May 17, 2024: Charlottesville Police Department publishes annual report for 2023
Plus: A preview of this weekend’s Waterworks event at Live Arts
Picture if you will a journey, a journey across a single digraph. From Charlottesville to Charleston, Charleston to Chillicothe, Chillicothe to Champaign-Urbana. Perhaps one day Town Crier Productions will fully develop into a producer of travelogues. Until then, Charlottesville Community Engagement will stick to segments of information about relevant matters. I’m Sean Tubbs, and the next few editions may experiment a little.
In today’s installment:
A forecast of rain has postponed the Rivanna River Fest by one day
The work of the 2024 General Assembly is done, and Virginia won’t be rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative any time soon
The Charlottesville Police Department has published its annual report for 2023
A brief comparison between Champaign-Urbana and Charlottesville
A preview of this weekend’s Waterworks festival of playwrights at Live Arts
First shout out: Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library
In today’s first subscriber supported shout-out is related to Bike Month. The rolling topography of the Charlottesville area keeps some people away from choosing cycling as an option to get around. Perhaps an e-bike is in order?
That’s where Charlottesville’s eBike Lending Library comes in! 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
Rivanna Fest postponed to Sunday; FairyFest postponed until June 22
The annual celebration of the river that runs through Charlottesville has been postponed by one day. The Rivanna River Fest will be held on Sunday, May 19 due to the high chance of rain. The event will be held from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The event begins at 2 p.m. at the Rivanna River Company on land that is now owned by the City of Charlottesville. The first three hours feature “family-friendly activities, fun on the river, talks, demonstrations, and more.” Anyone who signed up for any of the various demonstrations still have their slot.
Visit the Rivanna River Fest website for more information
In addition, the Flower, Fairy, and Elf Festival scheduled for tomorrow on the Downtown Mall has also been postponed to June 22.
TJPDC: No RGGI in adopted Virginia budget
The 2024 General Assembly session is complete and the legislative liaison has a report on what happened this week with the budget.
“In essence, money committee staffers indicated that the new biennial budget bill retains most all the appropriations from the budget approved by the legislature in early March, with numerous technical amendments included,” said David Blount, the director of services for the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.
Governor Glenn Youngkin had sought to expand the state sales tax to digital services and the Commonwealth will take on more debt than anticipated for various capital projects. Revenues are also tracking above estimates.
The Democratic Party controls both the Virginia House of Delegates as well as the Virginia Senate.
“While Virginians’ elected officials can sometimes be far apart on policy, today demonstrates and reiterates that we can come together to deliver for the Commonwealth,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin in a press release.
However, one key demand from Democrats is not in the final document. On his first day in office, Youngkin signed an executive order to remove Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. That’s an interstate compact intended to reduce emissions by requiring power companies to pay to exceed certain volumes.
Virginia joined RGGI as part of legislation approved in 2020. When other bills to compel an exit failed, the Youngkin administration took the executive approach. A lawsuit is still pending over the legality of that action in Floyd County Circuit Court but a legislative pathway to Virginia rejoining has stalled until at least 2025.
“The compromise also eliminates language that directed Virginia to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,” Blount said.
Blount has several other pieces of information in an update sent out this morning.
“Budget language directs the Joint Tax Policy Subcommittee to examine modernizing the state sales tax and income tax”
“The approved budget provides more funding over the biennium for additional positions in Commonwealth Attorneys offices”
“The plan recognizes an additional $25 million in Lottery proceeds to replace general funds in FY25
“It uses $200 million in bonds instead of general funds for wastewater treatment plant upgrades in FY25.”
To sign up for legislative reports directly from the TJPDC, visit their website.
Charlottesville Police Department release annual report for 2023
Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis has been on the job for about two and a half years now and has now presided over his second annual report for the department.
“Despite unprecedented challenges, including having thirty sworn vacancies and a drastic increase in gun violence, we have remained focused on being community partners in Safety,” Kochis writes in the executive summary for the report.
