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Schools Eviction Out of Council's Hands Now

Richmond City Council will send to the mayor a letter, a copy of the attempted schools' eviction report and a request that the violations found be remedied within 30 days.

After that, any further action will be up to the Richmond commonwealth's attorney or a special prosecutor, council president Bill Pantele (2nd) told council at its informal meeting Monday afternoon.

Council took up the report, which was compiled from the information a special council committee received from the Mayor L. Douglas Wilder administration after the administration attempted to move the Richmond Public Schools from City Hall to 3600 W. Broad St. in September.

For the most part, the discussion revolved around council members Chris Hilbert (3rd), who headed the committee, and Marty Jewell (5th), who went back and forth about what information was included in the report.

"We've not seen how these numbers were founded. In school we were required to show our work on a work sheet on how we got our numbers. With this, we've not seen the worksheet," Jewell said, questioning how the mayor's and council's legal fees were compiled in the report.

Hilbert directed Jewell to two different appendices, pointing out that the information was indeed there and in great detail.

After their debate, council members Jewell, Kathy Graziano (4th) and Doug Conner (9th) said the report should be forwarded to the commonwealth's attorney to make a decision on what was in the city's best interest. However, Pantele told them that they must send the mayor a letter requesting that the appropriate fixes be made in accordance with council ordinance. What happens after that is not the responsibility of council, he said.

"It's not for City Council's legislative body to make those types of decisions. They rest, potentially, in the hands of the commonwealth's attorney or a special commonwealth's attorney, if that is something the commonwealth's attorney's office, in its discretion, would like to pursue," Pantele said.

"But before we speculate, the first step is to put it in the hands of the administration to take it under consideration and make things right. Then there would be no need of further consideration."

When pressed further, Pantele explained, "I believe once the letter is sent, it's out of our hands. City legislatures don't recommend potentially criminal investigations. The power is clearly vested in the commonwealth's attorney's hands."

After the meeting, Pantele said he plans to send the letter Tuesday. A spokesman for Wilder has said that the report represents "total fabrication and poppycock."

In response, Pantele said Monday that the issues were serious and the data was received from the administration itself and the law applied to that.

"It is my great hope they will review it seriously and take appropriate action to make it right," he said. "If not, it's their choice to make."

Pantele said one of the possible remedies the administration could take would be to restore the funding that was used in the move without causing any more budget or procurement violations. As for the still unanswered and, to some, ultimate question of authorized the money transfer, Pantele is not as worried.

"My concern is focused on the budget ordinances and the procurement laws of the city," he said. "I'm less concerned about who directed what."

In other business, council voted 6-3 to approve a special use permit for a 200-unit, luxury condo development, called Manchester on the James, in the Springhill neighborhood, south of the River near the Lee Bridge. But the decision was not easy and came after more than two and half hours of discussion from residents and council members.

The developer, Crosland LLC , says it already has the right to build 200 units in the multi-zoned property, but that the rezoning would create a better project.

Nearly 70 residents attended Monday's formal meeting, with some wearing neon pink and green stickers with "S.O.S.: Save Our Southside" on them, to voice their displeasure about the project. They criticized its massive size -- one city block -- and effect on traffic and the neighborhood overall.

"I'm the closest resident to this, and this is a project that I've watched develop for many months. Tonight, you have a fantastic opportunity to really lay the groundwork for what council can do. It is on the river and needs as special attention as ever," said Edwin Slipek . "It isn't in Manchester. It's in Springhill, but we share it with entire city and the state. I think it's time to go back to the drawing board. There's a lot of energy here."

Several council members said the decision wasn't an easy one and some reversed their earlier position on the issue. Those voting in favor of the permit were Jewell, Conner, Hilbert, Reva Trammell (8th), Bruce Tyler (1st) and Delores McQuinn (7th). Those voting against the permit were Graziano, Pantele and Ellen Robertson (6th).

"I'm very conflicted on this project. I voted twice for it before," said Graziano. "There are many pieces to this project, which I think are excellent. There hadn't been a lot happening in that corner for years. On the other hand, I hear the people that live there. Though I have mixed feelings on this project, I'm going to have to vote against it."

Jewell, who represents the Springhill neighborhood, said he's supported the project since early on.

"I was hoping someone would convince me that this is the bad dog. Quite the contrary. It's quality development with a developer who's bent over backward to satisfy a neighborhood that it can't satiate," he said.

"As ugly as that thing is now, nobody is upset about it. By right, what can be there now? We're talking about the prospect of great big Wawa sitting out there or storage facilities on first floor and three stories of apartments above it as dense as 200 units anyway. Nobody seems to want to consider that and that's about as ugly as you get. I urge my colleagues to support this because I tried to listen for the killer deal to kill this deal, but I didn't hear it."

Council also OK'd an ordinance authorizing the acquisition of 3111 Water St., known as the Lehigh property, for the purpose of providing an open public space and public park along the river to compliment the Virginia Capital Trail. This ordinance, introduced by the mayor, originally included plans for a city-run public marina, but council members felt that the city should not be in the marina business and removed it.



Though some council members expressed concerns about the eventual cost and exact details of the plan, which they said weren't answered by the mayor even though they repeatedly asked, members still voted in favor of it. More than a dozen people spoke in favor of the acquisition, noting how important the river and the Capital Trail are for residents and cyclists.

Council members also presented a special award, known as the Thomas Jefferson Award for outstanding government service, to outgoing Police Chief Rodney Monroe for his work the past three years. Monroe announced last month that he had accepted the job as top cop in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"This is a little bit overwhelming," Monroe said after loud round of applause from all of council and the audience, "but I greatly appreciate it. I have to thank all the citizens of this great city first and foremost for standing up and saying what you wanted in your community and working with us to establish that."