Multiple sources report that today, January 9, is in fact Balloon Ascension Day. This marks the occasion in 1793 when the first flight of a hot air balloon took place in Philadelphia with President George Washington in attendance. This is the sort of strange fact that fits alongside all of the other strange facts you’ll encounter in the rise and fall of every installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. I’m Sean Tubbs, hoping to levitate a few things myself.
On today’s program:
A suspect has been identified in Sunday’s Belmont murder
Health officials are keeping an eye on a new COVID variant
Another look at legislation coming up in the 2023 General Assembly including a bill that take away the ability for localities to set their own policies for school discipline
Council holds public hearing on first reading of renewal of lease for the McGuffey Arts Center at a slightly higher monthly rate
First shout-out: Rivanna Conservation Alliance
In today’s first Patreon supported shout-out: The Rivanna Conservation Alliance has had a busy 2022. By the numbers, the RCA kept an eye on water quality at 69 monitoring sites, assessed the effects of 245 road-stream crossings, and conducted 46 trash clean-ups. They engaged 1,002 students and 1,100 volunteers logged 3,156 hours doing work. In the summer and fall, the RCA sought your input on a plan to restore the public access point to the Rivanna at Charlottesville’s Riverview Park. With your help, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance can do even more in 2023, so consider making a contribution. Visit rivannariver.org to learn more!
Suspect identified in Sunday’s Belmont murder
The Charlottesville Police Department has identified a Maryland man as the suspected shooter in yesterday’s shooting in Belmont that left one dead and another in critical care. Jose Omar Rivas Sorto has been charged with a count of felony shooting from a vehicle.
Police responded to a call of shots fired in the 400 block of Monticello Road at around 1:40 p.m. Sunday and found two people who had been hit. Osvaldo Lopez-Hernandez of Texas was pronounced dead at the scene and an as-yet unidentified man was taken to the University of Virginia hospital. That individual had been with the deceased and warrants have been issued for him to be charged with felony abduction for a pecuniary benefit.
Rivas Sorto was arrested at the scene. The criminal investigation is ongoing.
UVA Health expert on latest COVID variant
As 2023 gets underway, one major change is a decision by the Virginia Department of Health to stop reporting daily cases counts for COVID on the public dashboard. These now come out on Tuesdays, and last week the seven-day average on that day was 2,428.6.
The next numbers will be out tomorrow. The underlying data for daily is still available but not until public release.
For those who don’t need to look at the numbers, masking is still fairly common and recommended by health professionals for those who are concerned about picking up a respiratory illness in public.
“I think it is quite clear that if you consistently wear a high-quality mask,” said Patrick Jackson, an infectious disease expert at UVA Health. “N95 and KN95 is a preference over a surgical mask, which is much better than a cloth mask. That does offer some protection.”
Jackson said mask mandates are a separate question and there have been studies to determine if they are useful or deter people from wearing them. He said masking choices are an individual decision at this point.
“My current practice for myself is that I wear a mask when I go into a crowded environment where there is low risk or low cost for me to do so,” Jackson said.
Jackson said community transmission is high across Virginia and that high-risk individuals should continue to wear masks. He and other health officials are keeping an eye on new variants.
“The XBB variant is a new variant of COVID-19 that arose as a recombination between two of the previous Omicron variants,” Jackson said. “It was initially XBB.1 and now XBB.1.5 which has an additional mutation. It’s really kind of taking off. So XBB.1.5 is really outcompeting the previous COVID variants essentially around the world right now.”
Dr. Jackson said there is no evidence yet to determine if this new variant causes more severe forms of illness, but is more communicable. He recommended people get the bivalent COVID booster if they have not already done so.
Legislative update: Bills filed to create group to study and support gambling addiction
Time is running out to list all of the various bills that have been pre-filed for the 2023 General Assembly which begins on Wednesday. My hope is to track the progress of what seems interesting, but check the “reading material” at the end of each newsletter for more reports from my colleagues in the media. If you’re interested in helping me track legislation, drop me a line!
