Story by Mary Reynolds and Greg Ritter; photos by Carla J. Schmitt
There are at least two questions important to candidates for public office in Richmond: “What are the challenges facing the city of Richmond?” and “What are the challenges facing your district?” are the questions asked of every candidate in districts where Caffeine is circulated.
A third question was devised to test each candidate’s ability for complex thought; however, it seemed to backfire because candidates were not familiar with the award and had no comment. Or, maybe it didn’t backfire after all.
The question was, “Last month, City Council gave awards to its first distinguished majority citizen, Justice Louis Powell, and its first distinguished minority citizen, the Honorable Oliver HIll. Who would you nominate for this award?”
When candidates were unavailable for comment, campaign literature and speeches to constituents were used. When the candidate was out of town for a revival, they were omitted.
First District
In an area full of wealthy West Enders and waiting-to-gentrify WOBA (West of the Boulevard Association) members, this race is wide open due to the retirement of Geline Williams. Four men vie to fill the sensible shoes of the former mayor.
John A. Conrad
City: “Race relations. We have to get people on City Council who believe in the politics of diversity, not the politics of race. We must accept multi-racial solutions.” When asked about the specifics of these solutions, Conrad retorts, “Solutions are not quick and easy. There is a basic problem of human relations.”
District: “Race relations are a problem in every district.”
Award: “I have no idea.”
Bonus points for: Brief, if unenlightening, answers.
David M. Raynor
City: “Maximizing investment in Richmond and the surrounding region. We must recognize that we are not competing inside this region. We’ve got to get our cost structure under control, make the costs of doing business in the city more in line with the cost of doing business in the county. Right now, the counties are holding all the aces in the card game.” In fact, he has met with county leaders to discuss regional economic issues. Raynor believes that more private investment inside the city limits will allow the city to tackle other problems “Everything else will be built on a strong economic foundation, then we can address urban crime and blight issues.”
District: “We’ve got to get out of this provincial mindset of my district versus your district. The problems of District Eight and Nine are District One problems too. We’re all in this together.”
Awards: “I’d like to see both awards to go someone from the private sector. People who have made successful business investments inside the city limits.”
Alan T. Shaia
City: “Re-energize the city. Create a positive philosophy and perception. We should be number one in growth and right now we’re declining.” He believes Richmond should promote itself more aggressively. “Another challenge is citizen safety,” Shaia’s creative name for crime. “We also should have a friendly government with open arms to people and to business. We should make it easy for people to get answers.”
District: “It’s important that we promote our area properly.”
Award: “I couldn’t tell you right now.”
Jeff B. Turner
City: “First, the financial difficulties that we face now, we have a $500 million deficit now. I will propose the privatization of city services, without cutting jobs.” He gives an example of how the city of Phoenix, Arizona, privatized garbage collection and did not layoff a single employee. By privatizing services, the city will save money Turner hopes to use for low-interest loans for small businesses. “Second, the revitalization of Downtown is a must.” Finally, he wants to keep businesses in town, “If businesses keep moving out, homeowners will end up paying all the city debt.”
District: “I hope the candidates don’t just look at their own district, problems relate to the whole city. The First District itself is in pretty good shape, although some of the schools could use facelifts.”
Awards: “Some of the things City Council does bewilder me. The city is majority African-American, I don’t quite understand this award. I have no thoughts on who I might choose.”
Second District
The Fan. When asked about Caffeine, it turns out that only candidate Tim Kaine had “picked up an issue once.” The Second District
stretches from Floyd Avenue to Jackson Ward and points north.
Timothy M. Kaine
City: “There are good things going on in individual classrooms,” says Kaine, “but community perception of Richmond Public Schools is poor because of poor administrative decisions.” Kaine sees education and the economy as the two biggest issues facing the city right now. He supports economic revitalization of downtown, but says “private interest doesn’t follow public expenditures.” Projects like Main Street Station and Sixth Street Marketplace failed because the business sector had no real interest in those sites. Kaine gives the example of the Flood Wall (which encouraged existing interest in Shockoe Bottom) as a good investment.
District: “The level of pettiness and personal turf issues among Council members is intolerable.” He wants Council to focus on the issues confronting the whole city—crime, education, economic revitalization, easing of racial tensions, cooperation with regional counties—and steer it away from “dealing on the minutia.”
Award: No comment
Benjamin A. Warthen
City: “By and large, city council does respond to city-wide issues,” says incumbent Warthen. He adds we’re faced with “poor perceptions.” For example, he argues that the statistics show that the perception of a “crime wave” is not accurate, and he feels Council is and has been actively addressing crime and police issues.” Warthen feels the perceived racial division of Council has been overplayed. He notes that out of 1,600 resolutions Council has voted on in his term only six votes were split six to three along the makeup of Council, and those votes weren’t even necessarily racially motivated splits.
District: “You’re elected by 1/9 of the voters so you must look out for your district.”
