Richmond City Council

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Councilwoman Trammell invites families to attend the 2011 Richmond Southside 8th District Summer KidFest this Saturday

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Councilwoman Trammell to hold a meeting in Richmond’s Southside 8th District

Councilman Tyler to hold meeting in the West End 1st District

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Mayor's deception against Richmond City Council

RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL
Richmond City Council – Richmond City Hall - 900 E. Broad Street, Suite 200 - Richmond, VA 23219 - www.council.richmondva.gov

COUNCIL PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWS ADVISORY
IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO BE FORWARDED AND SHARED
Tuesday, 13 September 2011

A STATEMENT BY
The Honorable E. Martin "Marty" Jewell, Councilman,
Richmond City Council, Central 5th District

Mayor's deception against Richmond City Council

"Richmond City Council, as the governing body of the City of Richmond, has the right and duty to expect and ensure an accurate and honest flow of information from the Mayor’s Administration. As Policymakers, Richmond City Council has the responsibility to establish policies and procedures that facilitates a free flow of timely reports and information that should maximize Council’s deliberations and decision.

Such procedures are sufficiently in place and should never be abrogated without severe penalties. Moreover, it has been of considerable concern for some time that pertinent information regarding city actions has not been shared with most Councilmembers for some time. Examples include:

1. The absence of any recent updates on emergency response plans or access to any plan itself that Richmond City Council and the public should have had to know what to do in case of emergencies, i.e., the latest earthquake and Hurricane Irene.

2. Failure to disclose to most Councilmembers during budget preparations last year and this year that the city was applying for a Choice Neighborhoods $300K planning grant that could bring $30 million of HUD funds to public housing replacement in the East end. The Eastview Initiative was created to enhance the success of this grant application with the probability that the jail construction would in all likelihood be an anchor to this development. Council crafted a budget without this knowledge. HUD denied this application last October. Another application was submitted this year deadline August 8, 2011 with Eastview included, extending to Creighton Court/Nine Mile Road. All this away from the view of a full Council majority.

3. An ongoing effort has been afoot, for some months, to stifle the Richmond City Council Office of the City Auditor. A draft MOU. was crafted (drafted by our Richmond City Attorney and the Richmond CAO) without notification to Council that it would change the current audit protocol, reducing Council authority, giving the CAO sign-off authority, under certain terms and conditions and require the Council Inspector General function to report fraudulent or criminal acts to the police chief (i.e. the CAO) vs. The Commonwealth Attorney and Richmond City Council.

4. And, more recently there appears to be blatant push-back from the Mayor's Administration against departmental audits, stalling tactics are utilized, supervisors are present during employee interviews (intimidation) and failure to follow recommendations (around 50%) has become routine and likely dictated from the top.

5. The big Mayoral announcement of a $60 million RMA deal he splashed in the media is another example of failed communication, collaboration and cooperation. Have any of Councilmembers been briefed on this mega-million dollar deal? Do we know the nature of this “deal” and whether this is good for Richmond and tax-paying citizens? Has Council been asked to give their input?
These are but a few examples of communications failures between council and the Mayor, which has established a pattern. Has an edict gone out by the Mayor to marginalize Richmond City Council?

Sadly, the most egregious example of the above is what appears to be the intentional untruth (lie) told to Richmond City Council on July 28, 2011 to the question “have we gotten the Department of Correction’s approval for this proposed jail design (Tompkins/Ballard)”? Sheriff C.T. Woody answered emphatically, “Yes”. This Councilman then stated that he had, just that day, talked with DOC staffers Ms. Ballard and Mr. Wilson and was informed that while Richmond had been approved in 2009 for a renovated, existing jail, we would be required to secure another review and approval for the new, stand-alone brand new jail.
So the answer was clearly NO. And, while it is possible that the Sheriff may not have been informed of this, we now know that the Mayor’s Chief of Staff Ms. Suzette Denslow knew as early as three days before the vote. Ms. Denslow does not work for herself. She works for the Mayor. It is reasonable to believe that the Mayor and his executive staff knew or should have known that for two months (at least) when Tompkins was selected no one applied for a new review from DOC and would need to do so.

They certainly knew July 28, 2011 the night of the vote, according to a letter from Peter Decker, III, Chairman of DOC Board, dated August 3, 2011. (Please see attached letter). This letter was addressed to both Mayor Jones and President Graziano and not to this day has it been forwarded to Councilmembers by Ms. Graziano. How should this fact be received by Council?