There were three murders in the first three months of 2023 and the department responded to an average of one call a day for shots fired. That did not deter Kochis from implementing his vision of having his officers become more present.
“We have walked a different community every week, having meaningful, one-on-one conversations with residents, business owners, and visitors,” Kochis continues. “These conversations, along with internal focus groups and community meetings, have formed our strategic priorities for the next three years.”
Those priorities are in a strategic plan that is separate from the annual report. (view the strategic plan)
To address growing community concerns about gun violence, the department held a town hall that had originally been scheduled to be for one specific neighborhood.
“Difficult and much needed conversations took place on this day, marking the beginning of many community-focused initiatives the department would create,” reads page 8 of the report.
Another initiative in 2023 was the re-introduction of the Community Police Academy which is intended to give participants an insight to how each section of the police department works.
According to the report, the department has 109 sworn officers and additional 36 support staff. Nineteen percent of officers are Black, 18 percent are female, and six percent identify as Hispanic.
There were 32 total complaints of police misconduct, with some complaints containing multiple violations. Of these, 24 were sustained, 5 were exonerated, 18 were unfounded, and one remains unresolved. Details can be found on page 16.
In all, there were six homicides in 2023, up from 2 in 2022 and none in 2021.
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Community Comparison: Charlottesville and Champaign-Urbana
A delegation of elected officials and staff from the Charlottesville-Albemarle area are currently on a trip to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois to learn about how the transit system here is making the switch away from engines that produce a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.
"Part of it us for us to figure out the path we're going on for our alternative fuels," said Garland Williams, director of Charlottesville Area Transit. "They're a little ahead of us."
But that’s not this story. This brief story is the one from the night before as this reporter sits down and tries to figure out more about this place. Aside from the names beginning with “ch,” what other comparisons can be made between the two communities? This article is what I’ve come up with after a few hours of research.
Perhaps the most important one is that Champaign-Urbana is home to the flagship school in the University of Illinois system, a land-grant university founded in 1867. This school’s history mirrors that of Virginia Tech.
However, the number of students is two and a half times that at the University of Virginia with a total enrollment of 56,403 in September 2023, under-graduates and graduates. In the fall of 2022, UVA’s total enrollment was 23,721.
One close comparison is in the size of the metropolitan area. Perhaps sometimes known as Chambana, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the Champaign-Urbana metro area has a population of 236,608 according to 2023 estimates coordinated on Wikipedia. That puts it at 201 in the country, compared to Charlottesville at 211 with a population of 225,127.
Of course, Virginia and Illinois are very different in terms of how local governments are organized. Champaign and Urbana are two separate cities within the county of Champaign County. Direct comparisons are hard to make, but Albemarle County and Charlottesville are wholly independent of each other.
Champaign has a nine-member City Council that includes an elected mayor who serves as presiding officer of the legislative body. This individual and three other Councilors are elected at-large. The other five each represent a specific geographic area. Council also serves as the City of Champaign Township Board of Trustees.
As with Charlottesville, Council appoints a city manager to serve as the executive leader for day-to-day matters.
“If comparing City government to a corporation, the City Council is the Board of Directors and the City Manager serves as the Chief Executive Officer,” reads an explanation on the Champaign website.
There are several notable differences. Albemarle County dates back to 1744 and the early days of European colonization. The territory was once part of Goochland County. The terrain rolls up and down as one approaches the Blue Ridge Mountains.
In contrast, Champaign County was created in 1833 from territory that had been Vermillion County. This land sits on the divide of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and had no natural drainage until the 1870’s.
Now, off to learn about buses.
Note: Town Crier Productions is paying for my trip and I’m the only representative of the media here.
Live Arts WaterWorks festival begins this weekend
For the past 44 years, Live Arts has been a source of cutting edge theater in Charlottesville. For the second year in a row, Live Arts is putting on a festival that allows participants to get a glimpse into how playwrights put together new works.
“WATERWORKS celebrates new theatrical voices in Charlottesville and beyond,” reads the website for the festival, which will see 19 different new plays at various stages of development. “This festival of new works puts the playwright at center stage and diversifies the stories told on the Live Arts stage.”
