Podcasts about crha

CCE-850ALast week I asked listeners of the podcast to let me know if they were tuning in, and sure enough, several of you did reach out! So, perhaps this Friday edition of the newsletter going out as a podcast will continue. Today's edition doesn't have any new information but instead is an audio summary of some of what has been going on with voices from some of the decision-makers.I'm Sean Tubbs, and this one's a bit of a puzzle to put together. In the print edition below you'll see new versions of a couple of the stories as I had to develop a new script. I have not included the images, but these podcasts will now have normal shout-outs. No more house ads!Two stories in this edition, both about Charlottesville's budget for FY2026:* City Council makes last minute decisions at final work session before tonight's vote on $265M budget* Council adopts $265.2 million budget after another conversation about transit fundingFirst shout-out: Plant Virginia NativesSpring is here and there's still time to plan for upgrades to your outdoors. You can take some time to get ready for spring! Check out Plant Virginia Natives!Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore. Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens.Plant Northern Piedmont Natives is for anyone who works with native plants, whether you are a property owner, private consultant, landscape designer, nursery operator, conservation group, or local government.(image)A summary of the April 10, 2025 Charlottesville City Council budget work sessionOne of the challenges of doing a podcast version at the end of a week is that I may have to rearrange two previous stories in order for the audio edition to make sense. That's the case this week with Charlottesville City Council's adoption of a $265.2 million budget for fiscal year 2026. That happened on April 14 at a special meeting.But before we get to that, we have to go back to the work session held on April 10.In Charlottesville, the budget process never really stops. In fact, it keeps on going up to the last minute of adoption. New items were added at the work session that had not previously come up.At the beginning of the April 10 work session, they learned about additional spending that can happen because new funding has been found since the beginning of the budget process in March.“We do have supplemental revenue over and above the proposed budget of $774,263,” said Krisy Hammill, the city's budget director.The driver of that change was an additional $700,000 increase in Business and Professional Licenses that had not been factored in.There were many numbers thrown around during the final work session. Before Council signed off on how to spend that money, City Manager Sam Sanders went through how $915,620 in “Council Discretionary Funds” would be spent to leave a balance of $440,406 to spend.“Kind of thinking that with all the volatility that we have in DC, there could very easily be a series of moments that come up and that this would give you the flexibility to make some decisions and how we could support gaps in what could happen based on decisions and how it actually lands in the community,” Sanders said.Staff codified a list of what Council had already decided to spend over the course of four budget work sessions.* $250,000 to the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless to cover the costs of a federal grant not obtained because there was an error related to a recent leadership transition.* $162,000 to the Piedmont Housing Alliance to pay for the cost of staff who work on eviction prevention.* $50,000 in cash to the Piedmont Housing Alliance related to eviction prevention.* An additional $43,150 to the Boys and Girls Club for a total of $116,000 in the FY26 budget.* An additional $28,800 to Lighthouse Studios to fund two programs for a total funding of $40,000 in the FY26 budget.* An additional $6,000 to Loaves and Fishes to bring their total funding to $50,000 for FY26.* An additional $1,200 to Piedmont CASA for a total of $10,000.* An additional $6,600 to Live Arts for a total of $16,000.* An additional $7,100 to Legal Aid Justice Center for a total of $40,000* An additional $1,500 to SARA for a total of $25,000.* A total of $104,261 in capital improvement program funds will be redirected to the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial. Read this story for more information.At the meeting, Hammill handed out a spreadsheet that provided more details about other programs that were added to the list such as an annual payment to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. This was initially left out of the budget because the organization did not fill out an application through a portal called Zoom Grants.The payment to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center was $228,993 in FY2024 and $246,993 in FY2025. The organization is considered fundamental which means it no longer has to compete for funding through the Vibrant Community Fund process . The payment for FY2026 will be $228,200.“By not submitting through Zoom Grants, they didn't appear on the list, but they didn't know that they had to still submit through Zoom Grants,” Sanders said. “So we have some course corrections that we need to do there and making sure that everyone understands what they have to do still, even though they're in a non competitive round.”Sanders said there was a similar error with the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. That government body is considered “fundamental” but also sought additional funding.“We have to have a conversation with them about their pursuits of funding going forward to your point they could be here and in the competitive rounds,” Sanders said. “I don't particularly care for that. I think that makes it double dipping.”Sanders said Deputy City Manager James Freas and the Office of Community Solutions are currently performing an audit of CRHA as a way of building a better working relationship.City Councilor Michael Payne, a member of the CRHA Board, called for a joint work session to plan for the likelihood of reduced federal funding for public housing units.At one point in the conversation, Council initially signaled a willingness to add an additional $16,000 to the United Way for their Prosper program. Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall made a pitch for the program at the April 10 meeting. The program had previously been called the Financial Resiliency Task Force.Another last minute item is $30,000 for the Tonsler League headed by former City Councilor and current CRHA Chair Wes Bellamy. The organization had expected that the City of Charlottesville would have received an additional $250,000 from the state government for operations, but Governor Glenn Youngkin recently vetoed that from the budget.“He received a $250,000 grant for this current year that ends in June,” Sanders said. “I am planning to check with him to see if. If he will expend all of that and avoid the risk of having to send anything back.”Council supported giving the Tonsler League $30,000.At half an hour into the final budget work session held three days after the final public hearing, Sanders asked Council if there was any other item they might want to fund and gave them the current balance.“The question that we are really posing at this point is, is there anything else that you all have been pondering?” Sanders asked. “Because we try to remind you that this is the end of the road and we are truly down to $394,000 that today, right now at this moment, is your Council Strategic Initiatives Fund.”That prompted Councilor Lloyd Snook to express a concern.“So we haven't even gotten to the fiscal year and we've already cut it down?” Snook asked.“That's correct,” Sanders said.Snook said he felt the process was not appropriate.“I find myself trying to figure out what possible process we're advancing here,” Snook said. “And the answer is it's still back to whatever anybody throws up against the wall at Council at the last minute. I just think that's a terrible way to do business.”Sanders said he understood Snook's concern.“I understand and appreciate the last minute nature of it and I'm not a fan of always doing that and I think in these, this, these two moments specifically, we can identify a way to bring you critical information so that you can have that presented to you and then you can make that determination on if you believe the item is ready to go forward,” Sanders said, adding that both Marshall and Bellamy could appear before Council to formally make a pitch.There were at least three Councilors who supported funding for Tonsler, but not yet for the Prosper Program.There was also a long discussion about increasing the number of transit drivers to 82 in order to restore service to pre-pandemic levels. This comment from Sanders finishes off that discussion and sets up a conversation for the future.“I think what I heard was that you are not going to attempt to unpack the budget at this late stage and find a way to make 82 drivers a reality,” Sanders said. “But what you are indicating is that you support the desire for added drivers and that you're looking to have us revisit that with you at some point in the future later in 2025 for the possible consideration of the use of one time funds for the bridge that would be required to get us to the next budget where we will realize the true cost.”Sanders also said he still wants to hold on to the $22.4 million surplus from FY2024 in case federal programs are cut.“The conversations that are being had in regards to SNAP and Medicaid are real in that they're big,” Sanders said. “And if those cuts were to occur, we will see a number of our constituency impacted directly by that.”Sanders said that while the city is blessed to have a large surplus, it will go very quickly if the local government picks up what had been a federal program.Tonight's meeting to adopt is not the end of the process. Because of a second advertising error, Council still has to hold a public hearing on the tax rates and that will take place at the next regular meeting on April 21. By law, Council cannot adopt those tax rates at that meeting and must wait at least three days. A second special meeting will be held on April 24.I had hoped to tell you more about the next three items by going back to the audio, but I've got to get to the next set of stories:* Sanders had an update on a potential low-barrier shelter. The General Assembly's version of the budget had $1.5 million going to the City of Charlottesville for this purpose, and Youngkin cut this in half. The budget has not yet been finalized and Sanders said Senator Creigh Deeds is still trying to make the case to restore the funding.* Sanders said he believes the city would need to provide operating funds to any grocery that sets up at 501 Cherry Avenue.* There is still a possibility that the city might provide funding for UVA's affordable housing project at 10th and Wertland. They will be asked to submit a request as part of the next funding cycle this fall.Second shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners seek items for Green Elephant SaleIf you are cleaning out your garage or basement this winter and have garden implements or yard ornaments you no longer need, the Piedmont Master Gardeners will take them off your handsThe Piedmont Master Gardeners are seeking donations of new and used garden tools, hoses, decorative items, outdoor furniture, and virtually anything else that can be used to maintain or enjoy a home landscape. From February 1 through April 30, these "Green Elephant" donations may be dropped off at 402 Albemarle Square between 10 a.m. and noon on Wednesdays or Saturdays. The Master Gardeners are not able to accept plastic pots or opened chemicals.The Green Elephants will be offered for sale to the public during PMG's Spring Plant Sale, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at Albemarle Square Shopping Center. Proceeds will support the many free and low-cost horticulture education programs the Piedmont Master Gardeners offer to the community.To arrange a pickup of large items or for more information, contact the Piedmont Master Gardeners at greenelephant@piedmontmastergardeners.org.(image)Council adopts $265.2 million budget after another conversation about transit fundingCharlottesville City Council adopted a $265.2 million budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 at a special meeting on April 14 but not before another review and summary from City Manager Sam Sanders. He had introduced a $264,474,183 budget on March 4.“Things have changed a little bit, as it always does, from the proposed date to your adoption date,” Sander saidThere have been five budget work sessions and two public hearings on the document itself, but yet to come is a public hearing on the tax rates for 2025.“What I'll point out to you just in basic highlights, is that the revenue expenditure at this time has now risen to $265,248,446,” Sanders said.The tax rates have not changed for 2025, but another year of growth in assessments has resulted in more revenue. The assessor's office reported an average of a 7.74 percent increase in late January.One spending change in the budget is an additional $600,000 for Charlottesville Area Transit which partially came out of a push for local advocates.“We added a transit mechanic to help with operations,” Sanders said. “We are also maintaining fare free service across the system and absorbing the absence of the flexible federal funds because those funds are now not available to us as they have been.”Other highlights:* There's $5.4 million over the next five years for sidewalk repair and construction* There's $12.7 million in spending on affordable housing initiatives in FY26* The FY26 budget is the first to apply to a fourth collective bargaining unitCity Councilor Michael Payne asked about the status of a $22.4 million surplus from FY2024. Sanders made the decision to keep the amount in reserve and Council has so far agreed. The idea is to keep the money available while a new era for the federal government continues to settle in. He also said he has been meeting with nonprofit groups who have been making presentations on funding they have lost from the federal government.“So they are first trying to recoup what they've spent and hope that they might actually get some continuation,” Sanders said. “So that is beginning to build. We're beginning to see that finally the city organization itself has not incurred a loss. But we still continue to monitor just believing that it's just a matter of time. It's not a matter of if, it is actually a matter of when.”A generally-held practice in municipal budgeting is to not use one-time money such as surpluses to hire staffing.“Something like staffing is not ideal because we can't guarantee that funding to occur year to year,” said City Councilor Natalie Oschrin.The conversation went back to transit. The City of Charlottesville owns Charlottesville Area Transit and has full control of its operations. Albemarle County and Charlottesville have entered into an entity called the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority but so far that is entirely about planning for transit operations.Albemarle Supervisors vote to join Regional Transit Authority, December 15, 2024Charlottesville joins regional transit authority; Council holds first reading on federal transit allocations, December 28, 2024Charlottesville Area Transit has no independent board of directors which makes Council the sole authority over its operations. There had once been an advisory body made up of citizens but that was eliminated sometime during the pandemic.An advocacy group called IMPACT made up of various churches has been pressuring Albemarle and Charlottesville to increase the amount they spent on transit to hire additional drivers. Their specific number has been 82, a number believed to enable Charlottesville Area Transit to increase service.“The solution to long wait times is very straightforward: we need more bus drivers,” reads their website. “Right now, Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) has budgeted 67 drivers. Getting to wait times of half an hour will require at least 80.”In Virginia, cities and counties are completely independent of each other. There are regional services such as that provided by the Rivanna Water and Service Authority, but localities have to adopt budgets independently.IMPACT's public event was held on April 8, over a month into the budget process for Charlottesville and about six weeks after Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson introduced that locality's budget.At their work session on April 10, City Council indicated they wanted to support IMPACT's request but the timing is not right for the existing budget. They agreed to hold conversations about how to get there shortly after the budget is adopted.Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston and Charlottesville City Council were the two members of Council who went to hear from IMPACT at what they call the Nehemiah Action.“The commitment that the two of us made was to try to get something for this coming the fiscal year that we're working on now, which means some sort of amendment or whatever,” said City Councilor Brian Pinkston.Several members of the group were in attendance at the meeting and Pinkston addressed them directly from the dais and encouraged them to get involved earlier in the budget process.“I want people to know that this is not the end,” Pinkston said. “We heard you last week, we're working on it. And what you're hearing now is the sort of public outworking of the conversations that need to happen.”For over four years of reporting on transit issues, take a look at this tab on Information Charlottesville.Council adopted the budget after a final explanation of last minute changes such as $30,000 for the Tonsler League to help keep it going after Governor Youngkin vetoed an anticipated $250,000 from Virginia's budget.Council will hold a public hearing on the tax rate for 2025 on April 21 and then will hold a special meeting on April 24.Postscript for #850AToday's edition was intended to have additional audio but I ran out of time. Also the podcast edition can be less than half an hour long. The version that airs on WTJU has to be at least 29 minutes long. There was no radio version last week so I'm going to put another story or two in that version from #846-A. Behind the scenes I have quite a bit of organization that allows me to seemingly produce more content than entities with budgets that are much larger than mine. One day there will be more of everything. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

L'Ordre des CRHA a déposé un mémoire au ministère du Travail pour proposer un encadrement clair de l'intelligence artificielle dans les milieux professionnels. Il y est question de définir les responsabilités des concepteurs, des utilisateurs et des gestionnaires face aux décisions automatisées. Voici une entrevue sur le sujet avec Manon Poirier, directrice générale de l'Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés.

In the early days of Charlottesville Community Engagement, each edition was a newsletter as well as a podcast. In early 2024, this tradition was severed so I could make sure I could get a radio version on WTJU for Saturday morning 6 a.m. That's the case with this March 28, 2025 edition which is being produced in an odd week with slightly less productivity due to seasonal allergies. I'm Sean Tubbs and next week may see further experimentation.* Albemarle Supervisors briefed on climate funding, pay increases, and future direction for FY2027 (learn more)* EPA climate resilience grant for community nonprofits rescinded (learn more)* Supervisors also learn about the county's plans to add $4.2 million to a housing fund as well as a potential pause in federal housing vouchers (written story out tomorrow)* Charlottesville City Council holds first reading of allocations for affordable housing projects (learn more)* City Council enters into new agreement with CRHA for Sixth Street redevelopment (learn more)* Solar panels atop Ivy Landfill move closer to reality (Read this story on C-Ville Weekly)* Local projects left out of recent Continuing Resolution for federal budget (learn more)First shout-out: Celebrating the community's other information organizations!There are a lot of stories each week that go out through this newsletter, but no one information outlet can put together the entire picture. That's why each regular edition ends with a section called Reading Material.Charlottesville is fortunate to have a media landscape that includes the Charlottesville Daily Progress, C-Ville Weekly, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and Cville Right Now, I curate links from these sources because I believe a truly informed community needs multiple perspectives.There's also the Cavalier Daily, Vinegar Hill Magazine, the Fluvanna Review, the Crozet Gazette, NBC29, CBS19, and other sources. But if you look every day, you'll find links to articles in national publications, all linked to give you more perspectives on some of the issues of our times.Now more than ever, journalism is needed. To be a citizen of a democracy, you must seek information from multiple sources. Consume only one and you are at risk of becoming a zombie!Second shout-out: Advertise on Information CharlottesvilleLong-time readers may know that most of the stories posted through this newsletter are also posted to Information Charlottesville. Sometimes the stories go there first! Both this newsletter and that website are part of the same information gathering operation, an operation I hope to continue to grow!There are multiple ways to contribute to Town Crier Productions.One new one is to place an advertisement on Information Charlottesville. I'm in the early days of experimenting with visual ways for organizations to get their message across to a growing audience. I've not yet put together a media kit, but I'm ready to offer a special for March. What's the special? More details in the audio version of the podcasts.Advertising on Information Charlottesville could be a great way to keep my business going while also growing yours. I think there are new ways to do advertising, but I don't know what they are until I'm allowed to continue testing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Certains employeurs se sont surement demandé ces derniers temps comment reconnaître qu'un des membres de leur équipe est victime de violence ou de harcèlement, surtout depuis que de nouvelles mesures législatives les incitent à prendre soin de leur santé psychologique. La prévention du harcèlement est une responsabilité collective, et chaque situation est unique. Certains signes peuvent vous mettre la puce à l'oreille afin d'identifier une victime en situation de harcèlement ou d'un environnement toxique. Rappelons ici que selon la Commission des normes, de l'équité de la santé et de la sécurité au travail (la CNESST), les risques psychosociaux liés au travail peuvent affecter la santé physique et psychologique du personnel, et qu'ils peuvent être présents dans tous les milieux de travail. Entrevue avec Maryse Audet, Adm.A, CRHA, conférencière, auteure et formatrice. Elle est aussi experte-invitée pour le journal Les Affaires. Balado enregistré à distance. Pour plus d'informations, visitez adma.qc.ca

Jak vstoupit na muži opanované pole přírodovědy a co si počít s domorodci? Veronika Faktorová a Ondřej Crha o snaze získat si renomé i o přístupu cestovatelek ke kolonizaci.Všechny díly podcastu Mozaika můžete pohodlně poslouchat v mobilní aplikaci mujRozhlas pro Android a iOS nebo na webu mujRozhlas.cz.

Jak vstoupit na muži opanované pole přírodovědy a co si počít s domorodci? Veronika Faktorová a Ondřej Crha o snaze získat si renomé i o přístupu cestovatelek ke kolonizaci.

Depuis déjà quelques mois, nous entendons davantage parler de harcèlement psychologique au travail. Avec les nouvelles mesures du gouvernement, cela crée de nouvelles obligations aux employeurs et augmente la circulation d'informations pour reconnaître une situation de harcèlement psychologique - que l'on soit témoin d'une situation ou une personne qui se croit victime. Cependant, il existe des nuances à faire entre une situation de harcèlement psychologique et un climat toxique. Entrevue avec Maryse Audet, Adm.A, CRHA, conférencière, auteure et formatrice. Balado enregistré à distance. Pour plus d'informations, visitez adma.qc.ca

Nous avons pu le constater, l'arrivée de la Loi visant à prévenir et à combattre le harcèlement psychologique et la violence à caractère sexuel en milieu de travail, apporte plusieurs modifications législatives, notamment à : – la Loi sur les normes du travail (LNT), – la Loi sur les accidents du travail et les maladies professionnelles (LATMP), – la Loi sur la santé et la sécurité du travail (LSST). Ces modifications sont importantes tant au niveau de la prévention, mais aussi dans la gestion d'un climat toxique en entreprise. Pour discuter de ces nouvelles mesures et de pistes de réflexions pour enrayer naturellement un contexte d'environnement nuisible lorsque nous sommes gestionnaires, entrevue avec Maryse Audet, Adm.A., CRHA., conférencière, auteure et formatrice. Balado enregistré à distance. Pour plus d'informations, visitez adma.qc.ca

For the last seven years, the Commonwealth of Virginia has recognized the fourth Saturday of September as Public Lands Day. That's as good as any to consider taking a trip to one of Virginia's 43 State Parks. That's six more than in 2017 when the General Assembly passed legislation marking September 28 as a day to celebrate places that are owned by everyone. At one point, the future Biscuit Run Park in Albemarle was to have been a state park but that did not happen. Learn some of the story on cvillepedia. I'm Sean Tubbs, and it's as good a time as any to have a podcast version of Charlottesville Community Engagement. In this installment:* Albemarle County is keeping track of their strategic plan with SPEAR (learn more)* Charlottesville seeks an Advanced Traffic Management System and other procurement updates (learn more)* Charlottesville also seeks review of solid waste services in advance of FY26 budget (learn more)* Charlottesville Parks and Recreation wins environmental award for invasives removal (learn more)* CRHA takes action on several real estate resolutions including purchase of three properties (learn more)* A quick look at four recent land use applications in Charlottesville  * Living Earth School* Carter Machinery* Arden Place II* Beaver Hill Mobile Home Community* Albemarle EDA endorses CvilleBioHub's grant application for workforce study (learn more)* Albemarle's new economic development director has a few updates including one on Rivanna Futures (learn more)This is the audio version that collects some of the stories from the past week. They're on the same feed. Sign up to get all of it!Today's first shout-out:  Town Crier ProductionsI am in the process of rethinking the shout-outs, and this being a podcast version and a Saturday, I'm taking a bit of time to talk about Town Crier Productions. That's the name of the entity I created in 2020 that now operates Charlottesville Community Engagement as well as Information Charlottesville. The goal is to let people know about what's happening at meetings of local government with an intent to get more people acquainted with the nuts and bolts. Even four years in, all of this work remains an experiment as I try to figure out how to grow. If you have questions about any of it, please drop me a line. And if you'd like to get your information in front of about 3,000 people each edition, perhaps we can work something out. Second shout-out: Celebrating the community's other information organizations!In today's second shout-out in the form of a house ad, I want to make sure everyone knows that every edition of the regular newsletter (not the podcast ones) ends with a section called Reading Material. Charlottesville Community Engagement is just one offering in a landscape that includes the Charlottesville Daily Progress, C-Ville Weekly, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and Cville Right Now,  I curate links from these sources because I believe a truly informed community needs multiple perspectives.There's also the Cavalier Daily, Vinegar Hill Magazine, the Fluvanna Review, the Crozet Gazette, NBC29, CBS19, and other sources. But if you look every day, you'll find links to articles in national publications, all linked to give you more perspectives on some of the issues of our times. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Dans toute intervention de consultation, il est nécessaire de mettre clairement un terme à un mandat, mais il faut aussi porter une attention particulière à la manière de le faire. L'étape de la fermeture de mandat permet en quelque sorte de couronner l'intervention, de quitter le client, de s'assurer qu'il ne reste rien qui traîne et de clore convenablement la relation avec le client tout en demeurant à sa disposition; c'est l'art de se préparer une bonne sortie. Dans le cadre de la série consultation, entrevue avec Denis Thibault, CRHA, Adm.A., candidat CMC, coach en gestion professionnelle et inspecteur, Éthique, déontologie et gestion professionnelle à l'Ordre des administrateurs agréés du Québec. Balado enregistré à distance. Pour plus d'informations, visitez adma.qc.ca

Dnes slavíme příchod křesťanských věrozvěstů, jedné z nejznámějších bratrských dvojic v dějinách českých zemí. Přezdívá se jim „Apoštolové Slovanů“ a nejvýraznější stopu bezesporu zanechali právě u nás. Na tehdejší Velké Moravě. Se jmény to vůbec mají Cyril a Metoděj složité. V českých zemích byli dlouhé roky známí jako Crha a Strachota, narodili se ale jako bratři Michael a Konstantin. Oba se vydali na duchovní dráhu.

Dnes slavíme příchod křesťanských věrozvěstů, jedné z nejznámějších bratrských dvojic v dějinách českých zemí. Přezdívá se jim „Apoštolové Slovanů“ a nejvýraznější stopu bezesporu zanechali právě u nás. Na tehdejší Velké Moravě. Se jmény to vůbec mají Cyril a Metoděj složité. V českých zemích byli dlouhé roky známí jako Crha a Strachota, narodili se ale jako bratři Michael a Konstantin. Oba se vydali na duchovní dráhu. Všechny díly podcastu Příběhy z kalendáře můžete pohodlně poslouchat v mobilní aplikaci mujRozhlas pro Android a iOS nebo na webu mujRozhlas.cz.

Durant cet épisode, Coach Frank cherche à comprendre la dynamique des équipes et le leadership avec Olivier Doucet, Ph. D., et Félix Bélanger, M. Sc. À propos de nos invités: Olivier Doucet: Olivier Doucet (MBA, Ph.D., CRHA) est professeur titulaire et directeur associé au Pôle sports à HEC Montréal. Il enseigne la gestion de la performance et des talents des employés dans divers programmes. À travers ses recherches, il s'intéresse à l'efficacité des saines pratiques de gestion de la performance, les compétences managériales des gestionnaires et la mobilisation des employés. Il aborde ces thématiques en regard de leur dynamique dans les relations gestionnaire-employé, coach-athlète, ainsi que dans les équipes de travail et sportives. Il a formé des centaines de gestionnaires dans différents pays et il accompagné plusieurs entreprises dans la mise en place de pratiques novatrices de gestion de performance. Il est auteur de plus de 35 articles scientifiques, ouvrages et chapitres de livres. Pour rejoindre Olivier: olivier.doucet@hec.ca Félix Bélanger: Diplômé de l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Félix Bélanger se spécialise dans les dynamiques d'équipes sportives et en sciences de la gestion; sa maîtrise porte d'ailleurs sur les formes collectives de leadership dans les équipes sportives. Comme entraîneur, Félix cumule plusieurs années d'expériences auprès de la franchise des Estacades de la Mauricie de la LHEQ. Il est aujourd'hui entraîneur adjoint pour les Dragons du Collège Laflèche, au niveau collégial D1 du RSEQ. Détenteur de la formation HP1 depuis 2014, Félix Bélanger travaille aussi avec le Pôle Sports du HEC Montréal afin d'améliorer la formation en matière de gestion des équipes pour les entraîneur(e)s de hockey au Québec. Au sein de la Fédération, il a par ailleurs présenté diverses conférences sur le leadership. Pour rejoindre Félix: felix.belanger1@uqtr.ca Pour nous rejoindre par courriel: info@tresbonpoint.com Pour en savoir plus sur nos services: https://tresbonpoint.com/contact NOTES D'ÉMISSION Introduction de Olivier Doucet et Félix Bélanger et qu'est-ce qu'ils veulent ressortir et soutenir du podcast. (0:05) Une bonne forme de leadership et le «followership ». (6:53) Le leadership est processuel. (9:15) Collaboration et le projet du leadership partagé. (10:40) C'est quoi les ramifications et conclusions qui sortent du leadership partagé? (15:04) Élargir le leadership. (21:51) Citation : « Il faut que tu emmènes ta game dans la game ». (24 :28) Un coach qui a beaucoup de joueurs qui prennent l'autonomie : reconnaître les forces et les faiblesses. (26:19) Le leadership partagé dans le sport. (31:08) Les catégorisations. (34:15) Collecte de données dans le projet avec Hockey Québec. (37:04) Qu'est ce qu'on devrait voir comme résultat en essayant les choses mentionnés dans les données? (40:40) Comment éduquer les jeunes sur le leadership. (44:15) Comment faire le parallèle entre la gestion. (46:21) L'alignement organisationnel. (48:51) Mobilisation et performance. (54:04) La gestion des entraîneurs professionnels. (56:38) Question : Olivier, si tu pouvais retourner en arrière et donner un conseil à toi-même, quand tu avais 22 ans, ça serait quoi? (1:03:08) Question : Félix, quel livre est-ce que tu as lu, et que tu recommandes le plus en ce moment? (1:04:46) Question : Olivier, qu'est-ce qui va devenir un avantage compétitif dans le monde dans 10 ans? (1:05:51) Question : Félix, si tu pouvais mettre une citation sur un jumbotron dans un aréna ou un stade, ça serait laquelle et qu'est-ce que tu aimerais que les gens comprennent? (1:07:14) Mot de la fin de Félix Bélanger et Olivier Doucet. (1:09:39) PERSONNES ET ORGANISATIONS MENTIONNÉES Olivier Doucet Olivier Doucet | Professor | HEC Montréal Félix Bélanger (27) Félix Bélanger, M. Sc. | LinkedIn Chloé Fortin-Bergeron (30) Chloé Fortin-Bergeron, Ph. D., CRHA | LinkedIn Philadelphia Eagles Philadelphia Eagles Aaron Rodgers Aaron Rodgers Stats, News, Bio | ESPN Martin St. Louis Martin St. Louis - Wikipedia Deion Sanders Deion Sanders - Family, Stats & Facts - Biography Katrien Fransen ‪Katrien Fransen - ‪Google Scholar Hockey Québec | Hockey Québec Alexanne Picard Alexanne Picard - Elite Prospects Michael Lombardi Michael Lombardi (American football) - Wikipedia Kliff Kingsbury Kliff Kingsbury - Wikipedia Claude Julien Claude Julien (ice hockey) - Wikipedia Eric Brunelle Eric Brunelle | Professor | HEC Montréal «The No Asshole Rule» The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't: Sutton PhD, Robert I., Sutton PhD, Robert I.: 9781600245855: Amazon.com: Books

Bon vendredi, cette semaine Sarah a le privilège de recevoir Manon Poirier, Directrice générale de l'Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés. Regroupant près de 12 000 professionnels agréés, l'Ordre est la référence en matière de pratiques en ressources humaines au sein des organisations.   Au fil de cette discussion, elles explorent les valeurs fondamentales de l'Ordre, son engagement envers le développement professionnel et l'évolution constante du paysage des ressources humaines au Québec. Quels sont les enjeux actuels et futurs qui façonnent le travail de l'Ordre ? Comment envisagent-t-ils le rôle des CRHA & CRIA dans les prochaines années ? Bonne écoute :) Pour suivre Manon Poirier sur Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manon-poirier-ll-b-m-sc-crha-4537667/   Pour suivre l'Ordre sur Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/company/ordrecrha/   Pour en savoir plus sur l'Ordre : https://ordrecrha.org/   *** Pour nous laisser cinq étoiles et un commentaire sur iTunes: http://apple.co/3aWCq1D   **** Pour vous inscrire à l'infolettre : https://www.latalenterie.com/inscription-infolettre   -- Pour me suivre sur LinkedIn : mon profil personnel sur LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-jodoin-houle-cebs-crha-735b2049/  --- Pour suivre La Talenterie : Site web: https://www.latalenterie.com/   BLOGUE : https://www.latalenterie.com/idees   Chaîne YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeuRuB8iUdRBB4Ri0pFIERA?view_as=subscriber   LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/42738397/admin/   Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/la_talenterie/   Pour en savoir plus sur RÉMUNÀLACARTE : https://www.remunalacarte.ca/     

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Councilor Lloyd Snook On CRHA + City Deal Did CRHA Make A Bad Deal With The City? Councilor Lloyd Snook On Gentrification In CVille Mayor Juandiego Wade On Upzoning CVille What Will Smart Phones Replace Next In CVille? Future Of Retail, Restaurants, Music, Destinations Wake Forest at UVA, ESPN2, 12 PM, Saturday UVA Prof Brad Wilcox – The I Love CVille Show 2/21 Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Corinne Chrétien, PCC, CRHA, exerce en tant que consultante et coach en développement du leadership depuis une décennie. Sa mission est de contribuer à humaniser notre planète, un humain à la fois, en aidant nos leaders à devenir plus conscients. Elle concrétise cette mission à travers le coaching exécutif, de gestion, et de la relève, utilisant régulièrement des évaluations 360, des outils psychométriques, et d'autres outils de développement pour accélérer les transformations de ses clients. Corinne a collaboré avec une variété d'industries, des cabinets d'avocats aux entreprises de jeux vidéo, des petites entreprises aux grandes organisations locales et internationales, couvrant les secteurs public et privé. Cumulant plus de 1200 heures de coaching professionnel et plus de 1350 heures de formation en leadership, elle guide ses clients avec une approche humaniste, caractérisée par une écoute profonde et attentive. Pour la joindre : https://www.corinnechretien.com/ Réservez votre consultation gratuite de 30 minutes pour que nous puissions parler de vos défis et voir si les possibilités illimitées de l'hypno-coaching vous conviennent ! Services | HypnoCoach.ca Joignez mon site web et recevez des invitations à des évènements, informations etc RTT Therapist | HypnoCoach.ca | Montreal Suivez-nous: Instagram HypnoCoach.ca | Facebook LinkedIn Jusqu'au prochain épisode… Gardez à l'esprit que … C'est juste une croyance !

