February 17, 2025: Two candidates emerge for Jack Jouett seat on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors
Plus: Former Mayor and city planner Satyendra Huja has died
Today is President’s Day, but the system of government in the United States has two other branches intended to serve as a check on the potential of too much power in the hands of one faction. We see this playing out each and every day this month as the administration challenges the basic structure of a document that’s been in place for nearly 236 years. Charlottesville Community Engagement mainly focuses on American democracy from the smallest of political jurisdictions, but all of this is connected and there are many stories waiting to be told. I’m Sean Tubbs and it is my hope you’ll take a step back today to contemplate the Constitution.
In this edition:
Two candidates have emerged for the Democratic nomination for the Jack Jouett seat on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
Former Charlottesville Mayor Satyendra Huja has died
Charlottesville has released the final version of a study that recommends way to decarbonize the city-owned natural gas utility
First shout-out: The website of the Friends of Downtown Charlottesville
There’s a lot to do on Charlottesville Downtown Mall and one place to learn what’s happening is the events calendar run by the group Friends of Downtown Charlottesville. If you go take a look, you’re going to see several things happening the next six days.
Have a small person? The Virginia Discovery Museum has several events including Crafty Creators on February 18, Baby Buds on February 20, and a Carnival Friday evening from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Light House Studio has their Odds and Ends Festival on the weekend
The Jefferson Madison Regional Library has a K-Pop Social on Sunday, February 23.
The gallery at CvilleArts continues to show Flowers Born on Paper" Chinese Paper Cutting by Ming Qiu Che
For details, go visit the Friends of Downtown Charlottesville events calendar!
Two Democrats have announced for Jack Jouett seat on Albemarle Board of Supervisors
For the first time in six years, there will be a contested race for the Democratic nomination for a seat on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.
In January, Supervisor Diantha McKeel announced she would not seek re-election to another term for the seat she has held since 2015. Two candidate have expressed interest in replacing her as the Democrat on the ballot for the Jack Jouett District.
Sally Duncan of Earlysville, a history teacher, has filed paperwork with the Virginia Department of Elections to run as a Democrat for the seat.
Earlier this month, historian David Shreve told members of the Albemarle Democratic Party that he would also be seeking the nomination.
The two as well any other candidates who emerge will be on the ballot of the June 17, 2025 Democratic Party unless the local party decides to pick another nomination process.
Sally Duncan
In an email, Duncan said she loves living in Albemarle County with her family and wants to stay here.
“I am a renter, and so I would like to help create policies that increase housing options and availability for everyone,” Duncan said. “I also have three kids who are students at Albemarle High School and so I am deeply invested in the Jack Jouett District and want to make it a place where everyone can thrive.”
Duncan received an undergraduate degree in American Studies from the University of Virginia in 2020 and earned a graduate degree in Religious Studies in 2023. She’s currently a high school history teacher and has a total of five children.
Duncan will formally announce her candidacy at the County Office Building on February 25 at 11 a.m.
David Shreve
In an interview, Shreve said he is running because he feels his experience as both a historian as well as a community activist have positioned him for the seat.
“All politics is local,” Shreve said. “I’m also a student of American fiscal federalism so I understand I think as well as anyone the ways in which local, state, and federal governments work together or don’t work together.”
Shreve said there are many ways to improve the relationships between all three. He also said he would work to refine funding mechanisms for public education.
Shreve has served as a member of the Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee as well as the Albemarle County Economic Development Authority. He has also served as co-chair of the Jack Jouett District Albemarle Democratic Party Committee. Shreve has also been involved with several non-profit groups including a board member at the group Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Populai
In his professional capacity, Shreve has worked for the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia and spent one year working for the National Governor’s Association. He recently started a job as a senior economist for the Center for the Advancement of a Steady State Economy.
Shreve has not yet filed his paperwork.
A contested nomination
The last time there was a primary race for a position on the Board of Supervisors was in 2019 in the Rivanna District. Bea LaPisto-Kirtley defeated fellow Democrat Jerrod Smith 896 votes to 757. That’s 54.2 percent to 45.8 percent of the vote. In the general election that November, LaPisto-Kirtley faced a write-in campaign from a candidate who got 34 percent of the vote.
In 2007, Albemarle County Democrats held a caucus rather than a primary, as reported by Charlottesville Tomorrow at the time. While the White Hall and Rivanna District nominations were uncontested, Lindsay Dorrier faced a challenger named Kevin Fletcher.
Is there a nomination race I’m missing from 2000 and on? A very helpful resource is the Virginia Department of Elections.
A request for more information has been sent to the chair of the Albemarle Democrats to learn more about how the process will unfold.
Republicans on the ballot?
None of the three Supervisors elected in 2021 faced opposition in the November elections that year. That could be different this time.
