City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. Good evening, everyone. The formal meeting of the Richmond City Council will now come to order. I will ask madam clerk or mister clerk if we could have our Spanish interpretation announcement. Spanish interpretation is available in the council chamber. Please see a representative at the rear of the room to receive the appropriate equipment. Spanish interpretation is also available through Microsoft Teams for virtual attendees in need of this service.

Thank

you.

I would like to introduce our invocation speaker, reverend Sherman Logan, a First Unitarian Universalist Church. After the invocation, we will, have the pledge of allegiance. Thank you, reverend Logan.

May we pray, holy one of many names, spirit of life and love, as evening settles and this day draws to a close, We pause to offer thanks for your goodness and for your mercy that has carried us to this hour. As we gather to serve the people of Richmond, we remember the sacred trust placed in this place. The decisions made here ripple outward into homes, neighborhoods, and daily lives. So we ask your blessings not only upon what is decided, but how we arrive there. Bless the conversations.

Bless the disagreements. Bless the moments of clarity and the moments of challenge. Grant that our words and action be be may be one, guided by integrity, shaped by compassion, and grounded in the spirit of unity. Teach us to listen not just to respond, but to understand so that we may find common ground and the courage to move forward together. Give us open and steady hearts committed to the well-being of all.

Grant us wisdom to discern what is just and courage to act upon it In the many names that calls us towards love and in the spirit that binds us together as one human family, we offer this prayer. May this be so. Amen.

Thank you, reverend Logan. And to the republic which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We will now, deputy clerk, have the emergency evacuation plan announcements followed by the public speaker guidelines.

Upon activation of the emergency alarm signal, all persons should immediately exit the building. Please use the exits to the left or right front of the council chamber or the east or west stairwell outside the rear doors of the chamber. Do not use elevators or escalators. After exiting the building, security will direct everyone down 9th Street to the assembly area located inside the former public safety building parking lot. Able persons should assist visually and hearing impaired visitors with exiting the building.

Individuals speaking during public hearings and the public comment period are generally allowed three minutes to speak. Persons appearing before counsel are not allowed to campaign for public office, promote private business ventures, use language of a personal nature which insults or demeans any person, including comments directed at public officials or staff members that are not related to their official duties, or address or question staff members directly. All questions are to be directed to the president of counsel. Failure to adhere to the guidelines may result in speakers forfeiting any remaining time and further disciplinary action as necessary, which could include barring from attendance at future meetings of city council for a period of six months.

And, madam president, for the record, all members of council are in attendance this evening. If there are individuals standing in the in the back of the chamber, unauthorized individuals, they are asked to be seated where seats are available. Also, applause is only permitted during tonight's awards and presentation ceremony for this evening. Thank you. Thank you, madam clerk. Chief of staff Lawson, if you would come forward with a special recognition.

Thank you so much, president Neubil, vice president Jordan, esteemed members of council, thank you for having me. Lawson Majesiriam, chief of staff, and I'm here on behalf of Maravula to present proclamations to our two new poet laureates. We have Maurice Moflos Brown and Rosa Castellano. These two talented individuals were announced on Saturday at the VisArts event, and they, at that time, were given the opportunity to read some of their poetry and begin to take on this mantle as poet laureates. But we also wanted council to be able to formally receive their appointment and for the public to know more broadly for them to receive these proclamations here tonight.

So a little context. We have had poet laureates since 2020. Thanks in enormous part to Patty Parks, whose dedication to the program got it off the ground even in the middle of COVID. And our first two laureates, Roscoe Burnhams and Joanna Lee, have been extraordinary advocates for the program, their artistic communities, and our city. We've benefited from them, for many years, and now we really looking forward to having the two of you.

So one's yours.

Everyone's ready for some whereas's? Alright. Whereas, April 2026 marks the thirtieth anniversary of National Poetry Month in The United States, recognizing the vital role poets play in cultivating curiosity, creativity, and play in our civic life. And whereas both our history and our future are shaped through language and healthy democracies rely on voices that challenge, inspire, and bring us together. And whereas poetry fosters literacy and critical thinking, helping community members of all ages and from all backgrounds observe more closely, imagine more deeply, and communicate more richly.

And whereas the city of Richmond is home to poets whose work makes our classrooms, libraries, and streets brighter, who represent our city on national stages and in publications that reach worldwide, and who advance Maribula's vision for city of rich of Richmond as a city that tells its stories and tells the truth about its past. And whereas in 1996, the Academy of American Poets, a national nonprofit member supported organization promoting poets and poetry, established the month of April to be National Poetry Month in The US. And whereas in 2021, to further exalt the importance of poetry and the breadth of our city's creative culture, Richmond named its first poet laureate who serves a two year commitment from April through April to promote poetry through our city. And whereas Richmond's first two poet laureates, Douglas Powell, Rascal Burnhams, and Joanna Lee have been fierce advocates for poetry as a powerful tool for community formation, truth telling, and envisioning a vibrant future for Richmond. And whereas the city of Richmond is proud to introduce our two newly appointed laureates, Maurice Moflows Brown and Rosa Castellano, as Richmond's third poet laureate as they take on the charge of championing the art form, celebrating our city, and creating paths to healing and connection through storytelling.

And now, therefore, I, doctor Danny TK Avula, mayor of the city of Richmond, Virginia, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as Richmond poetry month and uplift the value of this essential art form within our communities.

We just hey. It actually is working now. Just wanna say congratulations congratulations on behalf of the Richmond City Council. We are excited to have two new poets and look forward to your work with us. So we'll be calling upon you. Just wanna let you know different events. Okay. But just congratulations, and we're so pleased to have you serve in that capacity for our city.

Thank you.

Mister Clark, I believe that we are ready for public comment, period, speakers at this time. The first speaker is Karen Thomas. Welcome, miss Thomas.

Good evening, all. My name is Karen Thomas. First, I would like to thank councilwoman Reba Trimmel for giving me the opportunity to tell my story.

Miss Thomas, can you please speak a little bit more into the Yes. Thank you.

Good evening, all. My name is Karen Thomas. First, I'd like to thank councilwoman Reba Trimmel for giving me the opportunity to tell my story. It started on 08/08/2025. We were living at a Section 8 House on Richmond Southside. Everyone in our house was diagnosed with ear infections. My mother had pneumonia twice. I had consistent breathing problems. The cause was narrowed down to an odor in the house. As my mother live in aid, I reached out to the landlord. No answer. No reply. I reached out to Section 8. No answer. No reply.

I reached out to the health department, city council. Every number I was given, we cannot help. My health was getting worse and worse. 11 emergency room visits. They stay in MCV. I finally left a message to the mayor's office saying, this house is killing me. I'm going to die. They sent out code enforcement on 01/02/2026 and determined there was a sewage leak and mold.

Excuse me.

The property, they left us there to live out our lease. The doctors, it it said I cannot go back the house. My health would get even worse. We informed the landlord, Izzy Jones, and left 2101 Ward Avenue on 01/15/2026. I moved my elderly disabled mother, 11 year old son, and paid for us to stay in different hotels.

As of 04/06/2026, we had finally found a decent place to live. No one would help us. I cried out to everyone. Nobody. I'm grateful now to be in Councilwoman's Rebus District. Seniors disabled should not go through this. No family. No kids. No one. It was so dramatic for us. We all I can't even sleep at night

You have thirty days.

Not gonna be able to breathe. But I come today to just ask for help. It's not only me going through this. My kids, and I have to say, mommy, please don't die for nothing for a house. And I begged everybody. Nobody wouldn't listen. I'm sorry. I can't do this. Thank you.

Madam president.

Yes. Miss Thomas, thank you for sharing your experience, and I know that there will be someone following up with you. In addition, council member Trammell, did you have a comment?

I'll call her tonight. When I leave here, I'll give her a call. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Clark? The next speaker is Leonard Anderson. Leonard Anderson. The next speaker is Charlie Trocklow.

Welcome, mister Troklo.

Hi. Good evening. My name is Charlie Trokel. I'm a resident and homeowner in the 5th District. My wife grew up in Richmond, and I have lived here for five years. And we bought our home in Randolph in 2024. We love Richmond. We love our little brick house, and we're excited to start a family here. We were only able to afford our home because its lot was split prior to our purchase. That's why I'm here to speak in support of code refresh, especially its smaller minimum lot sizes.

Our house was built in 1936 on one side of a double lot. In 2020, its previous owner passed away. By 2024, when the property was sold, the house was in disrepair. Thanks to the double lot, the family was able to split the property in half. The empty lot was sold to a developer and the house to a flipper who fixed it and flipped it to us. This outcome was a win for everybody. The family selling their inherited property was able to make more by selling to two investors with different goals. Our next door neighbors got a new build. We got our home. Both investors made money by providing more quality housing than was previously in our neighborhood or the city.

If we consider an alternate history where the lot couldn't be split, an investor would look at the large lot and the small house in need of repairs, and they would follow the profit incentive. They would build a big house out of our price range and out of touch with our neighborhood. It might be via additions or by tearing down what was there, but it would have been rational for that investor, and it would have produced half as many homes. Situations like this play out all over the city without the benefit of breaking up lots. Allowing smaller minimum lot sizes will increase the options available to sellers and create lots where smaller, affordable homes are possible and profitable.

Richmond will continue to grow. We can't change the fact that people want to buy houses in the city and developers want to provide them. These are good problems to have. Our options are to allow smaller starter homes on littler lots or watch as houses become bigger and bigger, pricier, and pricier. And it's very clear to me which one would be better for the city. My request for this council, say yes to code refresh when it comes back this summer or this fall. It is your charge to be representatives not just for the most vocal critics, but for all the individuals CodeRefresh will benefit, including those who have not yet had the opportunity to make Richmond their home.

You have thirty seconds.

Thank you. Please have the imagination to see a growing Richmond where greater flexibility creates more of these wins for everybody. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Ralph Hodge. Welcome, reverend Hodge.

Good evening.

Good evening, members of the city council. I come before you tonight to highlight an issue that some seniors and disabled citizens are having navigating the real estate tax relief process. Several members of the community have reached out to me to share that even though they've been on the tax relief program for over a decade, they recently found themselves unenrolled from the program. And so tonight, I'm coming in on speaking on the their behalf. They were some they had hard time difficult time coming out tonight, I told them that I would come speak for them.

And I'm asking for some grace concerning their circumstances. These citizens are good members of the community, and they call Richmond their home for decades. So when they tried to reenroll in the tax relief program, they ran into some challenges and obstacles. These seniors and disabled people are living on limited resources and income. The tax relief program allows them to stay in their homes and continue, to call Richmond, their city of choice.