This weekend will see the following events:
AH WING AND THE AUTOMATON EAGLE by Brandon Zang is a steampunk alternate history retelling of the 1877 San Francisco Chinatown riot. This is in the Gibson Theater Friday through Sunday (purchase tickets)
THE 7 UNLUCKY PASSENGERS ON THE TIME TRAVELER'S FLYING ESTATE by Steph Prizhitomsky is in the Conover Studio Friday at 6:30 p.m. The world has ended, and those who are left are suspended in time in the mansion belonging to a man who hides in the shadows: the time traveler. (purchase tickets)
CRAWLSPACEBLOG by Rebecca Kane is the Conover Studio Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Claire follows her Airbnb renters at night, until she gets a special new guest whose unexpected bond with her may threaten more than just her livelihood and her hobby. (purchase tickets)
MELANCHOLY ECHO by Robert Alexander Wray is in the Conover Studio Saturday at 7:30 p.m. With the supernatural elements of a fairy tale, MELANCHOLY ECHO is a surreal pilgrimage taken by a pastor who has just quit the church. Mixed with this is the story of Phoenix & Dove, a tragic tale that melds into the pastor’s search for redemption. (purchase tickets)
MOVING ON by Andrea Fine Carey will be in the Conover Studio Sunday at 1 p.m. A comedy about a woman whose newly widowed father and her mother’s ghost move into her house and refuse to leave. Although it takes place in a Jewish household in Baltimore, the play examines universal themes about love and family. (purchase tickets)
There are also six short plays in one 90 minute presentation called LOCALLY SOURCED. (purchase tickets)
An Odd Confluence by Byron Harris, directed by David Minton
Bad Things Are Happening by Elizabeth Fuller, directed by Kay Bethea
Shock and Aw-w-w- by Jenny Mead, directed by Sean McCord
Sold Out Houses by Scott Dunn, directed by Miller Murray Susen
Suffrage by Atlee Webber, directed by Mandy Shuker
The Jam Jar by Kate Monaghan, directed by Leena Rose Miller
Reading material:
Several cases dismissed against pro-Palestine protesters, CBS19, Felicity Taylor, May 15, 2024
School Board chair quizzed on contact with state about charter school, Heather Michon, Fluvanna Review, May 15, 2024
City Schools budget has gone up this year, but not as much as Board members hoped, Tamica Jean-Charles, Charlottesville Tomorrow, May 15, 2024
Charges dropped against several arrested at UVa protest, Jason Armesto, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), May 16, 2024
A push for pedestrian-friendly roads: N.C. law restricts state funding for bike lanes and pedestrian projects, Charlotte Ledger, May 16, 2024
Town or gown, here's how to prepare for UVa Final Exercises, Jane Sathe, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), May 17, 2024
This headline salutes the conclusion of #679
Illinois now becomes the third state where an edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement has been sent out to the nearly 3,000 subscribers, joining Pennsylvania. For most of the history of this publication, I’ve barely left Charlottesville but in the past year circumstances have forced me to travel and push myself past my comfort zone.
This particular trip is funded by the business, Town Crier Productions. I launched this four years ago as way of getting back to journalism, a position I intend to keep being in as long as people keep subscribing. Just over a fifth of the readers have stepped up with a Substack subscription. Perhaps this is a good time to join them? It’s up to you. In the meantime, I’ll keep endlessly planning for the new set of stories and continuing to build up capacity to report on everything I’d like to report on.
While paid subscriptions aren’t mandatory for people to read the material, the material can’t be written if there aren’t enough paid subscribers. So, maybe today’s the day to support detailed information what’s happening?
And if you join those paid subscribers, Ting will match your initial subscription. That can be at the $5 a month level, the $50 a year level, or the $200 a year level. If you have any questions, drop me a line.
Ting can help you with your high speed Internet needs. If service is available in your area and you sign up for service, enter the promo code COMMUNITY and you will get:
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A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