Durant cet épisode, Coach Frank discute avec Sylvie Parent, Ph. D., de la violence dans le sport et de la règle de deux. Sylvie Parent, PhD, est professeure titulaire au département d'éducation physique de l'Université Laval. Depuis 2004, les recherches de Mme Parent portent sur la violence en contexte sportif. Plus précisément, ses travaux actuels portent sur cinq (5) thématiques : 1) la mesure de la prévalence de la violence envers les athlètes et les facteurs associés, 2) l'impact de la violence dans le sport sur la santé physique et mentale des jeunes participants, 3) la violence vécue par les jeunes officiels dans le cadre de leurs fonctions, 4) les différents contextes de victimisation des athlètes et 5) les besoins de formation des entraîneurs sur la question de la maltraitance en contexte sportif. Elle est l'auteure de plus de 60 publications scientifiques sur le sujet. En 2020, Mme Parent s'est vu confier la responsabilité de diriger la Chaire de recherche sur la sécurité et l'intégrité dans le sport. La mission de la Chaire est de prévenir la violence dans le sport en mobilisant un partenariat entre les chercheurs, les décideurs et les partenaires de la communauté sportive pour soutenir la production et la mobilisation des connaissances sur cet important enjeu social. En plus de son implication dans la recherche, Mme Parent s'est engagée depuis 2004 auprès du gouvernement québécois et de la communauté sportive pour lutter contre la violence envers les athlètes. Parmi ses réalisations les plus marquantes, elle a cofondé Sport'Aide en 2014, un organisme québécois visant à prévenir la violence dans le sport. De plus, elle a été invitée à siéger sur divers comités ministériels portant sur l'intimidation et la violence en contexte sportif. Elle a notamment contribué aux travaux entourant la mise sur pied du système indépendant de traitement des plaintes québécois ainsi que la mise sur pied de la plate-forme Sportbienetre.ca. En plus de ses implications au Québec et au Canada, l'expertise de Mme Parent est reconnue à travers le monde, comme en témoignent deux invitations prestigieuses, soit une contribution à titre d'experte au programme de formation Safeguarding Officer Course du Comité International Olympique ainsi que la participation en tant qu'auteure au prochain Consensus Statement on Safeguarding in Sport du Comité Olympique International à paraitre en 2024. Pour nous rejoindre par courriel: info@tresbonpoint.com  Pour en savoir plus sur nos services: https://tresbonpoint.com/contact  NOTES D'ÉMISSION Bienvenue et introduction de Sylvie Parent. (2:30) Impacts concrets sur la société et le système sportif. (4:25) Pourquoi as-tu eu l'intérêt dans la violence du sport et la sécurité? (6:42) Qu'est-ce qui a plus changé dans les dernières années dans la violence du sport, surtout québécois? (9:47) Est-ce qu'on est plus avancé par rapport à ce sujet comparés à d'autres pays? (13:20) Qu'est-ce qui font avec les interventions? (15:00) Prévention et intervention au niveau de la violence dans le sport.(18:21) Étude sur les styles de coaching et les facteurs de risque de violence. (23:01) Les variables pour expliquer les comportements. (25:15) Objectiver les athlètes. (26:24) Comment changer le système pour avoir la qualité d'un bon environnement? (31:14) La complexité de notre système de formation pour les entraîneurs. (36:02) Un mythe de la prévention et la protection. (39:46) Le rôle des athlètes pour contribuer à améliorer le système. (41:27) Qu'est-ce qu'on peut mettre en place au niveau des organisations? (46:03) La communication avec tous impliqués dans le système. (50:51) L'analyse de formation au niveau des intervenants. (53:20) La gestion des émotions. (57:08) Comment évaluer les entraîneurs? (1:01:32) Qu'est-ce que l'on doit considérer lorsque l'on reçoit un témoignage d'abus? (1:04:40) Qu'est-ce qu'on fait avec la règle de deux? (1:07:31) C'est quoi les lignes directives ou principes à recommander? (1:10:35) La communication ouverte et le toucher. (1:14:28) Si tu pouvais retourner en arrière et donner un conseil à toi-même, quand tu avais 22 ans, ça serait quoi? (1:20:03) Quel livre est-ce que tu as lu, et que tu recommanderais le plus en ce moment? (1:21:24) Qu'est-ce qui va devenir un avantage compétitif dans le monde du sport dans 10 ans? (1:22:55) Mot de la fin de Sylvie Parent. (1:23:49) PERSONNES ET ORGANISATIONS MENTIONNÉES Sylvie Parent Team - Équipe de recherche Sylvie Parent (ulaval.ca) Sport'Aide À propos | Sport'Aide (sportaide.ca) Sylvain Croteau (26) Sylvain Croteau | LinkedIn Guylaine Dumont Guylaine Dumont - Consultante en psychologie sportive Université Laval Bienvenue à l'Université Laval | ULaval | Ville de Québec, Canada Bertrand Charest Former national ski coach Bertrand Charest granted full parole | Montreal Gazette Safe Sport SafeSport Courses for All | U.S. Center for SafeSport (uscenterforsafesport.org) Safe Guarding Officer How to Become a Safeguarding Officer? | Lead Academy (lead-academy.org) Train the Trainer Train-the-Trainer: Model, Methodology & Insights (twi-institute.com) Sylvie Bernier Sylvie Bernier - Wikipedia Nicolas Roy épisode #72 Temps d'Arrêt - #72 : Bonheur au travail, bienveillance, psychométrie, et identification du talent avec Nicolas Roy, ADM.A., CRHA. (tresbonpoint.com) Jean Côté (6) Jean Côté (researchgate.net) Yannick Plante episode #36 Temps d'Arrêt - #36 – PHYSIQUE | Puissance, culture, et gestion de saison avec Yannick Plante (tresbonpoint.com) José Rodrigues dos Santos com: José Rodrigues dos Santos: books, biography, latest update

Ordinarily we could say that February 8th marks the beginning of the second quarter for this particularly-shaped month, but we're in one of those years with an extra day.How are your plans to mark Leap Year shaping up? Would you support an alternate plan to make that extra rotation its own special month, and if so, what would it be called? This assemblage of information is called Charlottesville Community Engagement and I'm called Sean Tubbs, and this is called the last sentence of the intro. On today's show:* City Council holds the second reading on a resolution authorizing the purchase of 405 Levy Avenue from the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the amount authorized increased since the first reading* The General Assembly catch-up session continues with a list of continued bills * The Board of Architectural Review takes a look at a speculative project on West Main Street on property that has since been listed for sale This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Ex City Official Questions CRHA Downtown Deal Northrop Grumman Builds $200M Waynesboro Spot CVille Leaders Promise To Challenge Developers Is Govt. Challenging Developers A Good Thing? Inaugural Device & Tech Expo Displays Innovation Miami at UVA (-6.5), 7PM, ESPN; UVA 2nd In ACC 12 Spots To Enjoy Bowl Of Soup Around CVille Peter Krebs Will Be Guest On Tuesday's Show Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

The I Love CVille Show headlines: CRHA Purchase On Mall Impact Other Buildings? Building Next Door To CRHA For Sale For $6.5M Business Owners Reach Out To Us About Deal Stone Robinson Elementary Parents Concerned Stone Robinson Redistricting – Parents Telling Us Viewer/Listener Grab Bag – Topics From Our Fans Hoos Top Irish, Ups Home Winning Streak To 22 Will Virginia Make The NCAA Tournament? Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

The final day of January 2024 is upon us, and please turn in your rankings on the quality of the month based on a variety of considerations. Have you accomplished what you wanted to do? Did you learn something new? How many editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement did you read or listen to? I'm Sean Tubbs, and for the next 3,000 words or so, none of those questions are relevant. On today's show:* The average property in Charlottesville has increased in value by five percent in 2024 according to the city assessor's office * The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will spend $2.65 million for a building on the Downtown Mall and Council has taken the first step toward buying a key CRHA property for $4 million * No one speaks at a public hearing on how to use the city's most recent year-end surplus* The MPO Policy Board endorses a federal grant application to further engineer a bridge across the Rivanna River * A quick look at zoning clearance applications in Albemarle hints at plans for a restaurant to become a bank and a new storage facility on Rio Road This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

The I Love CVille Show headlines: CRHA Wants To Buy Downtown Building, $2.65M Thoughts From Dr. Bellamy & Councilor Payne CRHA Selling Avon/Levy To City Buy Downtown City Using ARPA $ To Buy Avon/Levy From CRHA White Hall Vineyards For Sale: $12,000,000 Ask White Hall: 172 Acres, 11 BR, 8 BA, 22,685 SQF United States Post Office To Cut 12,000 Jobs Gen Z Turns To TikTok For Money, Life Advice Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Durant cet épisode, Coach Frank discute de motivation, de répartition des récompenses, de justesse dans les objectifs, et des enjeux du système sportif avec Jacques Forest, Ph. D. À propos de Jacques: Il est professeur titulaire au Département d'organisation et des ressources humaines à l'ESG UQAM, Psychologue et CRHA, Jacques Forest est passé maître dans l'art de créer des ponts entre la science et la pratique. Les travaux de recherche de Jacques Forest s'intéressent à la théorie de l'autodétermination (TAD) ainsi qu'aux facteurs de motivation pour tenter de savoir comment il est possible de concilier performance et bien-être de façon durable. L'outil « Échelle multidimensionnelle des motivations au travail », dont il est co-auteur, est maintenant traduit en 26 langues. En 2006, il a reçu un prix lors du Concours de vulgarisation scientifique de l'Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS) et il a également décroché le Prix de la relève professorale en recherche de l'ESG UQAM, en 2011. Jacques Forest a publié ou co-publié à ce jour 62 articles scientifiques et 18 chapitres de livre, en plus d'intervenir comme expert en motivation auprès des entreprises et de l'élite sportive. Sa capacité de rendre accessibles des concepts souvent complexes font de Jacques Forest un vulgarisateur d'exception, convoité non seulement par tous les types d'auditoires, mais aussi par les médias du Québec et de l'international. Pour rejoindre Jacques: forest.jacques@uqam.ca Pour accéder au livre de Jacques: https://www.leslibraires.ca/livres/liberer-la-motivation-jacques-forest-9782898260964.html Pour nous rejoindre par courriel: info@tresbonpoint.com Pour en savoir plus sur nos services: https://tresbonpoint.com/contact NOTES D'ÉMISSION Introduction de Jacques Forest*.* Qu'est-ce que les gens ne réalisent pas du sport de snowboard? (1:49) Qu'est-ce que tu veux dire par le « swing initial »? (4:27) Comment détourner ou combattre l'objectif de la récompense? (6:22) Récompense financière « Functional meanings of rewards ». (9:38) Comment rendre l'invisible visible? (11:24) Les 4 types de motivation : plaisir, sens, pression interne et pression externe. (13:31) Les 3 cibles à atteindre selon la théorie de l'auto détermination : la satisfaction, des besoins psychologiques de l'autonomie, les compétences et l'appartenance sociale. (15:02) Le sport est plein d'exemples de très grande performance sportive qui sont réalisés dans des régimes contrôlants autoritaires. (17:05) Les classes sociales sportives. (22:13) Justifié et injustifié des salaires de millions de dollars dans le sport. (28:48) La théorie d'autodétermination, c'est quoi la chose qui est mal comprise? (34:11) La motivation identifiée. (35:31) Comment on fait passer les jeunes athlètes de la motivation introjectée à intersectée? (38:03) « Needs supportive behaviour » comportement de satisfaction des besoins. (40:15) Le sens fonctionnel que tu vas attribuer peut être autodéterminé ou pas. (42:36) Les entraîneurs qui veulent avoir du succès mais le faire de la bonne façon, un climat positif agréable pour les athlètes. (45:42) Qu'est-ce que les gens devraient retenir de ton livre « Libérez la motivation avec la théorie de l'autodétermination» ? (48:30) Qu'est-ce qu'on veut pour notre environnement et comment le mettre en pratique? (52:29) Est-ce l'objectif de « job crafting » ? (55:37) L'importance de développer ces forces et les connaître. Trois catégories de forces. (1:00:12) Comment est ce que tu vois le changement de paradigme et cette approche? (1:03:26) Question : Pour retourner en arrière et donner un conseil à toi même de quand tu avais 22 ans, ça serait quoi? (1:16:46) Qu'est-ce qui va devenir un avantage compétitif dans le monde dans 10 ans? (1:08:15) Mot de la fin et comment rejoindre Jacques Forest : jacques@uqam.ca (1:11:21) PERSONNES ET ORGANISATIONS MENTIONNÉES Jacques Forest (16) Jacques Forest (researchgate.net) Université Norvégienne des sciences du sport Ecole norvégienne des sciences du sport – Uni24k Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre | Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (nih.no) Bloom Bloom's Literature – Infobase « Libérez la motivation avec la théorie de l'autodétermination» Libérer la motivation. Avec la théorie de l'autodétermination : Forest, Jacques, Van den Broeck, Anja, Van Coillie, Hermina, Mueller, Marcus B., Ryan, Richard M: Amazon.fr: Livres Mikaela Shiffrin Mikaela Shiffrin – Wikipedia « Serial Winning Coaches » (16) (PDF) Serial Winning Coaches: People, Vision, and Environment (researchgate.net) Anja Van den Broeck (16) Anja Van den Broeck (researchgate.net) Hermina Van Coillie (16) Hermina van Coillie (researchgate.net) Marcus B. Mueller (30) Marcus B. Muller, PhD, MBA | LinkedIn Values in Action VIA Character Strengths Survey & Character Reports | VIA Institute Lindy Effect [What is the Lindy Effect? | Lindy Health](https://lindyhealth.com/lindy-effect/#:~:text=The Lindy Effect is a phrase that signifies,the future the more it lasts in society.)

The I Love CVille Show headlines: CRHA To Purchase Downtown Mall Building Why Is CRHA Spending $2.65 Million On Mall? Is This A Good Fit For The Downtown Mall? CRHA Selling Two Buildings To City For $4M Fashion Square Mall: New Businesses Opening Feasibility Of Success In Fashion Square Mall Desayuna Con Gomez Restaurant Review UVA Hoops Riding 4-Game Winning Streak Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

This is the second in a series of installments that seeks to take a look back at 2023, a year in which a lot seems to have happened and a year in which I think I did not write nearly enough. This review is intended to help me figure out where to prioritize in 2024 and what I need to follow up on. This edition also carries the podcast version of the December 22 edition. That's the one that sought to document City Council's adoption of a new zoning code. I didn't have enough time to produce the audio that day and I'm out of my home studio this week. If you've never heard one of these before, take a listen! The podcasts reflect my love of audio journalism and my vision of what I think local public radio should sound like. They also reflect the implementation of the early vision of the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. I'm producing this series by going through posts archived to Information Charlottesville and seeing what seems interesting and relevant. The flow is loosely month to month, but you'll note I jump ahead here and there. This particular edition reviewed early March through mid-June, but some of the paragraphs provide updates on what happened later in the year. Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Albemarle's FY24 budgetFor the first time in four years, Albemarle residents had the opportunity to comment in public on the $551.5 million budget for the next fiscal year. That figure was actually six percent less than the budget for FY22, as reported at a work session. Some speakers expressed concerns about rising assessments, while others called for additional spending on housing. A thing to watch in the next year is how much Albemarle's real estate assessments increase in FY24 and whether there will be calls to lower the rate. In FY24, the county allocated an additional $240,000 to property tax relief for the elderly and disabled. Charlottesville's FY24 budgetCharlottesville's interim city manager recommended a $226M budget in early March. The budget called for sharp increases in funding for the Human Rights Commission, the Police Civilian Review Board, and the Office of Equity and Inclusion. That additional funding was slated for additional positions as detailed at a work session in March. In March, Charlottesville Area Transit Director Garland Williams sought additional funding to add additional service on Route 6. That has not yet happened. There was no proposed increase in the real property tax rate. By early April, the draft budget had increased to $227.7 million. No one spoke at the public hearing for the first reading of the budget. Some on Council wanted additional spending and an additional $2 million or so was found before the second reading and adoption. Council had previously opted to proceed with the renovation and expansion of Buford Middle School, a project with a price tag north of $90 million. In May, the city learned it would receive $17.5 million from the Commonwealth of Virginia to contribute to the cost. Charlottesville also finalized an economic development strategic plan after being briefed on the document in May“First and foremost, Charlottesville is a diverse and young community with an authentic small-town charm,” said Resonance Vice President Steven Pedigo at the May 15 meeting of Charlottesville City Council. “Charlottesville is home to a highly skilled workforce, a variety of industries, and a really strong healthy economy.” (view the presentation).You can review the final plan here. It lays out five goals, with the first being: “We will invest in entrepreneurship to grow a more diverse, equitable, and vibrant Charlottesville.”Transportation planning continues in the spring In March, City Council heard from the city's new transportation planner. Over the years, the city has been awarded several dozen millions of dollars for projects through the Smart Scale process, all but one of which have not yet made it past the planning phase  At this session, Chambers gave updates on CAT's alternative fuels study and the city's dockless mobility permit program. The latter followed up on a briefing on the sole company that holds a permit. The city was to have negotiated a new contract with VEO. Did it happen? One to follow-up on in 2024. There were lots more transportation updates in March, including information on a series of projects funded through Smart-Scale at the Hydraulic / U.S. 29 intersection. That will include a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 29 to connect high-intensity developments on either side of the eight-lane highway. I reached out to the Virginia Department of Transportation earlier this month for the  latest info. A $20,788,119.29 design-build contract was awarded on April 19. “The construction will be done by Curtis Contracting Inc. of West Point, Virginia,” said Lou Hatter, spokesman for VDOT's Culpeper District. “Wallace Montgomery of Fairfax is doing the design work.”Hatter said the work must be completed by October 31, 2025 and there is an incentive for the project to be completed early. That's something to keep an eye on as this year proceeds. Albemarle County's ability to convert projects from proposal to implementation far outstrips Charlottesville. Another set of intersection improvements is moving through the preliminary engineering stage. These will see roundabouts at Route 53 and Route 20, John Warner Parkway and Rio Road East, and Old Lynchburg Road and 5th Street Extended. These have now been bundled with two other projects and the design public hearing was held in SeptemberAnother intersection project became the subject of concern from the University of Virginia. In March, I relayed information about the conversion of Fontaine Avenue and U.S. 29 into a diverging diamond. Supervisors were told of this critique in April. The Charlottesville Planning Commission learned more at their April meeting when one of their members gave details about how UVA is concerned that the project would not be able to handle traffic volumes when the Fontaine Research Park. That member was telling the appointed body what had been said at a meeting of the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee. That closed-door body replaced the public Planning and Coordination Council after the latter was disbanded by elected officials in late 2019. The LUEPC committee would later amend their by-laws to make clear that participants were not to divulge confidential  information. More on local regional planning in the next edition. Sustainability and expansion for Charlottesville's public housing agency In March, Council got an update on a plan for the long-term financial health of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. CRHA hired Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures to develop the plan and Council were told the consultants would look into possible futures for both Westhaven and the former auto garage at Avon Street and Levy Avenue. In September, Council got an update on the plan and were asked for $15 million for CRHA to put toward redevelopment of Westhaven. That amount is included in the draft capital improvement program to be included in the FY2025 budget. In mid-April, Council held the first reading on a $5 million request from the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to purchase 74 residential units from Woodward Properties. CRHA got another $5 million from a loan from Riverbend Development. These units will be jointly owned by the city and the public housing agency and finances will be kept separate from public housing properties. According to my report from the second reading, the first annual report from CRHA on how the portfolio is doing will be due on January 31. With City Council's permission CRHA continued to purchase single sites across Charottesville using city funds that had originally been allocated for rental assistance. That included one property on Harris Road in the Fry's Spring neighborhood. Albemarle continues to discuss developer incentives to build affordable unitsAlbemarle County Supervisors adopted an affordable housing strategy in June 2021 but has not yet implemented mandatory requirements to build units. That's because ways to incentivize developers to do so has not yet been adopted. In February, Supervisors were briefed on a possible grant program. On April 19, there was another lengthy work-session that covered many different possibilities including additional tax relief. Supervisors expressed interest in hearing from developers. In December, that occurred when the Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnershipthey brokered a roundtable. I've not written that meeting up yet and it's on a long list of follow-ups. Supervisors also heard in April from the Piedmont Community Land Trust about how the $625,000 they received from the county would be used. Albemarle makes major economic development investment in defense sector The largest government land purchase in my time as a reporter was perhaps telegraphed in early May with a report from the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce that found that the defense sector has a $1.2 billion impact on the region. Two weeks later, Albemarle County announced that Supervisors would approve a $58 million purchase of 462 acres of land around the Rivanna Station military base in order to protect it from encroachment. The purchase of the property from developer Wendell Wood would also be an investment in economic development.“Through the establishment of an Intelligence Community Innovation Acceleration Campus, this campus will be a place for public sector organizations, private sector businesses, and academic institutions to work together to co-create solutions to the biggest challenges facing our nation and the world,” said Supervisor Chair Donna Price at the time. The property transaction had not closed as of this writing. Supervisors had an update in December that is on a long list of stories I still want to tell. Charlottesville continues renaming city schools In March, a committee proposed new names for Johnson Elementary School and Burnley-Moran Elementary School. A month later, the School Board would hit pause on these particular renamings. Descendants of one of the namesakes questioned the research that had gone into that process. An official date change for the transitions of Venable Elementary to Trailblazer Elementary and Clark Elementary to Summit Elementary has not yet been made. Buford Middle School will become Charlottesville Middle School in 2025. Where is this process now? Meanwhile, the University of Virginia's Board of Visitors approved the naming of two new student residence halls after the late Paul Gaston and Ruhi Ramazani. That happened in September, as I reported for C-Ville Weekly. Short items for this edition:* Property assessments were up all around the region, as the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission learned in March. * Charlottesville City Council returned to in-person meetings in May, but would suspend remote public comment in October after a person used their time to shout racial slurs.* In May, Greene County hired Catherine Schafrik as the new administrator. * In May, Charlottesville released the latest data on greenhouse gas emissions. Later in the year, City Manager Sam Sanders announced the creation of an Office of Sustainability independent of Public Works. * In May, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce announced Natalie Masri would be the president and CEO. Her last day in the role is January 16. The Daily Progress reported in December that Masri did not she was the right fit for the job. . * In May, Albemarle Supervisors finally filled a vacancy on the Planning Commission by naming Nathan Moore to the Rio District seat. City Council has yet to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Liz Russell in June. That position won't be filled until at least February. * Albemarle County's review of changes to a policy on siting cell towers went before the Planning Commission in June. They were taking feedback through mid-December. Final recommendations for changes will come out early next year. * Former interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers named former Chesapeake City Attorney Jacob Stroman as the new top legal counsel for Charlottesville in June.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Description Durant cet épisode, Coach Frank discute avec Rendall Sylvain-Hernandez du recrutement, de l'effet Deion Sanders, de stratégie marketing, de communication et de perception des athlètes. Rendall Sylvain-Hernandez, associé-fondateur chez Prosomo, dirige avec passion plus de 50 comptes en stratégie et planification marketing. Au-delà de son rôle professionnel, Rendall est un coureur dévoué et un père impliqué. Il se distingue par son esprit critique, n'hésitant pas à contester l'opinion générale, en recherchant différentes perspectives pour former une opinion bien fondée, même si elle peut s'avérer impopulaire. Fan inconditionnel des Canadiens de Montréal et des Spurs de Tottenham, Rendall est attiré par des individus compétents, authentiques et qui ont le don de raconter des histoires captivantes. Pour rejoindre Rendall Sylvain-Hernandez: Twitter (X) : [Rendall SH] (https://x.com/blaxican_rsh?s=20) Pour nous rejoindre par courriel: info@tresbonpoint.com Pour en savoir plus sur nos services: https://tresbonpoint.com/contact NOTES D'ÉMISSION Différencier l'athlète devant la caméra versus sur le terrain, versus dans son milieu quotidien. (0:18) Démocratisation de l'athlète (2:00) Quel type de personnalité l'athlète a hors terrain? (4:26) Un élément intéressant et les opportunités. (7:41) Stratégies qu'on met en place et les intentions. (10:40) Stratégies marketing et l'émotif. (15:29) Les médias sociaux vont cibler leur audience par leurs intérêts et affinités. (19:38) Se rendre à l'évidence. (24:08) Stratégies parallèles directes. (27:27) Deion Sanders : style coaching « old school » avec des exigences élevées. (31:37) Comment aller chercher les meilleurs en marketing? (36:08) La première impression. (41:15) Stratégies de recrutement. (45:00) Créer l'émotion. (48:52) La notion de l'importance d'être capable de le faire. (52:00) L'importance de définir à qui on s'adresse. (55:41) Le relation entre les entraîneurs et les directeurs et le rôle de combiner le tout doit être le focus. (59:37) Pas vendre le rêve. (1:01:25) Au niveau du marketing, comment peut-on établir le lien de confiance? (1:06:16) Si tu pouvais retourner en arrière et donner un conseil à toi-même, quand tu avais 22 ans, ça serait quoi? (1:14:00) “Start, bench, cut”: Parmi trois, choisir ce qui sera classé “partant”, “sur le banc” ou “coupé” : Tottenham FC., Canadiens de Montréal, Bengals de Cincinnati (1:18:30) Mot de la fin et comment rejoindre Rendall Sylvain-Hernandez. Twitter :blexicen-rsh (1:22:30) ‍ PERSONNES ET ORGANISATIONS MENTIONNÉES Rendall Sylvain-Hernandez (26) Rendall Sylvain-Hernandez | LinkedIn Paul George Podcast P with Paul George - YouTube Travis Kelce Travis Kelce - Wikipedia Jason Kelce Jason Kelce - Wikipedia New Heights New Heights - YouTube Patrick Mahomes Patrick Mahomes - Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback - ESPN Andy Reid Andy Reid (chiefs.com) Deion Sanders Deion Sanders - Wikipedia Pat McAfee The Pat McAfee Show - YouTube The Rock The Rock - Wikipedia Joe Pompliano Joe Pompliano Nick Saban Nick Saban - Wikipedia Épisode #72 Temps d'Arrêt - #72 : Bonheur au travail, bienveillance, psychométrie, et identification du talent avec Nicolas Roy, ADM.A., CRHA. (tresbonpoint.com) Épisode #101 Temps d'Arrêt - #101: Le futur du coaching et les 100 prochains épisodes de Temps d'Arrêt ... (tresbonpoint.com)

Welcome to another Sunday edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, an irregularly produced newsletter that is usually podcast as well. This particular installment of the podcast is slightly longer than what you'll read in the written version to make up some production changes this week. This is due to a recent break in the space time continuum. Or at least, a readjustment of gravity. Town Crier Productions is nearly in its fourth year of existence and continues to plot the way to expansion at a time when there seems to be a lot to know. I'm Sean Tubbs, looking for my astrolabe.In today's edition:* The Democratic primary for City Council and area General Assembly races is in two days and the latest campaign finance reports are in * Charlottesville City Council learns how the city's transit agency is hiring a third party firm for a microtransit pilot in Albemarle County * Charlottesville picks a new city attorney* Council agrees to pay half of CRHA's purchase of a single family home in Fry's Spring* The University of Virginia is about to have a new person running parking and transportation, and Charlottesville gets a bike and pedestrian coordinator* A deep look at what's in the University of Virginia's next master plan document  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

6 juin 2023 | L'essentiel des nouvelles économiques, technologiques et financières [texte non corrigé pour fins de publication]Apple a dévoilé son premier casque de réalité virtuelle et mixte.Appelé Vision Pro, l'appareil peut, grâce à de multiples capteurs et caméras, faire passer l'usager de la réalité virtuelle à la réalité augmentée.Plusieurs analystes voient en ce casque un sérieux concurrent pour ceux de Meta, qui domine actuellement le marché des casques de réalité virtuelle. Mais le casque d'Apple – un appareil haut de gamme – sera beaucoup plus cher: il coutera 3 500 $US lorsqu'il sera commercialisé l'an prochain, contre environ 500 $US pour le prochain casque Quest de Meta.Selon un sondage auprès des membres de l'Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CRHA), deux tiers des organisations québécoises investissent plus que le 1% de la masse salariale exigé par la loi pour développer les compétences de leurs employés.Néanmoins, une bonne part des organisations ne développent pas certaines compétences qu'elles jugent pourtant prioritaires. Par exemple, 98% jugent importantes les compétences relationnelles. Or, seulement une organisation sur deux fait de la formation sur ces compétences.Le marché immobilier de Montréal semble en train de se rétablirC'est ce que suggère l'Association professionnelle des courtiers immobiliers du Québec (APCIQ) dans son analyse des ventes du mois de mai dans la région de Montréal.Même s'il y a eu 8% moins de vente qu'au même mois l'an dernier, l'APCIQ note que la baisse sur un an est sensiblement plus limitée qu'au cours des mois précédents. Elle perçoit «un clair retour des acheteurs sur le marché encouragés par la stabilisation des taux d'intérêt et des prix». Allstate et State Farm, deux des plus grandes compagnies américaines d'assurance, ont récemment décidé qu'elles n'acceptaient plus de nouvelles demandes d'assurance habitation en Californie.Les deux entreprises expliquent qu'elles prennent ces décisions parce que les résidences de cet État sont de plus en plus exposées aux catastrophes naturelles, principalement des incendies. La prévalence et l'intensité de ces catastrophes ont augmenté dans les dernières années, ce qui nuit à la rentabilité des assureurs. La Securities and Exchange Commission, l'organisme qui surveille les marchés financiers aux États, poursuit Binance, le plus grand service d'échange de cryptomonnaies au monde, et son PDG Changpeng Zhao, surnommé CZ.La SEC les accuse d'avoir artificiellement gonflé le volume de transactions, détourné de l'argent de ses clients, et menti aux organismes de réglementation.--- Détails sur ces nouvelles et d'autres nouvelles: https://infobref.com S'abonner aux infolettres gratuites d'InfoBref: https://infobref.com/infolettres Écouter les balados d'InfoBref: https://infobref.com/audio [Découvrez Actualités InfoBref, un balado quotidien des principales nouvelles générales, parfaitement complémentaire d'InfoBref Affaires] Voir notre épisode hebdo «à retenir cette semaine»: https://www.youtube.com/@infobref Commentaires et suggestions à l'animateur Patrick Pierra, ou pour commanditer nos balados: editeur@infobref.com Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

What is it that you really want to do? Are you making progress toward what you want to achieve? As a member of an intelligent species, it's always a good time to ask such questions. But I'm told by a website of dubious repute that today is Refresh Your Goals Day. Charlottesville Community Engagement has not become a self-help newsletter and podcast, but I always encourage everyone to remember they are alive. I'm Sean Tubbs. On today's program: * Charlottesville hires a veteran of the police force in Newark, New Jersey to serve as executive director of police oversight work here* Council holds first of two readings on allocating $835,000 for one bucket of affordable housing funds* Charlottesville ends the COVID-19 era for local meetings* And Council unanimously approves the award of $5 million to the city's public housing agency for half of the purchase cost for 74 units of housing to keep it below-market This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Je reçois Madame Chantal Lamoureux, LL. B., CRHA. Chantal est présidente directrice générale et secrétaire de l'Institut québécois de planification financière (IQPF). Elle est entrée en fonction à l'IQPF en 2020. Madame Lamoureux cumule plusieurs années d'expérience comme gestionnaire dans le domaine des ressources humaines au sein de grandes entreprises privées et publiques. Titulaire d'un baccalauréat en droit et ayant effectué des études de deuxième cycle en technologie éducationnelle, elle possède également quelques années d'expérience en développement de la formation. Outre son expérience professionnelle, madame Lamoureux s'est également impliquée auprès de diverses associations au fil des années. Ainsi, elle est membre du conseil d'administration du Musée de la civilisation depuis janvier 2022. De plus, elle a assuré la présidence du Conseil régional de Montréal de l'Institut des banquiers canadiens de 1993 à 1995, elle a été vice-présidente, développement professionnel des membres au conseil d'administration de Mentorat Québec (2013-2015) et co-présidente du comité Certification de La Gouvernance au féminin (2017-2019), entre autres. Madame Lamoureux agit à titre d'animatrice de conférence et de conférencière depuis 1996. Elle a présenté plus de 30 conférences auprès de publics d'experts en ressources humaines sur divers sujets et a animé plusieurs événements d'envergure destinés aux professionnels des ressources humaines.

En cette période particulièrement exigeante pour tous, l'implication active de chaque gestionnaire et de chaque employé est plus déterminante que jamais pour la prospérité des organisations. Cette implication ne saurait être obtenue sans une bonne qualité de rapports interpersonnels entre les membres de l'équipe et un climat de travail suscitant harmonie et confiance. Entrevue avec Isabelle Bédard, Fellow Adm.A., C.M.C., CRHA., présidente-directrice générale de CIB Développement organisationnel. Balado enregistré à distance. Pour plus d'informations, visitez adma.qc.ca

Durant cet épisode, je discute de motivation, répartition des récompenses, justesse dans les objectifs, et les enjeux du système sportifs avec Jacques Forest, Ph. D. À propos de Jacques: Il est professeur titulaire au Département d'organisation et des ressources humaines à l'ESG UQAM, Psychologue et CRHA, Jacques Forest est passé maître dans l'art de créer des ponts entre la science et la pratique. Les travaux de recherche de Jacques Forest s'intéressent à la théorie de l'autodétermination (TAD) ainsi qu'aux facteurs de motivation pour tenter de savoir comment il est possible de concilier performance et bien-être de façon durable. L'outil « Échelle multidimensionnelle des motivations au travail », dont il est co-auteur, est maintenant traduit en 26 langues. En 2006, il a reçu un prix lors du Concours de vulgarisation scientifique de l'Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS) et il a également décroché le Prix de la relève professorale en recherche de l'ESG UQAM, en 2011. Jacques Forest a publié ou co-publié à ce jour 62 articles scientifiques et 18 chapitres de livre, en plus d'intervenir comme expert en motivation auprès des entreprises et de l'élite sportive. Sa capacité de rendre accessibles des concepts souvent complexes font de Jacques Forest un vulgarisateur d'exception, convoité non seulement par tous les types d'auditoires, mais aussi par les médias du Québec et de l'international. Pour rejoindre Jacques: forest.jacques@uqam.ca Pour accéder au livre de Jacques: https://www.leslibraires.ca/livres/liberer-la-motivation-jacques-forest-9782898260964.html   Suivez Coach Frank sur TWITTER: https://twitter.com/coachfrankphd Pour rejoindre la communauté: info@bettersport.ca ABONNEZ-VOUS à l'infolettre: https://drcoachfrank.com/contact/   --- NOTES D'ÉMISSION Introduction de Jacques Forest*.* Qu'est-ce que les gens ne réalisent pas du sport de snowboard? (1:49) Qu'est-ce que tu veux dire par le « swing initial »? (4:27) Comment détourner ou combattre l'objectif de la récompense? (6:22) Récompense financière « Functional meanings of rewards ». (9:38) Comment rendre l'invisible visible? (11:24) Les 4 types de motivation : plaisir, sens, pression interne et pression externe. (13:31) Les 3 cibles à atteindre selon la théorie de l'auto détermination : la satisfaction, des besoins psychologiques de l'autonomie, les compétences et l'appartenance sociale. (15:02) Le sport est plein d'exemples de très grande performance sportive qui sont réalisés dans des régimes contrôlants autoritaires. (17:05) Les classes sociales sportives. (22:13) Justifié et injustifié des salaires de millions de dollars dans le sport. (28:48) La théorie d'autodétermination, c'est quoi la chose qui est mal comprise? (34:11) La motivation identifiée. (35:31) Comment on fait passer les jeunes athlètes de la motivation introjectée à intersectée? (38:03) « Needs supportive behaviour » comportement de satisfaction des besoins. (40:15) Le sens fonctionnel que tu vas attribuer peut être autodéterminé ou pas. (42:36) Les entraîneurs qui veulent avoir du succès mais le faire de la bonne façon, un climat positif agréable pour les athlètes. (45:42) Qu'est-ce que les gens devraient retenir de ton livre « Libérez la motivation avec la théorie de l'autodétermination» ? (48:30) Qu'est-ce qu'on veut pour notre environnement et comment le mettre en pratique? (52:29) Est-ce l'objectif de « job crafting » ? (55:37) L'importance de développer ces forces et les connaître. Trois catégories de forces. (1:00:12) Comment est ce que tu vois le changement de paradigme et cette approche? (1:03:26) Question : Pour retourner en arrière et donner un conseil à toi même de quand tu avais 22 ans, ça serait quoi? (1:16:46) Qu'est-ce qui va devenir un avantage compétitif dans le monde dans 10 ans? (1:08:15) Mot de la fin et comment rejoindre Jacques Forest : jacques@uqam.ca (1:11:21) PERSONNES ET ORGANISATIONS MENTIONNÉES Jacques Forest (16) Jacques Forest (researchgate.net) Université Norvégienne des sciences du sport Ecole norvégienne des sciences du sport - Uni24k Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre | Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (nih.no) Bloom Bloom's Literature - Infobase « Libérez la motivation avec la théorie de l'autodétermination» Libérer la motivation. Avec la théorie de l'autodétermination : Forest, Jacques, Van den Broeck, Anja, Van Coillie, Hermina, Mueller, Marcus B., Ryan, Richard M: Amazon.fr: Livres Mikaela Shiffrin Mikaela Shiffrin - Wikipedia « Serial Winning Coaches » (16) (PDF) Serial Winning Coaches: People, Vision, and Environment (researchgate.net) Anja Van den Broeck (16) Anja Van den Broeck (researchgate.net) Hermina Van Coillie (16) Hermina van Coillie (researchgate.net) Marcus B. Mueller (30) Marcus B. Muller, PhD, MBA | LinkedIn Values in Action VIA Character Strengths Survey & Character Reports | VIA Institute Lindy Effect [What is the Lindy Effect? | Lindy Health](https://lindyhealth.com/lindy-effect/#:~:text=The Lindy Effect is a phrase that signifies,the future the more it lasts in society.) La formation sur les forces Utiliser ses forces signatures - Formation Psychologie positive (perfectionnement.com) Self Determination Theory selfdeterminationtheory.org – Page Array – An approach to human motivation & personality  

Durant cet épisode, je cherche à comprendre la dynamique des équipes et le leadership avec Olivier Doucet, Ph. D., et Félix Bélanger, M. Sc. À propos de nos invités: Olivier Doucet: Olivier Doucet (MBA, Ph.D., CRHA) est professeur titulaire et directeur associé au Pôle sports à HEC Montréal. Il enseigne la gestion de la performance et des talents des employés dans divers programmes. À travers ses recherches, il s'intéresse à l'efficacité des saines pratiques de gestion de la performance, les compétences managériales des gestionnaires et la mobilisation des employés. Il aborde ces thématiques en regard de leur dynamique dans les relations gestionnaire-employé, coach-athlète, ainsi que dans les équipes de travail et sportives. Il a formé des centaines de gestionnaires dans différents pays et il accompagné plusieurs entreprises dans la mise en place de pratiques novatrices de gestion de performance. Il est auteur de plus de 35 articles scientifiques, ouvrages et chapitres de livres. Pour rejoindre Olivier: olivier.doucet@hec.ca Félix Bélanger: Diplômé de l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Félix Bélanger se spécialise dans les dynamiques d'équipes sportives et en sciences de la gestion; sa maîtrise porte d'ailleurs sur les formes collectives de leadership dans les équipes sportives. Comme entraîneur, Félix cumule plusieurs années d'expériences auprès de la franchise des Estacades de la Mauricie de la LHEQ. Il est aujourd'hui entraîneur adjoint pour les Dragons du Collège Laflèche, au niveau collégial D1 du RSEQ. Détenteur de la formation HP1 depuis 2014, Félix Bélanger travaille aussi avec le Pôle Sports du HEC Montréal afin d'améliorer la formation en matière de gestion des équipes pour les entraîneur(e)s de hockey au Québec. Au sein de la Fédération, il a par ailleurs présenté diverses conférences sur le leadership. Pour rejoindre Félix: felix.belanger1@uqtr.ca   Suivez Coach Frank sur TWITTER: https://twitter.com/coachfrankphd Pour rejoindre la communauté: info@bettersport.ca ABONNEZ-VOUS à l'infolettre: https://drcoachfrank.com/contact/ NOTES D'ÉMISSION Introduction de Olivier Doucet et Félix Bélanger et qu'est-ce qu'ils veulent ressortir et soutenir du podcast. (0:05) Une bonne forme de leadership et le «followership ». (6:53) Le leadership est processuel. (9:15) Collaboration et le projet du leadership partagé. (10:40) C'est quoi les ramifications et conclusions qui sortent du leadership partagé? (15:04) Élargir le leadership. (21:51) Citation : « Il faut que tu emmènes ta game dans la game ». (24 :28) Un coach qui a beaucoup de joueurs qui prennent l'autonomie : reconnaître les forces et les faiblesses. (26:19) Le leadership partagé dans le sport. (31:08) Les catégorisations. (34:15) Collecte de données dans le projet avec Hockey Québec. (37:04) Qu'est ce qu'on devrait voir comme résultat en essayant les choses mentionnés dans les données? (40:40) Comment éduquer les jeunes sur le leadership. (44:15) Comment faire le parallèle entre la gestion. (46:21) L'alignement organisationnel. (48:51) Mobilisation et performance. (54:04) La gestion des entraîneurs professionnels. (56:38) Question : Olivier, si tu pouvais retourner en arrière et donner un conseil à toi-même, quand tu avais 22 ans, ça serait quoi? (1:03:08) Question : Félix, quel livre est-ce que tu as lu, et que tu recommandes le plus en ce moment? (1:04:46) Question : Olivier, qu'est-ce qui va devenir un avantage compétitif dans le monde dans 10 ans? (1:05:51) Question : Félix, si tu pouvais mettre une citation sur un jumbotron dans un aréna ou un stade, ça serait laquelle et qu'est-ce que tu aimerais que les gens comprennent? (1:07:14) Mot de la fin de Félix Bélanger et Olivier Doucet. (1:09:39) PERSONNES ET ORGANISATIONS MENTIONNÉES Olivier Doucet Olivier Doucet | Professor | HEC Montréal Félix Bélanger (27) Félix Bélanger, M. Sc. | LinkedIn Chloé Fortin-Bergeron (30) Chloé Fortin-Bergeron, Ph. D., CRHA | LinkedIn Philadelphia Eagles Philadelphia Eagles Aaron Rodgers Aaron Rodgers Stats, News, Bio | ESPN Martin St. Louis Martin St. Louis - Wikipedia Deion Sanders Deion Sanders - Family, Stats & Facts - Biography Katrien Fransen ‪Katrien Fransen - ‪Google Scholar Hockey Québec | Hockey Québec Alexanne Picard Alexanne Picard - Elite Prospects Michael Lombardi Michael Lombardi (American football) - Wikipedia Kliff Kingsbury Kliff Kingsbury - Wikipedia Claude Julien Claude Julien (ice hockey) - Wikipedia Eric Brunelle Eric Brunelle | Professor | HEC Montréal «The No Asshole Rule» The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't: Sutton PhD, Robert I., Sutton PhD, Robert I.: 9781600245855: Amazon.com: Books

Avec l'arrivée de nouvelles générations et le manque de personnel, les entreprises font face à de nouveaux enjeux. Elles doivent alors revoir leur façon de faire et impliquer les employés dans l'identification de ces enjeux, mais aussi dans la recherche de solutions. Entrevue avec Catherine Émond, Adm.A., CRHA, ACC, consultante en gestion, coach professionnelle, formatrice et facilitatrice LEGO SERIOUS PLAY. Balado enregistré à distance. Pour plus d'informations, visitez adma.qc.ca

Shaun Crha's career kicked off with a steady rise into the high-stakes world of banking. When the stress of the job nearly pushed him to a breaking point in his health, however, he decided to instead pursue a calling that aligned more closely with his values, and soon combined his business acumen with a long-overlooked creative spark to start his own design business. Just when the firm hit its peak, however, a family emergency brought everything crashing down around Crha once again. It was then that the designer reached another realization: It was time to rethink everything, starting with the inner workings of his business. LINKSSean CrhaKaitlin PetersenBusiness of Home

Étienne Mérineau, co-founder and CMO of Heyday, a HootSuite acquisition.  Etienne tells us about the rise of AI in delivering personalized customer experience thru conversational chatbots, and how does a company becomes the provider of choice of the Lacoste, Decathlon, Cirque du Soleil and Danone of the world, just to name a few. We also have Mia Barouki, CRHA and consultant at FL join us to talk about recruiting new employees, creating an engaging work culture, and helping managers adapt to new trends and policies.