Delegate Jason S. Ballard has a bill that would prevent many incarcerated people from being considered for release upon turning 65. (HB1458)
Delegate Bill Wiley has a bill that would take away local power to control disciplinary procedures for disruptive students. Instead, only the Department of Education could set those rules. (HB1461)
Three bills from Senator Amanda Chase are similar to ones she has filed in the past. SB832 would define parents rights in public schools. SB833 would prohibit health officials from requiring COVID vaccines. SB834 would repeal the ability to keep permanent lists of absentee voters.
Another bill from Chase would require the consent of a property owner before a public utility installs a Smart Meter. (SB849)
Delegate Keith Hodges has a bill that would establish a framework for the creation of a retail market for marijuana under the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. (HB1464)
There is a bill in both houses to create the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Advisory Committee. Delegate Paul Krizek has introduced HB1465 and Senator Bryce Reeves has SB836.
Senator Mamie Locke has introduced a bill to allow localities to require the registration of buildings that have been vacant for more than a year. (SB838)
Locke has another bill that would require the director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to conduct a statewide housing needs assessment every five years. (SB839)
Delegate Tim Anderson has filed legislation to require anyone involved in the sale or service of electric vehicles to certify that forced child labor was not used in the manufacture of parts or the vehicle’s assembly. (HB1466)
Delegate Scott Wyatt has filed a bill to once again require photo ID before someone can vote. (HB1467)
Cyclists and those on scooters could follow the direction of walk signs at controlled intersections if SB847 from Senator Barbara Favola makes it through.
Favola has another bill that would prohibit the issuance of search permits for menstrual health data. (SB852)
Second shout-out: The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign
Since the very beginning of this newsletter, one Patreon supporter who has been there since July 2020 has used his shout-out to draw your attention to the work of the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign. The campaign is a coalition of grassroots partners including motivated citizens and volunteers, partner organizations, and local governments who want to promote the use of native plants. We’re now close to the beginning of winter and if you’re already looking forward to the spring, this is the time to learn about what you need to plan to attract pollinators who’ll keep native species going. To learn more, visit plantvirginianatives.org to download Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens.
Council agrees to renew lease with McGuffey Arts Center
For many years, the City of Charlottesville rented out properties throughout the city with no central way of knowing who was where, how much they were paying, and whether the public was receiving any benefit by subsidizing tenant rents. Last year, Council was briefed on efforts to get the issue under control. (read the story)
Now, the city is considering renewal of the lease with the McGuffey Arts Center which is housed in a former elementary school in downtown Charlottesville that has been used by artists, artisans, and artsy people for several decades.
“The McGuffey Arts Association has leased this building from the city since 1975,” said Brenda Kelley, redevelopment manager for the city City of Charlottesville.
“We are an arts association that is run like a cooperative and run on committee and on sweat equity,’ said Amanda Liscouski is the Executive Council President for McGuffey’s current fiscal year. “We have 100 associate artists in our community who exhibit in our space and teach in our space as well as 50 renting members who have studio space.”
This is one of the first leases to follow a new template set up by the current city administration, and it’s not without significant upgrades to the way the city will do business.
“This is a new format that was prepared by the City Attorney’s office that more closely reflects a more standard commercial lease agreement,” Kelley said.
The new agreement will also list what the fair market rent for the property would be as well as how much work the tenant will bring to the property. The latter can be classified as an in-kind donation.
“In Article VII, we are now requiring a security deposit equal to two month’s rent upon execution of the lease agreement,” Kelley said.
The Department of Public Works will also now outline terms of use for each property.
This work was called for by Councilor Sena Magill, who has wanted to make sure the public’s values are represented in who gets to use public property at a discount.
“Is an agreement that we started in the 70’s still reflective of the needs of the community?” Magill said. “It might very well be. But what’s happened is things have become rote and therefore never relooked at as to whether or not they are still meeting the needs of the city of Charlottesville.”
Magill had not yet announced her resignation and Kelley had not started reviewing the McGuffey Arts Center lease. Then she did. The group currently pays $2,047 a month under the terms of a lapsed lease that ended on October 31, 2020.
“The proposed rate is $2,593 a month with an automatic annual increase of no more than three percent,” Kelley said.
