Richmond Free Press November 14-16, 2019 Edition

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‘16 Bars’ tells their stories

Richmond Free Press © 2019 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 28 NO. 46

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

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Tribute to gospel singer, Personality B1

NOVEMBER 14-16, 2019

RRHA puts hold on all public housing evictions through December, but residents are skeptical, concerned bigger issues are not being addressed

By George Copeland Jr.

The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority has frozen all evictions for the rest of the year, following months of growing scrutiny and backlash from residents and housing advocates over the organization’s actions and priorities. “For the remainder of calendar year 2019, no public housing family will be removed from their home for debt owed to RRHA,” according to a Nov. 8 news release announcing the housing agency’s decision. Damon E. Duncan, RRHA’s chief executive officer, stated that instead of seeking to remove tenants, RRHA would use “a combination of repayment agreements, debt forgiveness, philanthropic contributions and other eviction diversion methods” in a bid to keep residents in their apartments. Housing advocates are skeptical but hopeful that the freeze represents a new approach by RRHA, which regularly relied on evictions to create turnover in its public housing units. “I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Omari Al-Qadaffi, a community organizer with the Legal Aid Justice Center who has been on the Mr. Duncan front lines of the eviction battle and worked closely with legal aid attorneys seeking to address the issue. Mr. Al-Qadaffi said previous efforts to collaborate with RRHA ended with advocates being “stonewalled.” But he said he saw a change in attitude during a meeting Monday between Mr. Duncan and other RRHA officials and representatives of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society and the Virginia Poverty Law Center. “They seem to be exhibiting a different posture,” Mr. AlQadaffi said of the RRHA officials, and appeared to be open to changes in the way the authority deals with tenants. During the freeze, residents will continue to accumulate rent charges, along with other charges, “where merited,” according to the RRHA’s statement. Housing officials are examining rent collection policies, though, and seeking to do more to encourage tenants to pay off past due amounts. Before the freeze was implemented, RRHA was on track to

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Richmond City Councilwoman Kim Gray, 2nd District, center, joins housing and environmental justice advocates during a rally Tuesday outside City Hall organized by Richmond For All. The group voiced their opposition to the Navy Hill District Corp’s proposed Coliseum replacement project and evictions and displacement of people from Richmond public housing.

serve 266 notices to residents in the six major public housing communities that they could face eviction for failure to pay their rent. That includes 52 households in Creighton Court, 35 in Whitcomb Court, 31 in Fairfield Court, 25 in Gilpin Court, 61 in Hillside Court and 62 in Mosby Court, according to the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society.

RRHA annually files about 1,900 eviction cases in Richmond General District Court involving tenants from the six public housing communities, based on data supplied by the Virginia Poverty Law Center. Please turn to A4

City Council bids Agelasto adieu with award and tough new ordinance By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Honoring veterans Tristan Williams, 8, takes in the sights and sounds Monday at the 63rd Annual Commonwealth Veterans Day Ceremony at the Virginia War Memorial in Downtown. The third-grader was attending the event with his Virginia Virtual Academy class members and their teacher, Deborah De Los Santos. Please see more photos, A2.

City Councilman Parker C. Agelasto got a rousing sendoff from his colleagues after joining them Tuesday night in votes to maintain the real estate tax rate at $1.20 per $100 of assessed value and to approve a public safety measure Mayor Levar M. Stoney spearheaded to fine residents who fail to report a lost or stolen gun within 24 hours. The outgoing 5th District councilman received praise for his seven years with the council and their top award for public service at the end of his final meeting as an elected member. He is to step down Saturday, Nov. 30, during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. The council is preparing to welcome his replacement, former social worker and

lobbyist Stephanie Lynch, who won the Nov. 5 special election for the 5th District seat. Along with praise, council members continued to take steps to ensure that they Mr. Agelasto could investigate and remove a council member like Mr. Agelasto, who continued to represent a district without living in it. Mr. Agelasto moved out of the 5th District in the summer of 2018 and now lives in the 1st District. He entered an agreement with former Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring to step down after two separate legal efforts by Richmond residents were taken to remove

him from office. An ordinance patroned by the eight other members of City Council was introduced that would allow the council to take action if a member is found to be residing outside the district they were elected to represent in violation of state law. The ordinance is expected to be voted on Monday, Dec. 9, City Council’s next and final meeting of 2019. If approved, the proposal would put the law on the books, but apparently would need state action to take effect. The council already has requested that the city’s General Assembly delegation introduce legislation during the January session changing the City Charter and/or state law to authorize the council to take such action. Please turn to A4

School Board member seeks to protect school funding in costly Coliseum plan By Jeremy M. Lazarus

The Richmond School Board could weigh in on the debate over the controversial $1.5 billion Coliseum replacement and Downtown redevelopment plan. School Board member Kenya Gibson, 3rd District, is spearheading a resolution that would call on Mayor Levar M. Stoney and Richmond City Council to maintain funding for public education if the controversial plan to finance a new Coliseum

from the projected growth in Downtown property taxes wins approval. “Richmond Public Schools needs to share in the growth in taxable property values in order to have the Ms. Gibson money required to meet the educational needs of our children,” Ms. Gibson said.

She wants RPS to get its share of any new tax money first before tax dollars are set aside to pay for the proposed 17,500-seat Coliseum that is projected to cost $311 million when all of the initial expenses are included. She cites as examples Baltimore and Chicago that created tax increment finance districts, or TIF districts like that proposed for the Richmond project, that Please turn to A4

Richmond area on-time postal delivery among nation’s worst By Jaclyn Barton Capital News Service

Rachel Westfall, who lives in Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood, said her mail service has always been hit or miss. But since April, there have been a lot more misses. “My personal property tax check apparently never made it to City Hall, even though I mailed it at the beginning of April, two months before the due date,”

Ms. Westfall said. Her complaint is a common one in the Richmond area, which has some of the worst mail delivery in the country, according to data from the U.S. Postal Service. Last spring, less than 84 percent of the region’s first-class mail was delivered on time. Only two service areas in the United States had a worse on-time delivery rate. According to the Postal Service, singlepiece, first-class mail service is the least expensive and fastest option for mailing

items such as letters, postcards and large flat envelopes. Delivery time is measured from the collection box drop point to delivery. Every quarter, the U.S. Postal Service puts on its website data showing what percentage of first-class mail arrives on time in each of its service districts. One measure looks at mail that is supposed to arrive within three to five days. On that metric, the Richmond area has Please turn to A4

Delegate Filler-Corn

Delegate Herring

House Dems elect women to top posts By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Fresh from sweeping enough seats in the Nov. 5 election to take the majority in the House of Delegates, Democrats plan to install two women in the top posts for the first time in state history. Fairfax Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn, 55, who took over as House Democratic leader last year, fended off competitors to become the caucus’ choice for speaker of the House when the legislature reconvenes in January. She will be the first woman and first Jewish person to hold the influential post. Separately, Alexandria Delegate Charniele Herring, 50, who chaired the House Democratic Caucus during the past year, also overcame opposition to secure the No. 2 post Please turn to A4


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