Fredericksburg's New Majority To Halt Courthouse Project
Fred Howe, who lost the mayoral race to Mary Katherine Greenlaw, remains on City Council for two more years at least. With Matt Kelly elected last night, the new majority says the courthouse will be re-examined.
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Newly elected City Council member Matt Kelly had a message for city staff Tuesday night after getting the most votes of any candidate running for office in the election: don't spend another dime on the courthouse project until he takes office in July to form the new majority.
Last year, council members Brad Ellis, Fred Howe (who lost the mayoral race but retains his seat on City Council) and Bea Paolucci voted against the courthouse project, but the four-member majority approved it and $35 million in bonds were issued for the Princess Anne Street courts facility.
But with the election of Kelly, the council majority shifts, and all four are ready and willing to halt the courthouse project to re-examine its scale downtown. Kelly said he plans to meet with city staff to better understand the courthouse project and he urged them through the media Tuesday night to not spend anymore money on the project until the new majority is in place.
"The main point of my campaign were the concerns I have with the courthouse project," Kelly said Tuesday night. "I've been very upfront with saying the current plan is not good. A lot of decisions were made in closed sessions. I don't even know how we got here."
Howe, who was at Brock's Riverside Grill after the election, seemed uplifted by the fact that he's part of the new majority. He, too, made it a strong point of his campaign to re-examine the courthouse project. Although the bonds are issued, council members can still make changes to the design, scope and possibly even the location of the facilities. The city issued $38.7 million in general obligation bonds. Most of that money, approximately $35 million, is for the courts facilities. Howe said the silver lining to his loss for mayor is that Kelly was elected to form this new majority.
"The four members who make up the new majority will call on the city manager to halt the court process," Howe said. "The new majority will speak with a different voice for the direction of our city—that will be my hope and prayers for the residents of the City of Fredericksburg."
Paolucci said that the arguments from the Architectural Review Board that the mass and scaling of the courthouse complex is too large for historic downtown made sense. She said that the state is spending $240,000 for the National Center for State Courts to develop a new caseload system for the sate and to consider changing the judicial districts. The 15th judicial district, which includes Fredericksburg, has the second-highest caseloads in the state, but Paolucci said if the districts are changed, the city may not need a "mammoth" courts facility.
"Do I think we have an opportunity to revisit it? Yes," she said this morning. "There is an opportunity to make it better."
Mary Katherine Greenlaw, who won the mayoral race, thought differently. She said the people elected her to the mayoral seat, and that means they support the courthouse decision.
"I think it lays it to rest," she said.
Michelle M
10:18 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
In response to Greenlaw's comment about the people supporting the courthouse, I think there are other 'messages' this election sent. There were quite a few people who didn't vote for Greenlaw and put their support behind two different candidates, Howe and Paxson, both who wanted to reevaluate the courthouse decision. While neither of those candidates had majority, their combined votes should showcase that revisiting the decision and continuing discussions are worthwhile. I think it is important for all of those who are newly elected to evaluate what was 'said' on the whole in the election by Fredericksburg City residents.
Dan Telvock
10:53 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Michelle, I believe this is why I wrote the piece the other day on how this election was technically a referendum on the project. However, the voters didn't seem to vote that way because on one hand, they overwhelmingly chose Greenlaw, and on the other hand, Matt Kelly got the most votes of anyone. What an interesting dynamic
Arnold Smithson
7:40 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The other hypothesis would be that voters didn't use the courthouse as their primary heuristic, but instead used something else. My guess: voters did what voters typically do and voted for the person who they connected with.
There's a campaign story here: Greenlaw focused on canvassing on face-to-face contact with voters as a way of garnering support, while the other focused on things like Android apps (did those iPhone apps ever come out anyway?), leaving comments on various Patch articles, and ridiculously complicated plans for the future of Fredericksburg.
If it was truly a referendum on the courthouse we would have seen both the mayor's election and the city council go in the same direction. Unfortunately we seem to have pretty strong evidence to disconfirm that theory.
Dan Telvock
10:55 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Another interesting point was the lack of Mayfield and Bragg Hill endorsements of candidates. Did those communities vote and if they didn't, is it because none of the candidates really spoke to the issues that are important to them? The mayor (Tomzak) has stated numerous times how 55 percent of this city is on reduced/free lunch programs for the schools. Think about that for a moment. Were riverfront parks, art centers, courthouses something they care about as much as safe communities, schools and neighborhood improvements? Marcie Tanner, thoughts?
Marcie Floyd Tanner
11:36 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
I can't speak for anyone else, but I can honestly say that I believe that the maintenance of the City is priority, above and beyond all of the other projects. We have sewer problems, road issues, sidewalk issues, and that's not just in Bragg Hill or Riverwalk, that is all over the city. The City put the cart before the horse on the Courthouse, and they will continue to do so with every other project, if we don't stop them. I have been speaking out against the Courthouse for months, i.e., emails, letters, speaking at the council meetings. We need improvements. We are so far in debt now, that our children will be paying for the courthouse when they graduate college. Seriously.....
