March 26, 2024: Freas promoted to be Charlottesville’s Deputy City Manager for Operations
Plus: Council has reviewed recommendations for nonprofit agency funding in the draft FY25 budget
It is the afternoon of March 26, 2024, and many of us awoke today to images of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after being struck by a large container ship early this morning. I’ve heard from one person who wanted to talk about driving on that bridge, and I’m curious to know if anyone reading this has a memory of the structure, or will now be affected by the sudden loss of infrastructure.
While this is Charlottesville Community Engagement, Baltimore is not that far away and I suspect many people have thought a lot today about sudden change in an American city. I’m Sean Tubbs, hoping that answers will reveal solutions for a safer world.
In today’s installment:
Charlottesville’s Director of Neighborhood Development Services gets a promotion to Deputy City Manager
A UVA geriatrician wants you to get a COVID vaccination if you’re over the age of 65 and especially over the age of 75
Charlottesville City Council goes through applications made through the Vibrant Community Fund and City Manager Sam Sanders pushes back against requested tweaks
First shout out: Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library
In today’s first subscriber supported shout-out, one Patreon supporter wants you to know that Charlottesville has an eBike Lending Library! E-bikes are a great way to get around the community but there are many brands and styles to choose from. Because many e-bikes are sold online, it can be a challenge to try an e-bike before buying one.
The Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library is a free, not-for-profit service working to expand access to e-bikes in the area. They have a small collection of e-bikes that they lend out to community members for up to a week, for free. You can experience your daily commute, go grocery shopping, or even bike your kids to school, and decide whether e-bikes are right for you. Check out this service at https://www.ebikelibrarycville.org
Freas named as Charlottesville’s Deputy City Manager for Operations
Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders has selected an in-house candidate to be his deputy city manager for operations, several weeks after his original appointee opted to not stay with the job.
James Freas, the city’s Director of Neighborhood Development Services since September 2021, got the nod for the position.
“He has already proven to be an asset as evidenced by his ability to lead our whole City to a conclusion of the full rewrite of the [Comprehensive] Plan, Future Land Use Map, and Zoning Ordinance,” Sanders wrote in a statement. “No small feat to accomplish while maintaining his calm and level-headed demeanor.”
Freas will continue to lead staff at NDS while he begins his new role which will have a larger portfolio. He will oversee the Office of Community Solutions, Public Works, Charlottesville Area Transit, and the utilities office. Freas will be tasked with implementing the capital improvement program, organization-wide initiatives, and “operational efficiencies.”
“I am looking forward to supporting the City Manager and City Council in achieving their vision and goals for organizational excellence and innovation in the work of the Operations Team,” Freas is quoted in the press release.
Sanders’ first choice for the role was Lionel Lyons who left the position after less than a week due to a family emergency. (read that story)
UVA Health expert recommends COVID vaccination updates for those 65 and above
The Centers for Disease Control are recommending people over the age of 65 get the latest vaccination against COVID, and especially those over the age of 75.
“We want to make sure that people are getting the top immune response possible if and when they do see a COVID infection,” said Dr. Laurie Archbald-Pannone, a geriatrician at UVA Health.
Dr. Archbald-Pannone recently wrote an article for The Conversation about this topic. She said the immune system’s response to COVID can fade over time and studies have shown this decline occurs more in older people.
It has now been over three years since the first vaccines were distributed and many people may have not keep their shots up to date.
“COVID is still out there and COVID is still causing problems,” Archbald-Pannone said. “We’ve come a long way with COVID but it’s still here and we know that age is one of the biggest risk factors for having bad outcomes from COVID infection.”
Mortality records kept by the CDC back that up.
In January 2021, people over the age of 75 were dying at a rate of nearly 276 out of 100,000 individuals, compared to an average of 31.74 per 100,000 for that month.
A year later, the mortality rate for those over 75 dropped to nearly 190 per 100,000 with an average of 25.25 for all demographics.
By January 2024, the mortality rate for people over 75 was still high at 32.09 per 100,000 with an all-age average of 3 per 100,000.
“And people over 75 are ten times as likely to die if they get a COVID infection unvaccinated than the general population,” Archbald-Pannone wrote. “Those numbers are really scary and one of the best things we can do to protect ourselves is to give our body the tools that we need to be able to fight that infection and vaccination is that tool.”
Archbald-Pannone said as people age, immune systems tend to decline in a process known as immunosenescence and regular vaccinations can help provide a boost. She acknowledged that some have side-effects related to injections and she urged people to drink lots of fluids and be hydrated when they get their shot.
Second shout out: Friends of Charlottesville Downtown
In today’s second Patreon-fueled sponsorship, it is now spring and that means a new season of events on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville. The Friends of Charlottesville Downtown have a whole lot in store.
First there’s a whole new website with an interactive Downtown map with details on over 1,000 downtown businesses!
