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Meet Your District: Southwest

By now, most Richmonders have heard about the numerous people running for local office. More than 30 different people declared that they want to represent YOU either in the mayor's office, City Council or the School Board.

After taking a look at the potential mayors , Richmond.com wondered about each of the city's unique districts. Sliced up into nine diverse and oddly shaped pieces, each district has its own needs and concerns about what would make it and the city better.

Some districts cover a relatively homogenous group of people while others span areas so different you wonder how two people can possibly represent all those varying viewpoints.

So twice a month, between now and November, Richmond.com is taking a look at each district to tell you what it encompasses and what the priorities are for the people vying to look out for your interests at City Hall. Today we look at District 4/Southwest.

The Southwest district is shaped a little like the state of Florida and starts at the James River and goes south to the border of Chesterfield County. It includes the communities of Forest Hill, the Chippenham Parkway, Stratford Hills, and parts of Westover Hills and Jahnke roads.

It's also the location of the new South of the James Farmers' Market .

There are six schools in the district: Fisher, Southampton and Westover Hills elementary; Brown and Thompson middle; and Huguenot High.

There are a handful of civic associations in the Southwest, including the  Forest Hill Neighborhood Association , the Westover Hills Neighborhood Association , the Forest Hill Bliley Neighborhood Association , the  Willow Oaks/Clevedon Neighborhood Association , the  Oxford Neighborhood Association , the  Southampton Neighborhood Association , the  Huguenot Farms Civic Association , the  Wayland Civic Association , the  Traylor Estates Civic Association , the  Hobby Hills Neighborhood Association and the Greater Staffordshire Civic Association .  

When looking at Richmond's growing community blog scene, the Southwest has few blogs, such as hillsandheights.net , but several active neighborhood association Web sites, such as westover-hills.org ,  stratfordhillsnews.com and foresthillneighborhood.com , as well as City Council representative Kathy Graziano's site are chock-full of community-specific information.

Speaking of which, Graziano is running unopposed for her seat on City Council this year. The 66-year-old retired lobbyist has been on council since 2004.

Overall, she sees public safety and education as two of the top issues facing the city as a whole as well as her district. Traffic management, including speeding and people who cut through the area, is a problem in the Southwest, she said.

Infrastructure and stormwater management and drainage are also key in the district and citywide, she said.

"After the rain, no one [council member] wants to answer their phone because everyone has the same problem," she said. "I don't think we're doing a very good job addressing those two issues. Part of the problem is the resources. It's expensive. We have an old system and it's a huge strain on it."

One educational priority that Graziano raised was echoed by nearly all of the four candidates vying for the open School Board seat being vacated by current chairman George Braxton .

"We have a lot of young families moving into the Fourth and a lot are opting out of schools," Graziano said. "We need to market the schools so people consider them as an option.

"(They move out) because they don't have confidence in the schools. Bottom line. I don't think we do a good job of selling the schools. We've got Fisher Elementary and Southampton. They're both really good schools and we don't get that word out."

Two of the School Board candidates -- Adria Graham Scott , a 40-year-old-plus employee for the Department of Housing and Community Development, and Bert Berlin , a 64-year-old retired attorney -- both cited the same concern.

"I think people have a lack of confidence in the ability of Richmond Public Schools to run its business efficiently in light of all the audits and stuff like that," Berlin said.

"Personally, because I spent a good part of my career involved in government and accountability, it's one of the things I'm going to work on."

Scott said the cycle of families moving into the district but moving out when their children come of school age or hit middle school is having a larger effect both in the district and citywide.

"It has a huge social impact on community stability and an economic impact," she said.

"These are families that very invested in the success of their children. They're making a decision with their feet and saying Richmond Public Schools is not meeting our needs or there's the perception that they aren't meeting the needs."

Scott and Berlin are joined by John T. Lloyd , a retired State Farm Insurance employee, and Jonathan C. Mallard , a 36-year-old structural engineer, in the race.

Both Mallard and Lloyd talked about the need for new and renovated school buildings both in the district and citywide.

"I've gone into Huguenot High quite a bit," Lloyd said. "The air is stagnant. The windows have grayed from time and I would like to see Huguenot High replaced with a new building and at an earlier timetable than that which has been proposed."

Working with the surrounding communities and getting parents more involved is also key, the candidates said.   

"Research has shown that more involvement typically increases school performance," Mallard said.

Berlin said the city has a school system that's segregated by economic class, pointing out that 70 percent of students are receiving free or reduced lunches.

"One of the things I want to do in the 4th District is what I call the three P's -- partnering parents with principals, just like in the local schools in Westover Hills," he said.

"We need to get people in the neighborhood to work with the principal to find some way to put kids in that school so it will work for them. Look at Fox and Munford as examples, and more recently Linwood Holton where the community has worked with school to make it work for their children."

Providing more vocational opportunities also topped candidates' priority list for all schools in the city.

Mallard said that providing more expansive vocational opportunities for students through partnerships with local companies, particularly those involving skills that will be in demand in the future, is one of his top citywide priorities.

Lloyd said he thinks theme-oriented schools with partnerships in the business community would be a good idea.

"I think there's a need to be innovative in our approach in educating the children of Richmond or in an urban area," he said. "When we look at stats like 50 percent graduation rates, there is something that we are not doing correctly and we need look at programs like a very strong vocational and technical program, expanding the international baccalaureate and affording options to parents."

Lloyd and Scott said teacher recruitment and retention is also crucial for the children.

"We're losing experienced teachers and becoming more of a proving ground to train teachers and once they get a few years of experience, they're out," Scott said.

"We're losing valuable and viable resources for the county for a variety of reasons. There's a lot of frustration because the children ultimately lose out."

Meet the Other Districts:

District 1  / West End District 2 / North Central District 3 / Northside District 4 / Southwest District 5 / Central District 6 / Gateway District 7 / East End District 8 / Southside District 9 / South Central