They are barely making it on their Social Security income, and so I'm hoping tonight that the city administration or the council will take the names of the seniors that I have and assist them to getting reenrolled in the tax relief program that they've been on for twelve, thirteen, and other for eighteen years. To my knowledge, as of today, the forms and applications for this year's tax relief program are not available. And so taxes are due in June, and I hope that these seniors and disabled members of our community can have their situations rectified, by then. So thank you for your understanding and consideration on that matter.

Thank you, reverend Hodge. The next speaker is Stephanie Starling. Welcome, miss Starlings. Hello.

So my name is Stephanie Starling. I'm here today to speak on behalf of my mother, Anna Tad, who's here with me today, and countless seniors in our city to advocate for changes in the tax relief for elderly application process. The program is designed to help our vulnerable population age in place and reduce the burden of rising taxes for their property. To apply, applicants must be 65 years of age or 100% disabled as of December 31 of the previous year. One thing we know for certain is that if you meet those qualifications, each year, your age only increases, and disabilities often remain unchanged.

If those are if those are listed first in the criteria, why are our seniors and disabled residents, requested to reapply each year if their income or their qualifications have not changed? On February 4 this year, my mother was hand handed me a letter from the tax relief program. It was dated 11/21/2025, but the envelope envelope was machine stamped for November 25. There are two things my mother is consistent at. One is watching gunsmoke.

The other is reading her mail. The letter arrived on February 3 stating that our records indicate that you're currently participating in the attack relief, program. And to remain active, you must submit a application or recertification application by 12/31/2025. The problem with that deadline is that that was exactly one month and one week earlier. I immediately called the office on the letter, left a message, and sent an email that included the mayor.

I advised the letter had arrived in February, asked to be provided the documents to file, and urged the city to consider implementing measures that would allow the tax relief to remain permanently or undergo review every few years rather than annually. As of today, I received no response for either office. When I ran for office a few years ago, part of my campaign focused on the aging community. Other than cancel woman Trammell, who has provided me with literature when I've attended her meetings and all but filled out applications for her seniors because she fights for them, has been consistent in her efforts to direct seniors in her direct in her district towards any city benefits for which they are eligible. Unfortunately, there are seniors that have not had this experience in in in Richmond.

My mother is 83, and and for eighteen years, she has met the age requirement for less than and have received the benefits for less than three years of them. After o after over sixty five years of paying tax in both the 8th And 9th District, my mother has contributed greatly to the city's development with no say in how her taxes are spent. And when she needs help from the city, there's no response. Our seniors are vital to our community just as developments or projects each of you may undertake. I urge you to request changes in the application process to ensure that our seniors remain sewn in the fabric of what makes this city great and are not overlooked when we refresh Richmond. Thank you.

Thank you, miss Darling. The next speaker is Arla Hargrove. Arla Hargrove. And, madam president, that concludes the list of public comment period speakers for this evening. Thank you, madam clerk. Welcome, miss Hargrove.

Good evening, council members of the city council and everyone present. My name is Arla Hargrove, and I would like to address my concerns in reference to tax relief for the elderly and persons with disabilities. I have been receiving assistance from this program approximately eighteen years or more. In March, I received a letter from the mortgage company informing me that my payment would be increasing to 400 more dollars than I'm already paying for my mortgage because of unpaid taxes. I called the city to see what the problem was.

They stated I hadn't sent in 2025 research forms. I informed the lady that I always return anything they send me out, and she replied, everything is here except 2025. In return, I obtained my folder. Everything was there except 2025. I said I never received a letter, reminder, or invoice about taxes due.

After speaking with them on the week of March 17, all of a sudden, I received two letters stating that the reason for my, I needed to pay unpaid taxes was that I did not send in a research for 2025. Until then, I have not received anything. I have all my letters in a folder showing the dates and and things that have been sent out to me, and she stated that, you know, it's too late. And, I I think that's I feel like it's it's unfair right now to be treated in that manner. If I've been consistently sending in and you all have been consistently sending me a letter, all of a sudden, after all these years, I did not receive a letter.

I think some needs to be some consideration, and things need to be checked to see what's going on with that. And then as I go on further, I I don't understand that. Normally, we would have received another letter for 2026. I haven't received anything with that. So I would appreciate it if you all would look into it. I'm disabled. I'm on limited income, and I cannot pay $961 a month now. That's $400 more than I was paying. I paid my mortgage down with these You have thirty seconds. To pay even more.

So I I just appreciate you all's time, and I hope and pray that you all would take in consideration and reevaluate the situation for us seniors and disabled people and rectify this problem. Thank you.

Thank you, miss Hargrove.

Madam president, Cookie lives in my district. She lives in my district. And I have others that live in my district that could not be here tonight. This is something that I've been asking about since January, since my seniors have been calling me that they were taken off the tax relief. And then she just said, she's not even got a letter for 2026.

Here we are, April 13, and then where where are the forms? And that's what people are calling me up asking me just like Cookie just said when I went over there to her house. She didn't have anything to show that they had even tried to notify her as other seniors that I won't mention their names were not able to be here tonight because the disability is know, she's with the pastor. He brought her here. But what are we going to do when we're almost in a in you know, this is now going into May?

Hear

you. We've never had this. Not with not with Sheila White, not with but we're how come somebody from finance is not here addressing this when I have been up there asking and begging for the forms when they tell me they're not ready?

Housewoman Trammell, I wanna say thank you. I would like to ask reverend Hodge, you said you have a list, if you would get those. And, miss Lawson, if you could just direct who that list should go to in finance, miss Hargrove, miss Starling, if you would get that information to our chief of staff and so that then we could have follow-up on that. There are some others as well from some of the other districts, so we'll make sure to get those to you as well so we can be responsive to to our seniors who we care about greatly

Yeah.

And their well-being. So we'll follow-up. Reverend Hodge, you will follow-up with us? Okay. And Alright. And miss Darlings, miss Hargrove. Okay. And and just And councilwoman Lynch.

I'm sorry.

And and Reba's absolute council member Trammell is absolutely right. It's a it's a huge issue all across our our city for our districts. We're working on, introducing an ordinance to adjust the timeline. We're working with the administration. We just met with them today, and we'll continue to work with them on some really important updates.

That's why having the the funding for the senior mailings is so important because having that communication out early and often is absolutely critical to informing our our seniors having to go through our direct mail. Hopefully, we will have that ordinance introduced before the June, time frame. So we'll be working with all of you all, to to and the administration to get that ordinance fixed so we can adjust our timeline so that folks have time.

Thank you, miss Lynch. And again, thank you, miss Trammell. And even though miss Thomas has, I don't think she's still in the audience. I would like to make sure we follow-up with her as well, Miss Lawson can check with the clerk's office relative to her to get it to the appropriate staff person. I just can see you more directly, and I know you will direct accordingly. So I just wanna say thank you to, everyone who came to provide us with public comment today. Thank you. With that, madam, deputy clerk, I'd like to go on to the agenda and the amendments for tonight's agenda.

The amendments to tonight's agenda are as follows. Item three, ordinance twenty twenty six zero six zero will be continued to the Monday, April 27 council meeting. Item seven, ordinance twenty twenty five two one five will be continued to the Monday, May 11 council meeting. Item eight, ordinance twenty twenty five two three one will be continued to the Monday, April 27 council meeting. Item nine, ordinance twenty twenty six zero five nine will be continued to the Monday, May 11 council meeting. Madam president, those are all the amendments to tonight's agenda.

Thank you, mister Clark. Let's, proceed with, the motion a letter to the agenda. Do I accept?

I'll need a motion to amend the agenda as read, councilor.

Second.

Counsel is voting on this evening's agenda amendments as read. Mister Breton? Aye. Miss Gibson? Abstain. Miss Jones? Aye. Miss Robertson?

Aye.

Miss Lynch? Aye. Miss Trammell?

Aye.

Miss Abubacher?

Aye.

And president Hubbell? Aye. That motion has been approved. The amended agenda is now before you, and this evening's consent agenda consists of the following items. Item one, ordinance twenty twenty six, zero five seven. Item two, ordinance twenty twenty six, zero five eight. Item four, ordinance twenty twenty six, zero six one. Item five, ordinance twenty twenty six, zero six two. And item six, ordinance twenty twenty six, zero seven two. Those are all the items on tonight's consent agenda.

Thank you, mister Clark. We will now have a public hearing, and each person will be accorded three minutes for public comment in favor and or opposition. So I will first ask if we have persons' desires of speaking in opposition to any of the items on the consent agenda if you would come forward.

Welcome. Thank

you. Okay. Good evening, Richmond City Council. I am doctor Cindy Robinson, principal of the Richmond Virtual Academy. I returned tonight because the city's budget

met Madam president, this is not the budget public hearing. This is the This is the consent agenda. I'm sorry. We're coming with budget.

On the sheet.

You yes. We're gonna get to you. Okay. I am. We are. This is a public comment on the consent agenda items only at this time, and those persons desires to speaking in opposition to any item on the consent agenda.

I'm confused. Is this the time to speak about amendments?

No. I'll I'll let you know.

Okay. Thank you.

It it will come shortly. I'm glad to see the enthusiasm here for this. Okay. Do I have any person's desires of speaking in favor of any item on the consent agenda? Okay. Seeing none, the public hearing on the consent agenda is closed. Bring it back to counsel for any discussion. Question? Seeing none, mister Clark, if you would call the question.

Counsel is voting on the consent agenda as presented. Mister Breton? Aye. Miss Gibson? Yes. Miss Jones?

Aye.

Miss Robertson? Aye. Miss Lynch? Aye. Miss Trammell? Aye. Miss Abu Bakr?

Aye.

Vice president Jurden? Aye. And president Ubill? Aye. Those papers have all been adopted.

Thank you. Now the next item that we're going to have public hearing on as the clerk reads, it will be an expedited resolution, so not yet on budget. I'll let you know on budget. Okay. Mister Clerk.

Madam president, the paper for expedited consideration this evening is resolution number twenty twenty six dash r zero fourteen, which is to approve the issuance by RRHA of its multifamily housing revenue bonds in an amount up to $8,000,000 for the acquisition, construction, and equipping of the approximately 48 unit multifamily residential rental housing project at 115 North Jefferson Street. I will need a motion to expedite consideration of this resolution. Vice president Jordan, will you make that motion, please?

So moved.

Councilman Breton, will you second that?

Second.