Thomas
3:33 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Haha as someone who has lived there and has walked the entirety of fall hill from the river to central park (being inches from both cars and from falling off the bridge) because a car wasn't an option, it always feels like a slap in the face when safety in your neighborhood just isn't seen as an important issue. I'm not saying it is true by anyone in particular, but it definitely is perceived that way. (also, I'm still a ward 4 resident, just not at the top of the hill anymore)
Arnold Smithson
7:45 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Dan - I'd be interested in seeing turnout data to answer this question. I'm not sure how the wards break down, but I'm almost positive that the data on who votes is available to anyone who is willing to take the time to collect it.
My guess would be that riverfront parks and courthouses are "inside baseball" issues that only political insiders and Patch readers care about. It's easy to get sucked into the bubble and thinking that everyone cares about these issues when everyone you talk to/comment with cares, but most people aren't even aware of who their mayor is, let alone these sorts of issues.
Dan Telvock
10:56 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
I should point out that Howe did change course and wants to make the improvements to the Bragg Hill area near the 7-Eleven for sidewalks, curb and gutter. But that's a relatively small project in the realm of 55 percent poverty
Marcie Floyd Tanner
11:29 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Yes, it is a small project and a project I have been fighting for since we moved here in 2008. Doug Fawcett assured me that when the ballpark was finished the road, sidewalks and curbing would be put in. He stated there wasn't any reason to fix it until the project was completed. That was in 2009. This project is finished, and where are the repairs?
Larry Gross
11:03 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Bragg Hill area should see full sidewalks when they put in the new bridge over I-95 and re-do Fall Hill Avenue down the hill to the Canal.
re: referendum - apparently not. Devine was in favor of the CH and Kelly opposed and they both won at large seats.
Marcie Floyd Tanner
11:28 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
That's true, but we are talking about Wicklow. Right now, we have a gorgeous ballpark, and no way for individuals who are walking from Fall Hill to get there unless you walk in the street. This is a real safety concern. Ripken knows it, the City knows it, but they have chosen to put it on the back burner again. MKGreenlaw stated to me that she has a developer that is willing to put the sidewalks, curbing, etc... in but that is all based on property that is for sale in front of Cal Ripkens Fields. Who knows if this will ever happen, the property has been up for sale for years.
Shelby Chandler
11:13 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
That is an interesting point Dan, but what are you suggesting on this? The fact of the matter is that the mayor and council cannot fix this problem short term; they can only give the city the means to attract businesses and provide training support to which citizens have the skill sets necessary for acquiring a job that these businesses bring in.
The focus should be to bring businesses to Fredericksburg and to offer council support so that residents have the means to acquire these jobs by advancing city-sponsored programs that will give citizens residing within Fredericksburg (especially at Mayfield and Bragg Hill) skill-set training to prepare them for these new jobs. The push for businesses was discussed by all three candidates; let's see if we get any forward movement on this but the job training was not.
Dan Telvock
11:15 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
I am not suggesting anything. I am just raising points, and interesting ones at that :)
Shelby Chandler
1:57 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Yes, it is an interesting point indeed; and the fact that you are out there listening to the people tells the kind of reporter that you are; thank you for looking out for the people as a whole and keeping an objective position in your professional endeavors. This city not only needs such people, but deserves it!
Dan Telvock
11:16 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
And the points weren't necessarily mine---I am raising these points because I HEARD them
Hamilton
11:21 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The one thing we do know is that the Moseley Report is not valid and not sustainable for reasons previously stated. We also know that the City Manager went behind closed doors to spend $67,800 of taxpayers money (for a PPEA proposal) AFTER he told Council he would do that work in-house at no cost to the taxpayers. And if that was not enough, he spent that money out of state. Then there was the $400,000 spent to study a big box on the post office site - all sole sourced to one firm.
We do need to revisit the courthouse complex for many reasons.
Lets see if the out of town consultant and our city manager accelerate spending on the courthouse or if they go slow. Lets see if our newly elected persons step up to tell the city manager to slow down the process knowing that there is not a majority on this new council willing to support the courthouse plan. This will be a good indication of how the city manager, the mayor, and council will work together.
Mike Hirsch
2:19 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012
My earlier post was inadvertantly deleted by me, sorry (by my poor typing skills on an Android phone at lunch, duh!).
The headline of this article is good news for all. Nothing beats a second look or thought or approach to make a project better.
Congratulations to our first Madam Mayor-Elect, what an historic occasion, good for you Mary Katherine Greenlaw! Well fought and well won!
I know we all look forward to seeing the Mayor Elect's popular campaign slogan become a reality because as our new Mayorshe will doubtless have many opportunities to, as the signs put it, "Let's work together!"
With Matt Kelly back on the Council I am sure our City will move forward into her brighter future for all of our citizens!
Now let's have a look at that Courthouse plan one more time please...
Dan Telvock
2:25 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Arnold, the turnout data is all on the SBE site. Email me and I can show you it if you want to work on something with me.
Carla Tibbs
9:19 am on Thursday, July 12, 2012
Let's work together indeed!