in the middle schools. “We are foregoing what the […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
National parks and the dollars and sense of the government shut-down
I have discovered a silver lining to the government shut-down: national parks are getting publicity. As someone whose professional life is dedicated to helping protect Shenandoah National Park, I am heartened that the status of national parks is featured in many of the public debates on the shut-down. Americans love their national parks. Denying them […]