Thank you. Council is now voting on the motion to expedite consideration of this resolution. Mister Breton? Aye. Aye. Miss Gibson?

I'm voting no on just the expert expediting this. I I just think in general, these these types of papers require or benefit from more, you know, visibility input, those things.

Okay. Miss Jones? Aye. Miss Robertson? Aye. Miss Lynch? Aye. Miss Trammell? Miss Abubaker? Aye. Vice president Jordan? Aye. And president Nubu? Aye. That paper is before counsel for consideration. Thank you, madam clerk. At this time, we'll have a, public hearing on the paper Trying to modulate this, mic. I'm told that, you can't hear me as well sometimes. Right? You can hear me well?

Okay. And so we will now have a public hearing. All of those persons present in the audience desires of speaking in opposition to this paper, if you would come forward. Seeing none, all of those present in the audience desires of speaking in favor of this paper if you would come forward. Seeing none, the public hearing is closed. Bring it back to counsel for discussion. Madam clerk, if you will call the question. Counsel is now voting on resolution number twenty twenty six dash r zero fourteen as read. Mister Breton?

Aye.

Miss Gibson? Abstain. Miss Jones? Aye. Miss Robertson? Aye. Miss Lynch? Aye. Miss Trammell? Aye. Miss Abubaker? Aye. Vice president Jordan? Aye. And president Newbill? Aye. That paper has been adopted. Thank you. Now, the papers that I suspect many of you are here to speak to. And so, madam clerk, if you would proceed to read the budget related papers.

The budget related ordinances on this evening's agenda are item 10, ordinance number twenty twenty six dash zero sixty three through item 18, ordinance number twenty twenty six dash zero seventy one. Those papers are before counsel. Thank you, madam clerk. Would those persons desires of speaking to any of the budget papers just raise your hands. Okay.

And so what I will, suggest at this point that we will allow two minutes so we can hear from everybody, who has raised their hand. And so with that, we'll get started. I will ask those persons desires of speaking to the budget papers in, favor and or, otherwise to line up and if you would come forth and share your comments with us. K. Welcome again.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Good evening, everyone, again. Richmond City Council, I am doctor Cindy Robinson, principal of the Richmond Virtual Academy. Again, I return tonight because the city's budget is the ultimate statement of its values.

I'm calling on this council to decide that the stability of our families is a nonnegotiable priority and that the lifelines protecting our most vulnerable scholars will never be treated as an optional expense. I acknowledge the proposed 257,000,000 allocation is a substantial investment, but meeting the local composite index is simply fulfilling a legal baseline. Strategic excellent excellence requires more. When we leave a $3,800,000 gap, we are effectively closing the door on students with long term medical or social emotional needs for whom RVA is the only lifeline. Without it, families are forced into private market most cannot afford, telling our children their education is only a priority if their parents can pay for it.

It is a common misconception that RVA costs our school district millions. The truth is virtual learning actually saves millions. Our brick and mortar facilities face nearly 40,000,000 in urgent deferred maintenance. Meanwhile, RVA operates out of a single office in an existing school. We serve a student body that would otherwise require its own multimillion dollar building, yet we do so with zero facility overheads, educating students at less than half the cost of our traditional counterparts. The cycle of uncertainty must end. Council, our community has spoken. Listen to us. Our children deserve a seat at the table, not the leftovers of a budget gap. Stop the compromises.

Close the gap. Fully fund RPS. Fully fund RBA. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening good evening, city council and everyone. My name is missus Lofton Pickens. I'm the instruction compliance coordinator with the Richmond Virtual Academy. I always feel like I'm too close to this thing. I would like to begin by thanking you all for listening to RVA.

It's very important to have your voices heard, your willingness to hear what communities has the community has expressed that matters. As you consider the amendments presented by councilwoman Gibson and councilwoman Tramiel, I want to highlight that RBA represents less than 1% of RPS' entire budget. Let me see here. The RPS community has spoken clearly and consistently in support of RBA even without a formal community engagement survey, and the collective voice deserves recognition. I also believe in transparency and stand in support of the third party audit of RPS.

I'm hopeful that in the near future, as there is an expectation to preserve RVA, clearly stated by RPS, the school board, we will also see intentional efforts to ensure RVA is fully embraced, whereas acts actively communicated, supported, and where RVA stakeholders feel welcome and value value part of RPS. Unity matters. Forward thinking and recognizing that RVA is one of the divine nine highlighted by the DOD. It is essential for RPS to continue to listen as RVA remains a safe haven for students who will also who also can RBA can also self sustain if we continue to think forward and move forward with the ideas that RBA has. Thank you for your time, and hoodie hoop.

God bless y'all.

Thank you.

Good evening, council members. My name is Dee Winston. That's d e e. As a parent, I would like to thank you all for at least trying to consider the budget, and I would really like to thank you all that have been supporting us. We really appreciate it.

Also, a parent, I'm standing here traumatized by my daughter's school still being on the chopping chopping block. It's been that way for a few years. My daughter experienced bullying in person school. And I feel like my school, my daughter's school, and I say my school because we are a family, is being bullied too. When Friedrich Froebel discovered or designed kindergarten, it's supposed to be a gardener plate.

It's not supposed to be for bullying. But yet my child was bullied in person, and I feel like our school is being bullied because we just went through this. So I'm asking I'm humbly asking for you all to provide the funding for Richmond Public Schools, Richmond Virtual Academy. Richmond Public Schools is Richmond Virtual Academy. Richmond Virtual Academy is Richmond Public Schools.

Also, I have created this book. It's titled about Richmond Virtual Academy in a snapshot. Our students and families in the community. I have provided you all a electronic copy in PDF form since I couldn't make a copy for everyone. As I said the last time

Thirty seconds.

My daughter, she was a black history spotlight. She is thriving in Richmond Virtual Academy. Please help us save our school. Thank you so much.

Thank you, and thank you for sharing the book.

Good evening, council. My name is Adam Rose, and I support the amendments of council member Gibson and Trammell in specifically calling out funding for the Richmond Virtual Academy. They are the latest in a long line of leaders that get it. They're moved by RVA's community impact and the strategic role in addressing declining RPS enrollment. They follow the Virginia Department of Education who named RVA one of its divine nine with a 100% graduation rate, full accreditation, and chronic and low chronic absenteeism.

The school board who voted six to two to add RVA back with representative Hedgepath saying RVA plays an essential role and requires a new mindset to preserve it. The positive response from journalists, all the major outlets are covering this topic, and the community are asking questions like, why is a school that's exceeding RPS goals and with 750 student applicants in the last few years on the chopping block? Why is an RVA a budget issue when it's less than one percent of the total RPS budget cost half as much to run while other schools are seeing declining enrollment but yet see increasing budgets. Why are there substantial transition costs to cover RVA in case it were to close for areas needed to fill the gap, like homebound, exceptional ed, special transportation, tuition, and private corporate vendors are ballooning. Thirty seconds.

I can't answer these, but an audit could, something Kenya Gibson also calls for. The superintendent and mayor's unpopular views are why all of us are here. My advice for them and the esteemed counsel, take the win. Get behind RVA, grow enrollment, and support this vulnerable community. The mayor, in releasing his press release about underfunding RPS, said, let's keep it going. Children deserve a safe, enriching, and full of opportunity learning environments. I couldn't agree more.

Thank you, RGA.

Fund RPS. Thanks.

Thank you.

Why am I speaking on the budget? My name is Felicia Manor. I'm here to speak on my daughter and why virtual academy has mattered to so much for our family. Safety. When my daughter was attending in school in person, she was bullied. Her siblings felt like they had to protect her. My daughter will run out of the building. She will run out of the classroom with no clothes on. That is not safe. Dignity. I will send her to school with clean pull ups on and mock them. She will come home wearing the same pull up she left in. Her clothes would be wet and cut up. Her nose would be covered with mucus. Many times, she came on the she came home on the bus without a coat.

She was constantly sick. Every child deserves dignity. My daughter deserves dignity. Personal needs. My daughter does not understand personal space. She wants to hug and kiss everyone. She needs supervision and support, impact, and my ability to work. I was called every single day while I was trying to work and pay my bills. I felt like I might as well be a teacher. I do not get paid for that. If we are talking about the budgets, then put me in the budget. Budget and reality. The only item Richard PS provides for my daughter at RVA is a Chromebook. Every r p s every r p s student has a Chromebook. I pay my electric bill.

I pay for my Wi Fi. So exactly what are they paying for? Growth and learning. Thirty seconds. Since attending work written virtual academy, my daughter has grown tremendously. She can now write her name. She can do things she never did before. She is learning. She is striving what she deserves. My daughter deserves to graduate with her current classmate. She deserves to be to graduate in a safe environment. And I want to ask questions. Can you guarantee her protection at graduation? Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is doctor Jacqueline Johnson Wilson, a proud Richmond Virtual Academy parent under the Individuals with Disabilities Act excuse me. Disabilities Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. My son is entitled to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. That is the setting that a link enables him to make meaningful progress alongside appropriate supports.

According to federal law, placement decisions must be based on an individual child's needs and not administrative or funding considerations. Thirty one percent of Richmond Virtual Academy students have special needs versus thirteen percent in RPS overall. Not providing funding for RBA risk placing vulnerable students in environments that are more restrictive and less appropriate, which would be a violation of federal law. My son who has complex health, sensory, and behavioral challenges is a student in RBA's intensive support class. He has attended since his inception is and is making meaningful and measurable progress towards his educational goals.

The needs of vulnerable and disabled students are being met in their least restrictive environments at RBA. RBA has an opportunity to build on proven success in a fiscally responsible 36. Mask. The per pupil cost at RBA is half that of in person learning. It will cost the city tens of thousands of dollars in equipment, transportation, and personnel to have my son, just one student, return to in person learning. This is an opportunity to take advantage of built in savings to the division and multiple advantages for students, families, and ultimately, the city of Richmond. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Aja Taylor. I am a former, graduate student of Richmond Public Schools, and I'm now currently a teacher at RBA. I wanna first off state that when I was a student coming up in RPS, we were always faced with the same questions. Why we don't have what they have? Why we can't get what they have? Why do our schools look different from our neighboring school divisions, Henrico, Chesterfield? And the one time that we actually have something, s Chesterfield and Henrico, which is a virtual academy, wanna get rid of it. I found that insane. The answers were always given and told to us that it was because taxpayers.

