(Marshall, B.)
Mayor Jones approves ordinance request without departmental approvals: O&R request lacks initials of any department heads. Ordinance 2013-7 7. Read the rest of this entry »
In an April 15 letter from Marshall to Superintendent Yvonne W. Brandon and School Board Chairman Jeff M. Bourne, of the 3rd District, also obtained Monday, Marshall shared details of the offer and said a planned move of school functions away from the Boulevard “was well underway.”
“Please advise me of the timeline for the property being declared surplus,” he wrote.
The thought that the process was underway did not sit well with several School Board members.
The Richmond City Council considered two ordinances that would allow the keeping of chickens on residential lots.
Feb 28. City administration represented to city council that there would be a limit on the number of permits.
Feb 28. Inquiry questioning the limit was sent the city administration.
Mar 19. City administration represented to Land Use committee that there would be a limit on the number of permits.
Mar 20. City administration stated that the possibility of a limit had been dropped by January 28.
It appears the administration is claimed it did not intend to impose a limit rather than admit it was mistaken in thinking it could impose a limit.
Details: 2013-017 review.pdf
However, Marshall never sought the necessary City Council approval, drawing fire from a Richmond good-government group and council members who questioned the merits of placing the police’s public information duties under a political office. Link
The council resembles a legislature whose tasks include the offering of advice and the conferring of consent. It cannot represent the citizens of Richmond when it is presented with faits accomplis. The administration is not necessarily asking the council to do the wrong thing – to give its imprimatur to mistaken policies – yet the council has a right tto expect to join the discussion at earlier stages. A lack of transparency does not build confidence. Situations such as this make regionalism a harder sell. Link
Council members say the mayor’s office appears to be violating city law, by moving spokespeople from their departments to the press secretary’s office. Some say this could hinder the public’s ability to get details from Richmond government. Link
As a member of a Richmond good government group has pointed out — and the city attorney has confirmed — Marshall needs City Council approval to permanently place the various departments’ public-information functions under Press Secretary Tammy Hawley. Link
Alyse Marshall-Auernheimer, president of the West Grace Street Association, said many of the residents her group represents were outraged by the loss of the trees and the fitness trail. She added that the plans shown to residents in November did not reflect the shift that Jones said took place a month earlier.
“If you knew in October that the plan needed to remove trees, why did you tell us in November that they were going to stay?” she said. “There was definitely a lot of anger for not letting us know what was going to happen.” Link