So, it appears that neither the Mayor, who was present, nor Ms. Denslow nor Mrs. Graziano nor any executive staff refuted the sheriff’s misstatement (lie). In fact, CAO Marshall and architect Kessler substantiated the Sheriff’s misstated “yes.” (Lie)

The consequence of this deception caused Council to vote based on false information on two occasions July 28, 2011. One was a vote to delay the vote until September 12, 2011 which would have given Council the opportunity to act on our own Auditor’s advice to get a second legal opinion on the questionable “interpretations” rendered by the Director of Procurement as well as know with certainty, all of the ramifications of voting up millions of taxpayers’ money while a host of questions remain (see attached). The second vote was the well known 7-2 vote to approve the contract which also could have been very different.

Subsequent to the vote on July 28, 2011 media reports indicate the Mayor moved forward and signed a contract with Tompkins/Ballard and indicated that because Council provided full funding of $134.5 million the City would maintain its scheduled start date in December. However, there are indications that the state biennium budget includes no money for any state jail construction for 2012 – 2013.

Therefore, I submit the Following Questions:

1. Is the Mayor asking Council to forgo $29 million dollars of state support for this project?

2. Given that DOC pays the City jail for one deputy for every three isolation and segregation beds, is the Mayor asking us to forgo these funds that will add up to nearly $100 million over the next 50 year life of this new jail?

3. Is the Mayor prepared to show us where he expects the state to provide $30 million plus when we are told that zero dollars were included in the just passed biennium budget for jail construction?

4. Does anyone expect Council to continue to ignore the fact that Ms. Rivers knowingly deflected MBE concerns by confusing discussions about DBE definitions knowing that DBE is a federal term having nothing to do with MBE policies locally?

5. Did the City Administration notice that only one bidder actually followed DOC guidelines in the submission of all proposals?"

CONTACT For more information, please contact The Honorable E. Martin "Marty" Jewell Councilman, Richmond City Council, Central 5th District, at 804.646.5724; or by email, at marty.jewell@richmondgov.com.

- E N D -

Friday, September 9, 2011

Councilwoman Reva Trammell to hold a meeting in Richmond’s Southside 8th District

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Richmond Rehab Tax Abatement Credits available to real estate owners for structures significantly damaged (20% or more of value) due to Hurricane Iren

Richmond City Council Sister Cities Commission to hold meeting

RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL
Richmond City Council – Richmond City Hall - 900 E. Broad Street, Suite 200 - Richmond, VA 23219 - www.council.richmondva.gov

COUNCIL PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWS ADVISORY
IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO BE FORWARDED AND SHARED
Tuesday 6 September 2011

Richmond City Council Sister Cities Commission to hold meeting

Includes information regarding work and ongoing projects

WHAT The Richmond City Council Sister Cities Commission will hold a meeting. Council's commission generally holds meetings the first Wednesday of each month. These meetings are free and open to the public and all citizens are invited and encouraged to attend. For more information regarding the Richmond Sister Cities Commission, please visit its website, at http://www.richmondgov.com/CommissionSisterCities/index.aspx

The meeting agendas typically include the following:

• Welcome
• New Business
• Updates
• Committee Reports
• Closing Remarks/Adjournment

WHEN Wednesday, September 7, 2011
5:00-6:30 p.m.

Upcoming meetings dates/times include:

Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011

(Note: meetings held at: Richmond City Hall – 2nd Floor Large Conference Room; Richmond City Hall, 2nd floor; 900 E. Broad Street)

WHERE Richmond City Hall – 2nd Floor Large Conference Room
Richmond City Hall, 2nd floor; 900 E. Broad Street

WHO The Honorable Bruce Tyler, Councilman, Richmond City Council, West End 1st District; Member, Richmond Sister Cities Commission

Ms. My Lan Tran, Chairman, Richmond Sister Cities Commission

Members of the Richmond Sister Cities Commission

CONTACT For more information regarding the Richmond Sister Cities Commission, please contact Ms. My Lan Tran, Chairman, Richmond Sister Cities Commission, at 804.649.0204, or aabac@aabac.org (email)

BACKGROUND ____________________________________________________________________
One of Richmond City Council's 60 official boards, task forces and commissions that assist it with providing oversight of certain projects and priorities, the Richmond City Council Sister Cities Commission was established by Council in 1980 and operates under Council guidelines and by requirements of the Sister Cities International organization, located in Washington, D.C.

An early champion of international relations, Richmond began a relationship with its namesake, Richmond Upon Thames, England, in 1930. In 1956 a formal Sister City concept was established in the United States of America by U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. President Eisenhower's idea called for exchanges between Americans and people in other countries, with a goal of fostering peace, understanding and harmony.