Our city lacked many taxpayers. And now I look at our neighborhoods that flow into RPS. They're all being gentrified. So now the taxpayers are there more than they have ever been in the years when I was coming up. Where is the money going now? Why can't the money come there, be there for us now? Why isn't it provided to us now? Why is it that our virtual academy is looked at something that's just for COVID when it's actually a new way of learning, teaching, and learning? It's not something that's of the past or that's outdated or still ahead. Our neighboring school divisions have the same virtual academy, and they are not putting theirs in the budget to be cut.

Why is it that RPS always has to lay down and accept and take whatever that's given to us and be told that's all that we can do? That's the best we can do. I think that time is now coming to an end. Our newer generation

Thirty seconds.

Our newer generation our generation is coming up. They are on game to these things, and they're not gonna take a lot of the stuff that's was shoved to us coming up that we just we just gotta go with the punches, go with the flow. These new children are not gonna take it. They're gonna stand up for themselves, and I wanna stand up here for them today that they get to continue to have Virtual Academy as an alternative, as a school to attend versus going in person. We're not a one size shoe fit all type of thing. Everyone doesn't work well in person. Some people, virtual works for them.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is doctor Candice Ben, and I'm the proud school counselor at Richmond Virtual Academy. I wanna start and just, again, piggyback off of what a lot of my colleagues, the families, and the community have already said, that RVA is part of RPS, and funding RPS means funding RVA. We are part of RPS. And, 2011, I wrote a dissertation on nontraditional learners.

And we talked about virtue in it. I talked about virtual education, and that was very new. Then 2020 came and COVID hit. RPS responded with a Richmond Virtual Academy program. That program has now become an accredited school where students make the choice in being here, where parents make the choice in being a part of Richmond Virtual Academy, where virtual learning is not an asynchronous answer because we are engaged with our students.

We see them face to face. They have in person activities as well as virtual activities as well. These students have as a school counselor, I work with them as grad as they graduate. They've been with their classmates virtually and successfully working with them, and they wanna graduate with them. So now mental wellness is a big piece. So now they see that their school might be closing. What do they do? Are they gonna see their friends? And now they're dispersed amongst RPS schools. They've been with their friends.

They've been with Thirty seconds. For so long. So I just wanted to take thank you all for listening, and I believe that you hear us. Think about COVID. Now we're moving into the same kind of environment within our world. And RVA is an answer, and it's a safe space for students to be. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hello? Hello. My name is Laurie Hunter, and I am a proud graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School. And I was able to because of our Richmond public schools, graduate Phi Beta Kappa from Howard University and University of Maryland. So I have been going into the schools as a tutor of math and English and reading since 1979.

And I lived in Richmond for a while, but most of my I've been in back in Richmond twenty years, and all I've been doing is working with kids who cannot handle being in Richmond public schools full time. So the the Richmond Virtual Academy is so important. I have one grandson who was in every single high school in Richmond, and he couldn't graduate. But finally, because of the option of the virtual academy, he was able to graduate. He would be in prison right now. He he would be, it's just too much. So please refund Richmond Virtual Academy.

Thank you.

Hello, council. My name is Aurora Britt. I'm here to talk about a contract that the city has with a company called Flock Security. This is the third time that I've come up to speak about it, and I'm hoping it's the last. Just recently, we all read a paper about how Danny Avula and his press secretary wanted to fund the, media with positive stories about Flock. So let me tell you a negative story about Flock. Just, last week, a report by Ben Jordan came out that Flock employees were accessing internal cameras and watching girls' gymnastics classes. Can you give me one good reason that that would be happening? I can't think of one. These cameras are insecure.

Right? They are, hold on. I have a list. They are insecure. They don't keep people safe. They are a reactive policing element, and they were funded by Peter Thiel, who is a fascist billionaire who is currently using these cameras to track down dissidents in LA and Minneapolis and help DHS arrest them. So you are using our tax dollars to help the fascist billionaires track down dissidents. Get rid of the cameras. Thanks.

Thank you.

Good evening. I'm Martin Wegbright. I'm a risk member and a former member of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund supervisory board. My comments are about amendments to the funding for the affordable housing trust fund. A new trust fund ordinance was adopted and effective February 23.

It requires that starting in fiscal year 2027, the city shall credit two and a half percent of real estate taxes collected during the prior complete fiscal year to the trust fund. That required amount is $11,700,000. The budget before you this evening fails to implement the ordinance you passed. The city administration introduced nine budget papers on March 11. Not a single one funds the affordable housing trust fund or even mentions it.

Agenda item 12, page six, shows $10,000,000 to the Equitable Affordable Housing Program. This is not the trust fund and is not subject to citizen oversight or the requirement that 30% of the trust fund must be spent on housing needs for Richmonders at 30% of area median income or below. Agenda item 10, page 86, shows $1,700,000 to a new affordable housing revolving fund. 36. Also is not the trust fund.

These are not innocent omissions. Fortunately, council members Gibson and Robertson have proposed amendments clearly stating that these two amounts totaling $11,700,000 must be allocated to the trust fund in the upcoming fiscal year and not allocated anywhere else. On this requirement, risk is in earnest. We will not equivocate. We will not excuse. We will not retreat one single inch. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Good evening. I'm Nancy Kunkel, a resident of the 2nd District, and I hold risk seat on the affordable housing trust on board. Last time I came before you, it was in celebration of the compromise ordinance mandating that two and a half percent of real estate tax revenue be assigned to the trust fund. It seemed that finally, after years of delay, city leaders would truly invest in one of the best tools to address the overwhelming need in our city for affordable housing. We at risk applauded city council and the mayor for this accomplishment when you voted unanimously to pass this ordinance.

Imagine our shock and disappointment then when the administration released the draft budget with exactly $0 assigned to the affordable housing trust fund. We have been promised this was simply an error, an oversight. But however it happened happened, it is unacceptable and deeply concerning that we citizen watchdogs at risk have to come back to the city council again to try to right this wrong. Unfortunately, regardless of the reasons for it, this oversight plays into a pattern of pushing the affordable housing trust fund and the people it serves to the margins. The previous ordinance also passed unanimously by council that required revenue from expiring tax payments go to the trust fund was never followed.

Thirty seconds. Bond money was not put into the trust fund, and now it's where is the two and a half percent of real estate tax revenue? I am calling on you, city council, to right this wrong. Follow-up on your unanimous vote to put 11,700,000 in the trust fund this year with a unanimous vote to amend the draft budget as proposed by council persons Gibson and Robertson. Show your constituents, the administration, risk developers. Thank you. Who are struggling that ordinances you pass have teeth, and you expect them to be followed.

Thank

you. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Janice Lacey. I am a risk board member, team leader, and a member of our affordable housing steering committee. For five long years, risk has been crying out for real investment in affordable housing. Five years of stories, five years of families struggling, five years of urging this body to meet the scale of the crisis.

In February, we celebrated that you all voted to adopt ordinance twenty twenty six zero forty five. By law, $11,700,000 must be in this year's budget for the affordable housing trust fund. The mayor's proposed budget does not follow the law. We have seen an ordinance get adopted and then ignored. We do not want to see that happen again.

We are here tonight to support council member Gibson's and Robertson's language amendment to bring the budget into compliance with ordinance twenty twenty six dash zero forty five. Thirty seconds. Samea indicated that he supports this revision in front of over 2,000 people at our Nehemiah action. Now our members are watching you to see you follow the law that you passed because we are in a crisis, and crisis demands action. It demands courage.

It demands commitment. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is William Allman, and I'm a resident of the 5th District. First of all, I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak. Your willingness to listen to the general public does not go unnoticed and is nor is it unappreciated. I'm a retired accountant. I became a CPA in 1988. During my career, I spent thirty five years performing internal audits, reviews, forensic accounting reviews, and general corporate risk assessments. Tonight, I would like to speak to you about flock. Now there's multiple issues here. Let's set most of them aside for now and focus on one issue.

That's data security. There have been numerous experts and witnesses who have come here before to regarding on how unsecured flock data is. I'm not going to go over those facts again. The facts speak for themselves. What I do want you to be aware of is that if, and I really should say when, data is leaked to the general public or worse used in illegal ways, the city of Richmond will be sued just like Sacramento is currently being sued.

That lawsuit will cost the city millions of dollars. Dollars that could be spent on the academy, dollars that could be be sent to the placed in the trust fund. Political responsibility for that liability will be placed on the shoulders of the city administration, including all of you. Until the serious data security questions are addressed, I urge the city to pause the contract. Nobody will be criticized for taking their time to for doing further due diligence.

Thank you. That's your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Members. My name is Priscilla.

Can you please pull the mic down a little bit? Good

evening, council members. My name is Priscilla Peebles, and known to most as miss p. And I live in the 8th District under the honorable miss Reba Truman. And I'm here today to representing myself and SEIU thirty two BJ. I want to begin by thanking the mayor's office, council member Lynch, council member Gibson, and all other council members for the proposed budget and amendment to raise wages for the city contracted janitorial workers.

This investment means a great deal to workers like myself. I'm here to share my story on how this will change the life of myself and workers like myself. This is more this provision is the budget. It means essential workers, they have left behind too long a living wage and allows us to survive and strive. I have worked years for cleaning city buildings.

I take pride in what I do. But like most Janusers, I'm living financial limbo. I'm very grateful for this proposal budget. Rec recognizes the need for the better wages, and I'm here to ask for you to pass the final budget so workers like myself can live with dignity, stay healthy, remain part of the workforce, and keeping the city running. I wanna thank you again for your love, your support

Thirty six.

Your leadership, and your time. Thank you.

Back. Welcome back.

Anyway, my name is Cheryl Nietzsche. I speak a little loud. I have a hearing impairment, so please don't think that I'm yelling at you. I'm a retired city of Richmond police officer. I was ambushed, attacked, and shot in the head in 1984 while serving the city of Richmond.

Instead of retiring at age 25, I came back to work after I miraculously survived gunshot wound to my head six months later. I'm here tonight to speak in support of councilwoman Riva Trammell's COLA amendment for all city employees. When I started in 1982, salary for a police officer was $8,946. I was not able to get my retirement because RRS repeatedly gave me inaccurate information, told me I was not eligible. I finally got it in 2024.

I get $96.34 a month. That 1.5 cola would give me an additional dollar 45. But, again, I'm not here to speak about me. This is for all of our city retirees. I left longer enforcement. I went into social work. I take retirees to food banks. They can't afford groceries. You have homeless retirees living on the streets. I ask you, please.

The funds are there in RRS. Don't believe me. Please research it. I ask you to do the right thing. The state gets annual annual VRS COLAs Thank you. Amount of 2.48 to 2.95% every year. It's been over a decade since the city has given the retirees a COLA.