Award: This year’s awards went to individuals involved with law. Warthen suggest council might turn to the fields of medicine or education for next year’s recipients. He mentioned Dr. Alex James and VCU’s Dr. Eugene Trani as possible nominees in the education field. He noted that this year’s recipients will be “hard acts to follow.”
Fifth District
This district is sandwiched between the James and Cary Street, stretching from Interstate 195 to Belvidere. Perhaps unfortunately for some candidates the denizens of the Hollywood Cemetery neighborhood are not eligible to vote in Council elections.
Barbara McDaniel Harris
City: Harris is “very, very, very disappointed” with the effectiveness of City Council. She feels it projects an unprofessional image and needs to better “address the concerns of constituents all over Richmond.” Harris focuses on crime and education as Richmond’s major problems. She advocates programs that would provide jobs and teach the necessary skills to get and keep jobs, revitalization of deteriorating neighborhoods, creations of recreations areas suitable and safe for families, and mentoring programs. “People are moving out of the city. We have to make it attractive so they’ll want to stay.”
District: “Physical safety is a real problem. The guns out there are really threatening.” As a teacher in Richmond City Public Schools for 28 years, and as a mother and a grandmother, Harris is particularly concerned with the problems facing children and young adults in her district and the city.
Award: no comment
H.W. Chuck Richardson
Current City Council member Chuck Richardson didn’t return Caffeine’s phone messages. His answering machine did provide some inspiration: “You’ve reached the Richardson’s. Please leave a message.”
Sixth District
Poised-for-a-comeback downtown, along with neighborhoods riddled with chronic unemployment and crime, comprise Mayor Kenney’s home ground. Responding to Caffeine’s comment that the mayor is difficult to reach, brassy challenger L. Shirley Harvey says, “Pretty soon there won’t be a Mayor Kenney.”
L. Shirley Harvey
City: “Crime. Caused by drugs. People need money for drugs so they turn to crime. People turn to drugs because they have no hope.”
District: “There is so much hopelessness among people and a proliferation of joblessness. Her solution: “Instead of telling people to go out there and get a job, let them use the talents they have. Help them start their own small businesses. If the city can give thousands of dollars to these big corporations, they should be able to spend $3,000 to help someone start a small business.”
Awards: “Oliver Hill (recipient of this year’s minority award) doesn’t need another award. He gets awards all the time. We need role models for the kids. You don’t need to be well-known to deserve an award. You are a success if you are using God-given talents to survive.”
Walter T. Kenney
City: “Family values. How can we get families to be responsible for immediate families and to the community; crime—living in fear, job creation and job training.” Mayor Kenney also emphasizes improving public schools and the perception of public education. He explains, “We’re not any different from any other city of comparable size; we all face the same problems.”
District: “I have a diversified district. We have single family homes in neighborhoods, public housing, business and financial centers, hotels, restaurants, the hospitality industry, light and heavy industry, Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom and the Farmer’s Market.” He believes in continuing the work underway to spruce up his district: “We must continue the revitalization of downtown. We need something that’s unique, something to draw people downtown.”
Awards: He will not nominate someone from a particular category or ethnic background, “could be anyone from any sector.”
Bonus points for: Stream of consciousness answers to questions.
Seventh District
Rev. Councilman Leonidas Young was out of town for a revival when Caffeine called. He is running unopposed in the district which flows east from 19th street to the Henrico County line and includes much of Church Hill and beautiful Chimborazo National Historic Park.
Ninth District
Although nary a record store nor cafe in the southside district carry this fine publication, this one council race may result in a new face on city council. Incumbent Gwendolyn Hedgepeth must run a write-in campaign because she failed to get her election paperwork in on time. Challenger Anthony D. Jones believes her campaign mistake characterizes Hedgepeth’s unresponsiveness to her constituents: “I wish there were stronger words than ‘out of touch.’”
Gwendolyn Hedgepeth
City: “Crime. If we don’t curtail crime, our education efforts, economic development efforts, and environmental efforts will be to no avail. Because no one will want to live here or work here.” She points to her work on the “Take Pride in Richmond, the Capital” initiative which has four components: decreasing crime, excellence in education, empowerment of the community and “Buy Richmond.” “We can deal with the problems, it just takes cooperation,” says Hedgepeth hopefully.
District: “Every road is riddled with ditches, ditches we inherited when the city annexed the area from Chesterfield County. “ She explains that the city is now working on improving the roads and enclosing the ditches in District Nine communities.
Award: “The award should be expanded to include people from different walks of life. Community activists and community workers are our unsung heroes.”
Bonus points for: addressing environmental issues.
Anthony D. Jones
City: “The Ninth District has always been the last to the table. Problems in the Ninth District and the city are crime.”
District: “We have a plethora of problems in the Ninth District. We’ve got to prioritize these problems. Every one I talk to in the Ninth District has a different concern: one man is concerned about the drainage ditch outside his house which has a lot of mosquitoes in the summer, one woman is concerned about the safety of her children on the way to school. But we have common concerns too. We also have a lot of resources: we have churches, we have schools, we have small businesses. I’ve got my ear to the ground”
Awards: “I haven’t thought about it”