There would be a five-year term. The city would be responsible for maintaining the building as well as some landscaping services. That language was not present in the previous lease, which had not been updated in several years. Under the new terms, the McGuffey Arts Association would be responsible for mowing the land and removing ice and snow or at least pay the city to do the work at the McGuffey’s cost.
The new lease structure will not apply to businesses who rent directly from the Charlottesville Office of Economic Development.
Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook said many endorsement deals contain morals clauses that allow cancellation if one of the parties does something reprehensible. He said the lease in front of the city seemed to not include such a provision.
“I don’t know that we would have any authority if somebody was not behaving in an equitable manner, I don’t know if there’s anything in here to do anything about that,” Snook said.
Kelley said she felt there were ways out for the city should that be the case with a tenant but she would double check to shore up the language.
One speaker at the public hearing said the McGuffey Arts Center often serves as an incubator for other cultural programs in the city.
“The Cville Sabroso festival started at the McGuffey Arts Center and because I am of Mexican descent and feel that we have a rich cultural heritage and when immigrant people come to our community here in Charlottesville from different parts of the world they bring with them so much from their cultures that are rich visual arts, performance arts, food, dance, values, traditions,” said Estela Knott.
Knott said over 400 people came to the first event despite it being held on a rainy day. The festival has now grown to welcome up to 7,000 people. The last one was held at Washington Park. Knott said the city’s indirect investment by providing affordable rent allowed such a thing to occur.
Snook said he felt the city could still be getting more from this deal and others like it.
“The amount of rent that we would receive even with the increase would be roughly 40 percent of what the taxes would be if we have the property to you,” Snook said. “I don’t know that I’m necessarily inclined to say that at some point down the road we ought to be looking for everybody to pay at least the amount of the taxes though that kind of makes a certain amount of sense to me that if we’re forgoing $50,000 a year in taxes, we ought to get at least $50,000 a year in rent.”
Snook said he did not want to impose that amount now but that sort of a policy should be considered for all rentals within a certain amount of time.
City Councilor Michael Payne said he was fine with subsidizing spaces for groups if they met a city need.
“And I do think we should frame it outright as these leases are basically a subsidy and support for public spaces and nonprofits and to me the relevant public policy question is, ‘do we want to support public spaces and nonprofits?’”
Payne said McGuffey should be maintained as a non-corporate place. He said the alternative would be to create another place where attendance requires the public to buy something.
“I’m glad we haven’t neo-liberalized the entire city but maybe we’ll get there someday,” Payne quipped.
A sticking point was whether there was sufficient detail in the lease to assign the McGuffey Arts Center with the responsibility to pay the city for continued mowing and snow removal. The exact cost was not known. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers said the city may not be able to keep that work up anyway.
“I mean we’re having a hard time in some cases in filling positions in Public Works to maintain our facilities and I’m concerned about the strain that that places on the facilities that we occupy,” Rogers said.
The information on that item will come up at the next meeting. A new public hearing may be held if the lease is significantly different enough to merit that public notice requirement. Otherwise it will be on the consent agenda.
More from the Charlottesville City Council meeting from January 3 in future editions of the program.
Reading material:
Albemarle School Administrator Lawsuit Heard in U.S. District Court, Lisa Martin, Crozet Gazette, January 6, 2023
Central Virginia delegates preview bills that could impact community in 2023 General Assembly, Madison McNamee, NBC29, January 6, 2023
Nine trees to be removed from Downtown Mall next Tuesday, Hawes Spencer, Charlottesville Daily Progress, January 6, 2023
Charlottesville native announces candidacy for HD54, Gretchen Stenger, CBS19 News, January 7, 2023
Notes that serve as the last paragraphs of edition #481:
First, thanks to Wraki for most of the music. Go check out the album Regret Everything on bandcamp.
Would it were that we could find another day in the week so that there could be more editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement? Until such time-bending activities are made possible, efforts will be made to increase efficiency. What does that mean? Stay tuned as episode 481 blends into 482 and so on well into the future. There’s a lot to get to, and I’m committed to doing the work as long as there are enough paid subscribers.
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January 9, 2023: New lease for McGuffey Arts Center to usher in new era of rental accountability for Charlottesville's public tenants