This weekend there’s the Downtown Express and Easter Bunny Photos on March 30th from 10 - 2 PM
As spring proceeds, there will be Downtown in Bloom - Flower Market on April 25th, Elf & Fairy Festival on May 18th and Flower Box Competition/Student Art from May 1st - 30th.
And don’t forget to check out that interactive map to learn something new to do on the Downtown Mall today.
Sanders responds to Council questions about Vibrant Community Funds process
In a year when the City Manager’s recommended budget is built on tax rate increases, the document also recommends about an additional million in spending on nonprofits and outside agencies. The adopted budget for the current fiscal year allocated just under $2.3 million to the Vibrant Community Fund and that overall amount is set to increase to $3.367 million in FY25.
“The four primary priority areas continue to be similar,” said Hunter Smith, a human services planner in the city’s Department of Human Services. “Youth and Family Education, Economic Impact and Jobs, Health and Safety, and Arts & Culture.”
An important item to note is projects related to affordable housing now go through separate funding processes. More on that later in the week. (view the presentation)
Applications for the Vibrant Community Fund go through a ranking and scoring process and are summarized in a 40-page report. Smith said those who participated in the review process received a stipend for their time.
This year, several organizations were deemed to be fundamental and were pulled out of the competitive process even though they still had to technically apply for the funds. This made more funding available to other groups. The fundamental groups are:
Charlottesville Free Clinic — funding recommended to increase 35.67 percent from $119,404 in FY24 to $162,000 in FY25
Child Health Partnership — funding recommended to increase 4 percent to $291,720 in FY25
Foothills Child Advocacy Partnership — funding recommended to increase 115.08 percent from $46,493 in FY24 to $99,999 in FY25
Offender Aid and Restoration of Charlottesville/Albemarle — funding recommended to increase 16.13 percent from $378,246 in FY24 to $439,287 in FY25
Public Housing Association of Residents — funding recommending to increase 70 percent from $40,000 in FY24 to $68,000 in FY25
Shelter for Help in Emergency —funding recommended to increase 66.85 percent from $171,169 in FY24 to $285,600 in FY25
Councilor Lloyd Snook pointed out there have been years were PHAR did not make the cut for funding and said he was uncertain why now the group is considered fundamental. Smith said he did not review their application, but had an explanation.
“I can tell you the reason why they want ‘fundamental’ basically is a historical analysis of them being funded year to year,” Smith said. “Typically what we would see is that they were funded at a lower rate across all Councils, they would be funded anyway at some point.”
Mayor Juandiego Wade endorsed the additional funding and had previously asked that they get assistance filling out their application.
“I know the work that they’re doing, they’re doing the work, but sometimes they weren’t putting it down on paper,” Wade said. “And I know the difference that they make in the community.”
City Manager Sam Sanders said he recalled that PHAR is considered fundamental because of its success with outreach, youth engagement, and training public housing residents how to understand planning.
“All of that collectively spoke to why they were being considered to be eligible for the fundamental category because that was deemed to be essential work that we wanted done for that population within our community,” Sanders said.
Smith said applicants in the competitive process were asked for statements on how well they advanced Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals.
“Typically [the process] encouraged applicants to review their process more than it does relate to the application so we’re pretty confident that it’s having a successful impact on different people,” Smith said.
Then there’s also another $15,971,143 in what’s now referred to as “Intergovernmental Funding.”
“Essentially [for] most of these agencies, the funding are either regional types of agencies or they’re government by some sort of [memorandum of understanding] or agreement,” said Krisy Hammil, the city’s budget director. “Most of these, the city’s budget office works closely with the county’s budget office as well so that if there is a request for positions or new things it doesn’t make sense for one of us to do half of it if the other is not meeting in the middle as well.”
With all of those definitions out of the way, Councilors went through some of the recommendations that came through the Vibrant Community process.
City Councilor Michael Payne said there appears to be a lot of city funding going to nonprofits to provide various services such as the BUCK Squad which saw their recommended funding jump from $161,000 in FY24 to $456,000 in FY25.
“It’s the amount of money that’s starting to reach the point where I look at that and think if that’s the direction we’re going, that’s almost becoming a service that is part of the city and I’m very curious to know as much information when there’s an application receiving almost half a million dollars,” Payne said.
According to the Vibrant Community Fund report, the BUCK Squad asked for $480,000 for a project called Gun Violence Intervention - South First Street. The group describes itself as conducting “proactive civilian patrols within predominantly Black communities with low-income households in Charlottesville.” Sanders’ budget recommended a lowered amount of $456,000 and the review panel called the application “Exemplary.”
Payne sits on the Board of Commissioners of the CRHA and said the BUCK Squad does not have a memorandum of understanding to operate on any public housing properties, such as those on South First Street.
Mayor Wade said he and Sanders are aware that CRHA and the BUCK Squad have had disagreements in the past.
“We can’t force that marriage to take place but I know that they’re working at it,” Wade said.