Épisode spécial :) Pour nous voir en live : https://youtu.be/Fr17fy-Ou0M Pour vous avonner à l'infolettre : https://www.latalenterie.com/inscription-infolettre   Voici le communiqué de presse que nous avons envoyé!   COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE Pour diffusion immédiate Montréal, le 22 août 2022 Jimmy Côté, CAAS, CRHA, se joint à La Talenterie Jimmy Côté, expert en avantages sociaux, santé et mieux-être, se joint à l'actionnariat de La Talenterie, une jeune boîte ayant le vent dans les voiles, qui accompagne les PME avec la définition de leur proposition de valeur aux talents.   « C'est l'aboutissement d'une relation professionnelle extraordinaire qui a germé à la vitesse grand V depuis les tous débuts de La Talenterie », explique Sarah Jodoin-Houle, fondatrice de La Talenterie. En plus de sa solide expertise, M. Côté apporte à l'équipe une grande connaissance du marché, un réseau bien établi et des idées novatrices. Enracinée dans une vision et des valeurs communes, cette union soutient activement la mission que se donne La Talenterie : guider les employeurs vers un monde du travail plus juste, plus soutenable et plus solidaire. M. Côté aura la charge du développement des partenariats stratégiques composant l'écosystème de La Talenterie (OBNL, autres entreprises, chercheurs, médias). Il explique qu'il sera également impliqué dans la production de contenus et d'études liés aux « transformations qui animent actuellement la nature des relations entre les entreprises et leurs talents ». Il demeure également associé au cabinet Groupe conseil Ringuet et Associés Inc., où il continuera à servir ses clients actuels et futurs en assurance collective.   À propos La Talenterie suit et vulgarise les grandes transformations et les tendances qui définissent le futur du travail. Elle amène les dirigeants et les professionnels en ressources humaines à en tirer le meilleur parti en les aidant à faire évoluer leurs pratiques en entreprise. Pour en apprendre davantage, visitez latalenterie.com

Today we welcome Shaun Crha of Wrensted Interiors and Rebecca Plumb of Studio Plumb to the podcast. What started out as an Instagram friendship quickly blossomed into a designer bestie situation and the launch of their own podcast “Hot Young Designers Club”. In this episode we chat about our mutual goals of producing a podcast […]

Today we welcome Shaun Crha of Wrensted Interiors and Rebecca Plumb of Studio Plumb to the podcast. What started out as an Instagram friendship quickly blossomed into a designer bestie situation and the launch of their own podcast “Hot Young Designers Club”. In this episode we chat about our mutual goals of producing a podcast […]

Today we have a 404, as in the 404th edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Hopefully this online-only information content is what you’re expecting, whether it’s your first time reading or listening or if you’re a regular by now. I’m your host Sean Tubbs, always scouring the internet to bring you more on what’s happening. Thanks for reading or listening!There are nearly 1,450 email subscribers to this newsletter, and I’ve for you to be the next one. It’s free, but Ting will match your initial payment to help the newsletters flow On today’s show:In six days, you’ll have a choice of when to take a daily train to Roanoke or the District of Columbia The University of Virginia to establish a “sustainable lab” at Morven Farm Governor Youngkin appoints four to the UVA Board of VisitorsThe Board of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority gets an update on finances And the New Hill Development Corporation gets a state grant to help launch a commercial kitchen to incubate new businesses First shout–out: JMRL to kick off the Summer Reading ChallengeIn today’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement, the Summer Reading Challenge put forth by Jefferson Madison Regional Library continues! You and members of your family can earn points for prizes in a variety of ways, such as reading for 30 minutes a day, reading with a friend, creating something yourself, or visiting the library! You can also get two points just by telling someone about the Summer Reading Challenge, so I guess I just added two more! Visit JMRL.org to learn more about this all ages opportunity to dive into oceans of possibilities! Second daily train between Roanoke and DC to start July 11A deal between the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and Norfolk Southern closed on June 30, which means additional passenger rail service will begin next Monday. According to a release, the state entity will now own 28 miles of track between Christiansburg and Salem that will allow for the expansion of passenger rail to the New River Valley in a few years.“We have reached an agreement that expands access for passengers and preserves an important link in the supply chain for businesses that rely on freight rail to ship base materials and finished products,” said Norfolk Southern Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Mike McClellan. “The partnership of our government leaders was critical to making this plan a reality and we appreciate their commitment to the people and economy of Virginia’s Blue Ridge.”The first daily service on the Northeast Regional began in 2009 and ridership was triple what had been forecast. This train was extended to Roanoke in 2017 and this year has seen a return to pre-pandemic boarding levels.The second train will begin on July 11, according to the release. It will stop in Alexandria, Manassas, Culpeper, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, and Roanoke.“Amtrak will now offer morning and afternoon options in both directions between Roanoke, Washington, D.C., and to the Northeast,” said Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods. To learn more and to book tickets, check out Amtrak’s press release. A study is underway to determine if Bedford would be a viable stop. UVA estate at Morven to become Sustainability LabA nearly 3,000 acre farm gifted to the University of Virginia in 2001 will now officially be used by the institution as a “Sustainability Lab.” UVA Today reported last week that the Morven Farm property now owned by the University of Virginia Foundation will be used as a place to study environmental resilience and sustainability. Morven is currently used for meeting space and is the home of the Morven Kitchen Garden, which has been run by a student group for several years. According to the article, that use will continue and space can still be rented out by educational groups and for nonprofit events. At a bureaucratic level, authority over Morven will remain within the Provost’s office, but will now be transitioned to the Academic Outreach division from Global Affairs. Acting director of programs Rebecca Deeds will become the full time director. “Morven’s remarkable cultural landscape will contribute to a rich program that will address social, economic and environmental sustainability challenges facing society,” Deeds is quoted in the story. “We are excited to activate it as a living laboratory while we pursue new practices and programs that support and elevate UVA sustainability goals, and engage students, faculty and community members.” Morven is located on the other side of Carter’s Mountain in between Trump Winery and Highland. .Four new members appointed to UVA’s Board of VisitorsGovernor Glenn Youngkin has made his first appointments to the University of Virginia with terms that took effect this past Friday. They are:Bert Ellis of Hilton Head South Carolina is CEO and Chairman of Ellis Capital, Chairman and CEO of Ellis Communication, and president of Titan Broadcast ManagementStephen Long of Richmond is president of Commonwealth Spine and Pain SpecialistsAmanda Pillion is an audiologist with Abingdon Hearing Care and Abingdon ENT Associates, and a member of the Town Council in Abingdon, VirginiaDoug Wetmore of Glen Allen is senior vice president of Centauri Health SolutionsThe Board of Visitors next meets at a retreat on August 21 and August 22, followed by a regular meeting on September 15 and September 16. Both events are in Charlottesville. Previous meetings can be viewed on YouTube. I’m hoping to dig back into the June meeting for a future segment here on Charlottesville Community Engagement. Intrigued? Drop me a line via email and I’ll give you a preview. Today’s second shout-out: Frances Brand and Cvillepedia 101In today’s house-fueled public service announcement, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society wants you to know about an upcoming exhibit at the Center at Belvedere featuring portraits of several historical figures active in the Charlottesville area in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Frances Brand was a folk artist who painted nearly 150 portraits of what she considered “firsts” including first Black Charlottesville Mayor Charles Barbour and Nancy O’Brien, the first woman to be Charlottesville Mayor. Brand’s work will be on display from July 5 to August 31 in the first public exhibit since 2004. And, if you’d like to help conduct community research into who some of the portraits are, cvillepedia is looking for volunteers! I will be leading four Cvillepedia 101 training sessions at the Center every Monday beginning July 11 at 2 p.m. Sign up at the Center’s website.Charlottesville public housing board gets update on financesWe’re still just days into Virginia’s fiscal year, but the fiscal year of the city’s public housing agency is now entering its second quarter. The finance director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority “Overall against budget we are on target,” said Mary Lou Hoffman, CRHA’s finance director. At the end of the fiscal year, one issue was a backlog of unpaid rent by tenants. CRHA staff continue to find sources of revenue to cover arrears though state rent relief programs and reaching out to local resources. . “Around March, we were at $229,000 but we’re currently at $126,000,” said John Sales, CHRA’s executive director. “And so they’re constantly talking about the tenant accounts which is a big focus that we have to have. It was one of the areas that the [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] dinged us on years ago for our accounts being so high compared to the amount we are collecting.” Sales said one issue has been getting into contact with residents to get them set up with rent relief payment arrangements. HUD classifies CRHA as a “troubled” agency due to a pattern of issues over the years. Sales said getting the finances correct alone will not change that status. “The only issue that we have so far in our audits is the physical conditions and so we’re working to address those issues,” Sales said. “We had our physical audit in March and all of the emergency work orders were addressed.”Another issue is tenant damage, which can also affect the HUD status in the audits. Sales said a maintenance plan will address this category. Redevelopment is underway and two sites have been transferred to a new ownership structure in which the CRHA owns the ground and a Limited Liability Company has been set up to own the buildings for a certain period of time. An entity controlled by CRHA known as the Community Development Corporation Commission controls the LLCs. This allows the projects to be financed through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) as well as other sources.“Technically, they are still our responsibility,” Sales said “We own the land. We own the management agreement. We have several loans attached to each development that will eventually either get paid back or get forgiven when we get the property back, get ownership of the property back in 16 years.” HUD oversight of the public housing projects will continue, but it will be different because there are different kinds of subsidized units. “We’ll have public housing units so one office will be inspecting them, and then another office will get inspections from LIHTC and gert inspections from HUD,” Sales said. The LIHTC units would be inspected by Virginia Housing, which issues the credits in the Commonwealth. Late this month, Virginia Housing’s Board of Commissioners approved low income housing tax credits for this year. Staff recommendations had been not to recommend credits for the first phase of redevelopment for Phase 1 of Sixth Street SE and additional credits for a second phase at South First Street. There are three vacancies on the CRHA Board of Commissioners and Charlottesville is taking applications through August 5. The terms of Commissioners Maddy Green and Laura Goldblatt expired at the end of June, and Green is not seeking reappointment after filling an unexpired term. Council will make the final appointments. New Hill Development Corporation gets $189K state grant for commercial kitchen incubatorA Charlottesville nonprofit created to increase wealth building opportunities for Black community members has been awarded a state grant to develop a place for culinary entrepreneurs to grow businesses. “The New Hill Development Corporation will stabilize and grow food and beverage manufacturing activity in the region by opening an 11,500-square-foot shared commercial kitchen incubator in order to provide food entrepreneurs with a cost-effective space to produce, package, store and distribute tradable manufactured products,” reads a press release for the latest Growing Opportunities grants from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The BEACON’s Kitchen project is the only recipient in this area. According to the release, the project will create 90 new jobs, 28 new businesses, and at least 30 new tradeable food products. New Hill is offering a Food Business Boot Camp on August 3 and August 4. (learn more)The New Hill Development Corporation was created in 2018 and received $500,000 from City Council late that year to create a small area plan for the Starr Hill neighborhood, the site of the razed Vinegar Hill neighborhood. The plan envisioned what a redeveloped City Yard might look like, but was converted into a “vision plan” by the city’s Neighborhood Development Services Department. Other GO Virginia grant recipients in June include:Accelerating Advanced Manufacturing Workforce - $530,000 for Laurel Ridge Community College “to build a strong workforce pipeline for Region 8 manufacturers by offering an advanced manufacturing sector-focused career pathway training program.”Technology Academies for Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties - $402,075 for school systems in those two localities to “develop college-level courses in robotics and drones to high school students and adult learners through a workforce development program.” Talent Supply Connector - $391,528 for Virginia Career Works Piedmont Region to create “a Career Pathway Guide for employers and developing a region-wide database of relevant training offerings” in an area that includes Greene, Louisa, and Nelson counties.Workforce and Entrepreneurship Initiatives in a Regional Makerspace - $324,000 for a company called Vector Space to “facilitate the implementation of expanded programming and equipment centered around workforce development and entrepreneurship for underserved populations” in Bedford and Campbell counties as well as the city of Lynchburg. Read the press release for more.Like the newsletter? Consider support! This is episode 404 of this program and it took me about six hours to produce. That’s because there are fewer segments in this one. I am hoping to get this on a regular schedule, but that’s going to take more personnel. For now, I hope to get each one out as soon as I can. All of this is supported by readers and listeners through either a paid subscription to this newsletter or through Patreon support for Town Crier Productions. Around a third of the audience has opted to contribute something financially. It’s similar to older times when you would subscribe to a newspaper. I subscribe to several, myself!If you are benefiting from this newsletter and the information in it, please consider some form of support. I am not a nonprofit organization and most of my time is spent in putting the newsletter together, which includes producing the podcast.For more information on all of this, please visit the archive site Information Charlottesville to learn more, including how you too can get a shout-out! Thank you for reading, and please share with those you think might want to learn a few thing or two about what’s happening. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Tu te sens perdu dans ton choix de carrière, tu aimerais peut-être changer de métier, mais tu te demandes; "mais qu'est-ce que je ferais d'autre?". Mon invité, Mathieu Guénette, conseiller d'orientation (CO) organisationnel, vient nous parler de son parcours qui a commencé dans le milieu carcéral où il aidait les ex-détenus à l'insertion professionnelle, il répondra à la question "Qu'est-ce qu'un conseiller en orientation organisationnel?", il nous parlera du "rôle" et comment il utilise le code Holland (RIASEC) afin de déterminer le rôle de ses clients, il nous parlera aussi de sa passion pour le podcast qu'il anime (Les Ambitieux) le tout parsemé d'anecdote et de réflexions variées. Bonne écoute! Pour écouter en format vidéo (YouTube) -- https://youtu.be/FEijuQHcVWg Les références de l'épisode -- Podcast Les Ambitieux (disponible sur toutes les plateformes de balado) ► https://leschercheursdesens.com/les-ambitieux/ Site web de Mathieu (Les chercheurs de sens) ► https://leschercheursdesens.com/ Livre Déjouer les attitudes kamikazes en recherche d'emploi ► https://www.septembre.com/products/dejouer-les-attitudes-kamikazes-en-recherche-demploi Livre Le Candidat viscéral : un guide pratique en sélection pour un regard approfondi sur le candidat ► https://www.renaud-bray.com/Livres_Produit.aspx?id=2226946 Les épisodes de balado (Les ambitieux) que Mathieu nous suggère -- Épisode 40 (Changer les mentalités) ► https://leschercheursdesens.com/episode-40-changer-les-mentalites/ Épisode 62 (Sois entier) ► https://leschercheursdesens.com/episode-62-sois-entier/ Épisode 77 (avec Dave Cameron) ► https://leschercheursdesens.com/episode-77-quel-reseauteur-es-tu/ À propos de Mathieu Guénette, conseiller d'orientation organisationnel -- Depuis 1995, sa carrière tourne autour de la carrière des autres. Ses préoccupations: Aider ses clients à définir leur prochain objectif de carrière et la meilleure stratégie pour y parvenir Fournir à ses clients tous les outils nécessaires pour développer leur compétences Mathieu est aussi auteur, en 2000, il a publié les livres comment déjouer les attitudes kamikazes en recherche d'emploi qu'il a écrit en autre grâce à son expérience en insertion professionnelle d'ex-détenus, en 2017 il a copublié avec Catherine Bédard CRHA le livre “Le candidat viscéral” ce livre a gagné 2 prix “Livre RH de l'année” et le prix de l'ordre des conseillers d'orientation du Québec. Comme si ce n'était pas assez, Mathieu anime aussi le podcast "Les Ambitieux" où il nous résume et commente des livres de développement personnel, son défi actuel, devenir un grand-père exceptionnel pour ses 2 petits enfants. Pour les notes complètes de l'épisode ► https://santro.show/843

It’s the final Friday of June, unless something can be done to add another day to the month. I am unaware of any campaign to do so, but perhaps there need to be changes. So, welcome to this 24th day of the fifth interval of what we’ve come to call the two thousand and twenty-second year. This is Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast about the built environment that celebrates 400 editions with this installment that arrives 711 days later. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign up for a free subscription, but if you opt to pay, Ting will match your initial payment! On today’s edition of the program:Charlottesville’s budget surplus is increasing with revenues higher than originally budgetedCharlottesville City Council will make appointments to the Planning Commission in July You can count on one hand the number of Albemarle residents who voted in the Republican Primary for the 7th Congressional District Changes to Charlottesville Area Transit routes could soon occur as soon as more drivers can be hired First shout-out: The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign Since the very beginning of this newsletter, one long-time Patreon supporter has used his shout-out to draw your attention to the work of the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign but today let’s talk about National Pollinator Week, which runs through June 26! There will be many events designed to draw your attention to the crucial role that bees and other creatures play in making sure plants reproduce. On Saturday at 10 a.m., Scottsville’s Center for the Arts and Natural Environment will host Allison Wickham from Siller Pollinator Company will lead an introduction to bees and beekeeping. If you're thinking about starting a backyard beehive or are just curious about what's involved with keeping bees, then this is a great introductory class for you. There will even be a honey competition judged by Allison Wickham! For the tuition rate and to register, visit svilleartsandnature.org for a list of all of the upcoming classes. Charlottesville’s FY22 surplus likely to increaseThere’s less than a week until the fiscal new year for Virginia and its local governments. On Tuesday, Charlottesville City Council got an update from interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers on what can be expected in terms of “one-time money” in the form of a financial report. (read the report)“And we see that there’s a projected $14 million surplus for revenue,” Rogers said. That’s higher than the $13 million projected in April. However, Rogers said that number could change as the city’s expenditures have also been down due to various reasons including COVID. “We have a lot of vacancies in our budget, the market has had an impact on our ability to hire as rapidly as we need to,” Rogers said. “While 92 percent of the budget year has passed, we’ve only spent about 85 percent of our budget expenditures. That’s going to release in a surplus.”However, Rogers said the actual surplus will not be known until later in the year after the city’s books are closed and reconciled. One of the reasons why there will be a surplus is due to tax rates increases and assessment rises for personal property and real estate. Earlier this year, Council voted to increase the real estate tax rate to $0.96 per $100 of assessed value. That penny increase applied to the entire calendar year of 2022. Council also opted to keep the personal property rate at $4.20 per $100 of assessed value, also contributing to the surplus. That was over the recommendation of Commissioner of Revenue Todd Divers who suggested reducing it due to a sharp increase in the value of used vehicles. The city also will not bring in as much revenue from Parks and Recreation as originally believed. “During the budget process we budgeted for the idea that we thought we would be fully operational but as you know we’re not and so therefore we are not going to make those marks,” said Krisy Hammill, the city’s senior budget performance analyst. The city has also closed on its latest sale of municipal bonds which are used to finance capital projects. The cost of doing so will increase as interest rates go up. “We closed with about $28 million at a rate at about 3.07 percent, which is about double of what we got last year but it is indicative of the market and still a very good rate,” Hammill said. Council makes appointments, but not yet to Planning CommissionOn Tuesday, City Council appointed Laura Knott and Sally Duncan to the city’s Historic Resources Committee and Dashad Cooper to the Police Civilian Oversight Board. Other appointments included members of the Sister Cities Commission, the Region 10 Board, and the Retirement Commission. However, they did not fill all the open positions.“Appointments to the Planning Commission have been postponed until the July 18 Council meeting,” said Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook. “There were a few people we needed to interview and didn’t have time to do it today and at least one person was not available.”Council will not meet the first week of July. The window to apply for the Planning Commission has closed. There were at least 28 applications for the five seats, including those of sitting Commissioners Karim Habbab, Hosea Mitchell, and Rory Stolzenberg. There will be at least two newcomers because Commissioners Taneia Dowell and Jody Lahendro are not eligible for another term.  There are three at-large vacancies on the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Applications for those positions are due on August 5, 2022. That entity’s next public meeting is June 27, 2022 and there’s no information yet available on their website. In fact, there’s not been a meeting listed on the CRHA website since January 2021. (apply here)City still seeking to fill key vacancies crucial to approval of new buildings Earlier this month, interim Charlottesville City Manager Michael C. Rogers told Council of a shortage of building inspectors. On Tuesday, he said positions are being readvertised and other solutions are being explored. “I have executed an agreement with the University of Virginia’s building official to provide staff capacity to assist us in the permitting and inspections process and they began last week,” Rogers said.Rogers said the agreement will carry into the fall. Albemarle Republicans choose Anderson in 7th Congressional District Voters in Albemarle’s “Small Sliver” within Virginia’s new 7th Congressional District went to the polls Tuesday in the Republican primary. Eight people in all voted in the six way race and half selected Derrick Anderson, the candidate who came in second-place overall. There were two votes for State Senator Bryce Reeves who came in third and two votes for the winner. Yesli Vega received 10,878 votes and will face incumbent Democrat Abigail Spanberger in November. Albemarle County is otherwise entirely within the new Fifth District. I’ve begun reporting on the Fifth District with a new newsletter if you want to join my journey in learning more about the localities within. In today’s two other shout-outs: Code for Charlottesville and local media!You’re listening to Charlottesville. Community Engagement and it’s time for two quick shout-outs. Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. The final comes from another Patreon supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, the Crozet Gazette, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Next steps for Charlottesville Area Transit route changes outlined at partnership meeting Before the pandemic, Charlottesville Area Transit hired the firm Nelson Nygaard to take a look at its routes to suggest changes to optimize service. The study was done but nothing has been implemented so far. The Jefferson Area Regional Transit Partnership got an update at their meeting yesterday.“CAT planned on implementing that system optimization plan last year but they’ve been dealing with driver shortages like every other transit agency in the country so that’s been postponed,” said Jim Baker of Nelson Nygaard. CAT director Garland Williams directed Nelson Nygaard to revisit the route changes to identify how it might be phased into service over time rather than be done all at once. This would include restoring service to pre-COVID levels, expanding service areas in both Charlottesville and Albemarle, and expanding Saturday and Sunday service. Since the pandemic, CAT has run no service on Sundays. “We felt like that’s a pressing need to get some level of Sunday service back on the streets,” Baker said. “So we’re proposing to get the trolley back online, the Route 12 which ran pre-pandemic up the U.S. 29 corridor, and to get service down into Avon Street past the CAT garage for Sunday service. Baker said three routes would see changes as part of the first phase.The Center at Belvedere would finally be served by the northbound journey of Route 11. To make up for the time, there will no longer be service on a loop that runs through the Locust Grove neighborhood.  Route 2 would be split into two services with 2A serving Fifth Street Station and the Willoughby Shopping Center and 2B serving Mill Creek in Albemarle County for the first time on its way to Piedmont Virginia Community College. This would also serve Monticello High School. 2A would run for some of Sunday A second bus would be added to the current Route 6 to improve frequency to 30 minutesThe second phase would make changes to services along the U.S. 29 corridor.Route 7 would be expanded to the Wal-Mart and would travel bi-directionally along Hillsdale Drive and through Seminole Square Shopping Center. Baker said the goal here is to link downtown Charlottesville with Wal-Mart, which is a major shopping destination. Route 5 would no longer travel to the Wal-Mart but would instead have a northern terminus at Fashion Square Mall. Its new southern terminus would be the UVA Hospital. The Sunday-only Route 12 would be eliminated in favor of Route 7 going seven days a week The third phase will implement the rest of the changes. Here are some of them:Saturday service would be introduced to Route 1 Route 3 would be broken into two routes with one traveling solely between downtown and Willoughby Shopping Center A new route, tentatively known as Route 3E, would travel around Belmont and downtownRoute 6 would no longer serve the University of Virginia Hospital via Prospect Avenue. It would also be routed along South First Street as it travels between downtown and the Willoughby Shopping Center. This would add additional service to Crescent Hall.Route 8 serves Stonefield and would be altered to travel south to the University of Virginia Hospital and down to Willoughby Shopping Center via Prospect Avenue. This service would no longer travel downtown. Route 9 would also no longer serve the UVA Hospital and would instead travel to Fashion Square Mall Route 10 would be altered to no longer travel on Stony Point Road and instead would travel bidirectionally through the Pantops Shopping Center on its way between Downtown Charlottesville and Sentara Martha JeffersonWhen will the phases be implemented? According to the presentation, that’s all going to depend on drivers. Six more drivers are needed for phase one, a total of 12 are needed for phase two, and a total of 27 are needed for phase 3. There’s an additional “phase three plus” that’s perhaps not worth detailing because it would need a total of 46 additional drivers. That’s a much higher number than six. “Assuming we can get the pay scale to be comparable to Jaunt and [University Transit System], and we can get six more drivers, that should not be [beyond the reach] and then we can begin phase 1,” Williams said. “The jump, though, is getting authorization from the city and the county to fund us to make the additional resources.” The Regional Transit Partnership meeting was held a couple of hours before a public meeting on the Regional Transit Vision Plan. which is $350,000 in the making. The following illustrates confusion that can come from having planning processes not tied to actual logistics. City Councilor Brian Pinkston asked what the proposed CAT changes had to do with that study.“Is this sort of like a first step towards that larger vision?”Williams said these changes have nothing to do with the Regional Transit Vision Plan. “They didn’t even copy these routes,” Williams said. “They took a whole new approach and said the slate was clean.” I’ll have more from the Regional Transit Partnership and more on the Regional Transit Vision plan in future installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Support the program!There’s a lot of information in this installment of this program, which is the 397th edition of the program. About a quarter of you are paying something to help keep Town Crier Productions in business. I have never been a very good salesperson, and won’t overly pitch.But, if you are benefiting from this newsletter and the information in it, please consider some form of support. I am not a nonprofit organization and most of my time is spent in putting the newsletter together, which includes producing the podcast.Supporting the program through a Substack contribution or through Patreon makes it very easy for me to get paid and every single dollar that I get makes me want to work that much harder to serve the community. In just under two years, I’ve produced hundreds of stories that seek to give you information about how decisions are made in our community and in the Commonwealth of Virginia.For more information on all of this, please visit the archive site Information Charlottesville to learn more, including how you too can get a shout-out! Thank you for reading, and please share with those you think might want to learn a few thing or two about what’s happening. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Today the year turns 161 days old, but don’t get too used to that number, for it will be replaced quite soon with another, and another, and so on. But 2022 is still not yet at the halfway point, and you’ve got three weeks left until that not-quite-august occasion on July 1. The occasion right now is this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, and this person writing is Sean Tubbs.  There’s lot of information in every installment of this newsletter and podcast. Send it on to more people to help grow the audience!On today’s program:The University of Virginia is asking developers to send in qualifications to build two mixed-use communities as part of an affordable housing initiativeTwo redevelopment projects being undertaken by the city’s public housing agency may not get financing through low-income housing tax credits this yearCharlottesville City Council officially kills the West Main Streetscape Louisa County Supervisors discuss a referendum for a sports complex and whether it should include turf fields on existing athletic fieldsAnd Charlottesville will only one outdoor pool at a time for the time being First shout–out: JMRL to kick off the Summer Reading ChallengeIn today’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement, the Jefferson Madison Regional Library wants you to read as much as you can this summer, and for encouragement and incentives, they’re holding another Summer Reading Challenge. There’s an Ocean of Possibilities this year and the Central Library will kick off the challenge this Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Central Library. It will be a party with music, food, and fun! The Friends of the Library will pop up a mini-book sale and a Books on Bikes parade! You can learn more about the Summer Challenge and how you or your family members can win awards and receive prizes. Visit jmrl.org to learn more about the kickoff event, this Saturday! University of Virginia issues first request for qualifications for affordable housing developerThe University of Virginia is moving forward with an initiative to use property owned by its real estate foundation to create units that will be reserved for people whose incomes are below the area median income. The UVA Foundation issued a request this morning for qualifications from firms to develop two separate projects, including a two-acre site on Wertland Street. The other is a 12-acre site on Mimosa Drive known currently as Piedmont. “UVA/UVAF intends to enter into a ground lease with one or more development team(s) best suited to satisfy UVA/UVAF’s requirements and desired features,” reads the request for proposals. UVA announced a goal of building between 1,000 and 1,500 affordable housing units in March 2020, but momentum was stalled by the pandemic. These two sites as well as the North Fork Research Park were identified in December after initial work for the project was conducted by the firm Northern Urban Real Estate Ventures. A similar request for qualifications for a firm for North Fork will be made at a later date. Under the arrangement, the UVA Foundation would continue to own both sites and the developer would own the structures and other improvements. “UVA/UVAF seeks to maximize the amount of affordable and workforce housing at each site and as such, will provide the land as a part of the Project,” the request continues. “UVA/UVAF will not otherwise contribute funding to the Project.” The developer will be responsible for preparing the plans and getting all of the necessary approvals, including archaeological studies. They’ll also have to have experience getting financing through Virginia Housing. Other development requirements include:Deliver a moderate to high-density mixed income housing communityOffer a maximum number of affordable housing units, with an emphasis on creating mixed-income communities that include, but are not limited to, units in the 30 percent to 60 percent area median income rangeCoordinate with UVA/UVAF and local jurisdictions on the utilities and infrastructure that will serve the development, and coordinate on the design aesthetic that interacts with the surrounding community.Demolish the existing improvements as needed to accommodate the Project, with the exception of historic structures (applicable only at Piedmont).City officially cancels West Main Streetscape projectCharlottesville City Council has voted to officially cancel the $55 million West Main Streetscape project as well as other projects in an effort to get the city’s transportation house in order. The Virginia Department of Transportation will now administer a project to extend a turn lane at Route 250 and Hydraulic Road. A project to coordinate traffic signals on Emmet Street has also been canceled, as has a Smart Scale funded project at the intersection of Preston and Grady. The details were discussed at a work session with the Planning Commission on May 24. (read my story)“While this is called cancellation of those projects, that’s in regards to the funding with VDOT, so as discussed, especially some of the safety projects, these are not going away forever, they’re just going away as Smart Scale projects,” said City Engineer Jack Dawson. The West Main Streetscape began with a $350,000 study authorized by Council in February 2013 which also led to a rezoning for the street. Over the years, Council authorized more and more funding as a local match for VDOT funds to build the project which was to be split into four phases.  The project lost support as a plan to renovate and expand Buford Middle School became a priority for the current City Council. Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook said the project has been on life support for at least a year. “In a sense, this is almost a formality for us to recognize that which has already been made clear to us and decisions we have made ourselves over the last few years,” Snook said. “This is just finally pulling the plug on it.” The Commonwealth Transportation Board next meets on June 21 and may take up the official resolution to defund the project. Virginia Housing does not recommend funding for two CRHA projectsThe Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority has appeared to have fallen short in its attempt to get financing for two planned redevelopment projects in a current funding cycle. Virginia Housing, the entity that authorizes low-income housing tax credits in Virginia, has issued its final rankings for this year pending approval by their Board of Commissioners later this month.  Credits for 47 units in the Sixth Street Phase One project have not been recommended to be funded through what’s known as the Housing Authority pool. An application for additional credits for 113 units for the second phase of the redevelopment of South First Street also did not rank high enough to move forward. Virginia Housing granted credits for the second phase in 2020 and this second application was to fill in a funding gap caused by higher construction costs. South First Street Phase One is currently under construction and is expected to be occupied earlier this year. That 62-unit project did receive low-income housing tax credits in 2021. The only application recommended for funding from the Housing Authority pool this year is for new construction of 68 units in Norfolk by a company called Brinshore. In that project, 47 of the units would be supported through the credits. CRHA executive director John Sales said is hopeful the Virginia Housing Board of Commissioners will reconsider the rankings at their next meeting in Richmond coming up later this month on June 21 and June 22.“The Board in the past has fully funded Public Housing redevelopment efforts,” Sales said. “We are hoping the Board does the same thing this year when making final allocations.”Sales said if Sixth Street’s request is not funded, CRHA will pursue another financing opportunity later this year or reapply in 2023. He said the South Street Phase Two project will move forward if another source can be found to fill in the funding gap.   You can download the full list of rankings from the Virginia Housing website.Lifeguard shortage causes Charlottesville to limit outdoor pool hoursWith summer just getting under way, the Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Department has made the decision to restrict hours at both Onesty Pool and Washington Pool so that only one of them will be open each day. “The Department is actively recruiting lifeguards and if the staffing levels increase and are able to operate both pools concurrently, we will update the operating hours,” reads a press release that was sent out this morning. For now, Onesty will be open Thursday through Saturday between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Washington Park Pool will be open those hours from Sunday to Wednesday. The indoor Smith Aquatic Center is now open every day after being closed for a couple of years. Outdoor spray grounds are also open. Visit the city’s website for more information. Second shout-out: The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign It’s getting close to the end of springtime, and one Patreon subscriber wants you to know the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign is a grassroots initiative of motivated citizens, volunteers, partner organizations, and local governments who want to promote the use of native plants. Did you know that National Pollinator Week is June 20th-26th this year? There are many ways to celebrate and learn more about our native pollinators, and here's a great one to start with:Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is hosting an in-person/virtual Pollinator Power Symposium on June 23rd, and there is an excellent line up of speakers scheduled for the day! There are plenty of resources on the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page, so sign up to be notified of lectures, plant sales, and more! Louisa County may seek a referendum for a sports complexDiscussion of a sports complex with new athletic fields in Albemarle County stalled at the end of the budget cycle, but Louisa County is considering a referendum on the issuance of $16.5 million in bonds for that purpose. The Louisa County Board of Supervisors discusses a draft petition for the referendum at their meeting this past Monday. For a referendum to get on the ballot, a Circuit Court judge has to sign an order by August 18. “This is for a bond issue of up to $16.5 million and it lists four baseball fields, four rectangular fields for sports, concessions, lighting, parking and related facilities, a field house at the high school football field and renovation of existing sports facilities,” said Louisa County Attorney Helen Phillips. Phillips said the language in the ballot question has to be in plain English and not in legalese.Supervisors discussed the proper wording, and whether the suggested wording was too broad. There is a possibility of two different ballot questions. One would be for the complex, and one would be for the field house and other renovations. “In the discussions we’ve had about going to referendum, I don’t recall anything other than just going to referendum to see if people would get behind building a sports complex,” said Mountain Road District Supervisor Tommy Barlow. Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes said he sees the need for a complex that would expand the county’s offerings, but that the existing school fields also need to be addressed. “What we don’t have in this county is synthetic surfaces for girls’ softball where they could play in the rain,” Barnes said. “These fields would allow, number one, not having to water them, not having to fertilize them, not having to cut them. They would be maintenance free fields.” Barnes said this could help the county increase revenue from lodging taxes. Supervisor Toni Williams of the Jackson District said the ballot question as suggested appeared to assume that the county has already decided to proceed with the project. “It appears that the cake is baked in this that the decision has been made to build them,” Williams said. “Maybe the real special election should ask, first of all, do you want these facilities in the county, and if you want them, do you authorize the Board to pay for them by bond?” Supervisors gave direction to divide the referendum into separate questions. Final language will be discussed and approved at future meetings. The location for a future sports complex has also not yet been selected. For more information on this and anything else happening in Louisa County, visit Engage Louisa by Tammy Purcell. Town Crier Productions has a sponsorship thing with Ting!For over a year one year now, Town Crier Productions has had a promotional offering through Ting!Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Comment atteindre le bonheur en changeant ses habitudes « Notre cerveau ne cherche pas à atteindre nos objectifs, il cherche plutôt à donner raison à nos croyances limitantes. » Bienvenue dans cet épisode où je discute avec Annabelle Boyer de changements d'habitudes pour atteindre le bonheur et comment programmer notre cerveau pour que cela fonctionne sur le long terme. Annabelle est conférencière et auteure. Elle a déjà écrit dix livres. Elle a eu un parcours éclectique, qui l'a mené à se former sur plusieurs sujets auprès de gens reconnus, entre autres David Lefrançois, Joe Dispenza, François Lemay et Martin Latulippe. Après avoir travaillé plusieurs années en tant que conseillère en développement organisationnel, elle a choisi de faire autre chose. Elle accompagne désormais ses clients à intégrer des outils des neurosciences pour agir sur le comportement. Savais-tu que ce n'est pas naturel pour l'être humain d'être heureux? La priorité de notre cerveau, est la survie. Nous utilisons beaucoup notre cerveau reptilien, qui est le plus vieux au monde, soit 400 millions d'années. Donc c'est le mieux rodé et en dedans 3 jours, il reprend le contrôle sur nos habitudes. En exemple, Annabelle nous a parlé de nos habitudes de perte de poids avant l'été et le pourquoi ça ne fonctionne pas. C'est super intéressant. Elle nous a aussi parlé à quel point les hormones du stress, tel que le cortisol et l'adrénaline, peuvent être comparé à de l'héroïne. Le pourquoi que, même en étant sorti d'une situation ou relation toxique, tu répèteras les mêmes choses. Comme elle nous a si bien dit, pour changer une croyance limitante, il est important d'avoir une habitude qui est répétitive et associée à une émotion. Si tu as déjà suivi une formation avec moi, tu as sans doute expérimenté la réception de mes courriels quotidiens t'invitant à faire 3 choses super importantes chaque jour afin de créer une nouvelle habitude tel que méditer, bouger son corps et écrire tes gratitudes. Pour atteindre le bonheur, il suffit de s'entraîner. Entraîne-toi par la gratitude. Plus tu apprécieras ce que tu as, plus tu te développeras en fonction de qui tu es vraiment et en fonction de tes croyances limitantes et plus tu pourras t'épanouir, te réaliser, devenir toi-même, être sur son X. Prête à prendre la responsabilité de tes besoins, prendre soin de toi et t'honorer? Je t'invite à venir découvrir gratuitement, pendant 6 jours, les codes sacrés de la richesse et ce qu'ils peuvent t'apporter dans ta vie. C'est un rendez-vous du 2 au 7 mai 2022, à midi (18h France). Inscription au www.lynestamand.com Voici le lien pour rejoindre Annabelle Boyer https://www.facebook.com/Annabelle.Boyer.auteur http://www.annabelle-boyer.com La biographie de Annabelle Boyer Biographie – Annabelle Boyer Conseillère en ressources humaines agréé (membre de l'Ordre des CRHA), mastercoach certifiée en neurosciences motivationnelles, Annabelle Boyer détient un baccalauréat (équivalent d'une licence en France) en génagogie (consolidation d'équipe) de même qu'une maîtrise en Administration, concentration intervention et changement organisationnel. Elle est aussi titulaire d'un diplôme de lecture et d'analyse du comportement non verbal. Elle a réalisé des diagnostics organisationnels, des analyses de climat, des planifications stratégiques, des évaluations de rendement, des entrevues d'embauche, en plus d'accompagner ses clients dans l'apaisement des relations de travail et des conflits, la consolidation des équipes, l'élaboration de plans de formation et de plans de développement. Auteure d'une dizaine de livres dont «Relations sous emprise», «Je lis en vous, savez-vous lire en moi», «Détecteur de mensonges» et «Libérez-vous de votre passé et accédez à votre puissance», elle traite des comportements d'auto-sabotage, des relations toxiques, du langage corporel de l'authenticité et de l'affirmation de soi avec bienveillance. Elle coache des gestionnaires et des professionnels dans leur développem...