Miss Nietzsche, that's your time.

Okay. At this point, I would like to say thank you and ask anybody and everybody here, retirees, to stand if you're in support of this COLA.

Thank you. Thank you, everyone.

Alright. Good evening, council members. Thank you for taking the time to hear us tonight, and thank you to the mayor's office and council member Lynch and council member Gibson for putting forward a proposed budget and proposed budget amendments that includes a wage increase for city contracted janitorial workers. My name is Latrice Gregory, and I'm here with SEIU thirty two b j in strong support of this proposal. But tonight, I am not here for myself.

I am here for my mother. My mother is 72 years old and still working full time as a city contracted cleaner, earning just $15 a hour. She has shown up as an essential worker for over 36 and continues to do so today. She represents so many workers who are dedicated to their lives to this city but are still struggling to make ends meet. This proposed wage increase will mean that workers like my mother can finally begin to earn a dignified living wage, one that allows them to plan for their future, to retire with dignity, or simply live without financial stress.

So, again, I want to thank you for taking this step to ensure that the workers who have given so much to this city are finally given the the support they are deserve they deserve. So thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Amonte Gosello. I live in the six districts. I'm here today to request that you please amend the mayor's budget that allocates almost $1,300,000 increase for the flock which includes the flock safety cameras. Instead of funding mass surveillance, I think this should this city should fund things that actually benefit the people in this city.

In proposed amendments by council members, funding for RPS proposed by council member Kenya Gibson, would fully fund RPS's budget ensuring Richmond Virtual Academy can remain open is missing almost $1,800,000. Richmond Virtual Academy proposed by council member Reva Trammell would fund RPS' budget with the stated goal of funding the Richmond Virtual Academy. It proposes almost 1,900,000, but doesn't have where the money should come from. You can also fund the affordable housing initiatives that are those are much better uses to for funding this for funding. The government always needs more money. Let's not waste any funding mass surveillance.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Cameron Conncer, and I'm here today to ask for greater clarity regarding the current budget allocation for flat cameras and to respect the request that funding for the program be reconsidered for removal until the public has a full understanding of its cost and implications. We all want safer communities, but safety measures should be balanced with transparency, accountability, and community trust. Right now, Richmonders don't have this. While talking to individuals in our community from every walk of life, I found that most people don't even know what flat cameras are and what they do.

Some have never heard of them, and most assume that they're just speeding cameras. Once educated on their capabilities, these same people became concerned not only about their privacy, but for the safety of themselves and their community. It's ironic that Flock Safety, the company that Richmond contracts these cameras from, a company with safety in its name, brings Richmonders a feeling of such unsafeness. I believe that at a minimum, we need to pause all funding on this program until there is a full public transparency, including evidence based justification for continuing this this this program and a public vote to give residents a voice and an honest choice on the matter. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Hi. My name is Mark Sverre, and I'm here to add my voice in saying that, especially while the federal government is, has agencies like ICE have been deployed to target and kill Americans and also immigrants, the kind of surveillance that FLOC is going to facilitate doesn't do us any favors. We'd need to be, we need to be sending these funds in other directions to education and housing and do ourselves a favor. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, council. My name is Victoria. And like many others here tonight, I'm urging I'm urging that we pause on renewing the city's flock contract and consider reallocating any money that would go to that to a number of different programs that I think could make Richmond safer in real and long term ways. True public safety in our budget should reflect what research has consistently shown and what a lot of people in Richmond know is that's is things that fund stability, access, and opportunity. I can see things tonight on the budget amendments that could strengthen programs that would address disparities in communities in our community that are the root for a lot of our a lot of our instability here.

Things like the affordable housing trust fund, because we know that housing stability reduces crime by preventing displacement. Things like immigrant and refugee engagement, getting translators so that Richmond residents can access city services and participate in public life despite language barriers. And I know I've seen educators in our community come out multiple times in the past months to ask for better conditions for teachers and students. Strong schools and stable educators are another essential part of long term community safety. Surveillance, in contrast, reacts to harm after it happens.

Housing, language access, family support, and strong schools all prevent harm before it begins. So this is not about being soft on crime, but being smart, evidence based, and fiscally responsible. Every dollar we allocate does reflect our values, and I believe expanding surveillance at the cost of underfunding housing or private support is what keeps Richmond safe. Thank you. Consider not funding flock.

Thank you.

Good evening, council members. My name is Bea Chambers, and I'm a resident of the 6th District. And I am also here to ask the council, to put a pause on the funding for the flock contract. I feel like we've heard from a lot of our community members and neighbors this evening about programs that do need funding, and this is one program that your residents are actively telling you to cut funding from. I feel like in those instances, the answer should be pretty clear.

We've seen the model of social programs raise people up and prevent future violence from occurring, and I feel like investing in schooling, housing, public infrastructure, public programs is a better way to move forward as a city. And I would want my city council to be remembered for the good funding and programs in the city and not for a mass surveillance state.

Thank you.

Good evening. I am Sherry Shannon, one of the cofounders of South Star Relief. It's been a minute since I've been up here, but I only come up here for a really good reason. Tonight, I am here supporting budget amendments submitted by councilors Brayton and Jones that strengthen our investment in urban forestry and parks as essential infrastructure for healthy and equitable communities. As we've heard tonight, there are a lot of families that are struggling right now, struggling to make ends meet.

Folks are living in substandard housing, begging for their children to have access to high quality education, asking for a livable wage. All of these things are part of our social drivers of health. All of these things determine your quality of life and your life expectancy, and so is the built environment. We have neighborhoods right now that are much hotter than what they need to be. We have higher rates of folks going to the emergency department during the summertime.

We've seen a thirty three percent increase actually over the last two years are folks who are suffering from heat related illnesses. A lot of this can be mitigated with how we invest in our parks and our public spaces as well as our tree canopy cover. The city has made a commitment to ensuring every resident lives within a ten minute walk of a public playground or a public park. That's not the case right now. And it's because of redlining and systemic racism.

Meeting these goals require an all of the above approach, which is clear funding, strong implementation, and public visibility into these outcomes. Without transparent investment and accountability, these benefits remain unevenly distributed. Environmental justice requires that we identify and fund specific remediation targets and mandate equal access to decision making so we can all live, work, and play in healthy environments. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Good evening, president Newbill and vice president Jordan. Nice to see you again. My name is Lee Williams. I live in the 5th District, and I'm the advocacy chair of the Sierra Club Falls of the James Group. We are also a member of the RVA EJ Collaborative.

I would like to align myself with comments previously made about allocating RVA RPS and affordable housing funding and reconsideration of the flock safety camera contract. Sierra Club would like to express our strong support for many of the proposed budget amendments put forth by council members. While we are unable to speak to every proposed amendment, the majority of these initiatives reflect a commitment to enhance staffing, oversight, transparency, and accountability while fostering the well-being of our communities and addressing some of our most pressing needs while making meaningful progress towards the city's climate goals. First, the provision for raising, contracted con custodial workers acknowledges the crucial role they play in maintaining clean and safe public spaces. These workers face challenging conditions and are essential in maintaining healthy environments in our buildings.

By ensuring fair compensation, we not only recognize their invaluable contributions but also support a more equitable and sustainable approach to public health. The proposed reductions and reallocation of gas utility expansion dollars is also noteworthy and will help us realign our budget priorities and focus on critical areas without compromising service quality. As Richmond aims for a sustainable future, appointing an energy efficiency coordinator is another step forward, toward better environmental stewardship, economic growth, and enhanced quality of life for residents. Like many other cities, Richmond residents face climate change challenges impacting their energy use. We are about to experience five days of near 90 degree temperatures, and it's only April.

This does not bode well for our cooling bills this summer. This energy efficiency position will target energy waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote sustainable practices. Improving home energy efficiency decreases the share of household income spent on utilities, thus alleviating ratepayers' energy burdens. We are excited about the proposed creation of a staff role to support the public the work of the Public Utilities Commission, helping gas, water, and wastewater. Infrastructure is really important. So much more in your, proposed amendments. Thank you very much for your service.

Thank you.

Hello. Good evening, council. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Maria Duester, and I work at the Community Climate Collaborative. We're a local nonprofit fighting for environmental justice in Richmond, and we are part of the Richmond Environmental Justice Coalition.

And I'm here to speak on a few of the proposed city budget amendments. I'd like to start by voicing support for the amendment put forward by council member Jordan and co patroned by council member Lynch that would eliminate half $1,000,000 in new funding allocated towards DPU's gas new business line item. As shared in the budget amendment documents, this fund already has $45,000,000 in it, which is significantly more than the projected costs associated with new gas business in this next fiscal year. Supporting the expansion of natural gas is not in line with the city's long term climate goals. And instead of putting fossil oh, sorry, funds towards fossil fuels, we are requesting that these funds be used to alleviate existing, residential customers' high bills, or go towards, staffing and energy efficiency coordinator.

And I think it's an exciting first step towards, phasing out line extension allowances proper. We'd also like to voice support for council member Gibson's amendment that calls for a study to explore a transition to city owned DP Thirty seconds. Operations, including a transition to a city owned electric utility. This is an exciting opportunity for the city to deliver cleaner, affordable energy to residents suffering from high costs and a lack of rate payer protections. Lastly, I'd just like to force voice support for a couple of amendments put forward by council member, Breton that really focus on transparency in the budget process, such as codes related to urban forestry, projects and, the transparent street safety spending amendment as well.

Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, council. My name is Joe Brancoli, a resident of the 1st District and chair of the Sierra Club Falls of The James Group. First, I'd like to commend counselors Robertson and Jordan for their work in the past year in negotiating with the administration and getting a more level playing field where council has a larger voice in the budget process. And next, I would say that I sincerely appreciate you all for the thoughtful amendments you put in to take advantage of this new opportunity, to name a couple from my counselor, my very prolific counselor, Bretton. The amendment supporting the people's budget, which, of course, gives folks all over the city a voice in how money is spent, and an amendment about street safety the street safety package, which, of course, you cannot have looked at any news in the last several months and not be aware of.

Finally, I will echo the comments of the previous two speakers and appreciate counselor Gibson for her study of the transition to city owned electric utility. And, the hope there is to allow homeowners, like we have heard come up to this mic tonight, to not be consumed by their bills. Thank you all for the work you're doing on this budget.

Thank you.

Good evening, city council. My name is Mariah White. I am a resident of the 2nd District, a homeowner, a parent, and the former school board member for 2nd District. I'm here today to just talk about that the taxpayers has been advocating for RPS budget for year after year and year after year. And they are not sure, really, how it's being used.