Staff said they could not adjust the entire process based on one application. Sanders said Council did not give direction to put a limit on how much any one organization could ask for in a budget cycle.
“Because you all did not set up a cap as an expectation on how the funding could be allocated,” Sanders said.
“It never occurred to me that we’d be talking about half a million dollars,” Snook said.
“But if you don’t set up a cap you’re going to ask for whatever and if there’s enough money available, you would get it,” Sanders said. “That’s part of my soapbox.”
Staff said there may be a cap in future years, but the rules for this year have to apply.
For this year, Councilor Brian Pinkston said he was not willing to fund the request for the Buck Squad at the full recommended amount.
“I would need more information about that organization in terms of what they’d be able to stand up,” Pinkston said. “It’s a lot of money. It’s a lot of money.”
For reference, each additional penny added to the real estate tax rate brings in $1.1 million.
Housing programs have been pulled out of the Vibrant Community Fund and moved to other pools. Council was briefed on those applications on March 18 as I previewed in the Week Ahead but have not yet been able to write up the details.
As of March 14, Councilor Michael Payne did not know if CRHA’s $150,000 request for funding for Resident Services had been recommended. He suggested the agency might also be considered essential.
“If CRHA needs to rely on the city for core staffing, does it make more sense to think about that as a contractual agency or intergovernmental agency rather than a competitive process,” Payne said. “CRHA is in a very strange, unique position of us appointing their whole board. No other nonprofit is in that situation.”
That $150,000 request through the Housing Operations Program Support was not recommended for funding, according to the staff report. A work session on CRHA will come back to the Council in the near future.
After Councilors asked other questions about funding for other agencies, Sanders said the Vibrant Community Fund process is different each time and that is not a good thing.
“It sounds like we need a Vibrant Community Fund work session again,” Sanders said. “And in that work session what would be helpful because I don’t think anyone has said this to you in this way and I’m the matter of fact guy that you hired who has always been this way, you’re going to have to make some decisions, and when you make those decisions, we will bring you exactly what we believe is the strongest result-oriented response to that when we have that clarity.”
Sanders said he believes Council questioning results undermines the process. He said Council going against recommendations of the Vibrant Community reviewers can be seen as a waste of their time.
Pinkston said he felt the process had improved but Councilors has the right to ask questions about potential projects and he continued to express caution concern about level of funding for the BUCK Squad.
“I think that the Buck Squad is an outlier and everyone has agreed is an outlier,” Pinkston said. “That doesn’t mean that the work they do isn’t good or anything like that, but it’s a newer organization that has issues with the CRHA that we know about.”
Wade defended the funding and sought ways to explain to reluctant Councilors what the BUCK Squad does.
“A lot of their work is what’s not happening,” Wade said. “Some of the things that they help prevent, but we can have the discussion on that. I think that that may be a two on two on meeting with you if you all want that.”
A two-on-two meeting refers to a practice where Councilors meet below the threshold of a quorum in order to evade public meeting rules. There is no record of how many such meetings take place.
Sanders asked Councilors if there other programs they felt should be adjusted.
Wade said he would like adjustments to the Light House Studio and the Women’s Initiative. The Light House asked for a total of $36,000 for two programs and the process recommended $21,600. The Women’s Initiative asked for $50,000 and was recommended for $40,000.
Councilor Natalie Ochsrin wanted $12,000 for the Fralin Museum of Art’s outreach program to be reconsidered and for no more consideration of University of Virginia-related organizations.
The next budget work session is on Thursday and will deal with the capital budget. Still waiting for me to review at the three public hearings on the tax rate increases and the public hearing on the budget.
One other things I suggest you read:
Q&A: A Word With You, Please? ‘Plastics’, Bryan McKenzie, UVA Today, March 25, 2024
Edition #653 is completed
Every day I wake up and there’s a lot to report, and in four years of being an independent journalist, I’m still trying building up my system. I do this work because this is what I wanted to do 30 years ago and there seems to be a need for more stories.
I’m still trying to figure out how to produce both an audio version and a print version and seeing how I can somehow make both better. I’m so grateful to get to experiment with this work and hopefully to share information people want to know.
This is what I hope to do for many years to come, and I’ve been able to do it so far thanks to paid subscriptions through Substack. For that paid subscription, you will get the occasional premium story but for the most part, you’re helping to grow something that I believe the community needs.
Who should be telling the stories of a community? I can’t answer that question but I can say I do what I do in order to understand what’s happening myself. I do not know the right answers to what should happen, but view my role to help get as many people as possible the information.
Ting will match your initial Substack subscription and as soon as I hit send today I’ll be sending personalized thank you notes to those who have subscribed in March. We’re so close to the end of the month, and definitely at the end of this newsletter.
One last thing:
The partnership with Ting is an incredibly generous sponsorship, and you if you sign up for service and enter the promo code COMMUNITY you’re going to get:
Free installation
A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
