By now, most Richmonders have heard about the numerous people running for local office. More than 30 different people declared that they want to represent YOU either in the mayor's office, City Council or the School Board.
After taking a look at the potential mayors, Richmond.com wondered about each of the city's unique districts. Sliced up into nine diverse and oddly shaped pieces, each one has its own needs and concerns about what would make it and the city better.
Some districts cover a relatively homogenous group of people while others span areas so different you wonder how two people can possibly represent all those varying viewpoints.
So twice a month, between now and November, Richmond.com is taking a look at each district to tell you what it encompasses and what the priorities are for the people vying to look out for your interests at City Hall. Today we look at District 2/North Central.
District 2/North Central encompasses a wide range of income and racial diversity as it representatives speak for the Gilpin Court public housing complex, the moneyed Monument Avenue, the historic Jackson Ward and Carver neighborhoods, the changing Boulevard and the mix of students, residents and businesses in the Lower Fan.
It also includes Carver and Fox elementary schools, Maggie Walker Governor School, Adult Career Development Center and Richmond Alternative School.
There are numerous civic associations, many of whom are outspoken and involved when issues important to them go before City Hall. The associations include the Boulevard Association, Fan District Association, Carver Area Civic Improvement League, Gilpin Court, Historic Jackson Ward Association, Historic Monument Avenue and Fan District Foundation, Monument Avenue Preservation Society, Museum District Association, Newtowne West Civic Association, Rosedale Civic Association, Scott's Addition Business Association, Sherwood Park Civic Association and the West Grace Street Association, among others.
In Richmond's growing blog scene, there are at four that cover parts of this area: http://cjwn.net/news/, http://fdhub.net/, http://monroeward.org/ and http://www.10sboulevard.com/.
On the School Board, four-year incumbent Lisa Dawson, a 50-year-old homemaker, is facing competition from newcomer Kim B. Gray, a 37-year-old policy assistant with the Virginia Department of Transportation
Gray feels that the issues facing schools in the second district are the same as those citywide.
"Widespread fiscal irresponsibility and lack of accountability; insufficient quality educational programs; and an aging infrastructure built for the 20th century education environment," she said.
"We must change how we do business and become better stewards of taxpayer dollars."
Gray said she would work to change the financing accounting system by implementing proven methods and instilling responsible spending. She would also funnel the estimated $20 million in savings into educational programs and improving their infrastructure, she said.
"I will work to expand the IB (International Baccalaureate) program to north Richmond and increase the number of vocational and technical education courses to give our deserving students better opportunities for success," she said.
"It is equally critical that our school buildings are built for the 21st century; buildings that are environmentally efficient, ADA (Americans with Disabilities) compliant and technologically advanced. I would aggressively move forward with a firm plan to consolidate and build new schools. We must fundamentally change the way we lead our schools; I believe I offer the people of the 2nd District a positive choice for change."
Dawson cited as her top priorities for the school system citywide:
* to continue the New Directions program, which will allow us to focus on improving our secondary educational offerings and to make our secondary schools as appealing to parents as elementary schools are now;
*to continue our efforts to bring operational and fiscal efficiencies, which include asking for and receiving audits from the city auditor and implementing the recommendations, and see what needs to be done as we've been doing for past two years; and
*to continue to improve the school atmosphere, particularly with respect to improving safety and security in our schools and creating more flexible options for disciplining.
"I think nobody wants to rely on suspension as a consequence to misbehavior, but there has to be consequences to misbehavior," she said.
"What are the things we could do that would be a deterrent but would still keep him or her in the building pursuing their education?"
As for her priorities citywide, Dawson said the first is to find the best superintendent in the world, and the second is to foster "real" communication and cooperation between city government and the school system.
"So that people who are lower level employees can communicate, meet and plan together; and the city, schools and government employees can work collaboratively anytime they want to," she said.
"Number three is to look to the future and not the past. Our past is a wonderfully rich tradition but too often we feel our choices are limited to things we've already tried and many of them have failed."