And some of you probably are not, don't know how it's being used. But what I do know about this shortfall budget is every year, there is a deficit, and no one has oversight oversight of this budget. RPS is losing students based on the ADM, the average daily membership. Every year, the summer school is on those chopping block when it comes to this council. Before the budget is finalized, there is a rift.

Who does a rift before the budget is even finalized? Also, you need to know there is a fifteen min a fifteen million dollar budget for collective budget for for the collective budget agreement every year that RPS is responsible, and I'm sure that is on your budget also. But what I would like to ask you all is to fully fund the school Thirty seconds. Budget with no shortfalls. Next year, have a dedicated six percentage of income was from the city revenue to actually fund the budget.

And a independent overseer to ensure the money is spent properly for our student needs. And I'm a say that again because it is guaranteed that this budget is built around meeting student needs, not just to make up a budget. So we need that. And my next one is safety. I would like to see more on safety

Thank you.

All the swipes, especially. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello, city council. My name is Casey Miller. I'm a resident in the 7th District, and I'm here to speak about my support of the following general fund amendments as titled, number one, funding RPS to ensure Richmond Virtual Academy can remain open along with other after school and summer programs. Study after study shows that if we invest in our youth, our community thrives. Number two, inspector general audit and NFTE as we still do not have a legally required publicly accessible payment registrar available to the public.

At this point, we need an audit. The money stinks. Number three, increasing funding for family crisis fund. Families that are currently residing in this city are in crisis now. This fund is necessary to ensure that nobody is left behind in our city, and we don't slip into the number one slide of the cities with the most evictions.

We're currently in number two still and holding strong. Number four, custodial contract wages. If y'all need these people in your city and you need their services, then pay these workers what they deserve. Lastly, I'd like to touch on what I approved for the reduction amendment proposal, one being reduced funding for unfillable police vacancies. At this point, the minimum requirement for an officer to go through is very embarrassing low. If y'all can't hire people at this point, that's on y'all. Let's go ahead and earmark those funds for something else more practical for this community, like the affordable housing trust fund.

Thirty seconds.

Lastly, one line item I wish I would have seen that I did not see was, blocking the flock camera contract. I have over thirteen years of IT experience. I could belabor and go on and on about how, unsecured the flock program is. But I'll say I came from a city where people did not listen to their constituents, and a lot of people got fucking hurt. And it it still hurts me to this day how badly people in my community got hurt. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Good evening. Larry Gladwell. I live in the Museum District. I'm a retiree from the fire department. I came to speak in favor of, miss Trammell's COLA amendment.

Lot of the employees that have been retired for years, especially the older retirees, are being crushed by this inflation that's been going on the last six, seven years with no COLAs. I was also a trustee on the retirement board for six years from 2008 to 2014 during the great recession, so I have some background with the retirement board. One of the things you probably don't know is back when the budget would be prepared back then or a little bit before then, the budget I mean, the retirement board would come, not the board, but the retirement director would come and make a presentation to the city. And if the funded status of the, pension fund was 70% or more, they would recommend a COLA to the city. After probably around 2015 or so, they changed it to 80%.

But, four or five years ago, maybe a little bit longer, they just totally stopped making recommendations to the city for. And you see how that's working out for the retirees. Well as, I know there was a bond referendum that was passed to make the funded status of retirement higher. That should be I don't I don't know. I know there's no I don't see Leo here. So I know that he's not here to speak on what the funded status is now.

Thirty seconds?

But I'm sure it's high enough to, recommend COLAs for retirees. And I would I would try to get them to be more involved in recommending colas from now on instead of leaving it all up to you guys. They are the experts in the retirement fund, not you guys. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, doctor Newbill, vice president Jordan, and members of city council. I'm gonna I'd like to enter some numbers if I could into the record. These are coal erasers that have been given by BRS since 2011 all the way up to 2023. 1.28, 3.08, 2.20.07, one 0.46, one point 6 2, 0.12, one 0.2 6, two 0.13, 2.1 2.44, 1 0.81, one 0.23, 3 0.85, and 6. On the Richmond retirement side, 2011, 0%.

2012, 0%. 130. 140. 150. 160. 170. 18, 0. 19, 0. 1%. Twenty twenty one, 0%.

Twenty twenty two, 0%. Twenty twenty three, 0%. Between 2011 and 2026, The US consumer price index experienced a cumulative increase of approximately 46.8% increase, meaning that an item costing $100 in 2011 would cost roughly $146.80 in 2026, reflecting a significant decline in purchasing power. At least, on the BRS side, it is attempting to keep us up with the inflation rate. As you can hear, this is what brings us '33.

For you tonight. Retirees in need of and are deserving of a COLI increase. We will never recoup what we're what we've lost in our buying power over the last fifteen years, but tonight hopefully begins a new era and appreciating the contributions that our retirees gave of themselves for the benefit and safety of our citizens. We ask that you take this budget amendment paper under consideration, and thanks to council member Trammell and to president Newbill for including the COLI increase in your amendments. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, members of council. My

name

is Barbara Starkey Good, and I reside in the 8th District. I know miss Trabble has supported us having getting a cost of living raise for the retirees. I reside in the 8th District. I'm here this evening asking that as you finalize your budget, that a COLA increase be included for the city of Richmond retirees. I was employed and worked for the city of Richmond for over thirty years.

I retired in 2004. That was the last year the city of Richmond retirees received a COLA increase. The city of Richmond retirees have not received a COLA increase in over twenty years, and I don't think that is fair at all for the retirees, the people that has worked for the city of Richmond for over thirty years or longer, even less than that. So what I'm asking that, as you finalize your budget, please, please, please include a COLA increase for the city of Richmond retirees in your budget. I thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, madam president, and the honorable staff that we have here. I am Sylvester Henderson, Richmond firefighter, proudly serving Richmond since August 1993, currently working in the district with the honorable. And I've also worked diligently with the honorable miss Weaver Tramble, and that's why I'm here today on her amendment for the COLA program. I can only imagine the task that you all have to allocate the funds, to make the decisions. We all come here tonight with some sort of need, and this starts primarily in a financial basis.

It is so critical that these needs are met, but we all understand these are competing finances that we're trying to lobby for. From the disabilities of the children that's been spoken of, education, virtual school, somehow you have to get it. And I'm gonna pray for you all tonight because that's a task to do. I'm here particularly for the COLA. When Keith Andy spoke just now of the sequential zeros of COLAs, something has to give.

It's just been too long standing. Thirty seconds. As I go into my retirement, I wanna be able to sustain close to the life that I have, and I wanna be able to provide for my children. And I want Richmond to appreciate me just

like I

have and continue to appreciate Richmond. Thank you, Connie, and enjoy your day.

Thank you.

William Andrews, resident of Reva's 8th District. Moved here when I joined the fire department in 1977. After forty one years, I retired. I've been retired eight years now. So I'm speaking in favor and thanks to Reva for the COLA efforts she's making. So that way, us retirees who live in the city can better balance our budgets when it comes to paying the higher real estate taxes and the higher utility bills. Thank you.

Thank you. I am going to ask if we have any other speakers. If you will go on and get a line, please, so we can okay. Thank you. I meant beyond the ones who are currently standing. Yes.

Okay. Hi. I'm Kyra. I am in councilwoman Newbills District, and I come here because I want to stand and, ask you guys to put a pause on the flock contract. Being that I'm in councilwoman Newbills District, I think that she may know good and well as I do that I can't leave my home no matter what street I take without being watched by one of these flock cameras.

It makes me feel very uncomfortable to know that I am constantly surveilled. I want the right to exist without that. I want the right to privacy. I want the right to feel like a human being and not something that's constantly being monitored and watched and just something lying in wait to catch me doing something wrong. And I wanna know that everyone else around me has those same rights.

I speak as a white woman, and I know that these cameras are also heavily concentrated in areas that, are going to oops. Sorry. So I wanna know that everyone around me has these same rights afforded to them, and I know that they're not. These cameras target and are in higher concentrations in minority neighborhoods, and they contribute to predictive policing. They assign guilt to groups of people who have done nothing more than exist in the skin and circumstances they have.

So in my opinion, who is RPD and city council to predetermine who is a criminal? Reallocate the funds to the systems that actually bring safety to us. I would much rather that funding go to things like what captain Sylvester was talking about in funding, council Thirty seconds. Sorry. In funding things like the fire departments. So I would ask that we meet citizens' basic needs that will help safety much more than reactive policing. So keep us safe by helping us exist with things like housing, health care, and clean water. We are all human beings here. We are not property to be monitored and controlled, so please treat us accordingly. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hey. Good evening. My name is Johnny Fuller. I'm a volunteer organizer with the Richmond chapter of the DSA. I know when people like me get up here and speak to you guys, you're very like, oh, no. Another organizer. And you kinda tune out, you dismiss, like, what we say. But when you talk to normal people that don't follow counsel, like, as a hobby, and you tell them what the flat cameras are, and they're like, wait. What? That they're watching me all the time? I'm like, yeah. They hate this stuff. Right? People absolutely hate these cameras. They hate being watched. Nobody has a problem with, like, a speeding ticket scanner in a school zone. Right? I think we can all agree that's probably a reasonable thing to do. It turns off. It only, you know, catches you when you're going a certain speed.

These cameras are on all the time. The, the recording devices, right, the shot scanners, the the who knows if they even work or not, the things that they're billing us for, they're everywhere. Right? Especially in my district, in the 7th District. Right? There's hundreds of these cameras. Somebody's got the numbers behind me, I'm sure. So when you talk to normal people, they don't know what they are. I know I didn't know for years. I would take my dog for a walk, and I see this pole. I'd be like, that's weird, Emily. What do you think that is? And we hit, like, a running game of just trying to figure it out. Like and then only years go by, now we're like, oh my god. It was recording us.

Right? It's weird. So I think that, like, yeah, we might be organizers, but we got a lot of new faces right there. You see, people hate this stuff. And I think you guys can get an easy w by standing up and saying, how about we give that $1,400,000 for the virtual academy? They're all gone now, but there's a reason that I'm holding two signs. Right? It's the same struggle. So I was looking at the budget.

Take that money. Give it

to my virtual academy. That would be sick. Thank you. Thank you.

Members of council, my name is Daisy Weaver. I'm a resident of 3rd District, recent resident of the 3rd District. I've also been in the 2nd District. I'm here tonight, first of all, to thank, city council for all the support that you have shown for retirees in the past. I especially wanna thank the members of councils who've been here for a number of years who are very familiar, with the retirement system and with the retirees.

I wanna thank miss Trammell, president Noble, miss Robinson for the support that you've given us. I'm supporting the 1.5% COLA request, for retirees. I won't don't wanna repeat a lot that's been said. This is a request that pretty much come to you all every year. But one thing I would like to suggest is that we give serious consideration to encouraging the retirement system and Citi Finance to try to find a to work together to try to find a formula that we can have a a regular, COLA even if it's not an annual COLA, maybe a semiannual COLA, or something of that nature.

I'm sure there's a formula that we could work out so retirees would not have to come back to you every single year and make the same request. Thanks for your time. Thank you.

Hi. My name is Emma Clark, and I'm speaking as a resident of the 4th District. I wanna thank all of council. I saw so many phenomenal amendments when I was looking through that, I literally don't have time to name them all, but really, really encouraging. I saw council member Brent really did his homework and went through line by line and found a lot of great places where we can save some money by aligning our budgeting with our actual spending.

I was thrilled to see the proposal for a study to explore city owned power. We all know cost for utilities continue to go up and up and up, partly because we are getting our power from a state protected monopoly, which is wrong on so many levels. So this would be a welcome change, and as others have said, would be an opportunity to invest in greener energy. I'd also like to thank those of you who have supported funding for our schools and for the virtual academy specifically, which we desperately need. On that topic, I know it is not typically the role of counsel to audit the school system.

However, when the superintendent shows up with a $31,000,000 budget hole in one year and no good explanation for why. It is incumbent upon all of us to do anything within our power to figure out what's going on and to address that problem.

I

would like for you to to fund our PS, but I would also like for you to fund this audit because it is past time that this city has a clear sense of how school funding is being spent. Let's make this the last year that we have to fund RPS with any hesitation or uncertainty about the responsible use of that funding. Thirty seconds. In terms of block, I saw nothing in the most recent article with the reports from the administration that makes me feel any more secure about that data. I don't think as a company, they really have any incentive to keep our data private.

If anything, it's the opposite. And so I just have a really hard time trusting that. Clearly, as a company, they haven't really financially invested in keeping that data private. And so I I just really think that this is not the right way to go for public safety. Thank you all for all of the investments that you have proposed and in a greener city, in our schools, in our working class. And please, please, please do not fund those severance extensions. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, madam president, madam vice president, members of council. My name is Bill Panaly. I'm here on behalf of RCOP, and I will say that I am one of Daisy Weaver's neighbors. And so I I really hope that you will hear what she had to say that, you know, the COLA situation really is important. And the difference between someone who's in VRS over a number of years in the Richmond retirement system over the same number of years is a vast difference.

Here's how I think you can get there. It's just a suggestion. Back in 2015, I was on a certain mayor's transition team, And I was asked to look into this very issue of was there a way to build a COLA into RRS? So I went to the experts at that time. We could talk about names later, and we had a meeting.

At the conclusion of the meeting, what we learned was that by making some subtle tweaks into the funding mechanism and assumptions built into the actuarial studies of the plan, we could potentially get a modest included COLA. It may not be a full COLA, but it would be something in built into the system such that they would not have to come to you year after year, hat in hand. Now what's happened well, nothing happened at that point, but I think this should be revisited. That's my advice. And I certainly think that it'll be wonderful if council could reengage your own employees on the Richmond retirement system, not the least of which is Daisy Weaver.

Let's get in a room and see what we can do. I'm glad to help, and you just ask. But I think this is really important and be the right thing to do. So I support the amendment. RCOP supports the amendment. We have a lot of police officers who, you know, who are gonna remain in RRS and need this. So thank you all very much.

Thank you, mister Pantilly. And thank you all who have come down to speak to the budget items, this evening. We hear you. They are certainly items that we have been considering and will consider, even further. At this time, the public hearing is closed.

Bring it back to council for any comments at this point. Seeing none, I will ask to have a motion to continue these papers items 10 through 18 to the Monday, April 27 council meeting. So moved. Second. We can Council is now voting on the motion to continue all pending budget related ordinances to the Monday, April 27 council meeting as stated. Mister Breton? Aye. Miss Gibson?

Yes.

Miss Jones? Aye. Miss Robertson? Miss Lynch? Aye. Miss Trammell? Aye. Miss Abubaker? Aye. Vice president Jordan?

Aye.

And president Newbill?

Aye. That motion has been approved.

Thank you, madam clerk. Let's proceed to the minutes. The approval of the minutes, please.

Minutes to be approved are from the Monday, 03/23/2026 informal and formal city council meetings at 4PM and 6PM. If there are no corrections or amendments, then the minutes will be approved as presented. Those minutes have been approved.

Thank you, mister Clark. Then let's proceed to the list of, legislative items for introduction this evening. Members, the list of legislation for introduction this evening consisting of items two through 23 has been provided to you, and the legislation on this list is hereby introduced as presented. A copy of the list is currently available for public inspection at the rear of the council chamber, and an electronic copy and copies of the listed legislation thereon will be available on the city's website no later than Tuesday, April 14. Thank you. Thank you, madam clerk. At this time, we'll, proceed to reports and announcements, and I'll kick off with you, council member Abelbacher.

Thank you, madam president, and thank you to everyone who, came out tonight to speak on the budget. Kicking off this weekend, we have the Friends of the Forest Hill Park, annual spring classic bike race this Saturday, April 19 from 11AM to 3PM. This is one of the most adorable and fun, community events in the 4th District, and you can still there's still time to get signed up and, have your kids in the bike race. Also, it's been a busy time for annual meetings and events in the 4th District. Willow Oaks and Trailer State Civic Associations held their annual meetings in the past two weeks.

And the Bluff Senior Residential Community held an annual neighborhood cleanup, this past weekend. The Cedarhurst Neighborhood Association will be hosting their cleanup on April 25. Oxford Association will be hosting their spring fling on May 2, and Westover Hills will have their annual picnic on May 9. I'm just really grateful for all the engagement in the community and love coming to all of these community events. So hope to see everybody there. That's it for me.

Thank you, council member Ample Barker. Councilwoman Drammell.

Thank you, madam president. I too would like to thank everyone that came down here tonight to speak, especially for the retirees because, as I said, they've not had a, no COLA increase since governor Wilder was the mayor here, and that was, like, sixteen years ago. And, so I'm praying that my colleagues will help me support that. Also, like to say that, it just breaks my heart when I have people calling me when they can't get no help from the city in reference to, different things like the conditions of of, you know, their house or their apartment or, the drainage and things like that. And I just wanted to thank Karen for coming here tonight and speaking about that to let us know.

Also, we had our eighth district meeting last Thursday night, which was April 9, and governor Wilder, attended our eighth district meeting, which really surprised me. No. I swear I did not know he was coming. And it just really, really surprised me. Also, with some of the statements that he made, he was speaking the truth about things that our city not being going in the right direction.

I'm quite sure he's gonna have more to say very soon. Also, I wanna thank Anthony McLean who used to be, used to come to all of our meetings, give us all the information that we needed to be prepared for hurricanes, tornado, all of that. And also give us little flashlights, little things that we could make like like a little pack so that if we had emergency during the middle of the night, we could pick it up because we would have our medicine in there, this and there, even things for our pets. He would tell us everything. The other person that came, I don't know what he said or what he had. I didn't see anything that he had. Very disappointing. Also, I wanna thank our, city clerk, Candice Reed, for attending our eighth district meeting. She said it was the most fun. She's never seen a meeting like that.

We're line dancing, having fun, fun, fun. So thank you, Candace. Anybody can come to our eighth district meeting. It's open to anyone, anybody. Also, next Thursday, April 23, we're going to have another, senior, sorry, another senior spring How did you say yours? Did you say spring plane? But it's gonna be next Thursday, April 23 from 11AM to 2PM. We're gonna have dinner. We're gonna have, all kinds of entertainment. Also, we're gonna have city departments there.

It's gonna be a lot of resources. I'm not gonna promise you that we will have the tax relief forms because I don't have them. I've tried to get them because so many people calling me up asking me, how do we get recertified? How do we get how can we even get on tax relief? I don't know. I don't have them. That's not my department. Hopefully, hopefully, soon, we'll be able to find out. Also, if you have any questions about this, seniors, Spring Fling, you can call my cell at (804) 240-5050. You can call my home at (804) 233-7382.

Also, this right here is your smoke alarm. It will save your life. If you have a working smoke alarm, it will save your life. And, also, all you gotta do is go to the nearest fire department. They'll come there. They'll put up the smoke alarm for you for free. It doesn't cost anything. Also, I wanna thank Charles Snellings for having his Easter egg hunt last Saturday. Had a really, really good time. The firefighters were there.

Chip Decker made sure that we had an ambulance there because I know last year, we had a little girl that failed, and she skinned her arms up in her legs. And the techs on the the technicians on the rescue squad bandaged her up. She had, like, a little pink dress on, and they just picked her up, bandaged her, and it was just it just made her feel good that that, you know, we had the, you know, the medical person there, and we had our firefighters. And I know the police officers, they were on different calls, but they were riding by too. Again, if you have any questions, you can call my home at (804) 233-7382 or my cell at (804) 240-5050. Thank you so much.

Thank you, councilwoman Trammell. Councilwoman Lynch?

It was a pleasure going after a councilmember Trammell who delivers the best council announcements, in the history of all time. So and and congratulations to those of you who are in the, what I like to call, the four hour club. You've been here some of you have been with us all the way since 4PM at informal public participation and civic it's assist engagement is what makes the world go around. I'm looking at some of you in the audience. You've really earned a gold star for participation, this evening.

Speaking of participation, the fifth district town hall is coming up this Thursday at, 6PM, and we are delighted to, be hosted by the First Unitarian Universalist Church that's at 1000 Blanton Avenue. On the agenda, we have, Andy Minau, the, new Richmond depart director of transportation, RDOT. We have our illustrious chief, Rick Edwards, with us. And, of course, we will have our, usual 5th District updates with lots of question and answer opportunities as well as a special guest appearance from our office of immigrant and refugee engagement. Carla Comandarez Ramos will be with us.

So we look forward to seeing you all there. The Carillon Civic Association annual meeting is tomorrow night at the First Unitarian Universalist Church. They're getting a lot of playbills this week that that the church is At 06:30PM, the Woodland Heights Civic Association is holding their quarterly meeting on Wednesday, April 15 at 6PM at the Woodland Heights Baptist Church. The Randolph Neighborhood Association is meeting next Thursday, April 23 at 06:15. The location is TBD, but will either be at Common Table Church or Randolph Community Center.