What’s shaking? Sounds like an appropriate greeting for Richter Scale Day. Have yourself tied in knots? An appropriate pose for National Pretzel Day. I know I am able to tell you this is the 369th edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a clear sign of how I honor Get Organized Day. I’m Sean Tubbs, the host of this regular newsletter and podcast about things both trivial and of massive importance. Help spread the word by sharing this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement!In today’s edition: The Virginia Solar Initiative has the first ever survey of how localities in the Commonwealth regulate solar installations large and small The Village of Rivanna Community Advisory Committee in Albemarle will not be reappointed anytime soonCharlottesville City Council ratifies the issuance of $23 million in revenue bonds for Midway ManorAnd the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors get an update on Southwood in advance of a public hearing tonight for a rezoning for the second phase Shout-out to Camp AlbemarleToday’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting campalbemarleva.org/donate. Survey released on solar rules across Virginia localitiesIn six years, the amount of electricity generated by solar panels in increased by 12,150 percent. That’s according to data cited in the first ever survey of Virginia localities on their policies related to permitting large utility-scale installations as well as rooftop panels. The survey was conducted by the Virginia Department of Energy and the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia and asked a series of questions to officials in Virginia’s 133 localities. “In Virginia, the permitting and siting of solar energy and energy storage facilities is heavily informed by local governments,” reads the report. “Therefore, to realize the full potential of solar energy development in Virginia, it is important to understand and support the solar experience, concerns and priorities of local governments.”One hundred and nine localities responded to the survey, which was conducted a year after the General Assembly passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act which among other things mandates that Virginia’s largest two investor-owned utilities be 100 percent carbon free by 2050. “The VCEA also deems 16,100 megawatts (MW) of solar and onshore wind to be in the public interest, greatly reducing the barriers for project approval with the State Corporation Commission,” the report continues.The survey is intended to help inform policy across Virginia, given that localities set the detailed rules for siting and zoning of solar facilities. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, electricity generated through solar in Virginia increased from 30 megawatts in 2015 to 3,675 megawatts in 2021.Smaller installations on homes and businesses are called “distributed” solar projects. That number has risen from 948 net-metering installations in 2011 to 26,237 in 2021. No plans to reappoint VORCAC There are eight vacancies on the Village of Rivanna Community Advisory Committee and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors has no intention of filling them any time soon. That’s according to Emily Kilroy, the county’s director of communications and public engagement. “The Board will not seek to make reappointments at this time, as Committee support right now is in a transition,” Kilroy wrote in an email to Charlottesville Community Engagement on Monday. The previous appointees resigned en masse in April after their April 11 meeting was canceled by the county for a lack of pressing issues. Committee members disagreed and announced their resignation in an April 19 Substack post. Albemarle County is currently reviewing the Comprehensive Plan, of which the Village of Rivanna Master Plan is a component. As part of that work, staff resources in the Community Development Department are not as available. “Recently, the Community Development Department’s long range planning staff have traditionally managed all CAC meetings and scheduling,” wrote Charles Rapp, the deputy director of community development, in a March 1 email. “To transition the primary focus to the comprehensive plan, staff is proposing a structured schedule for the CACs for the remainder of the 2022 calendar year.”That did not meet the favor of the former members of the Village of Rivanna Community Advisory Committee. Today, the Free Enterprise Forum is calling for the county to disband all of the Community Advisory Committees.To learn more about the Comprehensive Plan project underway, visit the AC44 pages on the Albemarle County website. This is not to be confused with the Air Canada flight between Vancouver and Dublin. What do you think? Leave a comment!City Council signs off on bonds for Midway ManorAt their meeting on April 18, City Council agreed with the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s decision to issue $23 million in bonds for a third-party to refurbish the Midway Manor housing complex in downtown Charlottesville.“It is assistance with the financing for the substantial rehabilitation of Midway Manor Apartments by Standard Communities,” said Michael Graff, a bond counsel with McGuire Woods. The funding will flow through the CRHA as a conduit for tax-exempt bonds, which requires the city to also issue its approval. “At a high level we will be ensuring that this property continues to provide affordable housing for at least the next 30 years through partnership with Virginia Housing and an allocation of Low Income Housing Tax Credits as well as renewing the subsidy contract that provides the current residents with a rental subsidy that is set to expire in two years,” said Steven Kahn of Standard Communities.Kahn said Standard is working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to extend that contract for 20 years. He said that’s the maximum length HUD will allow. He also said there will be a substantial renovation of the units. “Sixty-plus thousand dollars per unit,” Kahn said. “Very little will be untouched. The things you typically think of for renovations is kitchens, bathroom, flooring, and electrical systems, absolutely. But also some of the behind the scene elements that can also plague older buildings if they are not invested in. Façade, windows, roofing.”Paragraph below updated on April 27, 2022Kahn said work on the elevator systems is currently underway.  More details was provided in a statement sent to Charlottesville Community Engagement on April 27.“We continue to plan for a comprehensive renovation and upgrade of Midway Manor, which is expected to begin later this year in conjunction with the implementation of extended affordability protections for the property. Recognizing that the elevators were in need of more immediate attention, we have accelerated the modernization of both elevators at the property, with on-site work currently underway. In efforts to minimize disruption to residents, one elevator car is being worked on at a time, with the entire project expected to be complete within the next 8 weeks.” - Steven Kahn, Director, Standard CommunitiesCouncilor Michael Payne also sits as a voting member of the CRHA Board. He voted to approve the bonds on February 28, but said he would vote on Council with “unease.” “There’s not a way for City Council to have baked in our approval a lock-step assurance for example when and if the elevator get renovated, how is this process going to go, so I will certainly be trying to watch it as closely as I can and be talking to residents throughout this process,” Payne said. Midway Manor sits on 2.32 acres and was built in 1981 according to city property records. Standard Communities paid $16.5 million for the property on January, 13, 2022. Today’s second shout-out goes to LEAPWe’re now well into spring, and many of us may have already turned on our air conditioning units for the first in months. To see what you can do to get the most out of your home, contact LEAP, your local energy nonprofit, to schedule a home energy assessment this month - just $45 for City and County residents. LEAP also offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If someone in your household is age 60 or older, or you have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!Albemarle Supervisors briefed on Southwood RedevelopmentTonight the Albemarle Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the rezoning of the second phase of the Southwood Mobile Home Park being overseen by a local nonprofit. (meeting info)Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville purchased Southwood in 2007 and entered into an agreement with the Board of Supervisors in 2016 to work with the nonprofit. A performance agreement for a public private partnership was signed in 2019 to govern $3.25 million in county investment. Supervisors got an update at their meeting on April 20, 2022. “That was shortly followed by approval of the phase one rezoning application and just to let you know, the rezoning application for phase two was submitted to the county in 2021,” Pethia said. Phase one is for 34 acres on the eastern and southern edges of the property, with a maximum of 450 homes, 270 units of which will be made affordable to residents through various interventions. There’s also a maximum of 50,000 square feet of non-residential space. Before describing phase two, Pethia gave an update on how the site plan for phase one has turned out. “The approved site plan will provide a total of 335 residential units, 211 of those are affordable,” Pethia said. “The affordable housing units include approximately 121 low-income housing tax credit units which will be located along Hickory Drive, 86 Habitat built units to be located in villages one and two as well as in block ten. Habitat units include condominiums, townhomes, and single family attached and detached units.”Pethia said Habitat has currently identified 37 Southwood households who are ready to move forward with purchasing their homes in phase one. Phase 2 extends the rezoning to the existing mobile home park. “If approved, phase two will approve 527 to 1,000 housing units, 227 of which will be affordable, including a potential sixty additional Low Income Housing Tax Credit units,” Pethia said. Phase 2 would allow for a maximum of 60,000 square feet of nonresidential space. The Planning Commission will review this rezoning tonight.Funding overviewIn addition to $3.25 million associated with the performance agreement, Albemarle has used $675,000 from the housing trust to help pay for costs associated with the first phase of the rezoning as well as the equivalent of $175,000 in county staff time. “Additionally, the county applied for and was awarded a little over $2.4 million in grant funding including a $40,000 Community Development Block Grant,” Pethia said. Pethia said Habitat estimates the total cost to develop Southwood will be $154.7 million, including the cost to prepare the sites and to engage with residents. “Habitat anticipates securing $131.1 million to cover the project costs,” Pethia said. “This amount includes funds that have already been received and that will be expended by the end of this fiscal year. The balance of total project funds include donations received through Habitat’s capital campaign, revenue generated through mobile home park operations, proceeds from the sale of land for market-rate housing, and funds Habitat anticipates receiving through federal and state grants, local government, and foundations.” Pethia said there’s a current $16.6 million revenue gap and county staff are looking to close it. Many sources will include a local match from Albemarle taxpayers. Another option would be increased funding from the housing trust or development of a new public private partnership. In March, MacKenzie Scott gave Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville $5.75 million. Habitat CEO Dan Rosensweig said the deficit already includes that spending. (Daily Progress story)“It’s a blessing and a curse because it’s already baked into this,” Rosensweig said. Another expense has been and will be removal of oil tanks under trailers as well as failing septic systems. “There were two areas of the mobile home park that are on failing septic right now and there is one area of the park that was draining directly into the part of the park that we are trying to develop and that was obviously a catastrophe,” Rosensweig said. “One of the things that we’ve had to do earlier than we thought was scramble to create trailer pads on the other side of the park that’s on [public] sewer. We’ve been moving people. Some folks moved out over the years and we purchased mobile homes and rehabbed them. So the first 80 or so families, we’re about halfway through moving them out of the park so we can decommission all of that septic.” Rosensweig said another 170 trailers are on failing septic and it is directly pouring into Biscuit Run and into the watershed. They’re applying for funding to install a sewer line into the park, but that cost is $6.5 million and the county will be asked to cover some of the cost. “It would also be infrastructure that we’re designing to be part of the second phase so it would be infrastructure that’s not temporary infrastructure, but permanent infrastructure,” Rosensweig said. The Planning Commission takes up the second phase of the rezoning tonight. Support Town Crier Productions through Ting!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Today consists of a four and four twos, adding up to April 22, 2022. Far more understandable than Day 112, which is another name this Friday could go by. My name is Sean Tubbs, and this is another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that seeks to provide information about all manner of items in local and regional government in and around Charlottesville. Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.On today’s program:Charlottesville City Council learns of an even higher surplus than expected for the current fiscal yearVirginia is set to end its rent relief program in mid-MayA Colorado educator will become the next president of Piedmont Virginia community College A series of speakers wants Charlottesville Area Transit’s Route 6 to continue to stop at the doorstep of Crescent HallsAnd former UVA basketball star Sean Singletary enters the development community in Charlottesville First shout-out goes to the Piedmont Master Gardeners for their annual plant saleIn today’s first subscriber-supported shout-out, the Piedmont Master Gardeners are pleased to announce the return of their annual plant sale! That’s happening on Saturday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Albemarle Square Shopping Center. The sale will offer thousands of annuals, perennials, shrubs, vegetables, herbs and houseplants, including a large selection of native plants.In addition, shoppers can purchase garden implements, yard ornaments and other “Green Elephants”; have their tools sharpened by an expert; and drop off their surplus plastic nursery pots for recycling. The sale will also feature a Help Desk for gardening questions and information tables on native plants, soil and composting, invasive plants, conservation landscaping and much more.For more information, visit piedmontmastegardeners.org. Before we begin today, a quick program note. This show is a product of the pandemic. For the past two years, I’ve been producing informational podcasts to help people know what’s going on. I became a journalist almost 30 years ago because bringing people information is what I’ve always wanted to do. At no point do I want to tell you what to think. And for the past two years, I’ve more or less  been able to do this all from home. And for a lot of that time, most of you were at home too. Now that Albemarle and Charlottesville have both gone back to in-person meetings, it’s a bit jarring. I’m not used to it yet and I still have one eye on COVID cases to see what’s going on. Tomorrow’s show will contain an update from the UVA Health System.But I know I’m not alone. At Monday’s first in-person meeting in 25 months, Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook had a similar sense of disorientation when a resident of Crescent Halls came up to speak. “You’re Miss Sandridge… I know what you look like without a mask on a Zoom call but I don’t know what you look like face to face,” Snook said. We’ll hear more from Judy Sandridge later in the show, but I wanted to begin today by acknowledging the past two years and how they were very different from any other time in my career. I’ve gotten used to writing from home. Soon I’ll be back out there doing more, but it’s still an end to an era. The writer Addison Del Mastro has a piece on his Substack Deleted Scenes called Final Pandemic Thoughts which I think is worth a read. That’s not really within the scope of Charlottesville Community Engagement, nor is this whole first segment. But I am curious to know what your thoughts are on where we’ve been the last two years, and what you’d like to see going forward. As for me, I hope to continue bringing you this program.Council gets revenue update Even though Council has recently adopted a budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, there is never a time when the city’s finances are not in the public eye. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers briefed Council this week on the state of revenue collection for the current fiscal year that ends on June 30. “So far this year we have currently collected 66.93 percent of our budgeted revenue and we remain on track to collect more than the adopted revenue budget of $192,212,843,” Rogers said. The next tax bills are due on June 6 and will include the one cent real estate tax increase adopted by Council earlier this month. Tax rates go with the calendar year, not the fiscal year. That means a budget surplus is almost certain. “While we discussed during the budget process that we would end up with $12 million more, what I’m seeing now based on that revision, it’s $13 million,” Rogers said.Final decisions about how to use that funding will be made by Council later this year after the FY22 books are audited. Runyon named as PVCC’s next presidentThe chancellor of Virginia’s Community College System has named a Colorado educator as the next president of Piedmont Virginia Community College. Dr. Jean Runyon is currently the campus vice president at Front Range Community College in Larimer. . “We are excited to welcome Dr. Runyon to PVCC and believe she will be able to build upon the success and great potential that exists here, not just at the College but throughout the community,” said PVCC College Board Chair Lola Richardson in a statement. Runyon will be PVCC’s sixth president since it was founded in 1972. She’ll succeed Frank Friedman in the position he has held since November 1998. The new president has a long history in higher education with positions such as the director of the Innovative Teaching Center at the College of Southern Maryland and eight years in various positions at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland. She’ll take the reins at PVCC in July. Virginia rent relief program is set to end In another sign that the pandemic era is over, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development is closing an online portal through which people can apply for rent relief. Virginians have until midnight on May 15 to make a new application. Virginia was one of the first states in the nation to put a mortgage and rent relief program in place soon after the federal Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES). The program went live in June 2020 and has provided more than $713 million in relief for 104,990 households across the Commonwealth. To be eligible, households need to have an income less than 50 percent of the area median or have to have had one member out of work for up to 90 days. “DHCD will continue to work with partners and stakeholders across the state to create comprehensive strategies to increase the supply of affordable housing, address and prevent evictions and reduce barriers in housing throughout the Commonwealth,” reads a notice on the agency’s website. For more information, visit the DHCD’s website.Today’s second shout-out goes to WTJUAlgorithms know how to put songs and artists together based on genre or beats per minute. But only people can make connections that engage your mind and warm your heart. The music on WTJU 91.1 FM is chosen by dozens and dozens of volunteer hosts -- music lovers like you who live right here in the Charlottesville area. Listener donations keep WTJU alive and thriving. In this era of algorithm-driven everything, go against the grain. This week is the annual Rock Marathon, so tune in and support freeform community radio on WTJU Consider a donation at wtju.net/donate.Former UVA basketball star part of redevelopment project at 1101 East Market StreetA former University of Virginia basketball player who also played in the National Basketball Association is part of a development team that seeks to build eleven townhouses in downtown Charlottesville. “Just excited to be back in town and on about the progress with this project,” said Sean Singletary, who played for UVA in the mid 2000’s. “Ever since I graduated from school here, I’ve always wanted to move back here and just give back to the community. Charlottesville and UVA have done so much for me.” A preliminary site plan has been filed with the city of Charlottesville to build several townhomes in the Little High subsection of the Martha Jefferson neighborhood at the intersection of East Market and 11th Street. In all, 11th Street Partners seeks to consolidate four lots into one before building ten townhomes. Several existing structures on those properties would be removed, but a house at 1103 East Market Street would remain as it is not part of this project and is owned separately. As part of this plan, the house at 1101 East Market Street would be replaced with a new structure.  “We determined that the most beneficial to the community would be to demolish these existing structures and replace them with very attractive units that we think are going to add a significant benefit to the community at large,” said engineer Eric Woolley.One of these would be a sidewalk on this stretch of East Market where there currently is not one on the northern side of the road. Utilities would be placed underground. Each townhouse would have three bedrooms and three off-street parking spaces. “The way we’ve oriented the units, we think it’s going to be beneficial to the neighborhood by actually providing more parking within the development which alleviates the pressure of overlap parking to other neighbors,” Woolley said. While the application for the Vue at East Market is by-right and would not require a decision by elected officials, a request to close off a public right of way does.“The alley closure piece does have discretionary review by City Council but the other components would not,” said Carrie Rainey, a city planner. One of Singletary’s three partners is Keith Payne, an All-ACC conference running back on the UVA football team. “This is extremely exciting for our team to be able to develop in Charlottesville, especially downtown in a great neighborhood,” Payne said. Payne said he and Singletary graduated together, and have always been looking for an opportunity to develop in Charlottesville. “Being on the corner there, we felt this could be a vibrant site for the city,” Payne said. The team wants to develop other projects in the community. No one spoke at the community meeting on Wednesday. To view the discussion, take a look at the video here. PHAR seeks to keep Crescent Halls bus stop in placeA series of speakers at Monday’s City Council meeting asked the elected officials to weigh in on a decision by Charlottesville Area Transit to relocate the bus stop at Crescent Halls, a public housing site that is currently undergoing renovations. The homes are currently served in both directions by Route 6 and the agency is making the change to help speed up the route. That had not been the plan, according to one resident. “We were told that they would pick up one side and when they come back they would let people off in front of the door,” said Alice Washington. “We need that. Crescent Halls is a senior and disability building.” As such, Washington said many residents use wheelchairs or walkers to get around and need to be able to board the bus. That will be much harder if they have to walk what she said were the 89 steps to the new stop. “If they got to walk from way over here over there and some of these people are almost 80 or 90 years old, it’s impossible,” Washington said. We briefly heard from Judy Sandridge earlier. Let’s hear her again. “If you see me hear with my cart here again, my oxygen, and a thing full with food trying to walk 89 steps?” Sandridge said. “She walked 89 steps. I can’t do that.” Other voices included Brandon Collins, the redevelopment coordinator of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority who said keeping the bus stop where it is has been a high priority during renovation discussions. Another was Shelby Edwards, who succeeded Collins as the main voice of the Public Housing Association of Residents in her capacity as executive director. “PHAR has hosted both private and public conversations with CAT about this topic,” Edwards said. “We don’t understand why this has been such a laborious task. We know that that CAT would like to move to the 30 minute service to increase ridership, but this means little if the people who switch over already have other forms of transportation. Yes, we do want a world where everyone can use mass transit but we first need one where everyone who has no other form of transit can continue to move around freely.”Council also heard directly from CRHA’s Executive Director, John Sales. “We need that bus stop in front of the building,” Sales said. Sales added that a site plan amendment to the Crescent Halls renovation would be required, which could delay the ability for residents to move back in. Sales also pointed out that the route change has not yet been finally approved by City Council. “So I just want to make sure that any other route changes that are going to be impacted by this 30 minute transition gets discussed because not only will Crescent Halls be impacted, but people all over the city are going to be impacted, without anyone knowing,” Sales said.In 2021, Charlottesville Area Transit worked with a consultant to realign the routes, but the changes have not yet been implemented. Under the new changes, Route 6 would no longer travel to the University of Virginia Health System but would stil travel between Willoughby Shopping Center and Downtown. The route would also no longer travel on Ridge Street via Brookwood Drive. No action was taken at the meeting, but this morning Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders and CAT Director Garland Williams offered the following statement:“The City Manager has asked staff to consider options regarding the bus stop service to residents of Crescent Halls, including the Paratransit service administered for the City by JAUNT.  There are multiple conversations in progress and a number of options are being considered but the iterative process of review, feedback, and costing is in full motion.  We will be convening all parties to review and determine workable options to present to Council as soon as possible.”The route changes have not yet been made because of a lack of drivers that would be required to provide the additional service. Support Town Crier Productions through Ting!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Manon Ouimet, conseillère RH chez DEL et Philip Bibeau, conseiller en développement professionnel chez Ordre des CRHA nous présente le 5çme colloque La Ruche. Une semaine dédiée aux gestionnaires et conseillers RH de la Montérégie. Plusieurs conférenciers seront présents les 10 et 12 mai prochains. L'édition 2022 sera offerte en formule 100 % virtuelle et permettra aux participants d'accéder à un perfectionnement hautement stimulant, avec des conférences et des ateliers en direct portant sur des sujets d'actualité en RH, avec au cœur de toutes les discussions, l'humain. L'objectif du Colloque La RucHe demeure d'offrir aux dirigeants d'entreprise et responsables RH des outils concrets les menant vers une gestion plus stratégique et innovante de leurs ressources humaines.  Jérôme Emery, coordonnateur de projet Récup' Vélo chez CJE Saint-Hubert nous présente le projet pour les 16-35 ans. À la fois projet d'économie sociale et d'économie circulaire, l'Atelier Récup'Vélo prend la forme d'un plateau de travail de recyclage et de remise à neuf de vélos usagés. Ce projet s'adresse aux jeunes adultes (16 à 35 ans) qui rencontrent des obstacles à intégrer le marché du travail ou à se maintenir en emploi. Les participants sont mis en situation d'emploi, avec des tâches et conditions réalistes qui leur permettent de vivre une première expérience de travail positive. Tout au long de leur parcours, ils bénéficient de l'encadrement d'une intervenante en insertion socioprofessionnelle pour acquérir ou développer des réflexes et compétences transférables en emploi peu importe le secteur.  Julie Roussin, conseillère en emploi chez ACT nous présente les tendances emploi et les informations sur le marché du travail d'avril.   Mots-clés ou tags: #act #brossard #emploi #CJE Saint-Huertmonteregie #marchédutravail #BHR #desjardins #travailleursétrangers #chercheursdemploi   Liens et ressources de l'épisode : https://larucherh.com/  https://www.cjesh.org/latelier-recup-velo/  https://alliancect.ca/   Claudine Lepage, Animatrice Direction Emploi : c.lepage@alliancect.ca  Podcast : https://www.fm1033.ca/podcast_fm1033/direction-emploi/ 

Durant cet épisode, je discute avec Nicolas Roy de bonheur au travail, bienveillance, psychométrie, et identification du talent. À propos de Nicolas: Nicolas Roy est chef de la direction d'EPSI, une firme spécialisée en gestion des ressources humaines. Expert en ressources humaines respecté ayant une vaste expérience dans le pilotage de projets de gestion des talents de haut niveau et d'initiatives de conception organisationnelle avec des organisations des secteurs public et privé. Mobilisateur, stratège et leader, il a accompagné plus de 1000 clients dans la gestion de leurs ressources humaines. Diplômé de l'Université de Sherbrooke, il s'est également spécialisé à l'Université d'Oxford en leadership, à l'Université Berkeley (Californie) en bien-être au travail et à l'Institut de Leadership en habileté de direction et leadership et en stratégie. Il est membre en règle de l'Ordre des Administrateurs agréés du Québec (Adm.A.) et de l'Ordre des Conseillers en ressources humaines agréés du Québec (CRHA). Il est également récipiendaire de la médaille de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec. Pour rejoindre Nicolas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolasroyepsi/ Pour en savoir plus sur EPSI: https://epsi-inc.com/ Écouter l'épisode intégral : https://drcoachfrank.com/podcast/ Suivez Coach Frank sur TWITTER: https://twitter.com/coachfrankphd ABONNEZ-VOUS au podcast: https://drcoachfrank.com/contact/

Another Friday has arrived, and somehow this is the 14th such day of 2022. Is this year going faster than the others, and if so, is there a way this can be stopped? These are not questions within the scope of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that seeks to put some of the pieces together. I’m your ever-puzzling host, Sean Tubbs. Sign up today to receive every newsletter in your email inbox - for free! On today’s program:Albemarle Supervisors return to in-person meetings and commemorate Fair Housing MonthBoth the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and the City of Charlottesville award funding to housing projects in the areaCharlottesville may change the way to administers transportation projectsGovernor Youngkin rescinds an executive order that banned state agencies from using single-use plastic Bacteria levels in a Charlottesville waterway are back to normalAnd the city of Charlottesville will resume disconnecting utility customers for unpaid balances First subscriber-supported public service announcement - MLKCVILLECharlottesville’s Community Celebration of the life, times, and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. continues on April 10 with  keynote speeches from the Rev. Brenda Brown-Grooms, the Rev. Alvin Edwards, and Rabbi Tom Gutherz. All three will appear the event at the Ting Pavilion on the east end of Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall beginning at 3 p.m. Rev. Brown-Grooms is co-pastor of New Beginnings Christian Community; Rev. Edwards serves Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church, and Rabbi Gutherz, Congregation Beth Israel.The Community Celebration is put on each year by the Mount Zion First African Baptist Church. Visit and bookmark the YouTube MLKCVille page to review part one of the celebration as well as previous events. Albemarle Supervisors return to in-person meetingsAfter 25 months, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors have held a meeting in Lane Auditorium, where they have met since the county acquired the former Lane High School for an administration building back in the late 70’s. Members of the public were there, too, and Rivanna Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley noted the occasion. “I just wanted to welcome everybody who came today and it’s wonderful to be back in person and to see so many people and all of us to be together,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. The sentiment was shared by Scottsville Supervisor and Chair Donna Price.“It is wonderful to be back live, in-person, in Lane Auditorium, and we expect that we will continue to see more people show up for our meetings,” Price said. “But the silver lining that’s come out of the pandemic in terms of our situation is that we now have this hybrid opportunity so those are not able to come to Lane Auditorium can still participate virtually.” Albemarle Supervisors then made a proclamation to recognize April as Fair Housing Month. Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District read from the proclamation, which marks the 54th anniversary of the passage of Title ViII of the Civil Rights Act. “This act provides for equal housing opportunities for all Americans, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability, as well as to ensure fair practice in the sale, rental, or financing of property,” Gallaway said. The proclamation states it is the intention of Albemarle Supervisors to recognize the importance of housing rights. They heard from Stacy Pethia, the county’s housing coordinator. “I can’t say enough about how important it is to be able to provide housing choice to all of our residents because where we live really does matter,” Pethia said. “It determines the quality of education we will have, the quality and types of employment opportunities that we can access, what amenities we have available to us. Fair housing is really the basis of success throughout everyone’s lives.” Pethia said Albemarle is celebrating Fair Housing Month with an art contest. Visit the county’s website at engage.albemarle.org to learn more and to submit your work. TJPDC funds three affordable housing projects; Charlottesville funds fiveThe Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission has awarded $1.8 million in funds to regional housing nonprofits and entities. The funding comes from a $2 million grant to the TJPDC from the entity formerly known as the Virginia Housing Development Authority for the purpose of constructing or preserving affordable housing. “By virtue of us receiving $2 million, we are obligated to construct at least 20 new affordable housing units,” said Ian Baxter, a planner with the TJPDC. The TJPDC received five proposals totalling $6 million in requests. Baxter said these were measured by a series of metrics. “Cost per unit, location of development, type of development, affordability level, site control, funding sources, and the capacity to be completed by June 2024,” Baxter said. The funding will be split among three providers.$640,000 for three Habitat for Humanity chapters for 32 new units to be build throughout the TJPDC region$660,000 to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for 48 units at the second phase of the South First Street redevelopment$500,000 for Virginia Supportive Housing for 80 new permanent supportive housing as part of the Premier Circle project“This $1.8 million will fund developments in all of the six jurisdictions in the planning district,” Baxter said. “It will create a mix of rental, supportive housing, and new homeowner units, all affordable.”This is the first time the TJPDC has received funds from Virginia Housing for this purpose. Executive Director Christine Jacobs said she is hopeful that there will be another round in the future. Council makes CAHF awards, repurposes the HACOn Monday, the city of Charlottesville awarded $750,000 in funds from the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund. Alex Ikefuna is the interim director of the Office of Community Solutions, a relatively new division of city government set up to oversee housing issues.“Staff received seven applications totaling $4,6 million,” Ikefuna said.They are:$425,000 to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for South Street Phase 2$75,000 for down payment assistance for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville’s Equity Homeownership Initiative $100,000 for Albemarle Housing Improvement Program’s Charlottesville Critical Repair Program $50,000 for the Local Energy Alliance Program’s Assisted Home Performance and Electrification Ready (AHP) targeted to owner occupied homes.$100,000 for LEAP’s AHP for renter occupied homesCouncil also agreed to amend the by-laws for the Housing Advisory Committee to reduce membership and to transfer review of city housing funds to a dedicated Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund Committee. Three Councilors indicated they wanted to make sure a representative from the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is on the amended Housing Advisory Committee. “In my view, the bottom line is just to try to have a body that is more effective in giving City Council guidance about how to implement our affordable housing strategy and meet our affordable housing goals and these are just changes meant to have it be a more effective and efficient body in doing that for us,” said City Councilor Michael Payne, who is also on the CRHA’s Board of Commissioners. Charlottesville to resume utility disconnections for non-paymentIn another sign that the pandemic has receded, the city of Charlottesville has announced they will resume disconnecting water, sewer, and natural gas service for non-payment beginning next week. “Green door hangers will be distributed to addresses that owe balances, encouraging customers to set up payment arrangements,” reads the announcement sent out by the city yesterday. The city’s utility billing office stopped disconnecting service for unpaid bills in March 2020 soon after the state of emergency was declared, followed by a moratorium imposed by the State Corporation Commission. That was lifted in last September. According to the release, the utility billing office continued to tell customers with unpaid balances how much they owed. The city covered the cost of $557,000 through various federal assistance programs related to the pandemic. Governor Youngkin overturns previous administration’s order to ban single-use plastic In March 2021, former Governor Ralph Northam signed an executive order banning state agencies from buying, selling, or distributing single-use plastics. His successor, Governor Glenn Youngkin, has called that directive “burdensome” and yesterday replaced it with a new one that directs state agencies to recognize the value of recycling. "It is the policy of the Commonwealth, and all executive branch state agencies, including state institutions of higher education, and their concessioners (Agency or Agencies) to increase awareness of the importance of recycling and better capture recyclable material, as well as encourage the use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) products and biodegradable materials,” reads Executive Order 17.The order also takes an economic development approach and directs the Department of Environmental Quality to attract recycling-related businesses to Virginia.The University of Virginia formed a working group last April to begin to implement the Northam administration’s order. Last month, the UVA Sustainability Office accepted the 2022 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Gold Award for its efforts, according to an article on their website. “The University of Virginia is taking active measures to enhance sustainability and reduce waste, pursuant with the directives detailed in Governor Youngkin's Executive Order 17 and in former governor Ralph Northam's Executive Order 77,” said Deputy UVA Spokesperson Bethanie Glover in an email to Charlottesville Community Engagement this afternoon. Glover said sustainability leaders at UVA will be evaluating the new executive order to determine what additional steps need to be taken.  Need trees? Charlottesville Area Tree Steward sale is this Saturday! In today’s first Patreon-fueled public service announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards are preparing to hold their first in-person tree sale since 2019. On April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards will open up their tree nursery at the Fontaine Research Park and will sell saplings of native trees, some of which are hard to find from commercial sources. The prices will be between $5 and $15. There will be large trees from Birch to Sycamore, smaller trees from Blackgum to Witch Hazel, and shrubbery! Visit charlottesvilletreestewards.org to learn more!Albemarle and Greene both receive regional support for Three Notch’d Trail planning grantThe members of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission have indicated support for two separate planning efforts for more pathways in the region. Both Albemarle County and Greene County are seeking federal funds to build new infrastructure. “The grant would fund a shared bike pedestrian path from the city of Charlottesville to Crozet likely along U.S. 250,” said Jessica Hersh-Ballering, a transportation planner with Albemarle County. “From there it would continue west all the way to the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Nelson County.” “In Greene, because we are a more rural community, there are no walking paths even in our growth area,” said Jim Frydl, the Greene County Planning Director. “If you live in the housing that’s in the growth area, there’s no safe way to walk to the shopping and the work centers.”A federal infrastructure bill passed by the U.S. Congress last year has increased funding for the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant program, which goes by the acronym RAISE. Albemarle is requesting between $1.5 million and $3 million for the planning effort. The idea would be to build something that works as both a functional transportation use as well as a recreational destination that could attract tourism as is the case with the Virginia Capital Trail. “This is a range that we are requesting because we are still working through our budget for this project with some local consultants,” Hersh-Ballering said. “We will have a number somewhere in this range finalized by the time we submit our application next week.” If funded, the project would first conduct a feasibility study, particularly to identify a route between Crozet and the Blue Ridge Tunnel. “It could go directly through Crozet, it could go a little south of Crozet and go near more schools, or it could follow potentially the CSX railroad line to have a very gentle grade for the entirety of that section,” Hersh-Ballering said. The funding would also include public outreach as well as “functional design” for the trail that would fall short of environmental review required for the project to go to construction. “So the idea is that it would be really expensive to construct the project all at once so what we’re probably going to do is identify those pieces that can stand-alone and then use some of our more common, smaller funding sources to fund construction separately,” Hersh-Ballering said. The entire route would span between 25 to 30 miles and would connect three localities. The TJPDC agreed to send a letter of support without comment. Greene County is seeking a $1.4 million RAISE grant to plan for a trail between the South River Falls in the northwest of the county to the town of Stanardsville, A second pathway would follow along U.S. 33 to connect to the unincorporated area of Ruckersville. “And then interconnectivity pathways in Ruckersville that connect the two nodes of the Ruckersville growth area,” Frydl said. Frydl said Greene’s project would also likely be built in phases. Charlottesville will be reviewing how it works with VDOTSince 2005, The City of Charlottesville has planned and administered construction of transportation projects within city limits as part of something called the First Cities program or the Urban Construction Initiative. This includes major projects such as the Belmont Bridge replacement currently underway, and extends to the many Smart Scale projects for which the city has received dozens of millions of dollars in funding.This week, Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders told City Council on Monday that this arrangement is under review.“Our leadership and project management teams are completing a review of our [Virginia Department of Transportation] program ahead of a deep dive with VDOT that’s scheduled fot later this month,” Sanders said. “We anticipate some changes that we’ll be bringing to Council in regards to how we manage those projects going forward.”Last year, City Council agreed to withdraw local money required to match state funds awarded to the West Main Streetscape and to put this local dollars toward to renovations of Buford Middle School. Sanders said the city has begun work with the firm EPR on a study of Fifth Street Extended to inform a new Smart Scale application for the next round. Community meetings may be held later this month but definitely by May. Council will get a presentation at their meeting on May 16. Dairy Road bridge There is no local match necessary for the pending replacement of a bridge that carries Dairy Road over the U.S. 250 bypass. VDOT has provided $7.2 million in funding to replace the bridge from a pot of money called State of Good Repair. Tony Edwards is the Development Services Manager in the Charlottesville Public Works Department. “It received a condition rating of 4 for the deck, and therefore qualifies for the SGR funding,” Edwards said. “In 2015 the sidewalk was replaced by a separate bike and pedestrian bridge next to the original structure which will provide public access during construction.” The design phase will now begin and a public hearing for that phase will be held at some point in the future.  Pollocks Branch bacteria levels have returned to normalFinally today, the City of Charlottesville has reported that bacteria levels in a waterway south of the Downtown Mall have returned to normal. In late March, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance analyzed water samples from Pollocks Branch and found elevated levels of E.Coli. A second round of tests saw lower levels. “Given the steady decrease in E. coli levels and the lack of evidence of a source of the E. coli, the elevated levels were likely related to rainfall and associated runoff,” reads today’s announcement. The Rivanna Conservation Alliance will continue to monitor the situation. For more information, visit rivannariver.org.Support Town Crier Productions through Ting!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