As for City Council representation, the district will have a new person come November. Seven-year incumbent and current council president Bill Pantele will give up his seat as he campaigns for mayor.
Three men are vying for the job -- Patrick Kjellberg, Tyron Bey and Charles Samuels -- and all three agreed that the issues facing the second district were the same as those facing the city as a whole.
Kjellberg, 42, is in real estate and ran unsuccessfully against Pantele two years ago. The three most important issues facing the district are the same as those facing the city, he said -- public safety, education and affordable housing.
"What needs to be done in a council position is to recognize that the city and the greater metro area are much too big to tax in one place and build in another," he said.
"We need policies that drive our education and affordable housing and public safety so that's what needs to be done."
During the last election, Kjellberg proposed more development around the Diamond area on Boulevard, which he said would have kept the Braves in Richmond, attracted more people to the area to live and generated more revenue without further taxing residents.
Using policy is instrumental in effecting public safety, education and housing, he said.
"In order to make the city work, we need to make it appealing to those in the counties," he said, from addressing small issues like fixing sidewalks and vacant lots to large like affordable housing.
"It all adds up to a cumulative decision by people to live or not to live in the city. I'm not bashing the suburbs. They're making the best decision for themselves and their families. What we need to do in Richmond is make it the best decision for them."
Tyron Bey, a 28-year-old mortgage counselor with SunTrust Mortgage, also agrees that the issues affecting the second district are the same as those facing the whole city.
The first priority, Bey said, is creating strong communities and affordable housing. The second is continuing to strategically reduce the crime rate. Third is education.
"I'm not going to lambaste the school system. I'm a product of it," he said. "However, there's room for growth."
Bey feels thematic schools would offer more education, such as having an architecture or engineering program, and be available to anyone who wants to learn because the programs would start after the regular school day.
"I want to create a situation for getting education without being a student there (at that particular school)," he said.
A fourth priority Bey sees as key is mass transit and having a regional rapid rail system as well as better roads.
"We've got to expand into the entire region," he said. "That's what will bring us to being a tier one city."
Charles Samuels, a 32-year-old attorney, listed public safety, education and communication and cooperation as his top three priorities and in that order.
"With public safety, I really do think sector policing has done a great job of helping the second district and the city as a whole keep track of what's happening and has allowed the public to see more police on the streets," he said.
"We've seen violent crime come down and I want to work to make sure nonviolent crime follows suit."
That can be accomplished, Samuels said, but removing the opportunities for nonviolent crime, such as having well lit streets and sidewalks; taking graffiti seriously; and not leaving valuable items in cars where thieves can see them.
As far as education, Samuels said the second district has been blessed with a number of great schools, but that the city audits have clearly shown that more money needs to be diverted from administration to instruction.
"I'm a firm believer you need to support your teachers," he said. "As long as you can work to improve the communication between children, parents and teachers, the schools will improve."
Samuels, a past president of the Fan District Association, said that good communication and cooperation are key because they affect public safety and education as well as how the city works with its neighbors.
"I think it's very important. I'm an attorney here in town and I work with people daily to get something accomplished, whether it's finding an appropriate placement for a child or making sure an adult is getting the proper care they need. It's a constant effort to make sure everybody is on the same page," he said.
"As a council person, I will work tirelessly to make sure communication between the council people is good; the communication between City Council and the mayor's office is excellent because if the mayor and council agree, we won't have as much infighting as you're seeing now."
Just as important is good communication between council representative and residents, he said.
For example, he said he thinks it's important to restart the neighborhood teams process by which residents meet at least once a month with each other, fire, police, elected officials and city employees to talk about what's going on and what needs to happen.
"We also need good communication and cooperation between the city and the counties," he said. "There's been a lot of talk about that. In some ways, we do a good job of communicating, but need to make sure we keep the lines of communication open to resolve regional issues. Neither the city or the counties can stand alone."
Meet the Other Districts:
