Richmond Free Press © 2016 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 25 NO. 47
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
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Meet Richmond’s 2017 Teacher of the Year
NOVEMber 17-19, 2016
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Power moves
More than 2,000 anti-Trump protesters march from Virginia Commonwealth University to Carytown and back on Saturday. Protests also were held Wednesday at the University of Richmond.
Uncertainty reigns as President-elect Trump prepares to take office By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Mike Seger/Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump spent the past week solidifying his White House transition team.
President-elect Donald Trump has jangled nerves with his unexpected Election Day victory and his appointment of a firebrand arch conservative, former Richmonder Steve Bannon, as his chief strategist. Protests featuring chants of “Not my president” broke out in Richmond and other cities as disappointed supporters of defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton took to the streets in the days following the election to register their disapproval of the outcome.
On Monday, thousands of students in Los Angeles and other cities walked out of schools to demonstrate against the appointment of Mr. Bannon, joining an array of critics in Congress and elsewhere who fear Mr. Bannon could lift the white nationalist movement and Ku Klux Klan sympathizers into the top levels of the Trump White House. At the same time, Trump supporters went on their own rampage, with the FBI reporting more than 400 incidents of hate-filled attacks on AfricanAmericans, Muslims and others. Meanwhile, rumors and speculation continue to swirl as the transition from President Obama to
President-elect Trump moves ahead. Lies were Mr. Trump’s verbal currency of choice during the campaign, and his comments since his election victory have swung back and forth, leaving uncertainty about the policies he intends to carry out. Will he build a wall on the Mexican border? Destroy Obamacare? Privatize Medicare? Tear up international defense, trade, climate and nuclear agreements? Unleash police against AfricanAmericans? Eliminate protections for children of Please turn to A4
Richmond’s Kay Coles James leading Trump transition By Lauren Northington
As a black female Republican, Kay Coles James sits in contrast to the images of white men who often are characterized as the base of the political right. Mrs. James, a Richmond native who is unapologetically conservative and quite adroit at maneuvering and serving in high Republican circles, is now a part of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team. She has been tapped to lead the transition efforts
at the federal Office of Personnel Management, where she was director under former GOP President George W. Bush. Mrs. James and former U.S. Attorney General Edwin “Ed” Meese under President Ronald Reagan will head the management and budget agency transition work group. This is not her first time chairing a Republican
Mrs. James
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Advocacy groups bracing for change By Lauren Northington
President-elect Donald Trump pledged during his campaign to “Make America Great Again” by building a wall between the United States and Mexico, nationalizing stop-and-frisk policing, banning Muslim immigration, de-funding Planned Parenthood and dismantling federal policies, including environmental protections. Civil rights and advocacy organizations in Virginia that have spent the last eight years pushing for legal protections under a progressive Obama administration are turning to a new strategy in preparation for a new administration led by a real estate tycoon and reality television star with no political experience.
The NAACP, Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, Equality Virginia and the Sierra Club are localizing their fights, mobilizing protesters and preparing for a defensive campaign for an unpredictable four years. “The president-elect has a record of saying things he doesn’t mean, but a lot of things can happen based on what he says,” said James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia, a statewide advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Virginians. Mr. Trump’s list of 21 candidates he may review for an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court features several conservative opponents of marriage equality. But for state LGBT advocates, said
Mr. Parrish, the focus is not explicitly on marriage equality or transgender bathroom laws — both topics visited by the U.S. Supreme Court — but on the easily reversible non-discrimination executive orders signed by President Obama. Among them: Executive Order 13672, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of gender and sexual orientation. Mr. Parrish also is worried about who will be appointed to replace Loretta Lynch as head of the U.S. Justice Department. He fears it may be someone who won’t “have an interest in hate crimes against LGBTQ people.” For environmental protection advocates, Please turn to A6
Election Day less than smooth for local voter By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Eugene M. Price finally has been told his vote will count, six days after the Nov. 8 election. The 73-year-old Richmond auto mechanic said Monday he got a call from the city Voter Registrar’s Office telling him that the provisional ballot he cast was accepted and would be included in the city’s total vote after it was determined that he was properly registered to vote and that his name should have been on the voter rolls. For Mr. Price, it was vindication for the hours he spent on Election Day struggling to vote after learning his name somehow had been removed from the list of registered voters at Richmond’s Precinct 301 at John Marshall High School. “I’ve voted in every election since 1993, when Gov. (L. Douglas) Wilder restored my right to vote,” said Mr. Price, who owned and operated a repair shop in North Side for 34 years before suffering a mild heart attack and closing the shop a few months ago. While his case appears to be unusual, it is an example of the Please turn to A7
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Eugene M. Price is still disturbed by the fact that he had to fight for his right to vote on Election Day. His name was removed from the list of registered voters even though he has voted in every election since 1993.
Photo courtesy of Stoney for RVA
Richmond Mayor-elect Levar Stoney, left, meets at City Hall with Mayor Dwight C. Jones on Nov. 10 about the transition.
Mayor-elect Stoney plans to be ‘hands-on, visible, transparent’ By Jeremy M. Lazarus
As he looks forward to becoming Richmond’s next mayor, Levar Stoney is planning to be more visible after he takes office. As he puts it, he wants to be a “hands-on, visible and transparent mayor who can be a champion for accountability, measure outputs and inputs and, at the end of the day, say that the buck stops with me.” His plan to see and be seen in City Hall and across the city — and to be fully engaged in operations — would be in marked contrast with Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who generally has preferred to be involved with the “big picture” strategy and to leave the city’s day-to-day affairs to the managers he put in place and the employees who report to them. As Mr. Stoney begins his transition from candidate to city chief executive, the 35-year-old York County native has begun laying out his plans for when he takes office Jan 1. He also named a transition team to help him prepare for the big day. His two transition co-chairs are City Hall outsiders: Tiffany Jana, a former actress who is now president and CEO of TMI Consulting, which works with governments and businesses on ways to overcome bias and promote diversity and inclusion; and Bill Leighty, a lobbyist and former chief of staff to two former Democratic governors, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner. However, Mr. Stoney’s transition director worked for Mayor Jones on poverty issues. He is Dr. Thad Williamson, an associate professor at the University of Richmond who was the first and now former director of the city’s Office of Community Wealth Building. Mayor Jones and the City Council established the office to find ways to reduce poverty. “I am eager to move forward with key action steps that I highlighted throughout my campaign,” said Mr. Stoney, who won the most votes in five City Council districts on Election Please turn to A4