In one sense of the phrase, Charlottesville Community Engagement has now come full circle as this is the 360th edition. That coincides with April 6, 2022 but there is not necessarily correlation, but the hope is this edition and every other edition causes you to know more than you did before. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.On today’s program:Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders asks City Council for their feedback on how to meet Charlottesvillle’s goal of putting $10 million a year toward housing The U.S. House of Representatives votes to support NATO, and two area Congressman vote against the resolutionA quick profile of Fashion Square Mall Louisa County doubles the amount of a tax rebate for a developer to pay for a regional wastewater pump stationFirst shout-out goes to Camp AlbemarleToday’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting the Camp Albemarle website! U.S. House adopts resolution supporting NATO; Two Virginia Representatives voted againstThe U.S. House of Representatives voted 362 to 63 yesterday on a resolution to uphold the founding principles of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to make clear that the organization stands for shared democratic values. House Resolution 831 was introduced by Virginia Congressman Gerald Connolly in December and made its way through the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.“NATO’s founding document, signed here in Washington D.C. on April 4, 1949, this very week,” said Congressman Connolly. “It’s clear. NATO is an alliance of democracies. The preamble to the treaty notes the determination of Allies to ‘safeguard the freedom, common heritage, and civilization of their peoples founded on the principles of democracy. “Nine of Virginia’s 11 members of the House of Representatives voted for the resolution, which also calls for the establishment of a Center for Democratic Resilience within NATO Headquarters. The resolution comes at a time when NATO forces are keeping a close eye on the Russia’s war against Ukraine. Ukraine is not a member of the organization. Both 5th District Representative Bob Good and 6th District Representative Ben Cline  voted against the bill. Louisa Supervisors amend performance agreement for Crossing PointeWhen a developer asks for a rezoning to build a larger number of units than otherwise would be allowed, sometimes there are agreements with the locality to provide infrastructure. When the Louisa Board of Supervisors approved the Crossing Pointe development at Zion Crossroads in December 2019, they entered into an agreement with the developer for a $250,000 real estate tax rebate in exchange for construction of a regional wastewater pump station on the site. “That pump station is a regional pump station in nature that serves multiple properties in that area, the Zion growth area, and not just the Crossing Pointe [Planned Unit Development],” said Louisa County Economic Development Director Andrew Wade. Wade said the developer has requested an increase to $500,000 due to the rising cost of construction.“The price of the regional pump station over the course of three months has gone up from $650,000 to approximately $1.3 million due to material pricing and construction inflation and things of that nature,” Wade said. Wade said the Louisa County Water Authority will own the pump station when it is completed. The rebates won’t begin until the pump station is operational. Supervisors agreed unanimously to proceed.  Construction on the Crossing Pointe development is soon to begin. There will be 321 dwelling units and 138,000 square feet of commercial property. The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is currently overseeing a small area study for the growth area which straddles both Louisa and Fluvanna County. The next public meeting for the Zion Crossroads Gateway Plan is April 19. Special thanks to Tammy Purcell of Engage Louisa for assistance with this story! The latest installment has the latest news on Zion Crossroads, including changes to Zion Town Center that would see fewer single-family detached homes and more townhomes. Chamber of Commerce profiles Fashion Square MallEvery now and then, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce writes up a profile of a business in the area. This time around their staff asked the leasing and marketing manager of Fashion Square Mall a series of questions, including to mention recent success stories. “We have recently opened up three new stores and will be opening up many more in upcoming months,” said Athena Emmans in response. Fashion Square Mall opened in 1980 and has been through a string of owners. The property sold at foreclosure last year and was purchased by a firm called Charlottesville JP 2014-C21 LLC for $20.2 million and that deal closed on September 30. Now the property is managed by JLL and Emmans writes that they are actively seeking to become a unique destination. “We offer an indoor shopping experience with a community atmosphere for our tenants to get help with marketing, branding and foot traffic for their business,” Emmans wrote. “We provide small and large businesses with affordable commercial properties.”To learn more, read the rest of the profile on the Chamber’s website. Friends of JMRL Book Sale continues through SaturdayIn today's second Patreon-fueled shout-out! Lovers of used books rejoice! The Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library is back again with their annual Spring Book Sale opening this Saturday through Sunday, April 10! The Friends of the Library sale will once again take place at Albemarle Square Shopping Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. There’s a special preview for members tomorrow from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and there’s still time to volunteer!Visit jmrlfriends.org to learn more! See you there!Deputy City Manager Sanders reviews recent audit of Charlottesville’s housing fundWhen Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders joined Charlottesville’s management team last July, he more or less filled a vacancy for a lower position that had been open for a year. “I became your housing coordinator right away, because we didn’t have one,” Sanders said at an April 4 work session on the city’s affordable housing policy. “I have been spending a lot of time observing, reviewing, questioning, complaining, evaluating, and testing all of what we do, how we do it, why we do it, and trying to figure out what else we can do to make it all run more smoothly and definitely be run better.”Around the same time Sanders was clocking into City Hall for the first time, Council had agreed to spend an additional $165,000 to pay the consultant HR&A Advisors to review how the city has spent its affordable housing funds since 2010. Council had a work session with that firm on March 21, but Sanders wanted to share his views. See also: Charlottesville City Council discusses reform for affordable housing fund, March 30, 2022HR&A found that the city has spent $46.7 million on affordable housing programs since 2010. “The question that you should be asking is if that is good,” Sanders said. “The answer is yes, but good is relative, especially because you will never spend enough on affordable housing. I think most communities have found that around this country. Because markets are always changing, there’s always a need to do a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more.”Sanders said the report found that 1,611 affordable units were constructed or preserved and that 640 additional households were served. “Can we do better and can we do more?” Sanders said. “The answer is of course you can. But how will that decision get made? How often will you commit more? How much more? And when? Everyone of these questions are critically important to managing a program and knowing the cap helps to manage the many expectations.”Watch the April 4, 2022 work session on affordable housingView the April 4, 2022 presentation Read the staff report for the March 21, 2022 work sessionSanders said there is a need to make sure that the funds are spread around and that many different organizations need to have access. There’s also a need to make sure that Council has accurate data about what has happened to inform future decisions. In March 2021, Council adopted the Affordable Housing Plan which calls upon the city to invest $10 million a year for this purpose. A previous goal had been $4 million a year, but a big push for investment in affordable housing was made after the events of the summer of 2017. “2020 was clearly a turning point and we see this as the shift to the $10 million being a good number,” Sanders said. “We know that there are a lot of organizations that have already made it clear that $10 million is not enough. Ideally for us internally we look at the face that you endorsed the Affordable Housing Plan at $10 million a year for ten years and it will be our priority to help you get there.” Other metrics in the analysis seek to measure the cost effectiveness of funding spent so far. Sanders said that for those organizations who are constructing new units, the cost per unit is higher. However, competitiveness between proposals would encourage those entities to seek out private funding to help leverage city investment. “But your priority would also be that they do go look in other places to bring additional dollars to the table so that that number doesn’t continue to grow,” Sanders said. There are also demographic measures that seek to determine how funding is meeting equity goals. “We only see Black and white as a comparison,” Sanders said. “One thing we have to remember in the equity space is that we make sure we are considering the other minority populations in our community that also deserve attention to be paid to their particular housing situations as well.” Sanders’ questions for City CouncilBut, funding is one thing. The question is whether the city is managing its programs effectively. Sanders identified several problems. “We don’t know how many affordable units still exist from those that we funded,” Sanders said. “That’s accurate. We don’t know even for how much longer they’re going to exist. But we got to do better and there’s work to be done there.”Sanders said there is not an internal mechanism for the city to keep track. That will take more information from partner organizations that receive the funding. The city needs better tools to ensure compliance. “We don’t have the best agreements in play,” Sanders said. “They’re not the comprehensive set of agreements that we would use that would ensure that we could capture the information, that we are denoting who is responsible for reporting said information and on what schedule. That way we can go back to them and get what we want.” Another question for Council is if they want to come up with an official definition for affordable housing for the city, meaning what level of household income should be served by city funding? “I think it is important for us to be able to define it for the community at large,” Sanders said. “It helps our partners understand what that means to you as the Council but it also helps staff understand how to do the work that they’ve been charged to do.” Sanders wanted to know what each Councilor thinks about that $10 million for affordable housing. Is it a commitment, or if it is an aspirational goal.  City Councilors Pinkston and Payne said they expect the city to spend that amount. Mayor Lloyd Snook thought it was more of a goal. “I’m willing to average, which makes it a goal, but it’s not a commitment to me,” Snook said. “Furthermore we don’t have the authority to bind future Councils as a commitment.”Sanders wanted to know if Council wanted to consider whether the land trust model should be a priority. “That’s an opportunity for you to add an item to your affordable housing toolbox,” Sanders said. “There are a lot of communities today that are wrestling with the idea of how we can make it more affordable because simply building it isn’t necessarily working it for everyone.”Sanders said this could take the form of the city setting up its own land trust, or working with the one that is now operated by the Piedmont Housing Alliance after being incubated at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. Councilor Brian Pinkston said thought it could continue to be maintained outside of city government. “What I don’t want to do is invest in a bunch of rework if what PHA or whoever has is working as long as we’ve got solid guardrails to ensure that that is being done in a transparent way,” Pinkston said. Sanders also said there’s a need for better coordination between the groups that offer support services for homeless individuals. The status quo isn’t enough. “We locally with all of our housing providers can acknowledge we have gaps and there is no one in that gap,” Sanders said. “So if there’s no one in the gap, if you’re running a good affordable housing program, you stand in the gap. So what we need to be able to do is figure out how do we get in the gap in the right way with the right resources to successfully close that gap.”That could be expansion of an existing organization through city funding creating a new one. “But you don’t know any of it if you don’t do the assessment work, you don’t do the analysis work, and you don’t ask the questions,” Sanders said. Councilor Sena Magill said she would like to see more attention toward homeless individuals. “I am getting growingly concerned because regretfully it looks like we are back to numbers it looks like we were before the Crossings opened,” Magill said. The Crossings was one of the earliest beneficiaries of the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund and was constructed by Virginia Supportive Housing. That agency has partnered with Piedmont Housing Alliance and the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless on a second facility to be built at Premier Circle on U.S. 29 in Albemarle County at the site of the former Red Carpet Inn. Obligations from the recent pastSanders also briefed Councilors on the reality that future city funds will be tied up to meet the obligations of previously approved projects that include tax rebates such as the one Piedmont Housing Alliance will get for Friendship Court. ‘Those are going to come for payment beginning with Friendship Court in FY24,” Sanders said. “We estimate it’s going to be roughly $200,000 a year for what that is going to cost the city itself to rebate for those improvements.” All of the redevelopment projects underway by the Charlottesville Redevelopment Housing Authority will employ the same mechanism, another cost to the city over years. “It’s the same synthetic [tax increment financing] scenario in that whatever tax obligation that would be due would not necessarily be paid and the city would be covering it,” Sander said. Public housing projects move forward after Council talks on CRHA financial sustainability, CCDC property tax liability, October 24, 2020Council approves agreement for Friendship Court funding, October 30, 2020But what about the definitions of affordable housing. Sanders has this perspective. “I always like to say it is not about affordable,” Sanders said. “We don’t need to be focused on the word affordable. Our focus is on the word attainable.” Council ran out of time at this work session. Later in the night they would meet again to approve a new Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund committee, new purposes for the existing Housing Advisory Council, and to allocate projects from the CAHF. More on those items, as well as a 4-1 vote to approve a rezoning on Grove Street Extended in future editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Support Town Crier Productions through Ting! Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

The final day of the month, and the final day of 2022’s first quarter. A lot has happened so far, and there’s still a lot more to go. Mathematically we are 24.66 percent of the way through the year, and for those who want to take the long view, we are 21.25 percent of the way through the 21st Century. It all adds up in this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign-up for free for as much material as I can manage to write! Payment is optional but very much supports continued production!On today’s program:People are warned to not come into contact with water in an urban stream in Charlottesville due to high levels of E. coli bacteriaThe director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is hopeful Crescent Halls can be reopened this year Charlottesville City Council will meet three days in a row beginning with tonight’s budget work sessionThe Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority gets an update on capacity in Albemarle’s northern growth areaFirst Patreon-fueled shout-out goes to the Charlottesville Area Tree StewardsIn today’s first Patreon-fueled Public Service Announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards are preparing to hold their first in-person tree sale since 2019. On April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards will open up their tree nursery at the Fontaine Research Park and will sell saplings of native trees, some of which are hard to find from commercial sources for between $5 and $15. There will be large trees from Birch to Sycamore, smaller trees from Blackgum to Witch Hazel, and shrubbery! Visit charlottesvilletreestewards.org to learn more!High bacteria levels in urban streamCharlottesville is warning the public to stay out of Pollocks Branch between Elliott Avenue and Rockland Avenue due to elevated levels of E. coli. Pollocks Branch is a waterway that travels south from downtown Charlottesville and is one of many locations monitored by the Rivanna Conservation Alliance.“E. coli is a type of fecal coliform bacteria and when it is found in water, it is a strong indicator of sewage or animal waste contamination which can cause disease or illness,” reads an announcement from the city. City officials are investigating the situation and advise that no one touches the water. Pollocks Branch runs underground from the Downtown Mall and underneath the Ix Art Park before daylighting at Elliott Avenue where it flows into Moores Creek. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality certifies the Rivanna Conservation Alliance’s monitoring efforts as a Level III which means the data can be used for official scientific purposes. The RCA has been monitoring bacteria since July 2012. Charlottesville City Council to hold retreat this weekendThe Charlottesville City Council will meet in-person for the first time in over two years tomorrow when they convene at CitySpace for a retreat. A limited amount of public spaces are available, but the event can be viewed via Zoom.The two-day retreat will be facilitated by the Virginia Institute of Government, a branch of the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia. On the agenda is a facilitated discussion of City Council goals and strategies, as well as an item called “Identify and Build Consensus for Priorities and Actions Items.” The retreat begins tomorrow at 4 p.m. and on Saturday at 10 a.m. (Friday meeting info) (Saturday meeting info)Tonight Council will meet at 6 p.m. for a budget work session. Read previous coverage courtesy of this Tweet thread. CHRA Director wants Crescent Halls reopened by AugustOn Monday, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Directors voted to approve a $12 million budget for the fiscal year that begins tomorrow. They also learned that at least one revenue source for the current fiscal year is coming in much lower than had been anticipated. The CRHA had expected there would be some residents at Crescent Halls while it was renovated, but a flood last summer changed the plan.“There was some knowledge as to what was going to happen but obviously with the flood it created a different wrinkle and deficit,” said Mary Lou Hoffman, CRHA’s finance director. The CRHA had budgeted $291,049 in yearly rent from Crescent Halls but only received $122,745. The building is currently unoccupied as crews work to renovate all apartments. CRHA Executive Director John Sales said the original plan had been to do to the renovation in stages and the budget had expected 70 units would be occupied at all times. “After that we emptied half the building and put them in hotels,” Sales said. However, Sales said insurance would not cover that expense long-term because the units that had been damaged were going to be renovated anyway. “Then we started having the conversation with the residents that were living in the building about the conditions of the building with half of the building being empty, the work that was going on on the other side with the walls being town down, applianced ripped out, and just the morale and how depressing it was living in a building with only four floors occupied and only half of those units occupied,” Sales said. Sales said some residents were moved to other public housing sites and others were given housing vouchers. The CRHA lost revenue not only from rent but from subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales said the project needs to be completed on time. “So I’ve been pushing the contractor that we’re not changing that August date,” Sales said. “We have to make that date work.”Sales said the first phase of South Street also needs to come online on time in order to meet the revenues that HUD officials are expecting. The federal agency considers CRHA to be a troubled agency. When Crescent Halls does come back online, not all of the units will be considered public housing units by HUD. Sales said the units will remain affordable. “At Crescent Halls you’re going to have your traditional public housing units, but then you’re also going to have the project-based voucher units where they will be higher rents but they’ll be subsidized with the voucher,” Sales said. Sales said under the vouchers, tenants would only have to pay thirty percent of their income toward rent.“So we can charge $1,000 for a one-bedroom unit while not impacting what the resident that is living in that unit can actually afford because the voucher is going to subsidize their rent above their 30 percent,” Sales said. “So if they make $1,000, their rent is going to be $300. The voucher would cover the $700.”For the public housing units, the CRHA can only charge what the tenant is able to pay. CRHA Board members also asked City Councilor Michael Payne to ask Council to waive the payment in lieu of tax that CRHA pays to the city each year. Payne said he would bring up the matter at tonight’s budget work session. See also: Public Housing projects move forward after Council talks on CRHA financial sustainability, CCDC property tax liability, October 4, 2022Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority turns 50 this JuneThe government entity responsible for providing drinking water and collecting and treating sewage will officially have to ask the state of Virginia for permission to continue existing. “Authorities are authorized for 50 years and then they have to be reauthorized,” said Bill Mawyer, the executive director of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority.The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority received its original authorization in June 1972, marking the 50th anniversary of the decision to create an authority to provide basic essentials for a growing urban community. “So a part of our celebration will be submitting resolutions to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and City Council to reauthorize the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority,” Mawyer said.The RWSA owns and operates facilities that serve the urban ring around Charlottesville as well as Scottsville and Crozet. Mawyer said the Beaver Creek Reservoir has recently been treated to bring down levels of algae. “It is the earliest we’ve seen that we’ve had an algae bloom at any of our reservoirs since our current staff have been around,” Mawyer said. “In the long term, we plan to have a hypolimnetic oxygenation system which is a pipe that goes along the bottom of the reservoir that bubbles air into the water and helps to oxygenate it to minimize the conditions that are conducive to algae blooms.”That pipe will be installed as part of the upgrade of the Beaver Creek Dam scheduled to take place next year. Another major capital project is a proposed waterline to connect drinking water from the Observatory Water Treatment Plant to other portions of the urban water system in Albemarle’s growth areas. Some have expressed concern about the route preferred by staff. RWSA officials have been meeting with neighborhood groups to explain its purpose and to discuss its path through the Fry’s Spring neighborhood along Cherry Avenue, 6th Street NE, and East High Street before connecting to a waterline that serves Pantops. “So the plan is that we’re going to collect all the information and feedback from the neighborhoods, assess it, get any feedback that Council may provide us or the Board of Supervisors and assimilate all that data and come back to the RWSA Board at the June meeting for the final location of the waterline,” Mawyer said. The project has an estimated cost of $31 million and may be further informed by the completion of a master plan for water infrastructure. Second shout-out goes to the JMRL Friends of the Library In today's second Patreon-fueled shout-out! Lovers of used books rejoice! The Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library is back again with their annual Spring Book Sale opening this Saturday through Sunday, April 10! The Friends of the Library sale will once again take place at Albemarle Square Shopping Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. There’s a special preview for members tomorrow from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and there’s still time to volunteer! Visit jmrlfriends.org to learn more! See you there! Planning for additional homes and businesses in northern Albemarle The RWSA Board of Directors were also briefed on whether there is enough capacity in Albemarle’s northern growth area to support additional homes such as at the University of Virginia’s North Fork Discovery park. There are also hundreds of homes coming online at Brookhill, RST Residences, North Fork, and other developments under construction. “What we’re looking at now is that these significant utility demands that are being proposed may force one of two options,” said Jennifer Whitaker, the RWSA’s chief engineer. “One is to accelerate the utility plan or require some phasing so that we don’t have an unmet need in the future.” According to a demand study from July 2020, current demand for the whole system is at 10.4 million gallons a day (MGD) and capacity can provide a safe yield of 12.8 MGD. “Every ten years we try to take a very strong look at what we know as a community about growth and development and use within our community and then we also take a look at what’s going on in our reservoirs,” Whitaker said. “We try to look at how the raw water supply and the finished supply match up.”Whitaker said there is enough water through 2060 as long as several parts of the Community Water Supply Plan are built by 2035. They are construction of a pipeline to connect the South Fork Rivanna and Ragged Mountain Reservoir and the raising of the pool at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir. Northern Albemarle is served by the North Fork Rivanna Water Treatment Plant which Whitaker said can effectively treat one million gallons a day. There’s a demand of about a half million gallons a day. The RWSA is planning to decommission the plant but has to first connect that area to water from the South Fork Rivanna Water Treatment Plant.  “Some of the growth demand at the North Fork Research Park and another northern Albemarle areas, the need has picked up and we’re now looking at that plan and trying to figure out how to sequence it to meet that need,” Whitaker said. Wastewater flows via gravity to the Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and Whitaker said improvements to what’s known as the Powell Creek Interceptor are currently slated for some time between 2045 and 2065. “As we evaluate future growth in this area we’re looking at potentially having to accelerate that as well,” Whitaker said.Whitaker said the RWSA is working with the University of Virginia Foundation and the county as a rezoning for the North Fork park makes its way through the approvals process. They’ve asked for a maximum potential of 1,400 homes there. UVA has announced that some of these units will count toward UVA President Jim Ryan’s goal to build up to 1,500 affordable housing units. “Ultimately we will be able to serve all of it but the question is how quickly will we allow them to bring that online,” Whitaker said. The other two locations for affordable housing are on Fontaine Avenue at the Piedmont housing site as well as Wertland Street. There was no action at the meeting, but certainly a lot to pay attention to into the future.Support Town Crier Productions!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to an appropriately named month, one that marks the beginning of meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s a phrase I’ve not known until today, nor did I know that the equinox in three weeks marks the beginning of vernal spring. There is so much to be learned about the world around us, and every installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement seeks to bring a little of it to your attention. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.Sign up for free to make sure you get all of the information, and decide whether to pay later! On today’s program:Governor Youngkin issues his first veto, and a round-up of bills that have not passed the General Assembly The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority agrees to issue $23 million in bonds for a California firm to renovate Midway Manor An international panel releases new information about the efforts to slow the rise in global temperaturesFirst shout-out goes to the Rivanna Conservation AllianceIn today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance wants wildlife and nature photographers to enter their first-ever photography contest! They want high-resolution photos related to the Rivanna watershed and the winning entries will be displayed at the 2022 Riverfest Celebration on May 1. The two categories are 16 and under, and those over the age of 17. You can send in two entries, and the work may be used to supplement Rivanna Conservation Alliance publications. For more information, visit rivannariver.org.Governor Youngkin vetoes Arlington police auditor billArlington County will not be able to appoint an independent auditor to monitor the police department with the same powers as a civilian review board. Governor Glenn Youngkin has vetoed HB670 which would have granted the Arlington County Board that ability. The measure passed the House of Delegates on a 65 to 35 vote and the Senate on a much closer 21 to 19 vote. In his veto statement, Youngkin said such a move would grant too much power without appropriate protections for law enforcement officers. “Investing in a single politically-appointed individual the power of judge, jury, and executioner without any input from law-enforcement officers or delineated qualifications for such [an] individual constitutes an undue burden for those who protect and serve the community,” Youngkin wrote in his statement. More on the General Assembly later on in this newsletter. IPCC releases new reportA new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that rising global temperatures are causing disruptions for nature and humanity across the planet. A working group of scientists from 195 nations gathered for two weeks to review and approve Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. “The world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5°C (2.7°F),” reads a press release for the report. “Even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible. Risks for society will increase, including to infrastructure and low-lying coastal settlements.”The report urges continued work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and suggests ways this can be done while improving people’s lives, but also points out that growing urbanization and social inequality will hasten the problem. The full report is 3,675 pages long but the technical summary is a bit more manageable at 96 pages. I suspect most readers and listeners will opt for the 36-page summary for policymakers. “This report has a particular focus on transformation16 and system transitions in energy; land, ocean, coastal and freshwater ecosystems; urban, rural and infrastructure; and industry and society,” reads the introduction to that summary. “These transitions make possible the adaptation required for high levels of human health and wellbeing, economic and social resilience, ecosystem health, and planetary health.” For more information on what local and state governments are doing to meet their greenhouse reduction goals, here are some resources:Albemarle Climate Protection webpageCharlottesville Climate Protection webpageUniversity of Virginia SustainabilityVirginia Coastal Resilience Master PlanYesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case that challenges the power of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Read the transcript of the argument here or listen to the oral arguments. Read one account of how it went on Bloomberg Law.  CRHA approves $23 million in bonds for Midway Manor renovations The Board of Commissioners for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority has taken the first step toward issuing up to $23 million in bonds for a California-based company to renovate Midway Manor in a way that will keep existing affordability requirements in place. “This is a 98-unit elderly affordable housing development on Ridge Street very close to the Greyhound station and the proposal is to issue some bonds to assist with the financing of a comprehensive renovation of this project,” said Delphine Carnes, the legal counsel for the CRHA.Standard Communities closed on their $16.45 million acquisition of Midway Manor on January 13. They say that the current affordability levels will be maintained, and common spaces and amenities will be upgraded. They’re asking the CRHA to issue “exempt facility” bonds to renovate the 98 units. No new market-rate units would be added. “The role of the housing authority in this particular project is as a conduit bond issuer,” Carnes said. That means the CRHA would not have any obligations for the property, and neither CRHA or the City of Charlottesville would be responsible for paying back the bonds. Carnes said there were benefits to issuing the bonds. “First, they ensure the continued renovation and redevelopment of affordable housing units in the City of Charlottesville which is very complementary to your own mission but it doesn’t cost you a dime,” Carnes said. “As a matter of fact, it creates some revenue to you because you are receiving a fee for being the issuer of these bonds.” Carnes did not have a number on hand at the public hearing, but said the funding could be used for any purpose by the CRHA. The CRHA will need to approve the project once more after the bond documents are finalized. Steven Kahn is a director with Standard Communities. During the public hearing, he acknowledged that many do not know what his company does. “We’ve got about 13,000 units of affordable housing across the country in 19 different states,” Kahn said. “This will be our first project in Charlottesville but hopefully not our last as we see to it that we try to do our business the right way and always get invited back for repeat performances and we’ve done that very successfully across the country.”Kahn called Midway Manor a tremendous asset that has served a population in need of housing and a need for certainty. The current affordability requirements are running out. “And our intentions with Midway Manor are to take the federal rental subsidy contract that does expire in a couple of years and renew that for as long as the [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] to do so which is at present is a 20-year contract,” Kahn said. “And in partnership also work with [Virginia Housing Development Authority] to receive an allocation of four percent low-income housing tax credits which will allow us in partnership with these bonds to do a very extensive renovation of the property.” Kahn said the renovations would be expansive with full upgrades of interiors as well as an energy-efficient retrofit of heating and cooling systems and electric systems. The specifics of how renovation will work are not yet available, but Kahn said the hope is to not relocate tenants while the work is done over an 18-month period. “We’ve got a tremendous amount of experience doing that,” Kahn said. “North of ten thousand units completing renovations without displacing residents, even during the renovation process.” The executive director of the Public Housing Association of Residents asked for careful consideration of the issuance of the bonds. “I’ve spoken with two resident leaders at Midway Manor and their desire is to come to an answer as expeditiously as possible about the status of the building,” said Shelby Marie Edwards. “To be clear, I know CRHA does not own the building. And if anybody can help them make sure the units are affordable and that the building is upgrade and becoming of our citizens they would be grateful for the help. They are looking for the answer to the question: What’s going to happen to the resident. Where are we going?”Kahn said Standard Communities is a “high-touch” organization when it plans for these projects to make sure residents know what is going on. He said there will be a kickoff meeting for residents when the project is closer to moving forward. “Miscommunication or misinformation spreads very quickly through communities and we try to make sure that it is not something we are a part of,” Kahn said. Kahn said they are hoping to close the sale of the bonds this summer and get started with construction soon after. In the meantime, he said there were a number of issues that Standard Communities know need to be fixed. “There are a lot of things that we became aware of during our due diligence of the property that need some attention before then,” Kahn said. “We’ve put those underway. Elevator modernization is one of them. I know there [are] some concerns with the intercom system at the entryway.” The five CRHA Commissioners who were present on the virtual meeting voted unanimously to authorize the bond issuance. It is important to note that the Low Income Housing Tax Credits are in a separate category than the competitive ones that are being sought for other projects in the area. “The four percent LIHTC pool is noncompetitive while the nine percent pool is very competitive,” said John Sales, executive director of the CRHA. Sales said Council will also have to approve the issuance of the bonds. More from the CRHA meeting in a future version of the program.Second shout-out goes to an arboreal event at the Virginia Festival of the Book In today’s second subscriber-supported Public Service Announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards wants to draw your attention to a Virginia Festival of the Book event coming up on March 16. Michelle Nijhuis will lead a virtual conversation on “Seeing Trees, Saving the Great Forests”. Nijhuis will speak with forest scientists and preservationists Meg Lowman and John Reid. Lowman is the author of The Arbornaut: A Life Discovering the Eighth Planet in the Trees Above Us. Reid is the co-author of Ever Green: Saving Big Forests to Save the Earth. The event on March 16 begins at noon. To register, visit vabook.org. General Assembly update:  Divided government edition The 2022 Virginia General Assembly has just over two weeks left to go, and the pattern remains much of the same. Many bills that narrowly passed in one House of the bicameral legislature are now being defeated in committees of the other, a clear sign of divided government. Let’s go through some of those today. A Senate bill (SB27) to expand the Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit was tabled by the House Appropriations Committee. A Senate bill (SB290) to require local and state government agencies to construct energy efficient roofs on new public buildings failed to report out of the House General Laws Committee on a 10 to 12 vote. A Senate bill (SB559) to require more disclosure from registered lobbyists was tabled in the General Laws Committee on a 12 to 9 vote. Senate Bill 576 would have allowed betting on Virginia college sports, but it was tabled in the House General Laws Committee on an 18 to 4 vote. A Senate bill (SB310) that would have prohibited plastic guns and made their sales or posession a Class 5 felony was tabled in the House Public Safety Committee on a 12 to 10 vote. This had passed the Senate on a 22 to 18 vote. Now over to the Senate. House Bill 1301 would have directed the Department of Environmental Quality to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. It passed the House of Delegates on a 52 to 48 vote, but was tabled in the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committee on an 8 to 7 vote.Another bill that would have watered down the Air Pollution Control Board’s requirements for renewable energy had passed the House of Delegates on a 53 to 47 vote, but was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on a nine to five vote. (SB81)A bill that would have required parental notification of the use of any sexually explicit materials in public school failed to report from the Senate Education and Health Committee on a 7 to 8 vote. (HB1009)A bill to advance Governor Glenn Younkgin’s Lab School initiative was passed by indefinitely by the Senate Education and Health Committee on a 9 to 6 vote. (HB356)House Bill 539 would have required public colleges and universities to notify would-be students that they could be disqualified by “certain criminal convictions.” That bill was passed by indefinitely in the Senate Education and Health Committee. Localities would not have been allowed to require contractors to provide certain benefits if HB58 had passed. The Senate General Laws and Technology Committee passed this by indefinitely on an 8 to 7 vote.Virginia’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will retain that name. HB1300 would have required the renaming to Director of Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion was passed by indefinitely on an 8 to 7 vote. Currently law-enforcement officers who are in a community with a police civilian review board are subject to a different interpretation of the Law-Enforcement Officers Procedural Guarantee Act. HB70 would have changed that, and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed that by indefinitely on a 9 to 6 vote. Law enforcements will continue to not be allowed to stop motorists for minor infractions. House Bill 79 would have removed those provisions passed by a Democrat-led General Assembly and it passed the Republican-run House of Delegates on a 52 to 45 vote. The Cemocrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee passed this by indefinitely on a 9 to 6 vote.Currently if you have a firearm stolen from you, you must report that to a law-enforcement agency. House Bill 325 would have dropped that requirement by the Senate Judiciary Committee passed this by indefinitely on an 8 to 7 vote. Other House bills related to firearms were also defeated. One would have repealed a recently passed law that allows firearms to be removed from the possession of people deemed to be a risk (HB509). Localities will also continue to be able to prohibit firearms in public places (HB827). Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Two is the only even prime number, an odd fact to point out on this February 22, 2022. We are twenty days past the predictions of large rodents and less than a month away from the spring equinox. Time does move fast, but we’re still only 14.5 percent of the way through the year. Oh, the things you’ll learn in every installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement! I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. On today’s program:Albemarle County Supervisors discuss incentives for developers to build housing units below market rateMidway Manor may have a new future in which part of the downtown Charlottesville property will remain age and income restrictedA round-up of planning for other affordable housing projects in Charlottesville Albemarle County wants state regulators to require CenturyLink’s successor to maintain old copper telephone linesAnd Charlottesville wants the public to get a zoning 101Patreon-fueled shout-out to LEAPWhen you think of romance, you might not immediately think of energy efficiency - but the folks at LEAP think keeping your family comfortable at home is a great way to show you care during the month of love. Your local energy nonprofit wants to make sure you are getting the most out of your home all year round, and LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If someone in your household is age 60 or older, or you have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!Pandemic update: Percent positivity below ten percentThe waning of the omicron surge of COVID-19 continues as the Virginia Department of Health reports a seven-day average of positive PCR tests of 9.6 percent, below ten percent for the first time since December 21. Case loads are still high, with a seven-day average of 2,423 new cases a day. Today the Blue Ridge Health District reports another 168 new cases. Deaths associated with the omicron surge continue to be recorded. As of today there have been 401 total COVID deaths in the Blue Ridge Health District and 18,230 statewide over the past 23 months. Albemarle County offers comments on transfer of CenturyLink assets to LumenThis week, the State Corporation Commission is holding two meetings on a petition from Lumen Technologies to take over control of CenturyLink. Among the public comments submitted so far is the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors who sent a letter on February 10 summarizing concerns they made to Lumen officials at a January 12 meeting. As part of the deal, the new company would acquire copper-based assets and the county wants to make sure that service continues. (hearing webpage)“Many of our vulnerable communities live in the rural areas of our county, where topography and distance often preclude cellular coverage,” the letter reads. “For these residents, this copper-plant is a vital lifeline for accessing 911 service, particularly during and after severe weather events.” The letter also includes dozens of complaints about CenturyLink service for “terrible and ineffective customer service” and for a lack of maintenance of older equipment. (letter and complaints) (second set of complaints)For anyone interested in learning more, there is a whole repository of documents available for public review, including Lumen’s petition to the SCC. Midway Manor subject of new affordable housing developmentThe Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will hold a public hearing next Monday on the issuance of up to $23 million in bonds that would be used by a California-based company to redevelop Midway Manor. In January, the property sold for $16.5 million, more than double its 2022 assessment of $7.5 million. According to a legal notice published in the Daily Progress, the new company has requested the CRHA issue up the exempt facility bonds “to assist the Applicant in financing or refinancing a portion of the costs of acquiring, constructing, renovating, rehabilitating and equipping an age restricted affordable housing development to be known as Midway Manor Apartments, to consist of 94 one-bedroom units and 4 two-bedroom units.”The notice states in capital letters that taxpayer funds will not be sought to pay back any of the debt that Standard Midway Manor Venture LP will incur. To learn more about exempt facility bonds, visit the Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School. Since February 1, Midway Manor is now under management by the Franklin Johnston Group. Financing of the houses is provided by the U.S. Department of Housing through the Section 8 program, which bases rents on the income of tenants. In an email this morning, CRHA Executive Director John Sales said the agency’s only role will be to issue the bonds. Low-Income Housing Tax Credit applications underwayWe are in the season when providers of affordable housing are preparing applications for Low Income Housing Tax Credits in advance of a March deadline. Summaries have been sent to the agency formerly known as the Virginia Housing Development Authority and that’s required notifications to localities. (read all of the summaries)Piedmont Housing Alliance is seeking credits for 30 rental units at the Monticello Area Community Action Agency property on Park Street. These will be four one bedroom units, 22 two bedroom units, and four three bedroom units. The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority seeks credits from the housing authority pool for 60 units for Phase 1A of the Sixth Street redevelopment with half of them being one bedroom and the other half being two bedroom units. This is separate from Phase 1 of the Sixth Street redevelopment, for which CRHA is seeking credits from the housing authority pool for 44 units with eight of them one bedroom, 20 two bedroom units, and 16 three bedroom units. CRHA is also seeking credits for 113 units in the second phase of redevelopment of South First Street. These would replace existing units and would consist of 19 one bedroom units, 38 two bedroom units, 26 three bedroom units, 15 four bedroom units, and 15 with more than four bedrooms. Last week, the company that is constructing the development of Friendship Court issued a press release announcing the groundbreaking from January. The firm Harkins is based in Columbia, Maryland. “Friendship Court’s redevelopment will be the largest construction of low-income housing for the area in over 20 years,” reads the release. “A multi-phased project, Phase 1 will consist of 106 units with buildings 1 and 2 totaling 35 stacked townhome-style units, while building 3 will include a one-level structured parking garage and three levels as a wood-framed, center corridor apartment building.” The project is being built to Passive House standards and will be Harkins’ third such project. Charlottesville releases Zoning 101 presentationThe next new information in Charlottesville’s rewrite of the zoning code won’t be available until mid-April when staff and Rhodeside & Harwell will publish a document with an inventory of the existing housing stock versus what could be built under the new future Land Use Map. This will take the form of a Diagnosis report and an Approach report. In the meantime, the city and the Cville Plans Together team has published a new page to provide an education on what the zoning process is all about. “Today’s zoning also has a number of flaws and barriers to development previously identified by City planning staff, elected and appointed officials, and others,” reads the Cville Plans Together website. “This process is an opportunity to cure these flaws and remove the barriers to the kind of development that is described in the updated Comprehensive Plan.” In January, a group of anonymous Charlottesville property owners filed suit in Charlottesville Circuit Court seeking to overturn the validity of the Comprehensive Plan. Read more in my January 12, 2022 story on that lawsuit. Shout-out to the Charlottesville Jazz Society In today’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement: The Charlottesville Jazz Society at cvillejazz.org is dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and perpetuation of all that  jazz, and this Sunday the Society is sponsoring the return of Jane Bunnett and her all-female band from Cuba, Maqueque. A concert will be held at 7 p.m. at Unity of Charlottesville where Maqueque will play music from their latest release On Firm Ground/Tierra Firme. Get tickets online with discounts for students or members of the Charlottesville Jazz Society.Albemarle Supervisors discuss incentive package for housing Last July, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted a housing plan that seeks to increase the number of units guaranteed to be rented or sold below the market rate. Housing Albemarle was adopted without a system of incentives to developers to keep those prices lower than they otherwise would be. That came back to the Board on February 16. Albemarle Housing Coordinator Stacy Pethia has suggested creation of an overlay district in the zoning code that would allow for reduced fees and other waivers in exchange for creating lower-priced units. “We did engage with developers and we had four meetings with developers between June and October of last year,” Pethia said. “During the first two meetings, staff listened to developer concerns and discussed housing policy goals. Based on that feedback collected during those meetings and research into incentive programs implemented in localities within Virginia and across the country, staff developed a list of potential incentives that could be in a package.”The overlay would be restricted to Albemarle’s development areas and would be optional, meaning developers would not have to participate. If they did, there would be the possibility of many ways their bottom line could be assisted. “They would offer a bonus density, reduction in building permit fees, and flexibility in design and parking standards,” Pethia said. The overlay would also allow developers to bypass the zoning process in some places if they build to the maximum density allowed in the Comprehensive Plan. At a minimum, twenty percent of units would need to be kept below market rate at levels identified in Housing Albemarle. “And the number of affordable units to be required would be calculated prior to applying the density bonus,” Pethia said. “This would provide developers with additional market rate units to help offset the cost of making the affordable units available. The incentive plan will also address a gap in Albemarle’s current policy by creating a waiting list of people who will qualify for below-market opportunities based on their income. “It’s really difficult to market the affordable units to income-qualified households and that’s really an important issue,” Pethia said. “It has meant that many of our for-sale units in particular have turned market-rate without being purchased by income-qualified households.” In public comments before the discussion, Neil Williamson of the Free Enterprise Forum wanted waivers for affordable housing projects to be mandatory rather than at the discretion of staff. “The reality is that Albemarle’s fast diminishing development areas where the easiest parcels to develop have been developed,” Williamson said. “That means parcels left to develop will likely require a special use permit. While the policy anticipates this reality, the opportunity for staff denial is too great.” Williamson also said he wanted more robust incentives such as expansion of the development area as well as the county paying the hook-up fees to the Albemarle County Service Authority for water and sewer. “Considering the importance of affordable housing to the community, certainly providing $20,000 per affordable unit is not too much to ask,” Williamson said. That would be expensive to the county. Pethia said the recent approval of Premier Circle, Rio Point, and RST Residences created 414 below-market units. If the developers were to be 100 percent reimbursed, that would cost the county $5.6 million. Supervisors were asked if they supported the idea of an overlay. Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley said she did, but not want to expand past a certain area.“I for one do not want to see development go into the rural areas and to keep development in the development area,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. Supervisor Chair Donna Price (Scottsville District) said there will come a point in time when that boundary will be adjusted, but not yet.“We’re already at the point where we have to fill in more, build up higher, or we have to expand the development areas so it’s important for community members to understand we have to look at ways to try and achieve all of our objectives which includes as long as possible limiting the amount of the development area,” Price said. Price was also skeptical of reducing parking standards at this time. “We do not have a comprehensive transportation system that can get everyone throughout the community wherever they need to do,” Price said. Supervisors approved the Rio Point on 27 acres in late December which will see a total of 328 units in an apartment complex on land that is currently undeveloped. That’s in the Rio District which is represented by Supervisor Ned Gallaway. He had looked at the draft calculation for bonus density. “So Rio Point, if I’m understanding the answer, would have allowed 1,300 units the way the math was done?” Gallaway asked Pethia.“That is correct,” Pethia said. That would be based on provisions in other programs that grant a 45 percent increase in density based on the gross density. The actual calculations will change as the incentive package is further tweaked.Gallaway suggested having the overlay apply only in certain parts of the county, such as those already identified in small area plans such as the Rio Road plan.  However, he added he is not opposed to any ideas at this point in the development of the incentives. Supervisor Jim Andrews (Samuel Miller District) said he wanted staff to take a deeper look into the results that have happened in other communities that have created developer incentives. “I would be really interested in hearing more about looking not only at what they’re doing but how successful they are at what they’re doing,” Andrews said. “Loudoun County’s proposals for example, their program I guess has been in place long enough to have a little bit of history. It looks to me like it’s having some success. Those are the ones we want to emulate if we can, if they work for our circumstances.”Supervisor Ann Mallek (White Hall) said she needed more information and for detail. “I am very concerned about an overlay that applies to every piece of direct because there is a great difference between the capability of one lot versus another to actually accomplish something and have a product where people would want to live,” Mallek said. Staff will return to the board with more information at a later date but Supervisor Gallaway pointed out that the package’s adoption will take until after the one year anniversary of the adopting of Housing Albemarle. General Assembly updateWith just over three weeks to go, action is moving fast in the General Assembly, with bills that passed in one house with a close partisan vote now meeting their fate in committee meetings. These include:The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee  killed a bill yesterday to cap the minimum wage at $11 an hour. The vote was 11 to 4. (HB296)That committee also defeated a bill to not move forward with subsequent increases mandated by a previous General Assembly. That vote was 12 to 3. (HB320)A bill to allow employers to pay less than the minimum wage if they have fewer than ten employees was also defeated 12 to 3. (HB1040)Bills to restrict collective bargaining by public employees were also defeated. (HB336) (HB337) (HB341) (HB883)The Senate Committee on Education and Health ended consideration of a bill that would made it easier for School Boards to dismiss new teachers by extending probationary periods. (HB9)The Senate Judiciary Committee defeated a bill that would have reduced penalties for violating the state’s concealed weapon laws on a 10 to 5 vote. (HB11)On a 8 to 7 vote, the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee ended consideration of a bill that would have required the parole board to review the transcript of the trial for each incarcerated person up for parole. (HB435)Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

We’re now over a month past the solstice and I can assure you that there’s more light in our day and there will be an end to winter. For now, there certainly is a lot of cold and it’s a shame there’s no way to conduct a harvest. I’m Sean Tubbs and I spend my time indoors with the curtains drawn pouring through meetings and agendas to bring you Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that wants you to keep track of the sky. On today’s show:Legislation to allow Charlottesville to hold a referendum on a one percent sales tax  increase for education has passed the SenateCharlottesville needs more time to respond to a lawsuit from a former city managerAlbemarle County begins the redistricting process and may accelerate it due to a pending federal lawsuit that could force House of Delegates races this NovemberCharlottesville’s public housing body is briefed on back rent owed by a third of tenants, and the city wants proposals for three quarters of a million dollars in affordable housing moneyFirst Patreon-fueled shout-out:With winter weather here, now is the time to think about keeping your family warm through the cold Virginia months. Make sure you are getting the most out of your home with help from your local energy nonprofit, LEAP. LEAP wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round, and offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!Pandemic updateAs Virginia policy on COVID mitigation strategies continues to change with a new Governor, the numbers continue to come in. Today the Virginia Department of Health reports another 10,699 new cases and the seven day-percent positivity is at 29.5 percent. While the trend this week is downward, these numbers are still higher than at most points during the pandemic. In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are another 350 new cases reported today and the seven-day average for new positive tests is at 25.1 percent. There have been four new fatalities reported since Friday in the district. Augusta Health and the University of Virginia Health System are pleading with members of the public to get a COVID vaccination and a booster to reduce strain on the medical infrastructure. “After two years and four surges, COVID-19 has tragically claimed the lives and health of too many in our communities,” reads a joint press release from both entities. “Our care teams are exhausted, both physically and mentally.”The release points out that the vast majority of hospitalized patients are unvaccinated and urges people to get the booster. It also asks people to continue wearing a mask in public but to upgrade to one that is medical grade as opposed to a cloth mask.Richardson lawsuit updateThe city of Charlottesville has asked for more time to respond to a federal lawsuit from former City Manager Tarron Richardson. Richardson filed a civil rights suit in November in the Western District of Virginia against Council and four individuals claiming he was discriminated against after members of Council broke a non-disparagement clause. He was also barred from publishing an op-ed in the Daily Progress. Charlottesville asked for an extension to respond to the argument, and Judge Norman K. Moon has given them until February 16.  See also: Former City Manager Sues Charlottesville, November 24, 2021Chamber of Commerce welcomes new membersThree new people have been added to the Board of Directors for the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce.Eric Mayberry is the president of the Daily Progress as well as director of sales and local marketing. Jonathan Chasen is a private wealth financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors. Rebecca Ivins is a client solutions manager for Hourigan, a construction company that has worked on several projects in Charlottesville including the Dairy Central building, the CODE building, and the Apex building. Charlottesville sales tax bill clears Virginia SenateHere’s a snapshot of where the General Assembly was at the close of business yesterday. The Senate has passed 37 bills, and the House of Delegates of Delegates has passed three, all three of which deal with insurance. So let’s focus today on the 40-member Chamber, where Senator Chap Petersen’s bill to permit hunting on Sunday passed the full Senate on a 29 to 11 vote (SB8). Both Charlottesville and Isle of Wight County are one step closer to being able to hold a referendum for a one percent sales tax increase to support education. SB37 for Isle of Wight County passed on a 27 to 12 vote. SB298 for Charlottesville passed on a 28 to 12 vote. Another bill would allow all localities in Virginia to hold such a referendum also passed on a 28 to 12 vote (SB472). Other bills that have passed the Senate:Legislation to allow employers to offer rewards to people who get the COVID-19 vaccine through their health insurance wellness program has passed on a 19 to 17 vote (SB42)A bill to direct the Department of Health to create a prescription drug awareness program in conjunction with the Board of Pharmacy passed unanimously. (SB14)A locality’s planning commission would have up to 100 days to make a recommendation on a Comprehensive Plan amendment under a bill that passed the Senate on a 26 to 14 vote. (SB35)Candidates for constitutional officers for localities would be required to identify their party registration if the House agrees to (SB39) and Governor Youngkin signs it. The Senate voted 25 to 15.  The Senate unanimously approved a bill to float $101 million in bonds for projects at Virginia Tech and James Madison University (SB93).Juvenile and Domestic Courts could waive the requirement for the ceremonial occasion when a minor gets a driver’s license if SB139 if the House agrees. The Senate passed it unanimously. (SB139)Candidates for public office would have to file campaign finance reports electronically under SB222, which passed the Senate unanimously. Another bill to expand required disclosures for who pays for campaign advertisements also passed the Senate on a 23 to 15 vote (SB318). Finally for the Senate, a bill to allow Arlington County to appoint an independent police auditor passed on a 21 to 19 vote (SB388). Second Patreon-fueled shout out goes to WTJUAlgorithms know how to put songs and artists together based on genre or beats per minute. But only people can make connections that engage your mind and warm your heart. The music on WTJU 91.1 FM is chosen by dozens and dozens of volunteer hosts -- music lovers like you who live right here in the Charlottesville area. Listener donations keep WTJU alive and thriving. In this era of algorithm-driven everything, go against the grain. Support freeform community radio on WTJU and get ready for the Folk Marathon, beginning on February 7. Consider a donation at wtju.net/donate.Public housing agency owed $100K in unpaid rent At last night’s meeting of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, one Commission noted that there is a great deal of unpaid rent on the agency’s books.“We have roughly a third of our public housing residents not paying their rent,” said John Sales, the CRHA’s executive director. In all, the CRHA is owed about $100,000 in back rent but Sales said that’s not the only financial hit public housing takes as a result because a federal match cannot be made. “And CRHA is not receiving the rental subsidy on it which negatively impacts the overall financial standing of the housing authority,” Sales said. The CRHA has been redirecting other funds towards covering the shortfall with grant funding covering April, May and half of June from last year. Sales said continuing lack of rent payment continues to trouble the federal government.“[The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] is calling it out at every meeting and asks where we are doing to address it,” Sales said. The CRHA’s fiscal year ends on March 31. Sales said the agency is hiring an eviction prevention coordinator and housing stabilization position soon to work with families.“There is a policy now where the housing authority has to work with the families before moving forward with any eviction proceeding to at least get them to attempt to get the rent relief program,” Sales said. Sales said eviction is a last resort. The average rental payment is $247 a month and the monthly operating expense to run CRHA is currently $265,927. HUD considered CRHA to be a “troubled” agency and there will be an audit on March 16. At the meeting, former Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker was officially appointed to serve on the CRHA’s redevelopment committee in an at-large capacity.City seeking affordable housing proposals Since 2007, Charlottesville has had an affordable housing fund to help create and preserve affordable housing units. Today they’ve begun the process of soliciting proposals for how to use $750,000 from the current fiscal year’s capital budget. The notice for funding availability (NOFA) refers to the affordable housing plan adopted by Council last March. “This Plan recommends that the City make a strong and recurring financial commitment to address housing needs in Charlottesville in order to increase the number of subsidized affordable homes by 1,100 homes, preserve existing 600 existing subdidized affordable homes, and stabilize 1,800 to 2,000 owner and renter households facing housing instability,” reads the application.The application comes at a time when the firm HR&A continues to work on an audit of how the housing fund has been used. They gave a preliminary report to Council on December 20 that states the city has not tracked how the $38 million in local funds have been used to date. The current capital improvement program budget for this year includes $1.5 million for CHRA redevelopment, $900,000 for the supplemental rental assistance program, and over $3 million for the redevelopment of Friendship Court. The budget actually shows a line item of $925,000 for the housing fund this year. Questions are out but the answers will come in a future edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. See also: Council briefed on affordable housing funds, December 31, 2021Goldman lawsuit prompting Albemarle to consider expedited redistricting scheduleThe redistricting process in Albemarle County got underway last night with an information session on how it will work out. Guidelines require magisterial districts to be contained with Virginia’s legislative and Congressional lines. Under the new maps approved in late December by the Virginia Supreme Court, Albemarle falls entirely within the new 11th Senate District.“Albemarle County falls into two different Virginia House of Delegates districts, the 54th which is basically the urban ring around the city of Charlottesville and then the 55th which is the majority of the county,” said Anthony Bessette, the Senior Assistant County Attorney.There’s a slight glitch when it comes to the new House of Representatives maps.“Almost all of Albemarle County is in the 5th District but there is a tiny sliver up [north] that is in the 7th District,” Bessette said. There’s even a Twitter account for the sliver. Since 2010, Albemarle’s population grew by 13,385 people according to the Census but the growth isn’t even.“Rio and White Hall grew a great deal whereas on the other hand Scottsville did not grow at the same pace,” Bessette said. That means the Rio District and White Hall districts will need to be reduced in size and others will need to be expanded. In December, Supervisors approved preliminary guidelines that would keep their number at six. “The determination of whether to have six supervisors, five, four, seven, eight, etc, is a local decision that the Board of Supervisors gets to make,” Bessette said. Because of a federal lawsuit that may force an election for the House of Delegates this year, staff is now recommending an accelerated schedule in order to prepare for potential primaries in June. “Long story short on that is that timeline would see the process compressed further to begin on February 2 and end on March 23,” Bessette said. Attorney Paul Goldman has filed suit against the state Board of Elections arguing that the current districts for the House of Delegates are unconstitutional because they are out of date. Goldman filed a brief on January 18 in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and attorneys for the Board of Elections have until January 28 to file additional materials. Public comment on redistricting will be taken at their February 2 meeting. The maps that have been developed so far were not shown to the public at the information session. Registrar Jake Washburne said three maps are being proposed. “We are planning to send those to the Board of Supervisors so they can be placed on the Board of Supervisors’ agenda for February 2,” Washburne said.  If you want to submit written comments:Richard J. WashburneGeneral Registrar Albemarle County Department of Voter Registration and Elections 1600 5th Street Charlottesville VA 22902 rwashburne@albemarle.orgThanks for reading!For ways to support this newsletter visit Information Charlottesville. Please send this on to someone else so we can grow the audience. Please let me know if you have questions! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Today is the longest day of the year, but we are now past the astronomical point of the year known in the northern hemisphere as the Winter Solstice. There are now 182 days of increasing amounts of light until the summer when the yo-yo parabolas back to where we are today. Between now and then, Charlottesville Community Engagement will be here to document some of what happens along the way. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. This is the 298th edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. To receive #299 and many more, sign-up for free and decide later whether to help cover the costs! On today’s show:City Councilor Heather Hill and Mayor Nikuyah Walker say goodbye to public officeGovernor-elect Youngkin appoints an entrepreneur as Commerce SecretaryCharlottesville’s public housing body has a public hearing on the annual planBills to reduce some restrictions on firearms are filed in the General Assembly Some portions of Virginia are now on drought watchIn today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out:Algorithms know how to put songs and artists together based on genre or beats per minute. But only people can make connections that engage your mind and warm your heart. The music on WTJU 91.1 FM is chosen by dozens and dozens of volunteer hosts -- music lovers like you who live right here in the Charlottesville area. Listener donations keep WTJU alive and thriving. In this era of algorithm-driven everything, go against the grain. Support freeform community radio on WTJU. Consider a donation at wtju.net/donate.Pandemic updateThe Virginia Department of Health reports the largest one-day total of new COVID-19 cases since early February, when the 2020 holiday surge was beginning to recede. That’s 4,437 cases reported, bringing the seven-day average to 3,575. The seven-day percent positivity is 9.6 percent today, continuing an upwards trend. These numbers are also consistent with where Virginia was in the middle of September. Seventy-eight of those new cases are in the Blue Ridge Health District where the percent positivity is 6.9 percent today. Every Friday, the VDH reports case rates by vaccination status. The latest report with data through December 11 shows that “unvaccinated people developed COVID-19 at a rate 4.2 times that of fully vaccinated people and 2.2 times that of partially vaccinated people.” Put another way: As of December 11, 5.65 million Virginians were fully vaccinated, and 1.3 percent of that number have developed COVID-19 and 0.0163 percent died. As of this past Friday, 1.8 million Virginians have received a booster or third dose.Council hires the Robert Bobb Group to run the cityNear the end of last night’s City Council meeting, Council voted 4-0 to hire the Robert Bobb Group of Washington D.C. to fulfill a contract to provide emergency management services. More details on that in a future newsletter. Mayor Nikuyah Walker abstained from the vote. Two firms applied and the city attorney is still working on the contract for ratification, according to City Council Clerk Kyna Thomas. Youngkin appoints Commerce SecretaryGovernor-elect Glenn Youngkin has appointed an entrepreneur to serve as his Secretary of Commerce and Trade. Caren Merrick is is the chief executive officer of the Virginia Ready Initiative, an workforce development firm formed in the spring of 2020 that seeks to “rapidly reskill Virginians for in-demand jobs.” In a statement, Youngkin said he intends to preside over an administration that adds 400,000 jobs and launch 10,000 start-ups. “Virginia’s jobs machine has stalled out, and Caren is going to play a pivotal role on the team that will jumpstart our economy and reinvigorate job growth here in the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said.According to the statement, Merrick has over 25 years of experience in business. The Virginia Ready Initiative sought to train people using “accelerated credential courses for in-demand skills in technology, healthcare, manufacturing and skilled trades.” Over 3,500 people have been through the process and a third have jobs, according to the release. Read through their annual report to find out more.More pre-filed General Assembly billsThe Virginia General Assembly meets in less than three weeks, and a steady stream of bills are being pre-filed. Here’s the latest:Incoming Delegate Tim Anderson (R-Virginia Beach) filed a bill that would allow school security officers to perform other duties if so assigned (HB8)Delegate Lee Ware (R-Powhatan) filed a bill giving school boards the option of extending probationary periods for new teachers (HB9)Anderson filed another bill prohibiting localities from charging registration fees for concealed handgun permits (HB10)Anderson’s third bill pre-filed on December 17 would reduce penalties for breaking concealed gun laws (HB11)Anderson’s fourth bill would limit the number of public entrances to public schools (HB12)Anderson’s first bill filed on December 20 would remove a prohibition under state law limiting citizens from purchasing more than one handgun a month (HB14)Ware also filed a bill on December 20 that would allow electoral boards more leeway in responding to Freedom of Information requests in certain situations (HB15)Public hearing for CRHA annual plan The city’s public housing agency held a public hearing last night on a federally-mandated document. “It’s for our policies, programs, operations, and strategies,” said Kathleen Glenn-Matthews, the deputy director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “They’re all put together in one place.” (See also: CRHA preparing annual plan review, November 18, 2021 Glenn-Matthews said the annual plan is a prerequisite for receiving capital funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “We talk about what residents’ concerns are,” Glenn-Matthews said. “It’s an opportunity for residents to get involved. We ask what individuals like and don’t like about their communities and it is a chance for us all to try to change and improve the rules. Most of all it’s an opportunity to set goals for the future.” Glenn-Matthews said the report explains how the CRHA is studying the possibility of issuing its own bonds to fund further redevelopment, as well as establishing a division in the agency that can manage various redevelopment and modernization projects. They can do so in part because of an infusion in direct investment from Charlottesville taxpayers. “The city will be providing about $15 million to CRHA for redevelopment and rental assistance in the next five years which will help to leverage funds, federal and non-federal, to maximize outcomes for redevelopment activities,” Glenn-Matthews said. CHRA must submit the plan to HUD by January 15. The Board of Commissioners will hold a work session on January 13, a meeting which will include a new representative from City Council. The CRHA fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31. The only speaker at the public hearing was Shelby Marie Edwards, the executive director of the Public Housing Association of Residents. This year, a decision was made to end security patrols of public housing sites. “We know that CRHA has adopted a camera policy and that they are being installed at some of the sites,” Edwards said. “However our hope is that we can have future conversations about reestablishing an in-person security service included but not limited to a door person over at Crescent Hall once the building is open.”  Glenn-Matthews said she received no written comments about the plan. Drought Watch in some parts of VirginiaThe Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued a drought watch advisory for portions of southern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. This is the first step in the process that could result in water restrictions being imposed by localities.“DEQ is notifying local governments, public water works and individual water users in the affected areas to minimize nonessential water use, review or develop local water conservation and drought contingency plans, and take actions consistent with those plans,” reads a release sent out this morning. This advisory does not apply to the Charlottesville area. The determination was made by the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force on December 17. “Significant portions of the Roanoke, Chowan, Middle James, Southeast Virginia and Eastern Shore drought evaluation regions have received less than fifty percent of normal precipitation over the last 60 days,” reads a portion of the 36-page report. The Task Force next meets on January 6. Time for a second Patreon-fueled shout-out:Winter is here, and now is the time to think about keeping your family warm through the cold Virginia months. Make sure you are getting the most out of your home with help from your local energy nonprofit, LEAP. LEAP wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round, and offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!Last Council meeting for Hill, Walker Another era of Charlottesville City Council has concluded with a long meeting last night with lots of votes and decisions. It may take a few newsletters to get through it all. Council met for nearly three hours in closed session before beginning the public session. They began by getting the public acknowledgment of the end of two terms. Vice Mayor Sena Magill introduced a resolution to honor outgoing Councilor Heather Hill and Mayor Nikuyah Walker. “Mayor Walker, you ran on a platform of unmasking the illusion, [and] being there for those who have not had a voice in many spaces,” Magill said. “I would like to thank you for being that voice for many others.” Magill lauded Walker for creating the Home to Hope program to assist people returning from incarceration. Magill also thanked Hill. “Thank you for the time that you have spent in these past four years connecting people in our community, for answering almost every email that has come through, and for often keeping many of us on track when we start going sideways down sporadic paths and trying to figure out exactly where we’re supposed to be or what we’re supposed to be doing exactly in that time.” Hill said she had mixed emotions about coming to the end of her term. She announced early in the year she would not seek a second. “The last four years have been uniquely challenging for Charlottesville,” Hill said. “This small city has carried a lot on its shoulders and I believe that these challenges have impacted the work that Council and staff have been able to accomplish. I acknowledge that there have been missteps and I’ve been part of some of those and take ownership of that. This will all weigh heavily on me. There was much more I was hoping that we could have made strides on before the end of this Council’s term that I would have had the opportunity to be part of.” Hill lamented a lack of collaboration between leaders and the community, but noted that this Council increased funding for affordable housing projects. For her introductory remarks, Walker quoted from the late bell hooks. “She says in this chapter that ‘progressive visionary leaders have always known that any action which liberates and renews oppressed exploited and Black people strengthens the nation as a whole,’” Walker said. “‘Not only do these actions provide a model for ending racism. They provide strategies for the overall healing of America.”Walker continued quoting from hooks including a passage about how personal attacks on visionary leaders take away from the wisdom those individuals offer. “Visionary leaders abound in our society,’” Walker continued quoting. “‘Many of them are women. Patriarchal thinking blocks recognition of the power of female wisdom and our words.” In other comments, Walker recalled being asked to run for office by former Councilor Holly Edwards, who was elected to one term in November 2007. She died in January 2017 and Walker decided to run after months of contemplation. “It was a commitment to her work and her vision for this community,” Walker said. “Holly used to say, and it wasn’t a joke, she was very serious. She used to say that we would get t-shirts made with our percentage of the population on it because of her concern that we would no longer exist here.” Walker said she almost quit last December, and decided not to run earlier this year after Police Chief Rashall Brackney was fired. (September 8, 2021 CCE)“I make no apologies for fighting for us to understand that there are people who suffer every day,” Walker said. Walker said she will continue to fight to dismantle what she calls systems of oppression. Three newcomers elected to the Charlottesville BARAfter the goodbyes were said, Council still had another five and a half hours of business. First up, they reappointed Cheri Lewis to the Board of Architectural Review and appointed Hunter Smith, Clayton Strange, and David Timmerman. Smith served briefly on the city Planning Commission in 2018 before resigning. More from City Council in a future newsletter. Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