The term “Sister City” is used to express a closeness that is engendered through commonalities between communities. Formal friendships are then established to promote cultural understanding and educational and economic prosperity.

For example, cities linked with Richmond are generally capital cities with comparable populations, notable points of historic interest, and potential opportunities for economic development and trade.

Globally, there are more than 2,400 Sister City partnerships in 134 countries. Nineteen Virginia cities represent approximately 50 of those partnerships. This includes seven in Richmond.

Richmond Sister City Relationships
Richmond currently maintains the following Sister City relationships:
1. Richmond upon Thames, England (Europe)
2. Saitama City, Japan (Asia)
3. Olsztyn, Poland (Eastern Europe)
4. Uijeongbu, South Korea (Asia)
5. Windhoek, Namibia (Africa)
6. Zhengzhou, China (Asia)
7. Segou, Republic of Mali (Africa)

Interest
Throughout the year, Richmond City Council receives requests from citizens and interested cities regarding its Sister Cities Program, which are shared with the Commission.

Recent Sister Cities Activities _____________________________________________________________

Republic of Mali
Richmond’s partnership with Segou is Richmond's city’s newest Sister City relationship. Richmond and Segou became Sister Cities in 2009 following the adoption of Richmond City Council Resolution 2009-R99-109, adopted July 27, 2009 that invited Segou to be a formal Sister City of Richmond, and the formalization of the relationship in Richmond on October 12, 2009 with a visiting delegation of dignitaries from Segou.

In April 2010 Richmond was awarded a $115,000 grant from Sister Cities International for a two-year African Sustainability Project that will be used to assist with performing projects in Segou that will assist with addressing sanitation, health, and water issues. On May 10, 2010 Richmond City Council received and welcomed a visiting delegation from the Republic of Mali. The delegation included six members of the country’s government who were in Richmond for the day as part of a government training program sponsored by the Institute for Global Training, USAID in Washington D.C. and were being show state and local government by the University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center’s Virginia Institute of Government.

On October 6, 2010 the Richmond City Council Sister Cities Commission and members of Richmond City Council and the Richmond Government Administration welcomed The Honorable Ousmane K. Simaga, Mayor of Segou, Republic of Mali (Africa); The Honorable Madani Sissoko, Councilman, Segou, Republic of Mali (Africa), President of the Segou Sister City Commission; and, a number of additional dignitaries from Segou, Republic of Mali (Africa), during its monthly meeting.

Richmond upon Thames
2008 visit from the Mayor and Councilmember's to Richmond; 2007 visit of Mayor and Councilmembers. Coordinated planning and events leading up to Virginia’s 400th-year celebration in 2007.

Zhenghou, China
Continue supporting teacher exchanges and exchanges of art and culture through museums, economic trips to China (conducted by Governor of Virginia with representation from Richmond). A book collection was presented to Richmond citizens from Zhengzhou citizens, which is displayed at the City’s Main Library.

Saitama, Japan
Annual student, academic, sports and cultural exchange programs.

Windhoek, Namibia
August 2007: the U.S. State Department brought a camera crew to Richmond from Windhoek coordinated events. July 2003: Richmond donated a Fire Truck to Windhoek.

Uijeongbu, South Korea
Includes relationships with the Richmond Korean community and business exchange as well as educational and cultural programs.

The Richmond City Council Sister Cities Commission consists of 13 members, of whom at least one is a Councilmember. Commission members are appointed by Richmond City Council for a term consisting of three years and no person appointed is eligible to serve more than two successive terms, although persons appointed to fill vacancies may serve two additional successive terms. Members appointed to the Commission are required to either reside or work in the City of Richmond. Originally comprised of 19 members, in 2009 Richmond Sister Cities Commission (SCC) was lowered to 13 members.

# # # #

______________________________________
Steven R. Skinner, APR
Council Public Information Manager
RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL
OFFICE OF THE COUNCIL CHIEF OF STAFF
Richmond City Hall
900 E. Broad Street, Suite 305
Richmond, Virginia 23219
804.646.6052 (office)
804.335.4054 (mobile)
804.937.1386 (home/mobile)
804.646.5468 (fax)
steven.skinner@richmondgov.com (email)
www.council.richmondva.gov(website)
____________________________________________

MISSION The mission of Richmond City Council
is to represent citizens in creating and amending
local laws, providing government policy and
oversight, and approving the city budget.

VISION Richmond City Council is committed to
creating a vibrant community that is a great place
to live, work, learn, play, visit and raise a family.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Friday, September 9, 2011

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

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