“It is the intention of [Albemarle County Republican Committee] to have every seat contested,” said Nancy Muir, the chairwoman of the local party, in an email.
However, Muir did not have any candidates to confirm at this time.
Neither Rio District Supervisor Ned Gallaway nor Samuel Miller District Supervisor Jim Andrews have announced their plans.
In 2009, Republicans won seats in the Rivanna District, Samuel Miller District, and Rio District. The last Republican to hold a seat on the Board of Supervisors was Ken Boyd who won in 2011 with 56.6 percent of the vote, or 2,934 votes to 2,249 votes. Boyd opted not to seek a fourth term.
In 2023, Supervisor Ann Mallek of the White Hall District faced her toughest re-election to date with a challenge from independent Brad Rykal. Mallek won with 52.8 percent of the vote, or 4,535 votes to Rykal’s 4,032.
In 2019, Mallek defeated Republican Steve Harvey with 56.7 percent votes, or 4,381 votes to Harvey’s 3,336 votes.
Supervisor Mike Pruitt, a Democrat, faced no opposition in the 2023 race for the Scottsville seat. Republicans ran candidates for this seat in 2015 and 2019.
Democrat Donna Price won election in 2019 against Republican Michael Hallahan with 55.2 percent of the vote. The count was 3,016 votes to 2,428. In 2015, Democrat Rick Randolph won against Republican Earl Smith in 2015 with 57 percent of the vote, or 1,841 votes to 1,378 votes.
Former Mayor Satyendra Huja has died
The man who oversaw the creation of Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall who later went on to serve two terms on the City Council has died.
Satyendra Huja died on February 14 at the age of 84, according to a post on one of his son’s personal Facebook page.
“There are no words to describe the impact you had on so many,” wrote Ajai Huja.
Huja was hired by former City Manager Cole Hendrix in 1973 to serve as the director of city planning and community development. He would later be promoted to director of strategic planning before retiring in 2004. After doing so, he created his own company called Community Planning Associates.
In 2007, Huja ran for City Council on a ticket with David Brown and Holly Edwards and received the most votes that year. He ran for re-election in 2011 and got eight more votes than fellow Democrat Kathy Galvin and Dede Smith. At the first meeting of 2012, his fellow Councilors selected to serve as a Mayor, a position he held for his entire second term.
Born in 1941, Huja became a U.S. citizen on July 4, 1987 at a ceremony at Monticello.
In the summer of 2011, a woman appeared before the City Council to ask for a translator to be hired because she could not understand Huja because of his accent. A symbolic confidence vote was taken on the spot as a sign of support.
Huja is a member of the Sikh religion and was the second person of that faith to be elected as a community’s mayor, according to a January 11, 2012 post on Sikh.net. Huja himself offered up a quote for C-Ville Weekly.
“I can’t think of a Sikh guy getting elected in many other communities,” Huja said. “There aren’t many Sikhs in Charlottesville… So I obviously didn’t get elected because of my religion. I got elected because I could be of service.”
On Saturday morning, City Councilor Lloyd Snook shared some remembrances of Huja’s time in government in a post on Facebook. He said the former city planning director’s relationship with former City Manager Cole Hendrix was a productive one.
“Huja's creativity occasionally exasperated Cole Hendrix,” Snook wrote. “When I was on the Planning Commission, about once a year, I would get a call from Huja, saying that he had made Cole really mad, and that he was afraid that Cole was going to fire him, and would I please call my friends on Council to make sure that they would talk Cole out of firing him. In reality, I never had the sense that Huja was about to be fired, and I never had the sense that Cole was mad enough to do that; I always had the sense that Cole valued Huja's creativity and commitment, and that Cole was secure enough not to see Huja's disagreement as threatening to his own authority.”
Snook said the Charlottesville of today exists because of Huja’s work.
Former Charlottesville Fire Chief Julian Taliaferro worked with Huja both as a city employee and on City Council. Taliaferro was elected in 2006, served one term until the end of 2009, and remembers Huja as a caring person.
“I wanted to institute a free smoke detector program for city residents which the city would not fund,”Taliaferro said “I was sharing my frustrations with Huja and he said I think I can get a grant for that. He got a grant and the program got its start. Since then the city has funded this program which has contributed to the city’s low residential fire fatality rate.”
To read some more about his time on Council, here are some previous stories:
Huja announces bid for City Council, Brian Wheeler, Charlottesville Tomorrow, April 12, 2007
City Council welcomes Huja & Edwards, elects Norris Mayor, Brian Wheeler, Charlottesville Tomorrow, January 7, 2008
Huja launches bid for second term on Charlottesville City Council, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Tomorrow, March 25, 2011
Charlottesville mayor blasts West Main streetscape plan, Sean Tubbs, January 21, 2015
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Charlottesville’s decarbonization study available for review
While the Trump administration cracks down on spending for any program with the phrase “climate change”, many states and localities are continuing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to advance an international initiative to reduce the rate of global warming.
