Richmond Free Press July 19-21, 2018 edition

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At 91, he continues to undertake business B4

Obama in Africa

Richmond Free Press © 2018 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 27 NO. 29

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

City center vision

www.richmondfreepress.com

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July 19-21, 2018

View of the proposed coliseum project area looking northeast from 5th and Broad streets. At left is the Greater Richmond Convention Center, while the tallest building at right is Richmond City Hall. A new coliseum is at top left. Existing buildings are white, proposed buildings have dark shading.

NH Foundation

NH Foundation looks to new coliseum to spur major redevelopment in Downtown By Jeremy M. Lazarus

How do you build a $220 million coliseum for Richmond without putting up any money? Simple. Use other people’s money, including taxpayer contributions. That, in essence, is the way that a private group led by

Dominion Energy’s top executive, Thomas F. “Tom” Farrell II, proposes to get the job done in laying out a vision of the new buildings and the thousands of jobs he contends will be created if City Hall and City Council give it the green light. According to the NH Foundation that Mr. Farrell heads, the plan is to build a new 17,500-seat coliseum and then repay the $220 million debt over 30 years from the new city taxes to be

Veterans group wheels out new gift for single mother By Bonnie Newman Davis

While living in Richmond’s Fairfield Court public housing community for nine years, Kiocia Wilkerson spent much of the time riding buses back and forth to work each day. She also relied on bus transportation to take her two children, one of whom is autistic, to and from school and to doctors’ appointments. “I’d take the 74 to Downtown, the 44 to Fairfield Court, then back Downtown, to take the 10, 44 and 74,” Ms. Wilkerson said, ticking off the various bus numbers with ease. Although the 30-year-old single mother moved from Fairfield Court a year ago to what she considers a safer neighborhood on Richmond’s South Side, her multiple bus rides continued. Some days, Ms. Wilkerson missed the bus by just a few seconds if a bus driver “was having a bad day Please turn to A4

generated by an array of projects that other people would build in the blocks near the coliseum. So far, NH has not disclosed what deals, if any, have been lined up and with whom to build the other projects. Those other projects include a 527-room convention hotel that could cost $200 million, 2,500 to 2,800 new apartments that could cost $400 million to $600 million, a medical office complex that could cost $150 million to $300 million and new restaurants. But the nonprofit NH Foundation will not be involved with any of those projects, according to foundation spokesman Grant Neely. “Those involved will have take the risk and find their own financing,” said Mr. Neely, who was chief of staff to former Mayor Dwight C. Jones and a current Dominion Energy communications staff employee who has been drafted to help NH in its campaign to win public backing. While there might be additional projects to accompany the new coliseum development, at this point, NH’s description of the overall development as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” is more of a vision than a certainty. Please turn to A5

School Board eyeing reallocating $10M for school repairs By Ronald E. Carrington

Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press

Kiocia Wilkerson of South Side is happy and proud about the 2002 Kia Optima that was presented to her by David L. Williams Jr. and the DLW Veterans Outreach and Training Center during the spring.

Settlement to give current, former RRHA tenants refunds or credits By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Cora Hayes is celebrating a big win in a legal case challenging the oversized electricity bills that the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority has imposed on its low-income tenants since 2012. “We did it,” said the longtime public housing activist who was among the six current and former RRHA tenants who secured a settlement with RHHA that will mean refunds and lower rates going forward for more than 7,000 tenants whom RRHA overcharged. Under the deal valued at nearly $2.77 million, RRHA will refund about $1.28 million in overcharges and other fees. The authority also will make adjust-

ments to current and future bills worth an estimated $1.3 million. On average, affected tenants could receive bill credits or refund checks averaging about $112, Judge Gibney with some families receiving larger amounts to reimburse for wrongfully applied late fees and for inaccurate billing. The settlement was crafted by lawyers with the Legal Aid Justice Center and Consumer Litigation Associates who represented the tenants. It also represents a significant hit to

RRHA’s revenues at a time when the public housing authority is bemoaning the lack of federal funds to maintain its rental units and has yet to ensure the heat will work in all 4,000 units in the city next winter. The settlement is the largest ever in this type of case in Virginia, but still far smaller than a jury might have awarded if the case had gone to trial. The settlement would result in refunds to tenants of about 22 percent of the wrongful charges RRHA imposed, according to the final settlement order entered July 10 by U.S. District Court Judge John A. Gibney Jr. RRHA agreed to the terms in February

Richmond Public Schools officials want to reallocate $10.1 million to make acute emergency repairs to school buildings across the city. At Monday night’s meeting of the Richmond School Board, Darin Simmons Jr., RPS’ chief operating officer, recommended redirecting toward repairs a little more than $13 million from the school system’s architectural and engineering account that was set up several years ago for the construction of new schools. Under the plan, $10 million would be used to replace roofs, heating and air conditioning systems, windows and broken facades at 17 city schools, the Richmond Technical Center, the Richmond Alternative School and the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center, with $3 million set aside for emergencies. Excluded from the list are George Mason and E.S.H. Greene elementary schools, Elkhardt-Thompson Middle School and George Wythe High School, which school officials said was deliberate because they are slated for replacement. However, as critical as school officials noted the repairs to be, nothing can happen until the School Board votes to move the money and Richmond City Council endorses the plan to reallocate the funds for school maintenance. Despite the nine-member board having a quorum at Monday’s meeting, the board decided to put off a vote until its Aug. 6 meeting. City Council is not scheduled to meet again after its July 23 meeting until September. School Board member Jonathan Young, 4th District, said in a Free Press interview Wednesday that once approval is given to Please turn to A4

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Dr. William E. ‘Bill’ Ward, former mayor of Chesapeake, NSU professor dies at 84 Free Press wire reports

Dr. Ward

CHESAPEAKE Dr. William E. “Bill” Ward, the first AfricanAmerican mayor of Chesapeake and the only official to serve the longest in that role, has died. He was 84. Dr. Ward, who was a longtime history professor at Norfolk State University, died Tuesday, July 10, 2018. He had been in the hospital, Chesapeake Mayor Rick West said. Dr. Ward was elected to the Chesapeake City Council

in 1978 and appointed mayor in 1990. He was re-elected three times, serving 14 years until 2004, making him the city’s longest-serving mayor. Many considered his political ascendancy rare for an African-American Democrat in a majority Republican city. Dr. Ward presided over a period of explosive growth in what is now the state’s third largest city with about 240,000 people. Under his leadership, the Please turn to A4

Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press

Celebrating a Richmond icon Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney holds 10-month-old Nasir Jackson while the infant’s dad, Timothy Jackson, and twin brother, Dakari, pause beside the statue of Richmond businesswoman Maggie L. Walker during Saturday’s celebration Downtown honoring her 154th birthday. Please see story, more photos, B2.


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