We’re now less than a week away from the solstice, which takes place at precisely 10:59 a.m. on December 21 on the eastern coast of the United States. Until then we’ve got a few more days of lengthening night before the pendulum shifts back to light and the march to 2022 continues with new energy. Between now and then there will be a few installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement and this is the one for December 16, 2021. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.Charlottesville Community Engagement is a great way to find out about what’s happening and how you can get involved It’s free to sign-up, but there are many opportunities to support the work!On today’s show:Brian Pinkston and Juandiego Wade are officially sworn in as City Councilors, as well as members of the Charlottesville School BoardVirginia Tech and a Richmond consortium have both been awarded half-million grants for economic development A pair of transit updates, including the fact that Charlottesville Area Transit will remain fare-free for four years The Charlottesville Planning Commission provides direction on Charlottesville’s next capital budget In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. COVID UpdateThe number of new COVID cases in Virginia continues to climb, but the percent positivity has dipped slightly. This morning the Virginia Department of Health reported another 3,688 new cases and 102 of those are in the Blue Ridge Health District. Statewide the seven-day percent positivity is 8.5 percent and in the BRHD it’s at 7.2 percent. New elected officials sworn-inThere are still 15 days left in 2021, and City Councilors Heather Hill and Nikuyah Walker have one more meeting on Monday. The near future became a little closer on Wednesday as two incoming City Councilors and three members of the Charlottesville School Board took the oath of office on the steps of Charlottesville Circuit Court. The School Board went first with newcomers Emily Dooley and Dom Morse sworn in individually with family members at their side. Second-termer Lisa Larson-Torres went next. Then it was time for City Councilor-elect Brian Pinkston followed by Juandiego Wade. I asked both if they are ready to take on the task. “You know, I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Pinkston said. “I joke that it’s a little like getting married or having a kid. You think what you’re getting into but it’s not what you expected. There’s good part and bad parts to that and so the short answer is yes. I’m ready. I’m excited about it. I’m going to roll up my sleeves and try to make a difference.” “I’m ready, I am prepared,” Wade said. “I feel like I’ve been preparing for this for the last years being connected and involved in the community. I feel like now is an opportunity for me to take my service and my commitment to the city to a different level.” In a separate ceremony that also took place yesterday morning, the members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors were also sworn in, including newcomer Jim Andrews, who will represent the Samuel Miller District. Andrews joined third-term Supervisor Diantha McKeel (Jack Jouett) and two-term Supervisor Ned Gallaway (Rio). Transit updatesIn yesterday’s newsletter, there’s a lot of information about planning for a Regional Transit Vision that may include formation of an authority that could raise funds for expanded service. There’s also a second study underway to determine the feasibility of additional routes to serve urbanized portions of Albemarle County as well as Monticello. The results are in from a survey conducted on two potential scenarios according to Lucinda Shannon, a transportation planner with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. (project website)“They found that most of the services that people selected in that public outreach was scenario 2 for all three of the areas which is a lot of microtransit connecting with some fixed routes,” Shannon said. The study also found that 98 percent of people who travel to Monticello do so in a car that they either own or rent. That’s based on 51 respondents. The U.S. 29 North survey got 104 responses and the Pantops survey got 54 respondents. The consultants hired for this project are Michael Baker International and Foursquare ITP. The next step is a Board of Supervisors meeting on January 19, according to Shannon. Charlottesville Area Transit will remain fare-free for the next four years. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation awarded a $1.07 million grant through the Transit Ridership Incentive Program. CAT had already put some of the American Rescue Plan Act funding for this purpose, and the new grant covers fares for an additional year. CAT Director Garland Williams said he anticipates planned route changes will soon be implemented. The adjustments have been through the public process. Williams briefed the Regional Transit Partnership at their meeting on December 2. “We’re still moving forward and hoping to be able to implement in January unless something changes,” Williams said. Learn more about those route changes on the Charlottesville Area Transit website at catchthecat.org. In other news, Jaunt’s new chief executive officer has named Karen Davis the transit agency’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Davis served as interim CEO for exactly a year after the Board asked former CEO Brad Sheffield to resign. Ted Rieck started work as CEO earlier this month after heading a similar transit agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma. *Infrastructure grantsTwo entities in Virginia have been awarded $500,000 planning grants from the federal government to increase infrastructure necessary to increase commerce and trade. The U.S. Economic Development Authority awarded Build Back Better Regional Challenge awards to Virginia Tech and the Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership Authority for initiatives that seek to create “regional industry clusters.” Virginia Tech’s application is called The Future of Transportation Logistics and covers a wide section of southwest and southern Virginia. The idea is to accelerate the adoption of electric and automated vehicles. “Projections by the World Economic Forum expect freight demand to triple by 2050,” reads their application. “This growing demand poses challenges from environmental degradation to a strained transportation workforce.”The New River Valley region includes three truck manufacturers, including the national headquarters for Volvo. The work will involve building a coalition to share information as well as demonstration projects such as upgrading a section of Interstate 81 between Salem to Dublin to accommodate automated vehicles. The Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership Authority covers the Richmond and Petersburg area and is intended to create an Advanced Pharmaceutical and Research and Development cluster. “A staggering 73% of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-registered active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) manufacturing facilities are located outside the United States,” reads that application. ”Overseas pharmaceutical manufacturing not only poses a security risk but also takes essential jobs away from the U.S.”Both entities will now be eligible to apply for additional funding from the U.S. Economic Development Authority to implement the projects. Thanks to Route 50 for the information on this grant program. (read their article)In today’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement: The Charlottesville Jazz Society at cvillejazz.org is dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and perpetuation of all that  jazz, and there’s no time like now to find a time to get out and watch people love to play. The Charlottesville Jazz Society keeps a running list of what’s coming up at cvillejazz.org. Sign up for their newsletter today. Tree canopy declineAt their meeting on Tuesday, the Charlottesville Planning Commission held three public hearings on three big topics. But first, they got updates from various committees. Commissioner Jody Lahendro and he relayed news from the Tree Commission about the forthcoming tree canopy study. A preliminary report states that the percentage of the city covered by trees has shrunk by at least four percent since 2015. “Because of COVID, the flyover for this tree canopy study was done in 2018 so it’s dated now,” Lahendro said. “The news is not great as you might imagine.” Lahendro said the city had a tree canopy of 50 percent in 2004 and that declined to 47 percent in 2009. “In 2014 it went down to 45 percent and in 2018, this latest, it’s to 40 percent,” Lahendro said. When you break the city down by neighborhood, nine out of 19 recognized areas are below 40 percent. Lahendro said that is the point where both health and economic development is affected.“And then two of our districts — Starr Hill and 10th and Page — are below twenty percent,” Lahendro said. “Those are where significant detrimental effects are happening.” Lahendro said the city is projected to lose 360 ash trees to emerald ash borers over the next five years. The city can only afford to treat 30 trees. Charlottesville’s FY23-27 CIP discussionThe Charlottesville City Planning Commission has made its recommendations for how to amend the draft capital budget for the next five years. That came at the end of a public hearing Tuesday that featured a discussion with City Council. Elected officials will make the final decision next spring as they adopt a budget that will be prepared under the supervision of a yet-to-be-named interim city manager. (draft FY23-FY27 CIP presentation to Planning Commission) (adopted FY22 budget)The Commission got a look at the information at a work session on November 23, and heard it a second time from Senior Budget Analyst Krissy Hammill in advance of the public hearing. To recap, the capital budget is close to capacity due to the increase of spending in recent years, including a $75 million placeholder for the reconfiguration of middle schools. Council has also authorized a reorientation of priorities to find more money for the schools project. (previous story)“There were some large projects that were previously authorized to use bonds for that we unfunded essentially to be able to move them to get us to a place where we could increase the $25 million for the school project,” Hammill said. “That was the West Main Street project which was originally in the CIP at $18.25 million and the 7th Street Parking Garage which we unfunded about $5 million of that project.”Hammill said to pay for the projects, the city will need additional revenue and will not be able to add any more capital projects for many years unless they are paid for in cash. The city has had a AAA bond rating from Standards and Poor since 1964 and from Moody’s since 1973. “Essentially the AAA bond rating gives the city the opportunity to borrow money at the lowest cost available so that means that more dollars are going to the projects and less dollars are going towards interest,” Hammill said. Hammill said the city is in good financial shape, but funding future investments will be a struggle. At the work session, Hammill invited ideas for further reallocations from other projects. She also said that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will likely not be a salvation for the city. “Many of us in finance have sort of been waiting in the wings to find out what would be available and it’s actually not a one size fits all and it doesn’t deliver on a lot of what we already have in our CIP,” Hammill said. “So it not going to help us address our financing problems largely.”Another issue is that many of the funding sources will require local matches. She pointed out one opportunity for Charlottesville Area Transit to raise up to $37 million, but the city would have to provide a $2 million match.“That’s not in our curent CIP,” Hammill said. Revisising the Strategic Investment AreaThe two bodies discussed many aspects of the capital budget, including whether or not several general interest line items should be given additional funds in the next year’s budget. Councilor Lloyd Snook questioned one of them related to a 2013 small area plan known as the Strategic Investment Area. “One example would be that we’re suggesting another $200,000 for this coming year and three years beyond that for the [Strategic Investment Area] immediate area implementation,” Snook said. “And that balance in that account is over a million and has been as far as I can tell over a million dollars for quite a while.”Alex Ikefuna, the interim director of the Office of Community Solutions and former director of Neighborhood Development Services, said that balance has been used to pay for a $228,000 study of a form-based code for the area. Nolan Stout reported in the February 4, 2020 Daily Progress on the current Council’s decision to put that plan on hold indefinitely. Ikefuna pointed to one example of how the funding in the account will be used.“We have a Pollocks Branch pedestrian bridge which is currently being finalized for construction,” Ikefuna said. “There are several other project within the SIA that consume that balance.”One of them is a project to upgrade the streetscape on Elliot Avenue in an area where dozens of new homes have been built in the Burnet Commons area. The public housing site at South First Street is also expanding in residential density. Ikefuna also said the SIA fund could also be used for additional costs that may be incurred at Piedmont Housing Alliance’s redevelopment of Friendship Court. “Part of the Friendship Court project includes infrastructure improvement because they have to break up that neighborhood and then integrate that into the city’s grid,” Ikefuna said. “And they may have a cost overrun.”Council approved $5.5 million for the project in October 2020. (read my story)The current year’s capital budget allocated $2 million in cash for the line item of “Friendship Court Infrastructure Improvements” as well as $394,841 for Phase 1 and $750,000 for Phase 2. The draft five-year capital plan anticipates spending $2.5 million on Phase 2 in FY23, and a total of $3.25 million for phase 3 and $4.5 million for Phase 4. Ikefuna also said there’s a project called the Elliott Avenue Streetscape for which a design is almost complete. Snook said Council is not given information about what any of these plans are. “I assume somebody has a plan but it’s not been revealed to us,” Snook said. “I look at the next item. Small area plans. We’re putting in another $100,000 in and the balance of the project is $496,000.” Outgoing City Councilor Heather Hill had one suggestion for where that funding could go. In July 2020, Council chose to proceed with a Smart Scale project over the opposition of some nearby residents and businesses. (July 22, 2020 story on Information Charlottesville)“The Grady / Preston / 10th intersection area related to one of the VDOT projects for Smart Scale funding was identified at that time as something we would want to have more planning around because there was a lot of resistance that there wasn’t a lot of community engagement when that proposed plan was coming to fruition,” Hill said. According to the application for that project, the preliminary engineering phase will not begin until December 2025. There is no design for the Smart Scale project, which was funded on a set of parameters. “Preston Avenue will be realigned to create a consolidated intersection at Preston Avenue / Grady Avenue / 10th Street,” reads the application. “New sidewalks will be constructed throughout the project limits.”Hoping for a sales tax referendumSeveral commissioners expressed concern about the enormity of the school reconfiguration project. The draft plan shows $2.5 million in FY23 and $72.5 million in FY24. Hammill has previously said the money needs to be in place when a contractor is hired for new construction and renovation of Buford Middle School. The school project has not yet come directly before the Planning Commission. “The amount of that project is the entirety of the five-year [capital] FY2017 budget,” Stolzenberg said. “It’s this elephant in the room but it does seem like Council and the School Board have approved the project.” The idea of a dedicated one-cent sales tax increase has been floated to be dedicated funding for the project, but the General Assembly will have to approve a bill allowing Charlottesville voters decide on whether to impose it.“I really, really hope that if we go through with it that the sales tax comes through and frees us from this burden,” Stolzenberg said. Later in the meeting, Commissioners discussed several potential recommendations. One was whether to recommend increasing the amount for affordable housing. Here’s what’s in the proposed CIP. $3 million for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority in FY23, and $9 million in the out yearsA base of $925,000 a year into the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund $900,000 a year to the CRHA to administer additional housing vouchers $2.5 million for the second phase of Friendship Court In March, Council adopted an affordable housing plan that set an ambitious spending target for each year, as noted by Stolzenberg. “It’s recommendations are pretty clear,” Stolzenberg said. “Ten million a year. $2 million are tax relief. A million to administration. So it’s really $7 million in direct subsidy and that’s all on page 49 of the plan for reference.” Here’s what the PC’s recommendations are:Reduce funding for the 7th Street parking structure funding to the minimum amount necessary to satisfy Charlottesville’s commitment to provide parking for Albemarle County per a 2018 agreement related to the joint General District Court that will be under construction.Find more more funds for the line items of tree planting, new sidewalks, and bicycle infrastructure, and hazardous tree removal. Reduce funds going to the line item for economic development strategic initiatives, small area plans, and Strategic Investment Area implementationFully fund the Stribling Avenue sidewalk project that Southern Development has agreed to pay upfront for as part of a rezoning that Council will consider in early 2022.Explore ways to add enhancements to the Drewary Brown Bridge to honor the Bridge Builders, potentially using a portion of funds for the West Main Streetscape. Increase budget for Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund and find ways to fund housing requests that were requested but not included in the draft budget, possibly directing any budget surpluses for this purpose. On Monday, City Council will hold first of two readings on a proposal to reallocate the $5.5 million surplus from FY21 to employee compensation and bonuses. They’ll also consider the transfer of $6.7 million in cash from a COVID reserve fund into the Capital Improvement Plan Contingency Fund. (staff report) This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to day 342 of the year 2021. There are 23 days until the final day of the year. How many more years are left? Results will vary. How many more installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement will there be? The virtual magic eight-ball reports: Better Not Tell You Now. In either case, this is the installment for December 8, 2021, which is the 290th edition of the show so far. Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts, sign-up below for free updates. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber! On today’s show:An update on finances and redevelopment at Charlottesville’s public housing authorityThere’s a few new bills pre-filed for the 2022 General Assembly Governor Northam releases a master plan to prepare for increased flooding along Virginia’s coast Albemarle’s Natural Heritage Committee is briefed on climate action efforts Let’s begin today with a subscriber-supported shout-out for another community event. Filmmaker Lorenzo Dickerson has traced the 100 year history of the libraries in the Charlottesville area, including a time when Black patrons were restricted from full privileges. The film Free and Open to the Public explores the history of library service from the Jim Crow-era until now. If you missed the premiere in November, there’s an online screening followed by a Q&A with Dickerson this Thursday at 7 p.m. Register at the Jefferson Madison Regional Library site to participate in this free event that’s being run with coordination from the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. Visit jmrl.org now to sign up! COVID updateBefore the rest of the show, a quick update on COVID numbers, which continue to rise slightly as we move through the holiday season. The Virginia Department of Health reports another 2,850 new cases today, bringing the seven-day average for new cases to 2,374. The seven-day average for new positive test results is at 7.7 percent, up from 7.2 percent on Friday. There are 79 new cases in the Blue Ridge Health District, which has a percent positivity of 7.5 percent. Speaking of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library, a pilot project with the Virginia Department of Health has now distributed 1,086 home COVID-19 tests. These are rapid antigen at-home tests where people can use their smartphone to get results within 15 minutes. Visit the VDH’s website to learn more about the Supporting Testing Access through Community Collaboration program. Coastal resilienceThe Commonwealth now has a plan in place to address sea rise and other hydrological issues caused by a changing global climate. Yesterday outgoing Governor Ralph Northam was on hand in Hampton for the release of the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan. “Climate change, rising sea levels, sinking land, and storms that are more frequent and more extreme are really causing increased problems in coastal communities,” Northam said. “What we call nuisance flooding is now a regular occurrence.”The master plan looks ahead as far as the year 2080 and concludes that the number of homes and roadways that will be exposed to extreme coastal flooding will drastically increase between now and then. The plan offers suggestions for what infrastructure is needed to withstand flooding as the geology of the coast changes in the presence of more water. The plan will be updated with additional data. “This plan has some seriously alarming data,” Northam said. “According to the science, over the next 60 years there will be places in Virginia that will no longer be habitable or accessible. They’ll be flooded temporarily or permanently. And while there are things we can do to protect our communities the plan also shows us that in some places we’re going to have to focus on moving people and structures out of harm’s way.” Rear Admiral Ann Phillips coordinated the plan in her capacity as the special assistant to Governor Ralph Northam for coastal adaptation. She was one of the speakers at this year’s Resilient Virginia conference and hers is one of several voices in a September 10, 2021 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Take a look or a listen!The website devoted to the plan contains a database that allows people to look at threats as well as mitigation projects. (Virginia Coastal Resilience Web Explorer) Albemarle Climate ActionLast week, the Albemarle Natural Heritage Committee got an update on the county’s efforts to address climate change. The Natural Heritage Committee developed the county’s Biodiversity Action Plan, which became part of the Comprehensive Plan in July 2019. The Board of Supervisors adopted a Climate Action Plan in October 2020. (watch the meeting)Gabe Dayley, Albemarle’s climate protection program manager, said there are a lot of areas of overlap between the two plans. “We have actions in the Climate Action Plan around promoting conservation easements, around outreach and education, as well as incentives to the general public as well as incentives to the general public as well as to landowners,” Dayley said. Other overlapping goals are to minimize fragmentation of land to preserve areas for wildlife that also can serve as carbon sinks. “You know a lot of the overlap here is between strategies for mitigation,” Dayley said. “In other words, reducing our impact or our contribution to global climate change but the county is also beginning a process to do climate resilience planning. That’s more preparing our community to hopefully be resilient and stay strong in the face of some of the climate changes that we know are coming no matter how swiftly the world acts at this point.”Dayley specifically pointed out goal 9 of the plan which is “develop strategies for biodiversity conservation during climate change.” He also briefed the NHC on the county’s 2018 Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Take a look at a story from September 10 for more information. Dayley told the Natural Heritage Committee that development of the inventory included a new tool that analyzed forest cover in Albemarle. “We found that somewhat to our surprise that there’s actually a lot of carbon sequestration in trees and forests across the county,” Dayley said. “So there’s an important takeaway there which is the critical importance of maintaining forest and tree cover that we have in the county which I think is something that’s expressed as being important in multiple ways in the Biodiversity Action Plan.” To watch the rest of the conversation, take a look at the full meeting of the group. I’ll have information about Charlottesville’s tree canopy in the next installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. More pre-filed billsBefore the break, a few more bills have been filed in advance of the next General Assembly session. Delegate Scott Wyatt (R-Mechanicsvile) has filed a bill requiring school principals to report potential criminal acts by student to law enforcement. (HB4)Senator Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) has filed a bill to make Virginia’s standard deduction for income taxes equal to the federal deduction. (SB7)Senator Petersen also filed a bill to permit hunting on Sundays (SB8)Senator Peterson also filed a bill related to eminent domain (SB9)Delegate James Morefield (R-North Tazewell) filed a bill to alter the portion of proceeds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that go to the Community Flood Preparedness Fund (HB5)The General Assembly convenes on January 12, 2022. That’s the 12th day of next year. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. Let’s continue today with two Patreon-fueled shout-outs. The first comes a long-time supporter who wants you to know:"Today is a great day to spread good cheer: reach out to an old friend, compliment a stranger, or pause for a moment of gratitude to savor a delight."The second comes from a more recent supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Public housing updateThe Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners will have a work session Thursday night. They last met at a regular meeting on November 22 and got a series of updates. One was on the CRHA budget from Mary Lou Hoffman, the agency’s finance director. CRHA’s fiscal year runs from April to March 30. (financial statements through October 31, 2021) (watch the meeting)“We’re $517,000 ahead of budgeted at this point but that includes $644,000 worth of for all intent and purposes non-recurring money,” Hoffman said. That includes shortfall funding the CRHA was awarded in each of the past two fiscal years. Hoffman said one piece of good news is that the CRHA’s Paycheck Protection Program loan received near the beginning of the pandemic has been forgiven and won’t need to be paid back. The number of public housing units has been temporarily reduced from 376 to 324 units due to the renovation of Crescent Halls, which is also affecting the way the financial statements look. “It basically is shifting some of the costs that we had budgeted for Crescent Halls to the other properties and between now and the end of the year we will see an effect from that,” Hoffman said. A piece of bad news is an unexpected $17,567 payment in October to the Internal Revenue Service related to unpaid bills that were not known to CRHA staff until recently.“That was an IRS tax penalty that I was previously and totally unaware of,” Hoffman said. “It was assessed against CRHA for failing to timely file 1099s for the tax year of 2017.” Hoffman said these 1099s were related to the payment of vouchers to landlords and other vendors, and they were eventually paid.“I believe the minimum penalty was assessed which is $50 per 1099, so it’s around 340 or 350 1099’s,” Hoffman said. “It’s not only for our vendors but most of our landlords have to get a rent 1099.” Hoffman said part of the confusion stemmed from the CRHA having multiple mailing addresses including a one-time stay in City Hall. Headquarters have moved around a lot in recent years. After Hoffman’s presentation, executive director John Sales put the current year’s budget in a different light. Soon after the fiscal year began, there was a massive water leak at Crescent Halls that has affected the near-term. “Crescent Halls threw a curveball,” Sales said. “The changing of Crescent Halls, the redevelopment plan, drastically changed revenues for the housing authority. The plan included keeping Crescent Halls at least partially filled with adding voucher units which added an additional revenue for the housing authority.”But the damage at Crescent Halls has meant moving all of the residents out while the renovation continues. Those shortfall funds have helped make up the difference for now. As of November 22, Sales said tenants owed $92,000 in unpaid rent. That’s attracted the notice of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.“They ask us about it every other week,” Sales said. “We are currently working through the rent relief program to get funding and asking other sources as well to assist families that are delinquent.” Brandon Collins is the new redevelopment coordinator for CRHA and gave an update on planning for the second phase of redevelopment at South First Street. According to the CRHA website, the plan is to redevelop 58 existing public housing units into 113 new townhouse units and apartments. Collins said the CHRA has filed an application to change the financing structure.“The demo-disposition application and mixed-finance application have gone in,” Collins said. “It took a lot of doing to figure out the mixed-finance application but what we’ve landed on is phase two will have 20 public housing units, 38 project-based vouchers and 55 non-subsidized units.” Collins said CRHA is looking to see how they can get the rent for those 55 units to be as low as possible. “It appears we can get those units down pretty low,” Collins said.  A site plan has been submitted for the first phase of redevelopment at Sixth Street.“Building A is going to be there along Monticello and wrapping around the corner onto Monticello onto Sixth Street,” Collins said. “It will be four stories with 50 homes. It will have an elevator and parking underneath.” A master plan for the full site is being developed. Collins said some of the units will be set aside for homeownership. The Westhaven site will be the next future location of redevelopment with the intent to apply for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in March of 2024. Resident planning initiatives will begin in earnest soon. As all of these developments continue, Collins said CRHA has to strike a balance to ensure it follows federal rules to limit the number of public housing units on site. “For those who don’t know there was a law passed that you can’t have any more public housing than you already had since October 1, 1999,” Collins said. The future of all CRHA properties will include a balance of multiple types of funding sources to keep rents low. Sales explained further about regulations of the U.S. Department of Urban Housing. “HUD will allow us to add more subsidized units to the site if we’re removing them from our housing-choice voucher portfolio,” Sales said. There’s a lot of complexity. If you’re interested, I recommend watching the meeting for a fuller explanation. The CRHA will take up their annual plan at their meeting on December 20. I wrote about the process in the November 18, 2021 edition of the show. You can read it on the archive site. Thursday’s work session begins at 5 p.m. Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Is there a name for the day before Thanksgiving? Feast’s Eve? Blackout Wednesday? Drinksgiving? Food Prepageddon? What about "I hope I didn't forget anything at the store because I'm not going back Day?” In any case, even though it is a holiday week, there’s still time for Charlottesville Community Engagement. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. On today’s program:A jury has found that the organizers of the Unite the Right rally guilty of a civil conspiracy and awarded damages, but did not reach a verdict on other claims Governor Northam and the Virginia Service Commission honor two area churches for their COVID testing work since the pandemic began Former City Manager Tarron Richardson is suing the city Albemarle County will revisit its 21 year old policy on cell tower placementAlbemarle says goodbye to long-time budget chief, and a Dean at the UVA School of Architecture takes a new jobSines v. Kessler verdict After a month-long trial, a jury has awarded more than $25 million in damages to the plaintiffs of a civil lawsuit against organizers and participants of the Unite the Right Rally in August 2017. The jury in Sines v. Kessler held that plaintiffs proved their civil conspiracy case under Virginia law as well as their claim that the defendants engaged in racial, religious, or ethnic harassment. Under the conspiracy count, twelve defendants must pay $500,000 each in damages and five organizations must pay a million each. On the harassment count, five individuals must $250,000 each to two plaintiffs $250,000 in compensatory damages. However, the jury did not reach a verdict on a count claiming the defendants “engaged in a conspiracy to commit racially motivated violence in violation” of federal code. (42 U.S. Code § 1985 - Conspiracy to interfere with civil rights) They also deadlocked on a second count on the defendants failure to prevent the conspiracy. The jury also found that James F. Fields owes damages for an assault and battery claim to specific victims of his deliberate decision to drive into a crowd of people on 4th Street SE on August 12, 2017, as well as another count for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Fields is currently serving time for a criminal conviction on those charges. Read the full verdict on Court Listener. Former City Manager sues CharlottesvilleAnother former Charlottesville official is seeking legal action against the City of Charlottesville. The Daily Progress reports that Dr. Tarron Richardson has filed a federal lawsuit against City Council and four individuals for entering into an agreement that prevented his ability to publicly critique the city after he left his position as City Manager in September 2020. “The First Amendment expressly forbids government bodies — including city councils — from engaging in viewpoint discrimination and retaliating against people based on the content of their speech,” reads the Nature of the Case section of the suit. Richardson wants a jury trial. The civil rights suit seeks damages as well as a declaration that a non-disparagement clause in his severance agreement is not enforceable. The suit also individually names City Councilors Heather Hill and Nikuyah Walker as well as City Attorney Lisa Robertson and former interim City Manager John Blair. The suit revisits Richardson’s tenure as city manager including his enactment of a policy to regulate use of city-issued credit cards and claims some Councilors sought to usurp his authority. “Because of ridiculous demands and the ongoing chicanery and obstructionism from Walker and Hill that would eventually prevent him from adequately performing his job, Dr. Richardson was constructively terminated,” the suit continues. The narrative claims that Councilors did not hold up their end of the severance agreement and disparaged him in social media posts and one interview that was later removed from a local media outlet. This past January, Dr. Richardson asked to publish an op-ed in the Daily Progress on race-relations in Charlottesville, but Robertson said the city would keep open the option of suing to compel Richardson to return the severance payment of $205,000. In all, the suit has four counts including violation of the First Amendment and breach of contract. He’s represented by the Haley Law Firm of Greenville, South Carolina, Keith B. French Law of Pearland, Texas, and Brand Law of Dallas. Earlier this month, former Police Chief RaShall Brackney announced she was filing a wrongful termination claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That’s the first step toward a potential lawsuit. After Richardson left, Council appointed John Blair to serve as interim city manager before naming Chip Boyles this past January. Boyles resigned in October, six weeks after firing Brackney. Marc E. Woolley will become the next interim city manager on December 1. (view the suit on Court Listener)Richmond HUD awardThe agency that owns and operates public housing in Richmond has been awarded a planning grant for the revitalization of a property in Historic Jackson Word. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $450,000 to the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority for revitalization of Gilpin Court as part of HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative. “Known as “the Harlem of the South," the neighborhood’s once vibrant main street was filled with thriving theaters, stores, and medical practices,” reads a description in a HUD press release. “The historical heart of the neighborhood was all but destroyed by its bifurcation for the construction of Interstate 95/64.” The intent is for the process to be led by residents, a process already underway at the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The CRHA had applied for a planning grant in 2010 but was not selected. The agency has not applied since. (list of 2010 applicants)Outgoing budget chief The government of Albemarle County is in transition with many long-time staffers having already retired or about to do so. One of them is Lori Allshouse, who served for many years leading up the county’s budget preparation each year. Nelsie Birch joined Albemarle’s executive leadership in the summer of 2020 as Chief Financial Officer and had this to say about Allshouse at the Board of Supervisors meeting on November 17, 2020.“She’s been the face of all things budget, all things capital projects, capital planning, five-year financial planning, financial policies,” Birch said.  Birch thanked Allshouse for preparing her and the rest of the staff for all of the various budget challenges that have come during the past two years. Allshouse has worked for the county since 2000. Her last job title was Assistant Chief Financial Officer for Policy and Partnerships in the finance and budget department. Her last presentation dealt with cost allocations for partner organizations in next fiscal year. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement and it’s time now for another subscriber-supported Public Service Announcement. Since the pandemic began, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society has been offering virtual presentations on all manner of topics. This Sunday at 4 p.m. they’ll present an important topic to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. The ACHS is working on a Race and Sports initiative to tell the story of the “Desegregation of Central Virginia Public High School Athletics.” Dr. Shelly Murphy and other participants will update the Richmond groups on local efforts to collect stories from those who lived through the transition away from segregated schools, when institutions such as Jackson Burley High School vanished. This is part of the Sunday Sit-In series put on by the Richmond groups. Register online for the event, which begins at 4 p.m. this Sunday. (register)A-School moveAn associate dean at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture is moving on to take a position at Georgia Tech. Ellen Bassett will become the Chair of the College of Design at the Atlanta-based university. Bassett is currently the associate dean for research at the School of Architecture. She’s also served as the chair of the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning and the director of the School of Architecture’s Real Estate Design and Development.*Service awardsTwo Charlottesville-area churches are among the recipients of Governor Ralph Northam’s Volunteerism and Community Service Awards for 2021. Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church and Church of the Incarnation have been honored as Outstanding Faith-Based Organizations for their offering of free COVID-19 testing in their respective neighborhoods.“Located within highly populated neighborhoods, the majority of those tested have been members of the community’s most vulnerable populations who would otherwise be unable to receive free, consistent, and timely testing,” reads the press release for the awards. Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church is located in the city’s Ridge Street neighborhood and the Church of Incarnation is located off of Hillsdale Drive in Albemarle County. Albemarle wirelessAlbemarle County will review the rules by which cell towers are regulated. A previous Board of Supervisors adopted a policy in December 2000 which among other things requires tall towers to be as invisible to the eye as possible. Several supervisors since then have asked for the policy to be revisited to increase the availability of voice and data service throughout the county. The Board has authorized $100,000 for a study, and Development Process Manager Bill Fritz checked in elected officials on November 17. (2000 Wireless Policy)“Staff wants to ensure that we put out a [request for proposals] that meets the Board’s expectations for the scope of work in the review of these regulations,” Fritz said. “The policy has never been revisited and changes in the regulations have been largely limited to keep up with changing federal regulations, court decisions, and changes in technology.” Fritz said the consultant would be charged with taking potential changes through a community engagement process eventually resulting in a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors. Changes might include elimination of some permits having to go to the Board for approval.“It could include revisions to the ordinance to eliminate the need for special exceptions that have been routinely approved,” Fritz said. “It could include allowance of facilities at greater height or lesser design standard in areas of poor coverage. These are just some ideas.”Supervisor Diantha McKeel has been asking for the policy to be revisited for many years. She suggested going right to making changes in the county code. “The policy is so old that to be honest with you I would just start over with an ordinance,” McKeel said. “And let’s get to the meat of it and let’s not worry about this old outdated policy.” McKeel said the new policy needed to put more emphasis on what she said were the positive benefits of more cell towers, including public safety. Supervisor Ann Mallek said there are other ways to provide more voice and data service that would not require a wholesale change to the policy. “This is taking the mantra of the sales people that this is the way to achieve broadband,” Mallek said. “The county has made a dedicated investment and will continue to make a dedicated investment that broadband is delivered through fiber.” Supervisor Donna Price said the county should explore any methods to expand data service. “We need to update our policy and acknowledge the changes in technology as well as the needs, not the desires, but the needs for connectivity through all of the mechanisms that are available,” Price said. The request for proposals has not yet been issued. END NOTES:Thanks to Becky Calvert and Jennie More for their assistance in coming up with names for the day. Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Let’s begin with a Patreon-fueled shout-out. Colder temperatures are creeping in, and now is the perfect time to think about keeping your family warm through the holidays. Make sure you are getting the most out of your home with help from your local energy nonprofit, LEAP. LEAP wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round, and offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!On today’s program: The overall health of the James River has dropped slightly The Food and Drug Administration approves focused ultrasound to treat some symptoms of Parkinson’s diseaseArea transportation officials want your input tonight on the region’s transit futureAn update on planning for Smart Scale’s fifth round The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority prepares its annual plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentWhile the number of vaccinated Virginians has increased due to the extension of shots into people between the ages of 5 and 11, the number of cases has been up slightly over the past two days. However the Virginia Department of Health reports Wednesday figure of 2,592 new cases as a technical error that includes counts from previous days. The seven day average is now at 1,475 a day and the percent positivity is at 5.5 percent today. The Blue Ridge Health District reports another 49 new cases today and the fatality count is at 309. Do you have something to say about how our area bus systems should work? Tonight you’ll have your chance to weigh in on a Regional Transit Vision that could guide the future. Lucinda Shannon is a transportation planner with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District who briefed a technical committee of the Metropolitan Planning Organization on Tuesday.“I’m really hoping you guys will all sign up for the public meeting which is Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.,” Shannon said. “There’s also surveys on both of the TJPDC transit projects.”The TJPDC is also conducting a separate study of the expansion of transit in Albemarle County.Changes to the Charlottesville Area Transit system have been studied and presented to the public this year, but there is no schedule for when they may go into effect as there are more procedural steps to go through. (story map) (presentation)This week, the Norfolk City Council adopted a resolution approving a plan called Multimodal Norfolk that seeks to increase frequency of some buses. “The Recommended Network focuses 70 percent of resources on service that will maximize access to opportunity for most residents and are likely to get high ridership relative to cost,” reads the resolution adopted Tuesday night. “The other 30 percent of resources are focused on service that is not likely to get high ridership but will provide service in areas where there is relatively high need.”Service in Norfolk is provided by Hampton Roads Transit, which that city pays about $20 million a year to operate service.  That includes the Tide light rail system. Meanwhile, work continues to prepare the next round of applications for the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale funding process.  Chuck Proctor is a planner with VDOT’s Culpeper District and he’s assisting Albemarle and the MPO come up with potential submissions.“Most of them are bike-ped related, a lot of them are multimodal projects like Avon Street, 5th Street, the 29-250 bypass,” Proctor said. Other projects that could be submitted include the intersection of Old Trail and Crozet Avenue, a recommendation from the ongoing North 29 corridor study, projects on Pantops, as well as various intersections of U.S. 250 east of Pantops. The Thomas Jefferson Planning District can submit up to four applications on behalf of localities. Proctor said he was not aware of what applications the city of Charlottesville might advance. Jeannete Janiczek, the city’s urban construction initiative. In most cases, Charlottesville administers its own projects without involvement from VDOT. “I just want to remind everyone this is still early in the process,” Janiczek said. “We have a new City Council coming online. The city does plan to apply for Smart Scale but we haven’t yet decided which projects.” In four rounds, Charlottesville has been awarded millions for various streetscape projects, none of which has yet gone to construction. In September, Council indicated they would no longer support contributing a local match for funds received for the first two phases of West Main Streetscape. VDOT has not yet been formally informed of any decision, according to spokesman Lou Hatter. Janiczek said potential Charlottesville projects for Round 5 a fourth phase of West Main Streetscape, or in the East High Street, Rose Hill, and the Preston Avenue corridors. There is no information about any of these potential projects available on the city website. In contrast, Albemarle and the TJPDC have been discussing potential projects since the spring. In recent years, Albemarle County has increased its capacity to design and build non-vehicular transportation projects. Kevin McDermott is a chief of planning.“We are now finally after many years in the construction phase for a lot of sidewalk improvements including new sidewalks out on Avon Street Extended, both north and south of the Mill Creek intersection,” McDemott said. The others are:New sidewalk along U.S. 250 near the Harris Teeter including a pedestrian crossing New sidewalk along Rio Road East from John Warner Parkway heading east and south toward CharlottesvilleNew crosswalk at Mountain View Elementary School on Avon Street ExtendedNew sidewalk and shared-use path on Lambs Road to the Lambs Land CampusNew sidewalk on Ivy Road between city limits and the UVA Musculoskeletal CenterThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of focused ultrasound to treat patients with Parkinson’s disease, according to a release from the University of Virginia Health System. Specifically, medical device regulators have authorized medical centers to use something called Exablate Neuro by the company Insightec to treat mobility problems associated with tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease. “Prior to the approval, available treatments for the Parkinson’s symptoms included drugs, which not all patients respond to, and invasive deep-brain surgeries,” reads the release.” Focused ultrasound, in comparison, does not require incisions or cutting into the skull.” During the procedure, highly focused sound waves are used to target faulty brain cells and used together with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), treatment can help ease symptoms. The releases stresses that this is not a cure. The medical technology has been pioneered at UVA and shepherded by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation. Other potential uses include treatment for essential  tremors, uterine fibroids and some forms of cancer.. Research is ongoing. For more information visit the UVA Health website or watch videos on the Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s YouTube page. Water quality in the James River has declined slightly over the past two years, according to a report card issued this week by an advocacy group that seeks to promote practices to reduce pollution. Since 2007, the James River Association has issued the State of the James and this year’s B- is based on a score of 61 percent. Every two years that score is factored by looking at 18 indicators split into the two categories of River Health and River Restoration Progress. In 2017 the grade was 63 percent. “The decline that has occurred since 2017 reflects the impact of abnormally high rainfall experienced across the watershed in recent years causing increased polluted runoff throughout the James,” reads the press release. “While oysters and tidal water quality showed promising resilience over the past year by bouncing back from the surge of rainwater and pollution, the river also revealed stalled progress in phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment pollution reductions, as well as stream health.” Among the indicators are gauges of how healthy various wildlife populations are. The good news is that the bald eagle scores at 100 percent due to an increase in breeding pairs to 352, indicating the ban on DDT as well as passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973 has led to the resurgence. The bad news is that American shad are rated at zero and efforts to stock the James River watershed with hatchery shad have not worked because of the presence of dams, water intakes for water supply, invasive catfish, and fishing nets intended for other species. “Given the dire situation, Virginia must develop an emergency recovery plan that clearly identifies restoration actions,” reads the report card. “But it will take a long-term and sustained effort to bring American shad back from the brink of collapse in the James.” To look through all of the indicators, visit the State of the James website and explore their story map. What are you most interested in? Let me know in the comments. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement and it’s now time for a second Patreon-fueled shout-out. The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign, an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. The leaves have started to fall as autumn set in, and as they do, this is a good time to begin planning for the spring. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water.  Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you!The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners will hold a closed meeting today to discuss a personnel matter. Last week, the appointed body held a work session on a report the CRHA must turn in to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Kathleen Glenn-Matthews is the deputy director of the CRHA. (FY20-FY21 adopted plan) (FY21-22 draft plan) (FY22-23 draft plan)“The public housing authority PHA plan is a pretty comprehensive guide to all of our agency’s policies and programs,” said Glenn-Matthews. “We spent a lot of time on our goals.”There are two parts to the plan, one of which is a five-year review that won’t be due until 2023. The second part is an annual plan with details about what will happen in the next fiscal year. The fiscal year for the CRHA runs from April 1 to March 30, a different calendar than the city, state, and federal government.  HUD classifies CRHA as a “troubled agency” based on the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) and the Section Eight Management Assessment Program (SEMAP). Glenn-Matthews said that means CRHA has to give more information in its annual plan. One of the first items in the draft plan is a listing of the number of public housing units and the number of housing choice vouchers. The number of units has dropped from 376 to 324 due in part to the temporary closure of Crescent Halls due to renovations. The number of housing vouchers has increased due to their use to provide temporary places for temporarily displaced residents. Those vouchers are separate from a program funded directly by the City of Charlottesville but administered by CRHA to increase their number. The city has had a line item of $900,000 a year in the capital budget for this supplemental program. Highlights from the past year include the adoption of policies on security cameras as well de-concentration of poverty.“The PHA’s admission policy is designed to provide for de-concentration of poverty and income mixing by bringing higher income tenants into lower income communities and lower income tenants into higher income communities,” reads a statement in the plan.Glenn-Matthews said the CRHA wants to build a homeownership program as well as augment the family self-sufficiency program.“We don’t have funding for it and we’re penalized by being troubled but we are looking at alternate sources for that and it’s definitely a big priority for us,” Glenn-Matthews said. The draft plan indicates that the CRHA will continue to engage in “mixed finance modernization or development” as well as “demolition and/or disposition” in the coming year. One project is development of between 39 and 50 units at Sixth Street SE. There is also a pending demolition and disposition application for the second phase of South First Street, which would replace 58 existing units with a larger project. Planning for redevelopment of Westhaven is expected to begin in the next fiscal year. “We want to make sure everything in this plan is there that we want to do this year because if not we’ll have to do an amendment, and nobody wants to go through the process,” Glenn-Matthews said. The plan also explains how nonprofit companies have been formed to serve to secure funding for redevelopment. There’s also data on who lives in the units. As of August 31, 76 percent of households had incomes below 30 percent of the area median income, 14 percent are between 30 and 50 percent, and three percent are between 50 and 80 percent. Six percent of households do not have their income data available. Only one percent of residents are classified as Hispanic or Latino, three percent are classified as Asian, 21 percent are white, and 75 percent are Black.There are a total of 736 people living in Charlottesville public housing and the average household size is 2.6 percent. The public hearing on the annual plan will be held on Monday, December 20. Thanks to Ting for their support in helping this program be produced each day. Today the newsletter ends with a limerick from show supporter Harry Landers honoring Ting for their commitment to match your initial payment to a paid Substack subscription!There once was a writer from C-ville,Who sought to shine light upon evil.He did his own thing,With some help from Ting.If there's news to report, we know he will.Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Let’s begin today with a Patreon-fueled shout-out! The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign, an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. The leaves have started to fall as autumn set in, and as they do, this is a good time to begin planning for the spring. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water.  Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you!On today’s show:More details about the next phase of public housing redevelopment in CharlottesvilleCouncil to make a leadership announcement Friday at 3 p.m. UVA Health System reports vaccination numbersLouisa Supervisor Fitzgerald Barnes holds a one-vote lead over his challengerAn overview of the Central Virginia Small Business Development CenterAnd Louisa Supervisors an update on a plan to bring water from the James River to Zion CrossroadsWe begin the day with an announcement of something that’s happening tomorrow. City Council will meet at 3 p.m. for an open meeting with the one word description of “Personnel.” City Communications Director Brian Wheeler explained in an email to me this morning that it will be a leadership announcement. There is no interim city manager in place. What will happen? Leave your guess in the comments. (meeting info)There’s a very close race in one of Louisa County’s magisterial districts. In the Patrick Henry District, incumbent Fitzgerald Barnes has a one-vote lead over challenger William Woody Jr. Qualified absentee ballots can be counted up until tomorrow at noon. Thanks to Tammy Purcell of Engage Louisa for the heads-up. Employees at the University of Virginia Health System had a deadline of November 1 to get a COVID vaccine. Wendy Horton is the CEO of the UVA Health System. “At this point today, we are at 98.4 percent fully vaccinated or exempt as a health system and this includes UVA Community Health as well,” Horton said.However, that leaves 173 employees who will either resign or be terminated for non-compliance. Horton said that includes 83 people who directly work with patients and that number includes 43 registered nurses. People who refuse the vaccine will be suspended without pay for a certain period of time for reflection. Those with approved medical exemptions must have a COVID test each week. Today the Virginia Department of Health reported 1,494 new cases and the seven-day percent positive rate dropped to 5.4 percent. Another 69 deaths have been reported since Tuesday. The Blue Ridge Health District reported 58 new cases today. The percent positivity in the district is 5.1 percent. Yesterday, the City of Charlottesville held a public meeting for the next phase of redevelopment at the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Carrie Rainey is an urban planner in the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services.“What we’re looking at right now is a final site for what is currently a by-right project to build a new apartment building with structured parking at 715 Sixth Street SE,” Rainey said.Riverbend Development is working with the CRHA on this project, continuing a partnership that has also been involved with Crescent Halls and the two phases at South First Street. CRHA has a new redevelopment coordinator in Brandon Collins, formerly with the Public Housing Association of Residents. “Our resident planners at 6th Street have been working diligently on this plan and I think it really reflects CRHA’s approach to resident-led planning and we’re confident this is the best use of this site,” Collins said. The project is at the corner of Monticello Avenue and 6th Street SE. Six of the existing townhouse units will be removed in this first phase at this property. “The reason we’re taking this approach is because we want to ensure that we have a promise and a priority to the residents of public housing that no one will be displaced throughout the redevelopment process,” said Ashley Davies, vice president at Riverbend Development. In all of these redevelopment projects, the land will continue to be owned by CRHA, but the actual structure will be owned by a nonprofit holding company connected to CRHA. The height of the building has not been finalized.“It’s going to be a three or four story building,”  Davies said, “We’re still working with the resident planners to determine the exact height of the building and number of units, but for now the site plan shows this as a three-story building and 39 units.”The current zoning is Downtown Extended which would allow for that height. There would be at least 40 parking spaces in a structure beneath the building. The goal is to get the site plan approved in order to help qualify an application for Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the entity formerly known as the Virginia Housing Development Authority. Davies said a master plan is in development for the entire four-acre site, but there is no timeline for how that will proceed. “Those conversations are really just beginning to understand what the overall needs are for that area,” Davies said Comments brought up during the site plan conference included landscaping, parking requirements, and pedestrian safety.  The community garden maintained and operated by the Urban Agriculture Collective will be removed to make way for the new units. NDS staff will make comments on the site plan and submit those back to the development team later this month. You’re listening to Charlottesville Community Engagement. Time for the second of two Patreon-fueled shout-outs: Do you suffer from Classical Music Insecurity Complex? That is, you like classical music you hear, but you feel intimidated by all the stuffy etiquette and specialized knowledge? Suffer no more!WTJU is hosting Classical Listening Parties, a series of four free, casual events on Tuesdays in November. These four events are led by Chelsea Holt, pianist, teacher, and one of WTJU’s newest and youngest classical announcers. She’ll guide you through all the eras of classical music beginning Tuesday, Nov 9th, 7 p.m.: Early & Baroque. For a list of the others, visit wtju.net to learn more and sign up! The seven-member Louisa County Board of Supervisors got an update on Monday on the water supply plan for Zion Crossroads, but they also got a pitch from the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center (CVSBDC). The entity is partially funded by the Small Business Administration.“We’re funded by the [Small Business Administration] and the localities that we serve to provide business advising services to individual localities,’ said Greg Dorazio, the assistant director of the CVSBDC. The CVSBDC covers ten counties stretching from Nelson County to Culpeper County from its headquarters in Charlottesville. The idea is to level the playing field for small businesses through counseling. “We have access to research and resources including capital, access to technical experts,” Dorazio said. Last year, the Charlottesville Investment Collaborative became the small business center’s fiscal partner.“Their microloan program is one of the best ways for small businesses to get capital and a lot of folks don’t really know about it,” Dorazio said. Last year during the pandemic, the small business center provided more than double the number of hours of working with clients from around 2,200 hours to over 5,000. That’s in part because of the transition to virtual meetings. “When we’re talking about the client service time, that’s one-on-one with a business owner,” Dorazio said. “We’re really helping them figure out what is the problem they’re facing right now? What are the decisions they need to make? And what do we need to do to help them get the resources they need to make good decisions about their business and continue to grow and move forward?”Dorazio was before the Louisa Board of Supervisors to ask for referrals for businesses as well as $21,249 in funding for the next fiscal year. That decision will come during the budget cycle.The Louisa Board of Supervisors also got an update on progress to build a waterline from the James River to Zion Crossroads. Louisa and Fluvanna are both members of the James River Water Authority, an entity that exists for the purpose.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will have to grant a permit for the project and the James River Water Authority was about to submit one that included an intake at the site of Rassawek, an important site in the history of the Monacan Indian Nation. Justin Curtis is with Aqualaw, a firm hired to prepare and submit the permit.“At our request, that application has been put on hold while we evaluate an alternative a site a couple of miles up the river,” Curtis said. “We’re doing that in coordination with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) as well as the Monacan Indian Nation.”Curtis said the decision point for the James River Water Authority will be whether to pursue the alternative, or proceed with the Rassawek site. That could come in December or January. The Rassawek site was selected in 2013 and two of three required permits had been granted. All of the planning work had been conducted.“That site had been selected because it was the shortest, it was the least expensive, and it followed a bunch of existing corridors and lines which is utility siting 101,” Curtis said. “Fewest number of landowners affected and it had the right water quality and quantity to meet our needs.”Curtis said the Monacans had been consulted, but their stance changed as the granting of the permit drew closer. The federal government recognized the tribe in January 2018. (Learn more about Rasswak from Cultural Heritage Partners)“To get the final permit we needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, we have to go through this process where have to mitigate any impacts to historical or cultural resources and that involves consultations with the tribes and certain other agencies and that added a lot of time and expense to the regulatory process,” Curtis said. Curtis said Alternative 1C, also known as the Forsyth site, is the preferred site for the Monacans. “And we ended up reaching an agreement which was memorialized in writing in January of this year and what we came to an agreement on was that if JRWA went and did a new archaeological study of that alternative site and that study did not find any evidence of buried human remains or historic burial sites, then the Monacans would not oppose the project and they would support the project and help us work through the remainder of the permitting process,” Curtis said. The first phase was completed in August and while historic materials were found, none of them were human remains. The second phase started on Monday and will be concluded the week of December 6. The results will be discussed at the next  meeting of the James River Water Authority on December 8. Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP? The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Let’s begin today with two Patreon-fueled shout-outs. One person wants you to know "We keep each other safe. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance."And in another one, one Patreon supporter wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!On today’s show:COVID update from Dr. Denise Bonds of the Blue Ridge Health District Charlottesville Council indicates support for Charlottesville Food Equity Initiative, but funding decisions will come in the months to come A quick look at commercial office space in the Charlottesville areaCharlottesville’s public housing agency is owed $52,000 in unpaid rent Two million for affordable housing projectsThe Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is seeking applications from private, public, and nonprofit developers for projects to increase affordable housing stock throughout the region. The TJPDC received $2 million from the entity formerly known as the Virginia Housing Development Authority for the purpose of building actual units. The first step is for applicants to submit a proof of concept. “This proof of concept will be issued to collect key details about the proposed project, including number of proposed units to be constructed, partner development experience, and location of development,” reads the release. “The requested proof of concept will serve as a precursor to a more detailed formal project application.”The funding is part of a $40 million statewide initiative. Proposals are due on November 29 at 5 p.m. Visit the TJPDC’s website to learn more about the application.Sixth Street site planTomorrow, the city of Charlottesville will hold a site plan conference for the next public housing project to be redeveloped by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Plans for 39-units at Sixth Street will be reviewed. The CRHA Board of Commissioners’ got an update on this topic at their meeting on October 25. Brandon Collins is now the redevelopment coordinator for CRHA. (read his report )“Resident-led planning continues and to update you all in case you don’t know, the plan is in the space along Monticello Avenue where the garden currently is we’re going to knock down six apartments on the end of the garden to get a little extra room and build an apartment building,” Collins said.Collins' redevelopment report for October states that a three-story building had been originally, but architects suggested a fourth story would make the project more competitive for Low Income Housing Tax Credits.“Residents seem to be generally in favor of that,” Collins said. “There’s a lot of process questions that we’re all going to work through to get a decision on that.”The site plan conference begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. (meeting info)Former Planning Commissioner Lisa Green resigned from the CRHA Board of Commissioners on October 5. No reason was given but Green had been on the Redevelopment Committee. Council is seeking applications to fill the vacancy as well as other open positions on boards and commissions. Take a look at the list on the Charlottesville City Hall website. At the CRHA meeting, Executive Director John Sales reported that some tenants owe tens of thousands in back rent. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development currently considers CRHA a “troubled” agency which requires additional scrutiny from the federal agency including increase inspections. “A big item that we should always discuss is the delinquency account for tenants,” Sales said. “We’re currently at $52,000. That is probably our biggest concern in terms of exiting out of troubled status. The $52,000 represents about a hundred tenants.”Sales said that represents about a third of public housing residents. He said there is a CRHA staff member working on rental assistance to help cover the back log and to find out what barriers are in place to paying the rent. Office space check-inThe Charlottesville office market had a vacancy rate of 4.9 percent in the second quarter of this year according to an analysis from Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. That’s less than the same period in 2020, but below the forecasted amount. The report states that office space remains high in demand. “Absorbency in the market was down for the quarter but that is more a reflection of large new deliveries than lack of demand and remains net positive for the past 12 months,” reads the report. “In fact, 87 percent of the nearly 380,000 square feet of office space under construction is already pre-leased and since Q1 2020 there has been more space delivered than in prior decades.” The report states that rents continue to rise. The current average is $27.52 per square foot, a 55 percent increase over the 2015 average. Pinkston’s bountyElection results will come tomorrow. One final piece of information before the votes are tallied. Brian Pinkston’s campaign for one of two seats on City Council received a last-minute contribution of $3,000 on Monday from the Democratic Party of Charlottesville.COVID updateThe number of new COVID cases reported each day continues to decline. “If you look at the trend over the past couple of weeks here, a month or so, it’s really been on a downward trajectory indicating that we may be past the worst with regards to the Delta virus,” Bonds said.Today the Virginia Department of Health reports another 1,245 new cases today, and the Blue Ridge Health District reports 41 new cases. There have been 12 deaths reported in the district since October 25. Since Dr. Bonds last addressed Council, booster shots are now available for all of the three major vaccines. The Moderna booster is available for those over the age of 65 or those with some underlying condition or situation. “If you got [Johnson and Johnson] as your first one, it’s a little different,” Bonds said. “Anyone who got J&J as their first vaccine for COVID is eligible as long as you’re over the age of 18.”Bonds said anyone who got the J&J vaccine can also opt to switch to the Moderna or Pfizer as a booster. “Really the best person to talk to about this would be your physician,” Bonds said. “There are some reasons to think that mixing and matching may be beneficial. You get higher antibody levels with the rMNA boosters but there’s some evidence that if you get J&J it activates more of a different part of your system called T-cells.”Vaccines are available at the Community Vaccination Center at the former Big Lots in Seminole Square Shopping Center. Visit the Blue Ridge Health District website to learn more. Dr. Bonds said the district will have a limited quantity of Pfizer doses for children between 5 and 11 when they are available next week.“It’s going to one third of the amount that anyone 12 and over gets,” Dr. Bond said. Because there is a limited amount, the District is prioritizing shots for the most vulnerable children, working with school districts and pediatricians to identify those people and schedule shots. “There will be a small amount of vaccine that is available at our Community Vaccination Center,” Dr. Bonds said. “It is by appointment only and those vaccines.gov should be out and available by Friday of this week we believe.” In all, the District will get an initial distribution of 6,300 doses. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out, Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. Dr. Denise Bonds spoke at the City Council meeting last night. The meeting was overseen by the two deputy city managers in the wake of the resignation of former City Manager Chip Boyles on October 12. That meant it was up to Sam Sanders to provide responses from previous comments for the public. Who maintains the mall side streets?“The first item was in regards to side street maintenance near the Downtown Mall and I did check in with staff in regards to who is responsible for maintaining those side streets and that is a function of Parks and Recreation,” Sanders said. “They have been short-staffed and struggling to keep up with everything that needs to be done is what I am hearing at this moment.”The second item dealt with a request to install a four-way stop on Rose Hill Drive at Burley Middle School, which is owned and operated by Albemarle County Public Schools.“There is a speed study underway and its in relation to the configuration that’s being proposed for Walker Upper Elementary, “ Sanders said. “Even though it is not the same impact area, they will be able to take a look at what is happening on Rose Hill Drive.”Sanders said the last study of the area around Burley dates back to 2004 and some traffic calming efforts were installed in the second half of the decade. He referred people interested in the topic to the city’s Traffic Calming Handbook as well as the petition to begin the process. Food Equity discussionThe main item last night was a report on Charlottesville’s Food Equity Initiative. The nonprofit group Cultivate Charlottesville has been the recipient of city funding for the past three years and seek additional money for years to come. They also want two percent of the meals tax to go a new Food Equity Fund.“We believe that food is a human right and we operate from that perspective that everyone, all Charlottesville residents, deserve access to fresh produce and high quality food,” said co-executive director Richard Morris.Morris said food equity is an outcome where all residents have access to food that meets nutritional and cultural needs. Earlier this year, Council was presented with a Food Equity Initiative Policy Platform which seeks to serve as a strategic plan to fund a variety of initiatives, and they’ve sought support for funding through an online petition. Much of this work is also finding its way into the draft Comprehensive Plan which Council will consider on November 15. One challenge is that the Urban Agricultural Collective has lost or soon will lose control of land it has used for community gardens. Land at the public housing site at Sixth Street SW is slated to be used for redevelopment. “The overall budget for the Food Justice Network has been about $400,000, $155,000 of what was the Food Equity Initiative contributed,” said co-director Jeanette Abi-Nader. “And you’ll note that the majority of the budget goes toward staffing.” The group is seeking a multiple year commitment, despite the fact that elected bodies in Virginia cannot appropriate money beyond the next fiscal year. The request comes outside of the budget cycle, as well as the Vibrant Communities process through which nonprofits apply for funding. That process used to be conducted jointly with Albemarle County. Mayor Nikuyah Walker praised the report submitted with the funding request, but had concerns. “If we are adding this as a three-year item, that the way other nonprofits have to compete for funding, I have some reservations there,” Walker said. Abi-Nader said Cultivate Charlottesville did not apply for Vibrant Community funds in the past two years because they had been funded by Council outside of that process. She explained how she thinks the current request is different. “We see the Vibrant Communities funds as really about programs that impact the community, like direct support programs and engagement, and this program is seen as a support for a function of city government,” Abi-Nader said. Walker noticed there have been several groups funded outside of the budget cycle and the Vibrant Community fund, such as the B.U.C.K. Squad and Peace and Streets.“I think our whole process needs to be reviewed and if there is a list of community partnerships that are doing the work the city thinks is essential that can’t be done without that partnership, then that needs to be a separate list from the Vibrant Communities but the way things are set up now, I don’t think it’s a fair process,” Walker said. Councilor Lloyd Snook appeared to agree that the resolution as presented was not appropriate. “Franky it appears to me to be an attempt to circumvent the budget process,” Snook said. Misty Graves, the interim director of the city’s Human Services Department, said the resolution came up because the initiative was a creature of City Council. “So I think that’s why it’s coming to back to City Council for whether or not it is a renewed commitment and if this is still a priority of City Council,” Graves said. Next year will be the fourth year of the initiative. The $155,000 will be built into the general fund budget that will be introduced by whoever will be City Manager early next March. The vote was 3 to 2 with Walker and Snook voting against and the resolution does not guarantee funding for FY23. The other request was for two percent of the meals tax proceeds to go to a Food Equity Fund. In Fiscal Year 2020, the city collected $12.6 million from the meals tax, which would have generated just over $250,000 for this purpose. (Charlottesville’s 2020 annual report) Abi-Nader said this fund would cover infrastructure to support food equity goals.“And by infrastructure, I mean that informally, not like literally always physical things, but infrastructure support for our city to move from a foodie city to a food equity city as an overall goal,” Abi-Nader said. “There are things that go beyond what an individual nonprofit can do.” One idea is a cooperative grocery store to be located near subsidized housing. Another is to build a new community garden in a section of Washington Park.“There’s space there to sight a quarter-acre park,” Morris said. “We’re talking about 10,000 square feet which from a growing perspective that’s a space that can grow a lot of food.”Councilors did not commit to the idea at this point in the budget cycle, but there was general support for the initiative. “For the record, I really support this group,” said Vice Mayor Sena Magill. “What they are doing is amazing work and it’s greatly needed work. I know I’ve been learning from them for the last three years now.” Another issue worth continuing to track into the future. Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP? The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out:Fall is here, and with it, more moderate temperatures. While your HVAC takes a break, now is the perfect time to prepare for the cooler months. Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round! LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents, so, if you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!On today’s show:A private vendor will be setting up a community vaccination center at the Big Lots in Seminole SquareVDOT’s hired a new engineer to run the Culpeper District that includes our communityPlanning is underway to replace a machine that helps with paper and cardboard recycling in Albemarle and CharlottesvilleCity Council votes to join a regional tax board and to give $50,000 to a community policing effortPandemic updateThe Virginia Department of Health reports 1,428 new cases of COVID-19 this morning. Last night, the head of the Blue Ridge Health District had the beginnings of good news to report to City Council. “We’re beginning to see a slight downturn in our current infection rate,” said Dr. Denise Bonds. “For the first time last week we did not have any triple-digit days with regards to cases. They were all below 100.”Dr. Bonds said most of the cases are the delta variant and there are currently no signs of any other new strain. There is currently no universal recommendation that vaccinated individuals get booster shots, but they are available for people who had the Pfizer vaccine and who are older than 65 or people with underlying medical conditions. “We do ask that you schedule an appointment so we have enough Pfizer on board but they are available everywhere that we are vaccinating,” Bonds said. Beginning next week, a new site at Big Lots location in Seminole Square in the location where the University of Virginia was providing vaccines. “This is actually a vendor-run vaccination clinic,” Bonds said. “It’s a contract that our central office at [the Virginia Department of Health] has with an emergency response organization called Ashbritt.” An official announcement will be forthcoming regarding the new community vaccination center. Later this month on October 14 and October 15, a Food and Drug Administration panel will review data regarding the possibility of boosters for Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines. (meeting announcement)“This will be emergency use authorization again and it will still even if its approved on that date will have to go to the CDC advisory committee,” Dr Bonds said.Dr. Bonds said the FDA has tentatively scheduled a meeting for October 26 to consider use of the Pfizer vaccine in children under the age of 12. New VDOT leader for Charlottesville areaWhen the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Policy Board next meets, there will be a new person representing the Virginia Department of Transportation. Sean Nelson will become the new district engineer for VDOT’s Culpeper District, which spans nine counties.“I am honored to return to Culpeper District as the district engineer and look forward to working with our talented teams and valued community partners,” Nelson is quoted in a September 30 press release. “I was born and raised in Louisa and am now raising my family there. I am proud to come home and am committed to making a difference in this region.”Nelson’s last post was as the maintenance engineer for VDOT’s Richmond District. In the new job, he will be in charge of “construction, maintenance and operations maintenance, project development and business functions of nearly 10,500 lane miles.” VDOT manages road construction projects in all of those counties, including six projects being designed and built under one contract in Albemarle County. However, Charlottesville manages its own construction projects and has been the recipient of multiple projects under Smart Scale. Last month, Council signaled it would likely forgo $3.25 million in VDOT funds for the first phase of the West Main Streetscape and $4 million for the second phase. Both required a match of local funding, funding which will now be transferred to a $75 million project to renovate Buford Middle School. This summer, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved $10.8 million for the third phase of West Main Street, which requires no match. It is unclear if that phase will move ahead. All of the phases were designed as part of a $2.85 million planning study overseen by Rhodeside & Harwell. Construction on the Belmont Bridge finally got underway this summer after many years of planning. There are many other open VDOT projects in Charlottesville that have not gone to construction. Council round-upLast night, Charlottesville City Council voted 4-1 to join a regional board that would administer cigarette taxes generated in outlying counties. Until this year, only cities have been able to levy such a tax, which generated $641,494 for Charlottesville in fiscal year 2020. The city gets $0.55 a pack. Mayor Nikuyah Walker voted against the item partially out of a concern it would penalize people who are low-income. “I know we discuss it from a public health platform but most people are not going to stop smoking because there’s an increased tax on it,” Walker said. The tax board would be administered by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District. David Blount is deputy director.“And right now we have six counties that have so far agreed to establish this board,” Blount said. “We know of one additional county in our region and even one in our town that is showing some interest in participating.” Counties can not charge more than 40 cents a pack. Council also agreed to donate $50,000 to the B.U.C.K. Squad for their community policing efforts on a 3 to 2 vote. Councilor Michael Payne joined Mayor Walker in voting against the measure out of concerns raised by the Public Housing Association of Residents and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “The B.U.C.K. Squad program is something really important, that model,” Payne said. “But I would just want to have very clear lockstep assurance that CRHA and PHAR are all on the same page regarding in terms of what they’re doing and not being 100 percent assured of that I’m going to vote no for that reason hoping that partnership can evolve and become successful.”Council also voted to establish a ground lease for the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont to operate in a section of McIntire Park. The group will be responsible for raising the funds to construct improvements called for in their schematic plan. “It’s very important for the nonprofit to obtain a lease so that they can complete their fundraising efforts,” said City Manager Chip Boyles. “The city does not have any funds in the [capital improvement program] for this project and therefore this would not be a project that would go under construction under city management.” The vote was 5-0. Time for another shout-out from a Patreon supporter!WTJU 91.1 FM is a different sort of radio station. It's dedicated to sharing the transcendent experience of music while raising funds from listeners across the world. From October 4th through 10th, WTJU airs its annual Jazz Marathon. Tune in for a deep dive into everything from bebop to blues. WTJU's Volunteer DJs will play the spectrum jazz – from Billie Holiday to Canonball Adderly to Pharoah Sanders. Plus live, local jazz performances throughout the week.  Visit wtju.org to learn more!At the end of their meeting last night, Charlottesville City Council held another lengthy discussion about the termination of Police Chief RaShall Brackney. I may or may not make it back to that item in a future installment of the newsletter. In addition to the police chief, Charlottesville continues to have many high-profile vacancies.  The position for Director of Elections is being advertised through October 15, 2021. Other openings include the director of Parks and Recreation as well as the Director of Public Works. The person who most recently held the latter position is David Brown, who only worked for Charlottesville for a year. Brown was honored by the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority at their meeting on September 28. Here’s the chair, Mike Gaffney.“And what is that old saying? David, we hardly knew ye,” Gaffney said. RSWA seeks tonnage increaseLet’s stick with the Rivanna Authorities for a moment. The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority has been experiencing higher volumes of tonnage received at the Ivy Materials Utilization Center. Material is sorted before sent out to other landfills. As a result, the RSWA is asking the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to increase the amount it can transfer each day to 450 tons, up from 300 tons. “We believe that by increasing our facility limit to 450 tons per day will not result in a great deal more traffic, but rather allow us to accept the few, large load, customers that are bringing us material from infrequent large projects (like the field turf replacement project or a UVA building demolition project that we’ve seen in the past couple of years,” reads the executive director’s report for the September meeting. RSWA Solid Waste Director Phil McKalips said that many times his agency does not know material is coming until it shows up. “We tend to find out about these projects when they come across the scale, so our ability to impact the planning of a project is usually far down the pipeline by the time we see it,” McKalips said.  McKalips said the RSWA has received a lot of waste material from the Southwood project in recent weeks. Recently an area where household waste had been discarded over the years was cleared and sent to the Ivy Materials Utilization Center. The increase would help on days when they exceed the 300 ton a day limit. “Whoever cleared the site mixed a lot of debris in with the soil so they had to bring it all out to us for disposal,” McKalips said. “We didn’t know that was coming ahead of time and all of a sudden we have 140 tons in a day to deal with.” McKalips said this material is not to be confused with areas that may have been contaminated with oil that leaked from storage tanks under trailers. That will be going through a separate process monitored by the DEQ.RSWA to conduct engineering study on new paper-sort facilityPlanning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions takes many forms. Albemarle County’s Climate Action Plan has a whole chapter on “sustainable materials management” which has multiple strategies to divert items from landfills. Strategy 5.1.3 is to “identify if there is a need to local additional paper/cardboard balers in Albemarle County.” That item is under review by the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority and McKalips gave a briefing.The RSWA operates a facility on Meade Avenue that sorts paper material brought to the Ivy Materials Utilization Center and the McIntire Recycling Center. “People put their recyclable materials in there and we take those back to the paper sort facility and we by and large bale all of those products,” McKalips said. “That allows us to save a lot of shipping costs in getting them to our vendors.”However, there are access issues with the site that have to be addressed. The property on which the facility is located on Meade Avenue is leased from Woolen Mills Self Storage but RSWA can only access it on property leased by Gerdau Metals Recycling. An access agreement has a 90-day termination clause and the bailing equipment is over 20 years old. “The thing has been well used and it’s getting near the end of its service life,” McKalips said. That’s prompted McKalips to see if there’s another option for the future. For instance, there’s not enough covered storage space to keep the material protected from rain and moisture that would make it unusable for recycling. The RSWA also collects paper material from other private collection sites such as at Kohl’s and Wal-Mart. That creates logistical issues with what to bale and when. “So this facility gets a lot of cardboard,” McKalips said. “That cardboard isn’t conducive to pushing that back into a trailer and pulling it out later so we leave it out front and then that’s one of the earliest products to get bailed. Having said that though, we have all [these] materials that need to be pulled back out, driven around the cardboard, and baled.”So with a future need, McKalips presented three options for the future. The first would renovate and expand on site and would have have a $2 million capital cost. The second would be to skip the local baling facility entirely and ship out to other entities. That would include no capital costs, but increase operating costs of $550,000 in the first year and $300,000 each year after. The third would be to build a new paper sort facility with two bailers.  “Obviously this is going to be the most expensive option,” McKalips said. “It was looking to be about $4.3 million in the feasibility study.” If the third option is pursued, McKalips said the next step is to work with Albemarle and Charlottesville to identify a potential site for the new location. They’ll need about three acres of land. Lance Stewart, Albemarle’s Director of Facilities and Environmental Services, said that he is hopeful to be able to work with city government to develop an approach to move forward with a new facility. “I think it’s a complex set of issues that hopefully we can come together on,” Stewart said. The presentation comes just as Albemarle and Charlottesville are about to start their budget cycle. The RSWA Board reached consensus to direct staff to move forward with the engineering study for a new facility. Thank you for reading! Please send on to someone else you think might be interested, and please let me know if you have any questions! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Chantal Dauray s’entretient avec l’autrice Annabelle Boyer, CRHA, dont le livre Libérez-vous de votre passé sera publié ces jours-ci chez Béliveau Éditeur. La coach discute de l’influence inconsciente de nos modèles et d’outils pour se libérer du passé. Puis, elle explore celui de la FADOQ, riche de cinq décennies d’histoire. Recherche et animation: Chantal Dauray… Cet article Le passé: s’en libérer ou s’en inspirer? est apparu en premier sur Canal M, la radio de Vues et Voix.