That includes the City of Charlottesville which in January released the final version of a study conducted by Black and Veatch to suggest ways to decarbonize the city’s utilities department.
The City of Charlottesville has had a natural gas utility since 1876.
“Currently, Charlottesville Gas provides natural gas services to over 21,000 customers including nearly 20 industrial customers, over 2,300 commercial customers, and approximately 19,000 residential customers in both the city and in the county,” reads the report.
Both Albemarle, Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia have all pledged to reduce emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and be fossil-free by 2050.
The report notes that Charlottesville’s distribution system is relatively new with a pipeline replacement having occurred in the 1990’s. The city received a $7.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the replacement of some of the remaining cast iron pipes. That project came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on November 5, 2021 on a 228 to 206 vote.
“Unlike investor-owned utilities, Charlottesville Gas rates are developed on a break-even basis to ensure that the utility has sufficient funds to sustain operations. Charlottesville Gas rates are approved by the Charlottesville City Council to ‘furnish reasonably adequate service and facilities at reasonable and just rates’ consistent with Code of Virginia §56-234,” the report continues.
One possible outcome is that the city sell the utility to a private company. The Virginia General Assembly adopted legislation in 2022 that would require customers to be given a three-year notice of any potential sale. The executive summary notes that the only viable buyer is likely Columbia Gas, and that the study did not go into further detail.
The report does evaluate several other strategies such as continuing to offer rebates to utility customers. The 123-page report also notes that Charlottesville is one of the first municipal utilities to undertake such a study. The executive summary concludes by saying more study is needed.
“The analyses performed in this study should be leveraged and built upon to further assess and finalize decarbonization strategies to optimize and balance investment,” reads page 14.
The city has already taken one step since the study was commissioned. Last summer, City Council agreed to levy a $340 fee for new connections. Previously no such maybe was required.
Reading material for #814
Joe Thomas Returns To Broadcast Radio In Mornings After Court Battle, Blue Ridge Life, February 10, 2025
Amtrak’s Future in Question Amid Federal Funding and Policy Shifts, Railway Supply, February 14, 2025
Rising cost of eggs pressures Charlottesville bakeries, Kate Neuchterlein, WVIR 29News, February 14, 2025
One of Virginia's largest autism institutes expanding Charlottesville HQ, Emily Hemphill, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), February 15, 2025
Charlottesville Police investigating apparent suicide, CBS19, February 17, 2025
Housekeeping for #814
Satyendra Huja called me “young man”, as did Francis Fife. I never cooked food for Fife, but he was my neighbor. I did cook food for Huja on at least one occasion at Court Square Tavern. He sat at “A”, the booth that was in the upper section of the restaurant. I would work there in the evenings after writing stories for Charlottesville Tomorrow and I remember once Huja telling his wife that I wrote good information and was accurate.
And now he’s gone, like so many of the people who were active when I was getting started in the early 1990’s. Ken Boyd is gone, as is Rodney Thomas and Duane Snow. The tavern is gone, too, and now my time is spent mostly writing, seven days a week.
I’m having a bit of an existential crisis as I wonder if this work is worth doing, and if I can sustain the pace. I am more productive in winter, and the return of ants in my kitchen and the increasing presence of birds is making me worry this will all crash when there’s more light. At times there is a sense that there might be a different kind of life, but nothing would even come close to the sense of meaning and purpose this work provides me.
I’m also prone to imposter syndrome, something I can only overcome by dedicating myself to this work. I’ve had bosses in the past who pushed me really hard and momentum and inertia have led me to hear. People called me a fool for pursuing this work back in the 1990’s, and at times I do write while wearing a jester’s hat.
I waited on the late Mitch Van Yahres in the early days of my time at Court Square Tavern. Just a few years ago before in 2001, he was the person I ever interviewed in Charlottesville for a radio documentary I was doing on the eugenics movement. Van Yahres had introduced a resolution seeking an expression of “profound regret” for sterilizing thousands of people deemed to not be worth of reproduction.
When I wonder if this is worth doing, I think about all of the stories I’ve written these past 30 years. America is not a perfect country, but it’s where I am, and I’ve put a lot of time into it. In 2001, I just wanted a chance to work. There were no jobs for what I wanted to do, which is to write and capture what I could about this place where my parents lived from 1980 to 2023.
At times, I am frustrated because I can’t get to all of the stories. But, frustration can be productive as five years ago I wasn’t writing any publicly. That was a dark period of my life, and I made it to another chapter in the existential crisis. After all, every time I write one of these long sections, it serves the point of reminding me to keep unfolding.
Thank you for the indulgence. No sales today. You know how to pay if you haven’t already.
Rest in peace, Mr. Huja.