And speaking of Randolph Community Center, thank you in advance for supporting our wonderful, wonderful community center. We are looking forward to all the much needed improvements and equipment that hopefully will be bringing joy to our youth and families that are served by the Randolph Community Center. And, of course, good luck to those either running, walking, or rolling in the 10 k this weekend. That's all I got. Thanks.

Thank you, councilwoman Lynch. Council member Robertson.

Thank you, madam president. 6th District, we are having a meeting this Saturday, April 18 from ten to twelve at the Ann Hottie Plaza Community Center located at 3300 Block Carolina Avenue. The meeting is to discuss the activity that has been taking place in the park and also to organize the community residents to get more involved in the park, making sure that we are providing all of the amenities and services that we are needed, to have a safe place for residents, to have healthy rec recreation, summer camps for our kids, and other services. Please, plan to attend this Saturday, April 18, from ten to twelve. The inaugurated Neighborhood and Civic Association Summit is being held April 20 from 05:30 to 07:30 at Main Street Station 1500 East Main Street.

This is an opportunity for neighborhood and civic associations to meet with city leaders and find out the different resources that are available to assist us in their organization as well as creating new civic organization. The Harschutz Field Community Center, which has been under renovation for quite some time, is having their grand reopening on April 26 at 12:00. That's 701 East Brooklyn Park Boulevard. There will be lots of activities going on. There's a celebration at birthday as well as the capital tree.

Folk will be there. There will be a ribbon cutting, and we'll get to see the wonderful renovation that has been done and looking forward to reopening the voting precinct at that location. Oliver Hill Day, this is an event to honor the civil rights pioneers, Oliver Whitehill. The theme is the rule of law and the American dream. That event will be held on 05/01/2020 at May 1 at 03:00PM at Oliver Hill Course Building, 1600 Oliver Hill Way.

And the sheriff is which is in the 6th District, is having a community safety and wellness with food distribution. This event is every fourth Saturday of the month. You can contact 646-0140. That will be this Saturday and every fourth Saturday, this Saturday, April 24 from nine to eleven. And we also want to celebrate the great ribbon cutting ceremony for the police precinct that has been long overdue and was finally, had a ribbon cutting ceremony a week or so ago.

Also want to remind everyone to go out for the statewide special election. Early voting is in effect. We ask that you get to the polls, Saturday on April the, April 18. All of the polls will be open from nine to five, but the last day is is is on April 18 for the special election. And we wanna encourage all to go out for early voting before then, but also on no.

The eighteenth is your last day. As always, you can reach me. My phone number is (804) 314-7658, and my council liaisons office number is 646-5960. We look forward to serving you. Thank you so much.

Thank you, councilwoman Robertson. Councilwoman Jones?

Thank you, madam president. Thank you to everyone that came out tonight. As many of you mentioned, it's been a long evening, and we appreciate everything that you, shared and your support the different things or the many things that are happening during this budget cycle. And this has actually been a really good budget cycle, I will say. Good day, RJ.

This Thursday, April 17 at 6PM at the Southside Community Center, We will host our monthly town hall meeting joined by our CAO, mister Donald. This is his first meeting with us, so we're looking forward to having him in the mighty ninth. Saturday, April 25, the city of Richmond office of neighborhood engagement is excited to host community cleanups at multiple locations across the city in celebration of Earth Day. You can volunteer to help board rock the board rock library at cfengage.org. And May 15 from eleven to 3PM, we will be hosting the art of memory at the Southside Community Center.

The art of memory is an immersive intergenerational program designed to honor aging as a living embodied art form. The program centers elders as carriers of wisdom while inviting younger generations into practices that foster respect, listening, and responsibility. If you have any questions, you can reach out to Teya at my office, teya.west@rba.gov. DPW has kicked off their annual neighborhood cleanup program. Areas of the 9th District can expect their first cycle to be between May and June.

Bulk trash can be picked up wherever trash is normally picked up, and you can visit rba.gov, /publicpublicworks/neighborhoodcleanups for more information. The south side community center always has something there for all, and you can check out the Richmond Parks and Rec Digest to learn more about their offerings. And lastly, our neighborhood library offers programming. Every week at Broadrock Library, seniors receive one on one help with technology. Students can receive homework and reading help, and babies, toddlers, and preschoolers have interactive story time.

Visit Richmond Public Library's website to learn more about their local library. As always, my office can be reached at I can be reached at Nicole dot Jones at r b a dot gov or by phone, (804) 646-2779. And if you can't reach me, you can reach Teya West. Thank you.

Thank you, councilwoman Jones. Councilwoman Gibson?

Thank you. So our next district meeting in the 3rd District will be on Wednesday, April 15 at 6PM at John Marshall High School. We'll be joined by GRTC to discuss the North South pulse line. And as others have mentioned, there is a special election. Wanted to know, specifically for folks in the 3rd District that if you, choose to vote on election day and you are in Precinct 3307, you will now be voting at Max Global, which is at 3121 Moss Side Avenue.

That will be your polling location for this election. But, of course, it's better to vote early. So check out the Richmond website for details on that. Bellevue's Portella twenty twenty six is this Saturday from twelve to six. There are 36 bands scheduled this year, and it will be all over Bellevue. You can see a full list of bands, food trucks, and a map and more at bellevueportella.com. As always, please email our office at, you can email me at Kenya.Gibson@RVA.gov, and Sarandon, our liaison, at Sarandon.Elliot@rva.gov with your questions and thoughts. Look forward to hearing from you, and thanks everyone for showing up.

Thank you, councilwoman Gibson. Councilman Breton.

So it was great to see the Museum District, really busy at the VMFA. See yourself here at VMFA community celebration, yesterday. Also, the Mary Mumford Playground cleanup the day before, it was also great to see principal Greg Musick shoveling mulch, at the playground. So the man of steel was back at it. Our next, first district meeting will be Wednesday, April 29. We have on that agenda, we have, we have the public libraries. We have the people's budget. We also have, DPU will also be there as well as the office of community engagement. So it'll be a very exciting meeting at Mary Mumford, 06:00 on the twenty ninth. Thank you.

Thank you, councilman Burton. Vice president Jordan?

Thank you, president Nabil. And, yes, thank you to everyone who came out. You know, I always remember during budget season that this is how I started coming to council. It was to advocate for the school's budget, and I stood in that aisle right there, nervous about reading my notes. So everyone who came out, particularly the first timers, you did great.

My announcements for district include a community meeting tomorrow night at Abner Clay Park. If you're in Jackson Ward, if you love Abner Clay Park, you're welcome to come out Tuesday, the fourteenth, so tomorrow, 05:30 to seven, for a community meeting to discuss improvements in Abner Clay Park. Our office is hosting this meeting in collaboration with the historic Jackson Ward Association and with the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities. It'll be held in a community room at UNOS, and that is located at 700 North 4th Street. There are bus lines, and there's also parking available.

This Wednesday, we're having our district meeting from six to 07:30 at the main library in the Gelman Room. That's on the Main Floor, main Library. We will be joined, by city staff and our representatives to discuss this year's budget, the people's budget, general assembly session from this year, as well as Russian public schools. Early early voting has been covered, but please, please, please, if you've not already voted, make your voting plan. Make sure those in your community have a plan, and, spread the word.

Civic Association Summit. The city is hosting the second annual Neighborhood and Civic Association Summit, Monday, the twentieth, from 05:30 to 07:30 at Main Street Station. The citywide event will bring together neighborhood leaders, residents, and city staff for an evening of connection and collaboration featuring neighborhood one on one workshops, city services, resource fair, food, music, and more. Tree giveaway. And, yes, it is gonna be very hot this year.

I think we can expect that. Southside Relief is hosting a free tree giveaway event Saturday, April 25 from 10AM to 2PM for all Richmond residents. The event will be at the Liberation Church at 5501 Midlothian Turnpike. They will have 200 small gallon trees as well as tiny saplings for those who reside in apartments and may not have yards to plant trees. Southside residents who have challenges with transportation or planting are also able to request a tree to be delivered and or planted for them.

This is all part of the larger Cool the City campaign, and more info can be found at southsiderelief.org/tree-giveaway. If you're having any issues with the cities, especially in district, please reach out to our office, (804) 646-6532, and we will do our best to service you. Thank you.

Thank you, vice president Jordan. Councilwoman Trammell, you have an additional item

she Thank you, madam president. Someone said I forgot to mention your location for our senior event for next Thursday. It's gonna be at the T. V. Smith Community Center, 2009, Reffen Road, Richmond, Virginia. That's our brand new T. V. Smith Community Center. Next Thursday, April 23 from 11AM to 2PM. Also, I'd like to thank the, director of the library for coming to our eighth district meeting.

He spoke about Scott Fairstein. He came to our eighth district meeting, and he spoke to us about the libraries, about how valuable they are to all the citizens, to the children, and that we need more libraries. Definitely, we need more. And I know that my colleague over there, she's also been, trying to get, her library done too. Thank you, madam president. Thank you.

Thank you, councilwoman Trammell. Just a few announcements. The Fulton Civic Association will, meet tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14 at 7PM at the Powered Hand Community Center located at 5051 Northampton Street. For more information, you can contact Chuck Dupree at (804) 244-6303. The Office of Children and Families and Office of Equity and Inclusion are cosponsoring the Color Carnival hosted by Birth in Color this Saturday, April 18 from twelve to 4PM at the Chimborazo Playground.

As the final event of the Black Maternal Health Week twenty twenty six, The playground, is located 29th In Gray Street. The event is family focused. It will have a DJ, food, games, for the children. For more information, you can contact miss Jacqueline Hale at (804) 646-5183. I'll just reemphasize what my council colleague has already shared.

The Neighborhood and Civic Association Summit will be held on Monday, April 20 at 05:30 at, Main Street Station 1500 East Main. Please come out, for that, that event. And the save the date for our next district meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, April 29 at 6PM at our new Lucksfield Community Center located at 1925 U Street. For more information on upcoming events and activities, you can feel free to reach out to my council liaison, Sam Patterson, at Sam.Patterson@RVA.gov. His cell number is (804) 241-7544, or you can reach out to me, Cynthia.newbill@rva.gov.

Phone number, (804) 543-7837. Again, I wanna thank everyone who came out this evening to, provide us with comments and recommendations. Greatly appreciated, and the time that everyone took to do that, which, you know, certainly conveys your care and concern just as we have for our city, our citizens, our children, our families, and our communities. Thank you all. With that, members, the agenda items for this meeting have been addressed, and this meeting now stands adjourned.