Rendre performant les employés est souvent la clé du succès d'une organisation. Qu'est-ce qui explique que dans un milieu un employé soit performant et ne le soit pas dans l'autre ? Cela passe par une gestion stratégique et personnalisée de chaque personne dans l'équipe. Entrevue avec Valérie Villeneuve, Adm.A., associée experte-conseil et coach exécutif ainsi que Marie-Claude Morin, CRHA, associée et experte-conseil, toutes deux chez ALTERNATIVE RH. Balado enregistré à distance. Pour plus d'informations, visitez adma.qc.ca

Today’s first Patreon fueled shout-out is a new one. A concerned Charlottesville parent wants to make sure the community participates in the Middle School Reconfiguration process that is currently underway. After years of discussion, concrete plans are being put forward. You can learn more and contribute at the City of Charlottesville Schools/VMDOs information page. On today’s show:A quick rundown on a couple of transit planning exercises and new routes in the areaInformation on how area hotels have been doing this summer, and how the make-up of an area tourist board may changeThe same firm that’s studying’s UVA’s housing initiative has been hired by the city’s public housing agency for a redevelopment study Former Warren County EDA director indicted on federal fraud chargesBefore we begin today, another COVID update. The Virginia Department of Health reports another 3,487 new cases today. In the Blue Ridge Health District there are another 75 new cases. The agency put out an alert late Monday evening that all localities under its jurisdiction are experiencing a high level of community transmission.“As we experience this surge in cases, we urge all individuals, businesses, and other  organizations to take prevention measures that include masks indoors and physical distancing,” reads the email. “The Delta variant is the dominant strain of the virus and the primary driver of recent high transmission rates of COVID-19 because it spreads more easily than earlier strains of the virus.” This afternoon, the Virginia Department of Health announced the receipt of $4.3 million from the Centers for Disease Control to hire more community health workers to address the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Virginia initiative will focus on geographic areas of Virginia with high rates of COVID-19 identified by project partners,” reads the release. “Those areas include parts of the Richmond metro region, Norfolk, Portsmouth, the Danville area, and the Southwest Virginia communities served by the Mount Rogers Health District.” Governor Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency related to the approach of Tropical Depression Ida. Heavy flooding is predicted across much of the state, particularly in southwest Virginia. The move allows the Commonwealth to mobilize forces to assist in a variety of different emergency situations. “Given the storm’s current forecast, the Commonwealth will assist localities, especially those with vulnerable populations, to provide support in response to a large-scale weather event during the COVID-19 pandemic,” reads Executive Order 81.. A collision in Charlottesville Monday afternoon between a pickup truck and a cement truck killed the driver of the pickup truck. The crash occurred at a construction site on Druid Avenue. The 53-year-old driver was initially taken to the University of Virginia hospital but soon died from the injuries. According to a release from the city, the driver of the cement truck was not injured and is cooperating with an investigation. The former director of the Economic Development Authority for both the Town of Front Royal and Warren County has been indicted on several federal fraud charges. Jennifer Rae McDonald, 44, is accused of wire fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. “McDonald, through her position as executive director at the EDA, had access to funds belonging to the EDA and, as the indictment alleges, used EDA funds to pay on debt owed by her, other individuals, and LLCs she controlled, to purchase real property for which she often earned commissions as a real estate agent, and to purchase real property in the name of an LLC she controlled,” reads the release. In all McDonald faces 34 counts for activities from June 2014 to December 2018. Several other people have been charged with crimes, including the entire Warren County Board of Supervisors. For more on the story take a look at coverage from Alex Bridges in the Northern Virginia Daily. Now it’s time to pick back up from last week’s meeting of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors. The CACVB is an entity funded in part by transient lodging taxes that seeks to market the area for tourism. One key metric is the hotel occupancy rate. That figure was higher this summer than last year but still below pre-pandemic levels. Courtney Cacatian is the director of CACVB. “My understanding is that’s largely due to employment challenges but some of our properties are doing better than others on that front,” Cacatian said. After that update, Cacatian gave the Board updates on efforts to update marketing plans. That starts with data on what people who don’t live here know about the area. “We received some research from SIR, a firm based in Richmond, and they had let us know that when our past visitors come to Charlottesville and Albemarle County, they are 83 percent more likely to make a return trip to this region,” Cacatian said. “With our prospective visitors, there was a major need here to let people know who we are and what we’re all about to attract them here in the future.”What are your observations about how other people perceive the area? Leave a comment. I’m curious to know these things. In any case, there are currently two City Councilors and two Albemarle Supervisors on the CACVB Board. Earlier this year, several members of the tourism sector asked the Board to consider changing its make-up to include industry members. That may happen according to this bit of information from Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson.“I did go back and speak to the Board of Supervisors and the Board has indicated to me that they would be willing to move forward with the City of Charlottesville to look at the recommendations for modifying the existing [CACVB] Board.” City Manager Chip Boyles said City Council will discuss amending the CACVB Board as well, but it’s not the elected officials’ positions that localities would give up.  “I was able to go back and converse with each of our City Council members and the consensus there is that likewise with Albemarle County we would be open to considering a change,” Boyles. “I think the discussion was that the City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer positions would possibly be replaced with industry representatives.”Still remaining to work out are the specifics over those industry representatives. In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: Help support Black-owned business in the Charlottesville area. Check out the Charlottesville Black Business Directory at cvilleblackbiz.com and choose between a variety of goods and services, ranging from beauty supplies, professional services, and e-commerce. Visit cvilleblackbiz.com as soon as you can to get started!*The Thomas Jefferson Planning District is in the midst of conducting two studies related to transit, one of which is focused on increasing the amount of service in urban portions of Albemarle County.  Lucinda Shannon is the planner working on the projects.“We have two different grants that we are working on,” Shannon said. “The transit expansion study is a short-term project and it’s just within Albemarle County and it’s to expand transit services in the near term.”Two public input sessions were held in late July and the goal is to have a feasibility study in place early next year. (See also Studying the Expansion of Transit in Albemarle, August 11, 2021)“The transit vision plan is a little bit longer and it’s for the long-term project and it’s for the entire region so it’s going to go over about 18 months and should be completed on June 30, 2022,” Shannon said. The plan is intended to present steps towards implementing a regional system. “Right now we’re in the gathering information phase,” Shannon said. “We’ve kicked off the project and we’re made data requests from providers and gathered land use. We’re developing a website and a logo.” You can also look forward to an interactive survey and map on the topic. To learn more about transit in this area, do go back and read or listen to the August 27, 2021 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Outside of this newsletter’s immediate coverage is Bedford County, which launches its first public transportation service on Wednesday with a 21-passenger vehicle known as the Otter Bus. This service is a partnership between the Town of Bedford and the Bedford Community Health Foundation. Also beginning Wednesday is the Afton Express, which will provide service between Staunton and Charlottesville. That service will be operated by BRITE.*Now let’s load up the time machine and go back eight days to the August 23, 2021 meeting of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority.  One item on the agenda was the hiring of a real estate firm to conduct a sustainability review of the CRHA’s properties and holdings. John Sales is the CRHA executive director. “We are looking to undertake a sustainability plan to determine the future redevelopment and positioning of the housing authority’s assets to expand for and prepare for redevelopment,” Sales said. The firm to be hired is Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures. That’s the same firm that’s been working with the University of Virginia on an initiative to plan and build up to 1,500 affordable housing units on land owned by UVA or its real estate foundation. “We have already started redeveloping multiple sites and planning for the Sixth Street redevelopment and working to create a couple of resident planners for Westhaven,” Sales said. “So we’ve already started but we really do need to have a game plan about how we’d like to redevelop all of these sites.” Sales said the study will try to determine what needs to be built and would include suggestions for new units that could be built to serve people with federal housing vouchers. New construction being built today is renting at too high levels for many to use that system.“Developers aren’t building the housing units that are needed for the individuals that are getting the vouchers,” Sales said. Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures will be paid up to $229,960 for the work. They were one of two finalists. (resolution)A previous CRHA Board adopted a master plan in the summer of 2010, but the current renovation of Crescent Halls and the building of new units at South First Street did not directly follow that blueprint. For reference, you can read that old plan on cvillepedia. The CRHA Board also narrowly approved a resolution to hire a firm to run video surveillance cameras on CRHA properties for security purposes. “Residents have continued to ask for this ever since I’ve been with CRHA as a director, and that’s been been about a year ago in August,” Sales said. “There was a lot of violence and a lot of shootings going on at several of the sites and residents continued to ask about cameras and why CRHA didn’t have cameras.”The CRHA Board adopted a policy on cameras at their meeting in July. Provisions are in the policy to make sure footage is not used for other reasons, but some residents want to know if that means footage can be used to see if residents are violating the terms of their lease. “We have not expanded the cameras for that roll yet, but those are conversations that are starting to happen in the safety committee,” Sales said. The vote was not unanimous. Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker voted against the contract out of a concern that the cameras will eventually be used to punish and harass residents. “I think it’s just a really slippery slope and I think until people are impacted negatively they won’t even really realize,” Walker said. The move was supported by the Public Housing Association of Residents. Shelby Marie Edwards is the executive director. “I think everybody on this call probably knows that the Sixth Street residents have sustained quite a bit of violence over the past month or so, really all summer,” Edwards said. “The residents I was talking to there, I was talking to them and they said it would be really have something tangible to look forward to next. I do hear everything that the Mayor said about systemic oppression and how the use of cameras could go left, and we’ve been trying our due diligence to let people know about that but the fact of the matter is there’s something very real in front of them and they are hopeful the cameras will be able to help mitigate that violence.”Walker was joined by CRHA Chair A’Lelia Henry in voting against it, but it passed on a 3-2 motion. Two Commissioners were absent from the meeting. The contract with Turnkey will be for $186,040. There may be more from this meeting of the CRHA in a future installment of the show. Thanks for reading and listening. Just a reminder that for $25 a month in Patreon, you get to direct four shout-outs a month! That amount will go up soon, but this is a very good way to get info in front of people in a way that supports production. Visit the Patreon site to learn more. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe