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Charlottesville Community Engagement

Town Crier Productions

Regular updates of what's happening in local and regional government in and around Charlottesville, Virginia from an award-winning journalist with nearly thirty years of experience.

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  • Saturday · 38 min

    Podcast for September 5, 2026: Four stories about Albemarle and a segment about the removal of Rivanna River encampments

    Do consider a paid subscription today in case a time accident takes place and suddenly I’m whisked back to September 5, 1698, when Tsar Peter I of Russia levied a tax on beards for everyone except the clergy and peasants. This is most likely not going to happen, but this is one possible reason to make a contribution. This Saturday edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement also offers me the opportunity to experiment. This particular version has material that did not appear on the WTJU radio program and is created fresh for the loyal listeners of the podcast. But for the first time in a regular post, paid subscribers get access to a synopsis of a particular project. There’s nothing new in the reporting, but I took the opportunity to write up a summary of the ill-fated West2nd project based on a combination of previous reporting and new research. That part is not in the audio. Stories this week: * Charlottesville follows through with plans to clear encampments along the Rivanna River after 2000 Holiday Drive opens (look at the story) * Albemarle Supervisors presented with metrics on county performance in FY2026 (read story) * Albemarle Supervisors agree to allow County Executive to sign performance agreement for Southwood’s second phase (view story) * Albemarle Supervisors agreed to charge fares for MicroCAT (see story) * Albemarle Supervisors approved rezoning for 18-unit development on three acres in Crozet (story forthcoming on C-Ville Weekly) * Paid subscribers get a written summary of what happened with West2nd, an unbuilt development that would been constructed on a city parking lot They are not all podcasts, but this one is. If you sign up for free, you’ll get that each week as well as a lot of other information. Paid subscribers get a smidge more and support the work financially A sponsored message: Panorama Natural Burial At Panorama Natural Burial, we believe caring for the deceased can be simple, meaningful, and deeply connected to the natural world. As a natural burial ground just outside Charlottesville, we offer families an alternative to traditional burial that honors both the people we love and the land that will carry them forward. Whether you are planning ahead, navigating a recent loss, or are just curious about natural burial, we welcome the conversation. We host regular tours and community events throughout the year. At Panorama we are building new ways of understanding death, land, ecology, ritual, memory, and community. We believe that building community around death care helps us all to live fuller lives. We are open to the public daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Come visit! No arrests made in conjunction with Charlottesville removal of people from Rivanna River encampments This story assembles coverage from previous editions of the newsletter This week the City of Charlottesville followed through on a deadline to remove people from encampments along the Rivanna River as soon as an emergency shelter opened at 2000 Holiday Drive to provide an alternative. Charlottesville’s chief building official issued a temporary certificate of occupancy early September 1 after work crews cleared a list of violations that held up issuance the day before. The city closed off the Rivanna Trail at Free Bridge on Tuesday to give space for the clean-up and asked media representatives to stay clear. By the end of the first day, sixteen people had opted to move into the emergency shelter and the camps were declared to be closed. The same night, video footage captured someone setting fire to two of tents still standing at one of the camp sites. Officials are still requesting help. By the end of Wednesday night, ten more people had moved in. The city that day also posted a video with Nathan Smith, the CEO of Central Arizona Shelter Services. That firm is being paid $3.2 million for a year’s worth of running the emergency low-barrier shelter. “Low-barrier shelter means we do everything we can to eliminate all the things that prevent people from accessing shelter,” said Nathan Smith. “For example, people don’t access shelter because they can’t bring their pets.” In the video, Smith takes viewers through the renovated first floor of 2000 Holiday Drive which includes storage space for people’s belongings. “We have 240 bins for what could be up to 120 people,” Smith said. “Not certain 120 people are going to be here. If so, great, everyone can have two bins, but if not, maybe they can have three.” The men’s dorm currently has 37 twin-size beds in a congregate setting but more can be added. Each has a locker underneath. Charging stations are nearby for phones and other devices, but also for health equipment like CPAP machines. There are currently 21 beds in the women’s dorm. There are also four isolation rooms for a variety of purposes such as if guests are sick. Tables have also been set up for guests to play games and to share time with each other. Smith said that many people experiencing homelessness are also feeling isolated. “One of the reasons why people enjoy living in encampment situations is because they have a sense of community,” Smith said. “We want to bring them into a safer space where they’re not worried about getting flooded or the other things that happen with the elements, particularly in the winter.” On Thursday, the city also released images and a video of what appears to be a person dressed in light clothing along a paved portion of the trail. As they walk into the frame of the security camera, they put a hat on their head to shield their identity. The person briefly leaves the trail and walks to one of the tents still standing alongside discarded items. They use some sort of a mechanism to start a flame and walk away when it ignites. The person that moves further down the trail and appears to walk away. They turn back to catch another tent on fire. This flame burns more quickly and continues to grow as the video ends. The city asks anyone with information to call the Crime Stoppers line at 434-977-4000. Take a look at the video here. City Councilor Jen Fleisher updated the members of the Thomas Planning District Commission on the closure of the encampments at the group’s meeting on September 3. “We’ve moved everyone out into shelter or alternative housing,” Fleisher said. “And that was an effort that involved multiple departments and agencies, as well as nonprofits and community volunteers. We’ve met with 26 guests, well, 27 guests as of this afternoon. Doors are open.” Fleisher said Central Arizona Shelter Services is being paid to run the site for the next year while plans continue to be developed to convert 2000 Holiday Drive into a permanent emergency shelter. Fleisher also said the cleanup of the trail will continue through Saturday and damages are being repaired. When asked about the fire, Fleisher said the fire happened after the last three residents of the encampment left on Wednesday night. So far no lawsuits have been filed against the city, but Fleisher confirmed there many people on site observing activities during the removal period. “While they were with us all day, no one communicated with us any concerns, and I haven’t seen any reports yet,” Fleisher said. People staying there are getting two meals, a place to shower, and access to case managers. “That’s the goal, to make this a stepping stone into transitional housing, then permanent supportive housing, and do so by really getting back on or first time connected to that case management, the support needed,” Fleisher said. On Friday, the city’s Communications and Public Engagement office did another in-house video with City Manager Sam Sanders. He said that even though the shelter is operating under a temporary permit, the intent is for it to never close. “We’re gonna make improvements to the space while we continue to serve in that location. I see it as a one-stop homeless services center,” Sanders said. “That’s what I would like it to be. That is what we’re hoping that our partners can come together and produce and that we can find as many providers who are willing to come to that location.” Sanders said the city will also be investing in transitional housing as a next step for many after a congregate emergency shelter. He thanked all involved with the swift opening of 2000 Holiday Drive. “We started this conversation in mid-July, and here we are in early September with the facility open that I never envisioned could be possible this quickly after buying the building last year,” Sanders said. “And our community partners, the assessment team members, all the folks who have really, really rallied around the idea that An emergency response is what was needed for what was happening at the Rivanna River.” The topic is likely to come up in some form at City Council’s meeting on Tuesday, September 8. One item in the packet is Sanders’ written report which contains a mention that he met with the executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission on September 1 to “to discuss opportunities to align funding priorities to support a regional response to homelessness using currently allocated opportunities to engage all regional parties in the discussion.” What will that look like? Stay tuned to Charlottesville Community Engagement. Background context on why one Downtown Charlottesville project didn’t work out This week, the formerly daily newspaper called the Charlottesville Daily Progress printed an article about the demise of West2nd that appears to have been based on previous reporting in this newsletter. It’s likely behind a paywall, but somehow I was able to click through. West2nd is a failed development by Woodard Properties that began life as Market Plaza. The article prompted a polemic on Reddit from someone demanding that the Board of Architectural Review be disbanded due to their role in the project’s demise. As with many things, that is not the complete picture. My idea of a fun Friday night is reviewing old stories to make sure any future reporting I do is still valid. I’m only as good as how accurate I am, and memory should never be trusted. I also wanted to fill in one of my knowledge gaps. In the following, all links go to reporting I did years ago at Charlottesville Tomorrow unless otherwise noted. The roots of the failure of West2nd begin with the way the project came to be. In October, City Council put out a request for developers interested in developing the city-owned lot that also included 105 spots for market vendors. That idea stemmed from a design contest held by the now-defunct Charlottesville Community Design Center in 2007. Four proposals were received and one of them did imagine purchasing the lot next door from Charlottesville Parking Center which at that time was still owned by a group of shareholders rather than one person. Council selected Woodard Properties in June 2014 for an L-shaped nine-story building with 67 residential units, commercial space, and 115 market slots. “You see that it is possible to come to decisions,” said Mayor Satyendra Huja. “I have made up my mind that mixed-use development and the market can happen on this site in spite of the number of consultants we hired that said no.” A special use permit was needed and it sailed through the review process and was approved in December 2014. The Board of Architectural Review still had to sign off on the design. On Council, Huja was just an elected official and not in his previous perch as director of the city’s planning efforts. He would leave office and permanently retire from public life at the end of 2015 but was on Council in October 2015 when the special use permit was amended. In early 2015, Planning director Jim Tolbert had left. That meant the project went through the rest of the planning process without anyone on Council to try to shepherd it through and with a new person in charge in Neighborhood Development Services. Council had a lot of turnover. Mike Signer and Wes Bellamy joined Council in 2016. Heather Hill and Nikuyah Walker did so in 2018, after the events of the year before. The political climate changed. When another request to amend the special use permit came before Council in early 2018, a 3-2 majority denied it. (C-Ville Weekly version by another reporter) “Whenever we begin to create housing that is supposed to be top-notch and high-level, very rarely do individuals from low-income communities have the opportunity to take advantage of such,” said Councilor Wes Bellamy at the time. After that vote, Woodard agreed to make changes and the new count was 4-1 two months later. Only Walker remained as a no vote. (Cavalier Daily article) By June 2018, I had left Charlottesville Tomorrow and out of play as a reporter. My new job did not extend to covering the Board of Architectural Review. At this point, the project has received a preliminary certificate of appropriateness from the BAR. According to the minutes of their August 21, 2018 meeting, Woodard returned to get it finalized and he hoped to get under construction by October. A description of the review begins on page 7 and indicates many BAR members were dissatisfied with many aspects of the project. A vote to recommend denial was 5 to 3 “based on the comments cited earlier focusing on mass and height and the use of the plaza as a functional public space.” While Woodard’s lawyer appealed the BAR’s decision to Council, that hearing never happened. Woodard also issued a press release announcing the project would be abandoned. “I hope that someone else can move this project forward. In early 2014 when we responded to the City RFP to develop this project, it was a different City Council and different circumstances. The last straw for us was yet another unexpected delay by the City Board of Architectural Review (BAR) on August 21st” said Keith Woodard. Some other articles to round this out: * Developer scraps West2nd project, citing ‘unexpected delay’ from city’s Board of Architectural Review, Eliza Haverstock, Cavalier Daily, August 30, 2018 * West2nd City Council appeal indicates the project could still move forward, Geremia Di Maro and Jake Gold, Cavalier Daily, September 1, 2026 * ‘The last straw:’ Woodard pulls the plug on West2nd, Samantha Baars, August 30, 2018 Woodard’s son Anthony now runs Woodard Properties and recently purchased the 100 East Water Street for $15 million from the Charlottesville Parking Center, as I reported for C-Ville Weekly. The City Market continues to be a down attraction, coinciding with one held at the Ix Art Park. How will things develop in the future? Thanks to your paid subscription to the newsletter, I hope to continue to do the work for a long time to come. This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access. Thoughts at the end of #1119-A Somehow the work week has concluded. And I have the opportunity to take a day off. I dislike this because as I say a lot, work to me relaxing. I research things for a living, and I have a lot of deadlines. If I am working toward them, I feel in a positive state. If I am not, I begin to deteriorate. This particular edition is a little late. Many podcast listeners this week have reached out to say how important it is for them to be able to hear the stories, so I’ll keep doing them. I also want to figure out how to work with people who might like to learn production skills. In any case, this is now finished and I’m going to go to a birthday party a friend is throwing for herself. I will try my best not to work when I am there. The Week Ahead may be delayed until Monday morning with the next regular newsletter on Tuesday. I have two stories written for that. The goal with work tomorrow is to try to get a lot of next week framed out so when the time comes I’ll just get to the tasks at hand. At some point, too, there is financial work to be done. I really need to get to that. Thanks again for reading and listening. Please share with people. This has all grown through word of mouth and people sharing. For now, though? Time to clean my kitchen after the delicious brunch I made for myself earlier after a five mile walk after sunrise. I’m old now, and I’m here for it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • August 29 · 1 hr 47 min

    Podcast for August 29, 2026: Opening of 2000 Holiday Drive as emergency shelter is result of three years of planning

    On September 1, the City of Charlottesville is expected to begin clearing out people who have been living in encampments along the Rivanna River and charging anyone who tries to stay with trespassing. September 1 is also the same day that Central Arizona Shelter Services is contractually obligated to begin operating an emergency low-barrier facility at 2000 Holiday Drive. In this edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, you’ll hear some of the story of how we got to this point from prior stories that appeared in the newsletter and podcast since September 2023 concluding with an update of where things are before what the city calls a “transition” is expected to occur. If you’ve never heard one of these podcasts before, this is a good one that includes three years of coverage on this one topic. The goal of this newsletter is to help remind people of recent conversations in an attempt to expand our collective attention span. We as a species face so many complex issues and stories like this are intended to capture some of the details. At the very least, take a look at all of the stories some of which are sampled in this sonic edition. Previous coverage over the years: * Chief Kochis refutes charges of police brutality in Market Street Park, October 3, 2023 * Sanders outlines work plan, homeless intervention strategy, October 9, 2023 * City Manager Sanders provides update on Charlottesville’s efforts to assist the unhoused, September 12, 2024 * Charlottesville City Manager Sanders announces upcoming “community interventions” including $5 million for the Salvation Army, October 23, 2024 * Charlottesville City Manager Sanders announces upcoming “community interventions” including $5 million for the Salvation Army, October 23, 2024 * Sanders briefs Council on other community interventions such as purchase of portable restrooms, November 1, 2024 * Sanders addresses low-barrier shelter before Council approves $3 million for other Salvation Army project, December 20, 2024 * City Council ends consideration of anti-camping ordinance after pushback from homeless advocates, September 5, 2025 * Sanders provides an update on efforts to address homeless population of Charlottesville, September 19, 2025 * Council holds first reading on use of $7.95 million in surplus funds, October 10, 2025 * Council agrees to reallocate funding intended to run low-barrier shelter, February 10, 2025 * Charlottesville City Council briefed on low-barrier shelter by groups that provide the programming, March 27, 2026 * City Council presented with The State of Homelessness 2026 by four nonprofit groups working on the issue, May 12, 2026 * Salvation Army launches fundraising campaign for Center for Hope, May 15, 2026 * Many details remain to be worked out for how three groups will work together at Charlottesville’s future low-barrier shelter, May 15, 2026 * Sanders gives first progress report on operations plan for 2000 Holiday Drive, May 22, 2026 * Albemarle Supervisor Pruitt provides short briefing on low-barrier shelter plan, May 29, 2026 * Work continues to develop operations plan for low-barrier shelter and service center for unhoused, July 10, 2026 * Charlottesville Mayor Wade announces steps to be taken at Free Bridge encampment, July 12, 2026 * Charlottesville speakers provide multiple perspectives on how to help those without a home, July 24, 2026 * Charlottesville to pay outside groups up to $4 million to manage emergency shelter and help to clear encampments, August 4, 2026 * Sanders: 2000 Holiday Drive is just part of the city’s response to homelessness, August 7, 2026 * Council allocates $3 million more to Salvation Army’s Center for Hope, August 19, 2026 * Charlottesville continues to prepare to move people from Rivanna River encampment while some residents call for a halt, August 21, 2026 * Webinar participants introduced to Central Arizona Shelter Services, August 25, 2026 * Sanders says no to McGuire’s request to delay opening of 2000 Holiday Drive, August 25, 2026 * Charlottesville formally awards contract for 2000 Holiday Drive to Central Arizona Shelter Services, August 29, 2026 Thoughts on CCE-1115A: The idea for an archive edition began Wednesday when I realized I did not have enough fresh audio for a new show. This week has been spent outside the usual study with more family obligation than usual. Somehow, though, this edition took more work than producing four or five segments! I think it was worth it to have gone through all of this, but now I need to get on to a day’s worth of travel. Please let me know if you heard it all the way through or if you heard an error. I’m not sure I’ll be able to correct it because there’s a lot of work to get to this upcoming week. Please also share the link with others. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • August 22 · 31 min

    Podcast for August 22, 2026: Four segments on Charlottesville’s efforts to provide an emergency homeless shelter

    In any given year, leap or otherwise, August 22 is almost but not quite two-thirds of the way through the year. For this year, the exact tally is 64.1 percent. In 2028 that number will dip slightly to 63.9 percent. One unwritten style note of Charlottesville Community Engagement is that the percentage sign is to be avoided. A perhaps gaudy style note is to use these podcast editions to inform newer readers (and listeners) of previous editions from this day. The archive is free for all to review because the point of this entire endeavor is to connect people to things they may want to know. * August 22, 2023: Piedmont Housing Alliance selected to develop Piedmont site at UVA; SELC files suit to keep Virginia in RGGI (CCE-568, a podcast version as well!) * August 22, 2024: Two-thirds of the Albemarle Electoral Board express concerns about ranked choice voting (CCE-722, after the decision was made to not make a podcast every time) These podcast editions also serve as a way to put out a “week in review” with links to the stories covered. This time around, two of the stories debut in audio form first before their publication in print. This audio version also went over the radio airwaves on WTJU at 6 a.m. If you weren’t up then, take a listen and see what you can learn if you open up your ears a bit. In this edition: * Charlottesville continues to prepare to move people from Rivanna River encampment while some residents call for a halt (read the story) * Council allocates $3 million more to Salvation Army’s Center for Hope (read the story) * A representative of the Central Arizona Shelter Services gives more details about the organization (print story coming on Monday) * Albemarle County Supervisors review planning department’s work plan (read the story) * Charlottesville City Council agrees to hand over a narrow stretch of land to a local developer (print story coming on Wednesday) * A very brief preview of the Week Ahead that comes out tomorrow (self-explanatory) A sponsored message: Panorama Natural Burial At Panorama Natural Burial, we believe caring for the deceased can be simple, meaningful, and deeply connected to the natural world. As a natural burial ground just outside Charlottesville, we offer families an alternative to traditional burial that honors both the people we love and the land that will carry them forward. Whether you are planning ahead, navigating a recent loss, or are just curious about natural burial, we welcome the conversation. We host regular tours and community events throughout the year. At Panorama we are building new ways of understanding death, land, ecology, ritual, memory, and community. We believe that building community around death care helps us all to live fuller lives. We are open to the public daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Come visit! Notes on CCE-1111A Now that title sounds like a Federation starship’s designation. The numbers are part of a structure I’ve put in place over time to help me know what I wrote when. I looked back at the two previous August 22 editions and my only thought is whether there may be a WAN version from August 22. Thanks to a spreadsheet I keep, there is! * Week Ahead for July 4, 2022: Fluvanna to ponder new name for Palmyra district; Louisa to further discuss library name-change, how to celebrate America’s 250th in four years I really want to keep doing this. I seldom stop and look back, but this new habit of tying podcasts to earlier versions of the newsletter helps me do so. Can the editors of other information outlets do the same thing? I’m here to document and hundreds of you are paying me to do so. To what end? For me, I want to keep writing these stories. For one story today, I did about two hours of research into City Council minutes and my own reporting to try to fill in context. All of this material is out there for people to review, but how can anyone figure it out? That’s where Charlottesville Community Engagement hopes to come in. I encourage everyone reading to click on source materials yourself and see what I’m reporting from. Photo gallery of flood pictures This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • August 8 · 38 min

    Podcast for August 8, 2026: Charlottesville City Council agrees to spend an additional $4 million to prepare office building for temporary shelter

    Today’s sponsor: Panorama Natural Burial is reimagining death care through natural burial, land conservation, and community The opening of the Beijing Olympics, a president announces a resignation, and a certain incident took place on a Chicago bridge. These are just some of the things that have happened on other editions of August 8 throughout recent time. There has only been one regular edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement in the six years since publication began so when you’re done here go back and time travel. In this edition: * Charlottesville to hire outside groups to manage emergency shelter and encampment clearance (read the story) * Voices speak out against upcoming ending of Rivanna River encampments (read the story) * Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders explains how 2000 Holiday Drive is just part of the city’s response to homelessness (read the story) * Albemarle EDA to support classes to assist wine industry learn new techniques after difficult spring (read the story) * More people using Ivy Solid Waste and Recycling Center (read the story) Behind the scenes of #1104-A Once again, the time it takes to put together the audio podcast ends up being much longer than it should be. Throughout the week as I am writing stories, I keep track of them in a spreadsheet. One of the columns indicates whether the story has a sound element to it. Not all stories come from meetings, but those that do are fodder for both the WTJU radio show as well as this podcast version. For 650 editions or so, the newsletter and the podcast for one and the same. The reason there’s an anecdote at the moment is to serve as something the listener would hear to get used to my voice. It’s a way I personalize the newsletter and try to offer something more than just the information. I learn so much in the course of doing that research and I’ve kept writing them because doing so wakes up my brain and gets me ready for the work of finishing the newsletter. There are currently no plans to reunify the newsletter and the podcast because the audience interested in the sonic product is much smaller. I can imagine a time when there’s a partnership with a radio station or other production company to produce this work. Right now I’m very to be working with WTJU and glad the radio version was named Best News Program this year by the Alliance for Community Media. If you’ve never heard one of these before, this is a good place to start. The segments are much longer than you’re going to hear anywhere else, and I think that’s incredibly important to have an alternative. This particular edition is a 30 minute summary of one of the most difficult issues of our time. It hits differently when you hear people’s voices. Now, time to produce it so I can get on with the rest of the week. Thank you for reading or listening. And now the cut-and-paste bit intended to get your help in getting more eyes on the stories: * I post stories over at BlueSky but don’t really do much else than that at this point. Here’s the account for Information Charlottesville. * You can also subscribe to get Information Charlottesville postings via email Wordpress. This is where I confess I don’t entirely know the link for this. Might be a pop-up? * Town Crier Productions has a Facebook page but I’m really not sure if it’s worth keeping as the site doesn’t really seem to like Substack material. Or Wordpress material. In six years of doing this, I’ve never had a post “go viral” and I think it’s all throttled. I don’t pay them any money anymore * And then there’s Instagram which gets a couple of likes every now and then though I am really bad at images! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • August 1 · 30 min

    Podcast for August 1, 2026: Charlottesville City Council briefed on transportation projects and four other recent stories

    For some reason, there has only been one other August 1 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement and that was back in 2024 with a recount underway in the Fifth District Republican Primary. This is a podcast edition that provides audio versions of stories and thus does not count toward a total number of produced newsletters. That number is 1,374 which comes from 375 Week Ahead versions and 1,099 general ones. There have been 2,210 days since #1. Somewhere here in may be a relevant statistic, but the best I can come up with is 0.62. But what does it mean? In this edition: * Charlottesville City Council votes to move forward with a sales tax referendum this November (read the story) * Charlottesville City Council allocates funding from speed cameras to cover the cost of providing the service (read the story) * Albemarle Supervisors approve policy to streamline installation of solar roofs (read the story) * Albemarle supervisors seek tighter regulation of concentrated agricultural feed operations (read the story on C-Ville Weekly) * Charlottesville City Council briefed on efforts to lower speed limits, prepare new mobility plan (read the story) A sponsored message: Panorama Natural Burial At Panorama Natural Burial, we believe caring for the deceased can be simple, meaningful, and deeply connected to the natural world. As a natural burial ground just outside Charlottesville, we offer families an alternative to traditional burial that honors both the people we love and the land that will carry them forward. Whether you are planning ahead, navigating a recent loss, or are just curious about natural burial, we welcome the conversation. We host regular tours and community events throughout the year. At Panorama we are building new ways of understanding death, land, ecology, ritual, memory, and community. We believe that building community around death care helps us all to live fuller lives. We are open to the public daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Come visit! A shout-out for Town Crier Productions: Not entirely cut and paste from last week! It is Saturday and the final thing for me to do to end one week and begin another is to post this edition. The right move would be to produce the podcast version as soon as the WTJU version is completed, but that usually happens at a time when I want to stop working on a Friday. After six years, I have found ways to directly cover the cost of producing the written newsletter and the Information Charlottesville. I have absolutely no direct revenue from producing the audio version as the work for WTJU is free. I do the work because it’s enjoyable. And I could just put the radio version in the podcast feed. I choose not to because of the sponsor above. In the last few months I’ve been experimenting with charging for advertising across multiple products. I’m happy to send the media kit to anyone upon request so you can see the details. I’ve also had at least one paid subscriber ask me if I could put all the shout-outs at the end. I cannot do that. If I’m to continue this newsletter I must diversify my revenue. I want to provide an affordable way for entities to reach an audience that I am still trying to understand myself. In any case, thank you for reading! And now the cut-and-paste bit intended to get your help in getting more eyes on the stories: * I post stories over at BlueSky but don’t really do much else than that at this point. Here’s the account for Information Charlottesville. * You can also subscribe to get Information Charlottesville postings via email Wordpress. This is where I confess I don’t entirely know the link for this. Might be a pop-up? * Town Crier Productions has a Facebook page but I’m really not sure if it’s worth keeping as the site doesn’t really seem to like Substack material. Or Wordpress material. In six years of doing this, I’ve never had a post “go viral” and I think it’s all throttled. I don’t pay them any money anymore * And then there’s Instagram which gets a couple of likes every now and then though I am really bad at images! Thanks for reading Charlottesville Community Engagement ! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • July 25 · 31 min

    Podcast for July 25, 2026: Charlottesville City Council hears both support and opposition for upcoming removal of Free Bridge encampment

    On July 25, 1788, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, a fact we know because the composer kept intricate records. I can tell you that so far there have only been two other July 25 editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement and they were in 2023 and 2024. What were you doing on any of those three days? In this week’s stories: * Charlottesville City Council will not take another vote on design review of The Mark (read the story) * Charlottesville speakers provide multiple perspectives on how to help those without a home (learn more) * City of Charlottesville develops brochure in advance of encampment “transition” (read the story) * Albemarle County Supervisors learn about human services needs in the community (story posting Monday!) * Albemarle Supervisors get update on transportation projects (learn more) A sponsored message: Panorama Natural Burial At Panorama Natural Burial, we believe caring for the deceased can be simple, meaningful, and deeply connected to the natural world. As a natural burial ground just outside Charlottesville, we offer families an alternative to traditional burial that honors both the people we love and the land that will carry them forward. Whether you are planning ahead, navigating a recent loss, or are just curious about natural burial, we welcome the conversation. We host regular tours and community events throughout the year. At Panorama we are building new ways of understanding death, land, ecology, ritual, memory, and community. We believe that building community around death care helps us all to live fuller lives. We are open to the public daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Come visit! A house shout-out for Town Crier Productions at the end of 1096-A The posting of the podcast marks the end of one week and the beginning of another. These days it takes me a lot longer to do the very simple task of restripping the WTJU version with fresh audio. Fridays are usually very intense production days and it is my true hope to eventually have someone to assist with putting it all together. All of this work is the result of one person with a vision for how to put it all together. When I look back in my archives, I see that this is what I wanted to do with the Charlottesville Podcasting Network back in 2005 but all of the tools were not in place yet to make it work. We’re now six years into the experiment of Town Crier Productions which has allowed me to document a lot of events and decisions and details in this newsletter. This week we crossed the threshold of 5,000 subscribers in Substack, with about 820 of them paying into this newsletter. I’m going to write more notes to those paying because I need help thinking through some of the next steps of the business plan. An issue with being on Substack is that most people who find this newsletter through the algorithm don’t have a connection to the area so they disappear fairly quickly. Aside from a few Facebook boosts, I’ve never done any targeted marketing to attract new people since the beginning when I emailed as many people as possible an update of what I was doing. So this shout-out concludes with me once again giving you the opportunity to sign-up through various social media platforms. * I post stories over at BlueSky but don’t really do much else than that at this point. Here’s the account for Information Charlottesville. * You can also subscribe to get Information Charlottesville postings via email Wordpress. This is where I confess I don’t entirely know the link for this. Might be a pop-up? * Town Crier Productions has a Facebook page but I’m really not sure if it’s worth keeping as the site doesn’t really seem to like Substack material. Or Wordpress material. In six years of doing this, I’ve never had a post “go viral” and I think it’s all throttled. I don’t pay them any money anymore * And then there’s Instagram which gets a couple of likes. I’d like to have better images but that is another skill set I don’t have. Okay. I have procrastinated a lot by writing this. Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • July 18 · 45 min

    Podcast for July 18, 2026: Five out of six localities in the Thomas Jefferson Planning District to move forward with sales tax referendum

    The rhythm of being an independent journalist who strives to cover a lot of ground sometimes is affected by alternate beats. The last two Saturdays have not been favorable to produce a new audio edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement so archive editions went out. But now it is time for the July 18, 2026 edition. I’m Sean Tubbs. This week’s return to the usual studio means more ability to focus so there are stories from all six localities on the same topic. Then there are some two stories from the week before I am only just getting around to completing. This work is made possible by paid subscribers and the ratio is just below one in five at the moment. I’m grateful for those with means to support the time and research that goes into this public service. In this edition: * Fluvanna Supervisors are the first in the region to initiate a process for a ballot question(read the story) * Louisa County Supervisors pull sales tax referendum resolution from agenda (read the story) * Greene Supervisors support sales tax referendum requested by Greene School Board (read the story) * Nelson Supervisors also vote to proceed with the referendum for school construction (read the story) * Albemarle County Supervisors vote to move forward and this story won’t be printed until Monday so hear it here first! * Charlottesville City Council discusses the finer points of how to use revenue from a sales tax increase to finance school construction (read the story) * Albemarle Supervisors make brief announcements on Biscuit Run Trail, drought watch, and federal housing bill (read the story) * Albemarle and Charlottesville transportation planners identify next locations for further study (read the story) * Charlottesville City Council reviews process for funding nonprofit agencies (read the story) New here? Go ahead and sign if you want to learn more about what’s happening in local and regional government around Charlottesville First sponsored message: Panorama Natural Burial At Panorama Natural Burial, we believe caring for the deceased can be simple, meaningful, and deeply connected to the natural world. As a natural burial ground just outside Charlottesville, we offer families an alternative to traditional burial that honors both the people we love and the land that will carry them forward. Whether you are planning ahead, navigating a recent loss, or are just curious about natural burial, we welcome the conversation. We host regular tours and community events throughout the year. At Panorama we are building new ways of understanding death, land, ecology, ritual, memory, and community. We believe that building community around death care helps us all to live fuller lives. We are open to the public daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Come visit! Second message: An improvised bit about the state of shout-outs and the like Will the words written here match what I say in the audio version? I don’t know. I’ve not done the narration yet. In addition to paid subscriptions, I diversify revenue coming in through a lot of different forms of advertising, underwriting, sponsorship and so on. The Piedmont Environmental Council has been sponsoring the Week Ahead since the beginning, for instance. In the early days, some people opted for a $25 month tier or more on Patreon which got them a shout-out. Many of the shout-outs you see come from just that, though that’s no longer being offered. Others came through combinations like having a paid Substack subscription and Patreon member. That worked for a while but I’ve simplified. Several have taken me up on an advertising package that offers placements at the top of the newsletter, in the two “shout-out” slots, and in visual ads on Information Charlottesville. I only send this out on request at this point because I’m at a point where I am trying to figure out things like inventory and scheduling and trying to ascertain audience. Are people really reading? In any case, yes, they are, and that makes me work harder to keep it going and that includes offering additional ways to support. * Charitable gifts can be made to the Tiny News Collective and those are being directed to hiring additional people to assist me in the near future. * Patreon still exists as a way to contribute to the business, but this may in the future become something more artistic if I get up the courage to try to make music for an audience. It will be weird all the same. * Share stories on social media! Add a comment and share your thoughts as you do! The whole point of this is to spread information and discussion. Thank you to all of the advertisers and sponsors and readers and more! An experimental to read only paid subscriptions I’m toying with the idea of making the epilogue something only paid subscribers can read. Or a portion of it each time. Perhaps “behind the scenes” stuff should be for those who have decided to take a stake in it by paying? I’m not sure. Substack only started offering this up this time. And I’m not sure if I have any real “bonus” content here except to say that sometimes the soundbites in the audio version have extra phrases in them. This is because I try to not run quotes run too long. I can also say I am so glad to finally get this edition done. Two weeks ago I had to turn in the WTJU version a day early and I didn’t have time to record new stories. I also figured July 4 was a good day for an archive. The next week I was out of town and not in a place where it was easy to record audio. I’m grateful to be back in a place where all of my stuff is and where I can fix issues as they come up. Anyway, I’m grateful you’re paying into this. I hope you’ll keep doing so. If you do have concerns about the subscription or what to switch to a different form of support, drop me a line. Hooray! This edition is done! This post has a very small amount of bonus content for paid subscribers. Behind the scenes stuff. Upgrade to get full access and to support the work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • July 11 · 30 min

    Podcast for July 11, 2026: An archive edition on planning for 2000 Holiday Drive

    This edition and its copy comes straight from the radio version that aired on WTJU this morning Good morning and welcome to Charlottesville Community Engagement for July 11, 2026. I’m Sean Tubbs, a writer and producer who covers local and regional government in the area in and around the University of Virginia. That includes Albemarle and Charlottesville, two communities in a nation wrestling with how to solve problems that often seem intractable. I’m traveling this week and so this is an archive edition that captures two recent discussions about trying to get a low barrier shelter for the unhoused built at 2000 Holiday Drive. This is a document of a process still in motion created to remind people that solutions can take a long time in a complicated world. This kind of journalism is intended to remind people of who said what and when. Source material: * Charlottesville City Council briefed on low-barrier shelter by groups that provide the programming, March 27, 2026 * City Council presented with The State of Homelessness 2026 by four nonprofit groups working on the issue, May 12, 2026 * Many details remain to be worked out for how three groups will work together at Charlottesville’s future low-barrier shelter, May 15, 2026 * Work continues to develop operations plan for low-barrier shelter and service center for unhoused, July 10, 2026 New here? Sign up for the free newsletter, but please know that paid subscriptions keep it going! First public service announcement: The Good Foundation event today The GOOD Foundation invites community members to a FREE Urban Farming Workshop, Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Carver Recreation Center, 233 4th Street NW, Charlottesville. Master Gardener Sheila Jackson will teach you how to grow container vegetables and herbs in small spaces, and everyone receives a starter plant to take home. The workshop is part of The GOOD Foundation’s Black Farmers Initiative. For more information, contact Jackie Martin at goodfoundationcville@gmail.com or 434-202-8034. Second public service announcement: Piedmont Master Gardeners The Piedmont Master Gardeners will present “More Trees, PLEASE!”, a free Garden Basics class open to all, on Saturday, July 18th at 2 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1118 Preston Avenue. It will focus on suitable trees for home landscapes, emphasizing appropriate placement of native species, and highlights the benefits of trees to our environment and well-being. Register at Piedmont Master Gardeners dot ORG to reserve your place in the class. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • June 27 · 30 min

    Podcast for June 27, 2026: Drought persists in Virginia, zoning listening session in Charlottesville, and a few more audio stories

    For the second week in a row, I’m reusing the same production file that was used on WTJU. If I was awake and alert, it would maybe take 15 minutes to record new audio. However, this June 27 feels like the kind of day where such a direct task would take about two hours. I’m ready to get ready for the next set of stories. If you are a new reader, I got my professional start at WVTF Public Radio in Roanoke, Virginia, as an intern. I was in my final year at Virginia Tech and I wanted to keep going with journalism. At some point not too long after, I made a deliberate choice to focus at the local level. Every edition of this newsletter was a podcast for the first 650 editions or so. That changes in the spring of 2024 when I agreed to do a version of the podcast for WTJU. This airs Saturdays on WTJU at 6 a.m. In any case, take a listen! And I’ve included the text of the WTJU public service announcements. In this edition: * Most of Virginia continues to be under drought warning (read the story) * Charlottesville Planning Commission hears calls for reform at listening session on next round of zoning changes (read the story) * Council agrees to another extension of agreement with CRHA for additional housing vouchers (read the story) * Albemarle County prepares for new legislation including new biosolids testing requirements (read the story) * Albemarle Amateur Radio Club holding Field Day this weekend (read the story) * One archive story: Councilors push back on proposal to replace trash stickers with monthly trash fee charge more for trash collection (read the story from March 2025) Public Service Announcement #1 C4K is now recruiting mentors for its Fall 2026 Cohort starting in late August. Be the trusted guide who helps a young person turn curiosity into capability. Work side-by-side with youth members on STEM projects of their choosing, like coding, robotics, design, or digital storytelling. No experience is necessary to collaborate, encourage, and expand possibilities for youth in our community. Visit the C4K website to learn more! Public Service Announcement #2 Head to UVA’s Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library on Saturday, July 4th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for Revolutionary Printing, a family-friendly UVA250 celebration of the materials, crafts, and stories of the founding era. Print a copy of the Declaration of Independence, view paper- and ink-making demonstrations, or add your “John Hancock” to a giant copy of the Declaration. Hear music of the American Revolution, make a printer’s hat, screen print a keepsake, view special exhibitions, or create a custom silhouette, beadwork, or sewing sampler. Event parking is free in UVA’s Central Grounds Garage. For more information, visit this website. Some nonsensical thoughts at the end of CCE-1079A Technically this one is W26-23 and not CCE-1079A because I did not produce a separate version. That’s twice in a row. I would prefer to do an original version as well, but I must admit I appreciate the illusion of a break. I assure any reader who made it to this part that I do not spend all of my hours working on this newsletter. I take a lot of breaks throughout the day, though almost none of that time is spent doing yardwork. Now that my eldest cat is no longer with us, the house is slowly being reclaimed from all of the spots damaged by incontinence. On this Saturday, what will I do? I do not know the answer though I am going to try to get the March 2026 property transactions out of the way. I’m very slow on those now and as a result I can’t put them behind a paywall. Or at least, it wouldn’t feel right. I do work seven days a week because I enjoy the research that goes into this newsletter. I see stories everywhere and the challenge is continuing to create an engine that allows me to produce as many as possible. It is my hope to find others willing to put in the work. There are almost two weeks until the 6 year anniversary of the newsletter. I am soul-searching a bit at the moment to determine the future. Should I try to see more of the world while I am still relatively young? What would it be like to live somewhere else? Yet, even thinking that thought triggers alarm as I really do want to continue trying to describe the minutiae of this community as it stumbles its way into the future. I’m so looking forward to hitting send and allowing myself to go into free association for the rest of the day. One of the ways I sharpen my research skills when they’ll dulled by morning fog is to go to cvillepedia and make some edits at random. I do not own the website but I have been associated with it since its public unveiling in 2009. The Jefferson Madison Regional Library is now the owner, but they do not program it. Who will program it in the future? Who will tell the stories of our community? I don’t have a way to look into the future except for continuing to do my part to document what I can. I hope to inspire others to do so and hopeful that in the future I’ll be better able to articulate what it is I’m doing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • June 20 · 30 min

    Podcast for June 20, 2026: An update from Jaunt, sidewalk projects get VDOT funding, and several other recent stories

    Astute listeners will realize that the audio for this version is the same as the version that ran on WTJU this morning at 6 a.m. I’ve done this one or twice before and today I want to use my morning to get on to the next set of stories rather than record a new version. The switch to morning publication means there is a clock ticking the moment I wake up and motivation this morning has taken me in different directions and I want to get this finished and done. The vast majority of people who consume Charlottesville Community Engagement do so via the written version, but I encourage people to listen to the audio version so you can hear people’s voices. This time I’m putting the copy from the public service announcements than ran on the WTJU version. Did you know we won an award? In this edition: * Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders provided an update on Monday on the encampment at Free Bridge as well as efforts to open a low-barrier emergency shelter (read the story) * Charlottesville appoints a member to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board but one vacancy remains (read the story) * Charlottesville City Council favors Early Learning Center option that would build new gym (read the story) * Albemarle County Supervisors select an in-house candidate to lead the Community Development Department (read the story) * Local projects to receive revenue-sharing funds after Commonwealth Transportation Board vote (read the story) * VDOT installing mini-roundabout at Greenbrier / Hydraulic intersection (read the story) * The CEO of Jaunt talks to the Albemarle Supervisors about the future (read the story) * An archive story about regional transit priorities (read the story) PSA #1 A coalition of five local nonprofits and community groups has formed The Grocery Card Campaign to help alleviate the food insecurity many immigrants are facing as a result of federal immigration enforcement activities. The Grocery Card Campaign puts grocery store gift cards immediately into the hands of our immigrant neighbors, and is an opportunity for community members to show their support by helping ensure that basic food needs are met. For more information, email grocerycardcampaign@gmail.com. PSA #2 The 4th Annual Women’s Empowerment Day is happening Saturday, June 27th from 8 AM to 1 PM at the Jefferson School City Center in Charlottesville. This free, family-friendly event - “She Leads. She Builds. She Thrives” - brings together women entrepreneurs, community leaders, wellness advocates, and local organizations for a morning of inspiration, educational breakout sessions, fitness activities, and community connections. Proceeds support the TQ Evans Young Women Entrepreneur Scholarship. Check out “Beyond Fitness with Sabrina” on Facebook for details. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • June 13 · 30 min

    Podcast for June 13, 2026: Albemarle transportation, future buildings at UVA, and a few more stories

    On June 13, 1895, a two-seat vehicle driven by Émile Levassor crossed the finish line in Paris 48 hours and 48 minutes after leaving that city in the world’s first automobile race. The journey took contestants on a 1,178 kilometer course to Bordeaux and back and Levassor arrived six hours before the runner-up. However, the rules called for a four-seater and both were ineligible for victory. What sort of race is Charlottesville Community Engagement documenting? I’m Sean Tubbs, and we can only know through the stories. In this edition: * Kellie Brown is stepping down as Charlottesville’s director of Neighborhood Development Services (read the story) * Area officials report from recent Chamber trip to Chapel Hill (read the story) * Albemarle Supervisors presented with first transportation priority list in a few years (read the story) * Albemarle Supervisors allow building to remain within stream buffer (read the story on C-Ville Weekly) * UVA Provost: Record number of applications for Class of 2030 (read the story) * Only two buildings left to be programmed at UVA’s Emmet-Ivy Corridor (read the story) * Buildings and Grounds Committee gets details on UVA’s next heat plant (read the story) Thanks for reading Charlottesville Community Engagement ! This post is public so feel free to share it. First shout-out: Plant Virginia Natives Summertime means that the invasive vines are winning the battle at my house but one day I will attain the skills to make my garden something more palatable and less like it’s an exterior shot in the Walking Dead. I often look longingly at the Plant Virginia Natives to inspire my dreams of a tidy yard. Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore. Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Garden Second shout-out: Celebrating the community’s other information organizations! There are a lot of stories each week that go out through this newsletter, but no one information outlet can put together the entire picture. That’s why each regular edition ends with a section called Reading Material. Charlottesville is fortunate to have a media landscape that includes the Charlottesville Daily Progress, C-Ville Weekly, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and Cville Right Now, I curate links from these sources because I believe a truly informed community needs multiple perspectives. There’s also the Cavalier Daily, Vinegar Hill Magazine, the Fluvanna Review, the Crozet Gazette, NBC29, CBS19, and other sources. But if you look every day, you’ll find links to articles in national publications, all linked to give you more perspectives on some of the issues of our times. Now more than ever, journalism is needed. To be a citizen of a democracy, you must seek information from multiple sources. Consume only one and you are at risk of becoming a zombie! #1069-A ends with a Town Crier Productions backstory Saturday podcast editions mark the end of one work week and the beginning of another. As soon as “publish” is hit I’ll get to work on the next set of stories. Paid subscribers and other contributors have been keeping this newsletter afloat for nearly six years now. The first edition on July 13, 2026 is a lot different from where the newsletter is now. The original idea was for the newsletter to be a five to ten minute podcast each day. My career began as an intern for WVTF Public Radio back in January 1995. That’s where I learned to write copy for broadcast, and learned to write quickly. But there weren’t really a lot of jobs in public radio and unsettling experiences in New Hampshire in 1996 caused me to lose interest. It took living outside the country for a year to want to come back and want to get back to this career. I’ve been in Charlottesville now for nearly 24 years moving here for a job in public radio but I was not a good fit for the organization that hired me. I went back to freelancing but that wasn’t enough to make a living so I worked at Court Square Tavern and created a business to try to figure out if I could make money off of podcasting. I couldn’t, but the Charlottesville Podcasting Network was an experiment in trying to use audio to get information out in different ways. By 2007 I had to take a steady job and for eleven years I learned about this community in my time at Charlottesville Tomorrow. And now I’ve just concluded a week in which I published five morning newsletters each day. I don’t think I could go back to afternoon publication anymore because the benefits of the switch become more clear each day. For now, though, I really want to hit send so I can get on with the day. There are a lot of stories to dig into today. I’m grateful for paid subscribers, sponsors, and donors for their belief in the work I’m doing. In so many ways, I’m still that 21-year-old kid in Roanoke in awe that I got to write stories about local government. I believe in what I do and appreciate you reading to the last line. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • June 6 · 34 min

    Podcast for June 6, 2026: Charlottesville Area Transit preparing for electric buses and commuter route from Buckingham tops preliminary list of priority projects

    For the next set of stories to be written for Charlottesville Community Engagement, the audio versions of the previous ones must be distributed. That’s the purpose of this particular edition which collects four stories from the past week with an extra one thrown in from the archive. The podcast version is also slightly different from the version that aired on WTJU at 6 a.m. on June 6, 2026. Please take a listen if you’d like a different way to experience these stories for my quest for financing the stage show seems to have stalled. In this edition: * Buckingham commuter bus operated by Jaunt tops initial prioritization list (read the story) * Charlottesville Area Transit preparing for electric buses (read the story) * The Albemarle Planning Commission endorses an effort to make it easier to build rooftop solar on entrance corridors (read the story) * Albemarle Planning Commission recommends denial of rezoning for 18-unit development (read the story on C-Ville Weekly) * One June 9, the Albemarle Planning Commission will learn about five work products to implement the Comprehensive plan. The Board of Supervisors had their review in May and this is an archive story. First shout-out: Charlottesville Jazz Fest continues this weekend! The 50th anniversary of Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall is this July and kicks off with JazzFest2026, a celebration of culture and qualities of innovation, improvisation, and collaboration. There are still two days left to dip your ear and tune in. Multiple stages in the Downtown Mall area are hosting special events with outstanding artists. One way to learn what’s happening is to follow the Charlottesville Jazz Society’s Facebook page. Second shout-out: Cville Village Can you drive a neighbor to a doctor’s appointment? Change an overhead lightbulb, plant a flower, walk a dog for someone who is sick, visit someone who is lonely? If so, Cville Village needs you! Cville Village seeks to help seniors stay in their own homes as long as possible, and to build connections among them that diminish social isolation. Volunteers do small chores for, and have gatherings of, professors and schoolteachers, nurses and lawyers, aides and housekeepers. Time and chance come to all – a fall, an order not to drive, failing eyesight, a sudden stroke. They assist folks continue living at home, with a little help from their friends. Cville Village volunteers consult software that shows them who has requested a service and where they are located. Volunteers accept only the requests that fit their schedule and their skills. Volunteering for Cville Village will expand your circle of friends and shower you with thanks. To learn more, visit cvillevillage.org or attend one of their monthly Village “meet-ups” and see for yourself. To find out where and when the next meetup is, or to get more information and a volunteer application, email us at info@cvillevillage.org, or call us at (434) 218-3727. End notes for #1064-A What are the differences between the radio version and the podcast version? Different underwriting reads. There is also different music underneath in the ad break. I have a lot of music I like to use that comes from a friend of mine, but only two of his compositions rotate in the radio version. If you do listen, you’ll notice a couple of things. First, I use an effect on my voice when I read from something quoted. If I were doing this in a newsroom, I’d likely have colleagues do some of these voices. Earlier in the podcast I was sending copy to other people to use for this purpose, but I ended that when I began doing the research. Doing the radio show has also made me focus attention to the detail of the audio production. I wasn’t thinking much about that back when every single newsletter was also a podcast. I liked being able to do that frequency. According to my records, there is only one example of a June 6 podcast before this one. Here’s the one from 2023. Note that it is only about 15 minutes long. Will I still be doing this in 2029? I can’t know that for certain, but I can say it is my intent to continue on as long as I can because there are many stories I want to see through. Okay. I need to get to the next set of stories! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • May 30 · 31 min

    Podcast for May 30, 2026: Stories on Albemarle climate action, environmental review in Charlottesville, and the BAR gets a first look at student housing on West Main

    It seems that we have arrived at the end of May 2026, as well as the end of another busy week at Charlottesville Community Engagement. This week began with a holiday and ushered in a switch to a morning publication as opposed to an afternoon one, a transition intended to prepare for a more active future covering local and regional government in the community. One hopes. Mostly every story that features soundbites from a meeting is produced using skills I learned in radio over 30 years ago. The podcast is a weekly digest of some of those stories and is a slightly different edition from the award-winning radio show that airs on WTJU every Saturday. Well, one award. The Alliance for Community Media recently recognized the radio show with a 2026 Hometown Media Award for Best News Program. Hit play and listen! In this edition show: * Albemarle Supervisors briefed on how county government plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (read the story) * Charlottesville Planning Commission briefed on environmental reviews underway (read the story) * RSWA can now safely accept lithium batteries; new baling facility cost less than expected (read the story) * RSWA Board approves $11.7 million budget for FY2027 (read the story) * Biosolids company reduces amount of land requested to be sludge eligible (read the story) * Health-oriented community fair happening midday Saturday at Washington Park (read the story) * The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review takes a look at new design for a student housing building near Westhaven (read the story on C-Ville Weekly) When you’re done listening, share with someone else! First shout-out: Charlottesville Jazz Festival is less than two weeks away! In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, JazzFest2026 will offer audiences a chance to enjoy nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and many of Charlottesville‘s finest musicians over four days of club, concert, and featured performances. Multiple stages in the Downtown Mall area will host special events with outstanding artists and the festival will feature a two-night/multi-venue Club Circuit with no cover charges. One way to learn what’s happening is to follow the Charlottesville Jazz Society’s Facebook page. The Charlottesville Jazz Festival’s mission is to bring people together through the spirit of jazz—celebrating its culture and qualities of innovation, improvisation, and collaboration. JazzFest 2026 will foster those qualities for the benefits they offer both the art form and the community. Second shout-out: Consider support for Town Crier Productions! In July, this newsletter and occasional podcast will mark the 6th anniversary. There have now been at least 1,060 regular editions, over 360 Week Ahead Versions, and dozens of property transaction editions. All of the work is done from my sense that people should know what’s happening in local and regional government. I’m only able to do this work because of a steady stream of people who want to help cover the costs to research and produce stories about land use, transportation, economic development, and whatever else I can get together in a given edition. This continues to be an experiment and one worth doing as long as I can. The business model is overly simple. * I’ll report as much as I can and keep building up a system that allows me to do more reporting * People who want to support the work can do so through ways that make sense to them On that latter point, paid subscriptions through Substack work quite well. There is a chance at some point that the newsletter delivery mechanism moves somewhere else, but that’s a project term at least two or three horizons away. Any amount helps, but be warned I may increase the base price in July. I’ve also set up a way for people to make a charitable contribution to support the journalism. This is through the Tiny News Collective and I’ve got a lot of ideas on what that might mean for the future of this work. A bit about shout-outs. When I launched this venture back in 2020 during the pandemic, I promoted a Patreon account and offered brief promotional messages in exchange for them being at a certain tier. Many are still paid for that way, but I’m no longer taking new ones. Instead I have an ever-evolving media kit for a sponsorship package that’s received a few bites. I introduced a line at the top of the regular newsletter and am trying to measure how many people click. This media kit is currently available by request because I am very much still trying to figure out that system. In any case, the real question is: Did I read all of this in the podcast version or did I say something else? You’ll just have to hit play! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • May 22 · 18 min

    Podcast for May 22, 2026: City Council gets updates on low-barrier shelter, current year's budget, and a pause on a sidewalk project

    Happy Birthday to the Associated Press which incorporated as a non-profit news cooperative on May 22, 1846 to share the costs of covering a war between the United States of America and Mexico. Charlottesville Community Engagement is an experiment in bringing people stories about an area that seems to be in constant change. Once a week there’s an audio version and this is a chance to catch up on what’s been said: * Charlottesville’s budget for fiscal year 2026 is on track for surplus (read the story) * City Manager Sam Sanders given an update on development of a plan to make 2000 Holiday Drive a functioning support center for homeless (read the story) * Work to build a sidewalk to support additional development in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood is on pause due to higher than expected right of ways costs (read the story) * Bike Month continues and one Charlottesville City Councilor implores people to log rides with a government agency to beat Richmond (read the story) * Charlottesville will commemorate the late Mel Walker on May 30 with the unveiling of Mel’s Walk (read the story) * Supervisor Sally Duncan wants Albemarle to consider creating rental inspection program (read the story) This edition has no shout-outs except this one Crikey, I’m tired. I pretty much go at this work non-stop because there’s a lot to get to and I have a reputation to keep. A reputation for my dedication to doing the work. Is dedication or is it something more stubborn? Either way, I didn’t put shout-outs in this one because I want to get it out the door so I can move on to writing two stories for C-Ville Weekly, possibly doing land use transactions, prepping what will likely be a fairly short Week Ahead, and then getting ready for next week’s stories. But Fridays are a good day to send out this list of social media sites where you can help share the work. And here are some social media possibilities: * I created a BlueSky account because I missed Twitter but I don’t do much except post links to Information Charlottesville stories. That may change. * There are 445 followers of the Town Crier Productions Facebook page which is currently solely used to let people know when a story has been posted to Information Charlottesville. I may begin using this to do live video of podcast recording. Interested? * There are slightly more followers on Instagram, but I have paused posting here because I want to make the images look better and so far that’s not been worth investing the time. * I post a version of the Week Ahead on Reddit each Sunday which is a little shorter. This is intended to attract people to the newsletter and many of you got here from there. But there is no official page and you have to know my username. Maybe I’ll change that in the future? * Except for reposts of this show, there is no new content on the Charlottesville Podcasting Network but it predates this newsletter by 15 years. I had a good idea and all I wanted to do was tell stories about the community. Here I am still, hoping to get more people involved. * I’m not doing video. Not everyone has to do video. Thanks for reading Charlottesville Community Engagement ! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • May 16 · 55 min

    Podcast for May 16, 2026: Two stories on future homeless shelters, two stories on AC44, and five more on Charlottesville area government

    Where do you get your information about what’s happening in the greater Charlottesville area? Hopefully from multiple sources in order to expose yourself to multiple perspectives. But perhaps this is your first time looking at (or listening to) the opening words of a sonic edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that seeks to get more people to understand what’s happening at local and regional government. Longtime readers are aware that there is a podcast edition of this newsletter that eventually shows up. No matter the day of publication, the sonic version also serves as a way for people who refuse to listen to still have an opportunity to sample stories from the past week that have since been posted over at Information Charlottesville. This particular edition is a longer version than usual as there was no dedicated podcast last week. That means this one has audio stories from two WTJU radio editions plus some that didn’t fit in the broadcast version for May 16. There’s a lot happening in this community and I’m determine to cover what I can through the lens of local government. I’m Sean Tubbs and I’ll remind everyone that this work is only possible due to paid subscriptions to Substack as well as charitable contributions. Since July 2020, this newsletter seeks to bring information to as many people as possible in the hope of improving conversations. In this edition: * Salvation Army launches fundraising campaign for Center for Hope (read the story) * Many details remain to be worked out for how three groups will work together at Charlottesville’s future low-barrier shelter (read the story) * Albemarle staff working on five projects to implement new Comprehensive Plan (read the story) * Albemarle Supervisors leave Comprehensive Plan amendment process as is (read the story) * Charlottesville to form committee of developers to encourage more Missing Middle housing (read the story) * Council holds first reading on how to use Community Development Block Grants CDBG funds in 2026 (read the story) * Tree Commission presents recommendations for how City Council can help improve tree canopy (read the story) * In a divided vote, MPO Policy Board moves forward with two Smart Scale projects without city support (read the story) * Albemarle and Charlottesville both mark Older Americans Month (read the story) First shout-out: Camp Albemarle! Since the middle of 2020, one way I’ve brought in revenue for Charlottesville Community Engagement has been by offering shout-outs to those who were willing to pay a little more to help this venture get off the ground. For six years, one of those people has been someone who wanted you to know a little about Camp Albemarle, which has for over eighty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.” Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Rebuilt in the early 1980’s, a legacy of 4-H programming thrives along with a wide range of additional activities. Educational initiatives from schools across the region spark environmental learning moments at every turn. Visit the website to learn more! Second shout-out: Support this journalism with a paid subscription or a charitable gift! Every day I wake up and think about what I need to do to get stories out about what’s happening. Over the past six years, I’ve built an engine to remind me when I clock in what I need to do next. If life is a role-playing game, I rolled the dice and ended up in the weird category of observer. I’m able to do this work and be prolific because of the investments of others over the past 20 years. For almost six years now, this newsletter has sought to document upcoming decisions about the future. There is a value to having someone consistently paying attention to help others understand how we got to here and how we might go forward. Perhaps you want to help ensure the work continues? * A paid subscription through Substack is the most effective. There is little to no content behind the paywall, but this helps pay the bills. * You can make a charitable contribution through the Tiny News Collective. This directly supports journalism and is likely the way I’ll be able to hire people. Learn more here. * You can become an experimental advertiser! For a very low price, you can support the work by getting a message out in the form of a shout-out, a sponsorship message, or a display ad over at Information Charlottesville. Message me for more information. But perhaps the most important thing is to share this newsletter with people you think might be interested. Right now I’m very close to 5,000 subscribers to this newsletter and it would be nice to cross that threshold some time this year. Do your part and find out what the share button does! And here are some social media possibilities: * I created a BlueSky account because I missed Twitter but I don’t do much except post links to Information Charlottesville stories. That may change. * There are 444 followers of the Town Crier Productions Facebook page which is currently solely used to let people know when a story has been posted to Information Charlottesville. I may begin using this to do live video of podcast recording. Interested? * There are slightly more followers on Instagram, but I have paused posting here because I want to make the images look better and so far that’s not been worth investing the time. * I post a version of the Week Ahead on Reddit each Sunday which is a little shorter. This is intended to attract people to the newsletter and many of you got here from there. But there is no official page and you have to know my username. Maybe I’ll change that in the future? * Except for reposts of this show, there is no new content on the Charlottesville Podcasting Network but it predates this newsletter by 15 years. I had a good idea and all I wanted to do was tell stories about the community. Here I am still, hoping to get more people involved. * Except for instructional videos on how to produce audio, I’m not doing video. Not everyone has to do video. But I just found this very unwatchable thing I did for Patreon supporters back in May 2021! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • May 5 · 22 min

    May 5, 2026: Charlottesville City Council hears about the State of Homelessness but little about next steps for 2000 Holiday Drive

    Today’s edition is sponsored by Nola Builds Five times five is not 125, but May 5 is the 125th day of the year and goes by 5/5 no matter what side of the Atlantic you are on. Charlottesville Community Engagement has so far been produced on the Western side but one potential future would be for at least some editions to be created in other parts of the world. After all, it has now been three years since the World Health Organization declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic global health emergency. This opening paragraph was written while listening to an Italian radio station. In this edition: * Four nonprofit groups that provide support for unhoused people present the annual State of Homelessness report to Charlottesville City Council * There’s no new public information about how three of those groups will operate a low-barrier shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive * More support has been requested for those in encampments along the Rivanna River but at least one Councilor said another plan is needed First shout-out: Upcoming Charlottesville Area Tree Steward walks to celebrate May The mission of the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards is to support rural and urban forests and promote knowledge and understanding of the value of trees for present and future generations. One way the group does that is through holding guided tree walks and there are two opportunities coming up this month. * Charlottesville’s Belmont neighborhood is a good example of the city’s tree canopy. Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards Steve Huff and Scott Syverud will lead walks on at 9 a.m. on both May 7 and May 8 for people age 14. Sign up for May 7 here or register for May 8 here. * On May 9 at 10 a.m., Charlottesville Area Tree Steward Emily Ferguson will lead a two hour walk at the Virginia Department of Forestry to help identify Hickories, Oaks, and Pines - Oh My! Register here! * On May 12 at 9:30 a.m., Syverud will begin a walk to celebrate Springtime in the Forest at Ivy Creek. Sign up here. All walks are free, but donations are always appreciated. Thanks! The State of Homelessness 2026: Low-barrier homeless shelter edition Every year, nonprofit organizations that work with the unhoused population present City Council with an update on their efforts. The annual State of Homelessness report provides an opportunity to get a big picture look at an intractable issue that the City of Charlottesville is investing millions to solve including the recent purchase of an office building off the U.S. 250 bypass. “This year takes on a different lens because we’ve had a lot of conversations in regards to 2000 Holiday Drive,” said City Manager Sam Sanders. “This is a chance to go beyond that one facility that we’ve been discussing and gives the providers an opportunity to provide the Council and the public an update.” Since the last report, several groups have come together to develop an operations plan to run a permanent shelter around the clock. That would include roles for The Haven, People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry (PACEM), and the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless (BRACH). BRACH leads the Continuum of Care The executive director of the latter went first. “Overall we’ve seen an increase in numbers across the board, stronger collaboration and partnerships between the agencies that are represented here today and just better cohesion of services,” said Shayla Washington. “So I think the overarching message is we’re all working together, but there’s still a greater need than what we can achieve as single entities.” BRACH is the lead agency in the Continuum of Care, a framework established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1994 to coordinate services. BRACH formed in 1998 and became a tax-exempt non-profit in 2009. “We are the HUD-designated system, mostly handling the HUD federal application for funding,” Washington said. “Currently, our CoC only receives funding for permanent supportive housing from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. But we do oversee regional planning, data collection and data performance, and really just trying to be that main body that’s coordinating all the regional housing and homeless services for folks who are experiencing homelessness.” Every year, BRACH also coordinates the Point in Time count which records population data for HUD. This year’s event was held on January 28 in the middle of a long cold snap exacerbated by an ice storm. There was an emphasis on getting people inside that night through emergency hotel room stays but Washington said seven people slept in the cold overnight. “We found four people who were sleeping outside and chose to stay outside for that night from Charlottesville and Albemarle, and then three from Louisa County,” Washington said. “We did not receive numbers from the other counties in our catchment area. We had 87 people who were hotel through emergency hotel stays.” BRACH also runs the Coordinated Entry Management System which contains the names and identities of people documented as homeless. As of May 4, there were 333 individuals on what is referred to as the By Name List. “This is people who are either outside or sleeping in a shelter, any place not meant for human habitation,” Washington said. “So if they have a roof over their head, it’s because it’s an emergency shelter or it’s because they are sleeping in a car or a place that doesn’t have running water or electricity. If they’re couch surfing or staying with friends or family and just kind of unstably housed, that does not count towards our by name list.” Of those 333 people, 58 identified the City of Charlottesville as their last permanent address and 21 said from Albemarle County. Around two-thirds either did not say or were not asked. Washington said that could be improved over time through better training. “Sometimes people aren’t willing to give a lot of information at the first point of contact with them,” Washington said. “And so it’s just reminding service providers to continue just trying to collect that data anytime you can.” At the moment there are only 54 permanent shelter beds available year-round operated by the Salvation Army at their facility on Ridge Street. That number increases to just over 100 when PACEM operates night shelters in area churches. There are 30 spots for rapid rehousing. And 30 permanent supportive housing spaces. “With permanent supportive housing, these are folks who are mostly older,” Washington said. “One third of them don’t have income and they all have disabling conditions and were homeless for very long periods of time before they got into this housing. And it’s the most stable that they’ve ever been in some cases, many cases.” Supportworks Housing are building another 80 permanent supportive units at their Vista 29 facility on U.S. 29. Rapid rehousing offers up to 24 months of case management to assist a person with handling their finances to stay in a place. Washington also presented data on some of the reasons why Charlottesville is an easy place for some to fall out of the housing system. For instance, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is between $1,700 and $1,850 “As a reminder, affordable housing is defined as not paying more than 30% of your income towards rent,” Washington said. The City of Charlottesville now designates BRACH as a fundamental agency so it receives $250,000 a year to provide services deemed to be vital. That has allowed them to hire a full-time grants and data manager. This year the agency will for the first time conduct a Point in Time count for unsheltered people in the summer. PACEM began operations in 2003 and Deputy Director Cindy Chambers said the organization has traditionally relied on volunteers to operate the shelter in the cold weather months. “One of our churches who hosted 40 men for two weeks required at least 100 volunteers and spent roughly $7,000 to do it,” Chambers said. “So we are an organization that has always thrived on the giving and the compassion of the congregations in our community.” In recent years, staff has undergone some professionalization with additional resources from the City of Charlottesville. Seven people work for the organization year round and there are 27 people who work during the season. In addition to the cold weather shelter, PACEM also runs a secure housing program which offers a year of case management to help a client get through to permanent housing. “It’s similar to rapid rehousing in the sense that we give intensive case management,” Chambers said. “However, we do not get any sort of state funding. It’s all privately funded and we do this with just a bit of move-in help. And this is how we have sustained, this year, 20 folks in housing through our work.” PACEM also offers additional case management to some clients who may have income but have difficulty going through the steps of securing a lease. She said six people this year have found a permanent home through this housing navigation street outreach. “Unfortunately, we just don’t currently have the capacity to give everyone a case manager. So we really focus our efforts on folks who could potentially pay rent,” Chambers said. Chambers said additional staffing and training has allowed the agency to step up some of its intake procedures to increase safety such as enhancing bag checks to stop prohibited items from coming in the doors. “This year we also stopped holding people’s items that we used to hold based on feedback from our local police,” Chambers said. “We made 62 calls to 911 and only 10 of them were for folks that we really couldn’t handle behaviorally as opposed to last year we made 120 calls.” PACEM is an example of a low-barrier shelter which means overnight guests are not required to participate in case management and there are no sobriety checks. Chambers said staff and volunteers are now trained in mental health first aid. “We really are just there to ensure that you are safe tonight and that you receive a hot meal and you can use the restroom,” Chambers said. “To do that, we do still have standards. You have to be able to compose yourself in a group setting, for example, and you have to be able to take care of your basic activities of daily living.” Chambers said PACEM helps provide places to live through shared housing and is working with property owners who want to be part of their solution while also getting paid steady rent. When Councilor Natalie Oschrin asked if they were looking for new participants, Chambers gave out her contact information. Take a look at the PACEM site. Chambers concluded by telling Council that anything the city can do to help people stay in their homes helps the overall system. “What’s been a challenge for us is stabilizing them in that they are all just like one step away from maybe not being able to pay rent,” Chambers said. “So we are relying on a lot of the other programs you all fund, like [Piedmont Housing Alliance] to provide arrears assistance if they do fall behind.” That latter refers to a pilot project intended to help some residents at Kindlewood with higher-than-expected rates for newly constructed units. Second shout-out: Design Develop Architectural firm Design Develop is offering a new service aimed at the development community that the rest of us might want to know about , too — 3D point cloud scanning! This technique uses specialized equipment, such as 3D scanner systems, to gather a large amount of data points that represent the surface of the scanned object or scene. This really comes in handy when working with historic structures, as the firm knows from its experience in Baltimore and Charlottesville. Read their blog post for more information!The applications of 3D point cloud scanning are extensive and cover various fields, including architecture, construction, cultural heritage preservation, virtual reality, industrial design, manufacturing, and more. These applications require accurate 3D spatial information, and Design Develop’s workflow provides precise and comprehensive results, all while being more cost-effective than traditional methods.Design Develop has expertise in this workflow for their own needs and now has a dedicated team offering this service in the Charlottesville and Albemarle Area. If you’re involved in the real estate, design, or construction industry, contact them for more information or a free quote. Visit their website for an introductory video that captures the 3D point cloud scanning of the Downtown Transit Center and a booklet that will explain more! The Haven provides a day shelter in downtown Charlottesville The Haven began operations in 2010 in a church on Market Street purchased by filmmaker Tom Shadyac for the express purpose of providing additional resources for those experiencing homelessness. “The heart of what we have done historically is providing our day shelter respite care,” said Executive Director Owen Brennan. “Over the past year, we had just under 26,000 visits to the day shelter. That averages out to about 70 people per day. And then over the course of a year, we see about 430 unique guests. Over that same time, we serve just under 26,000 meals. We serve breakfast every day of the year, and we serve lunch every Friday.” A partnership with UVA Health brings a primary health clinic each Wednesday to the site, a service that has expanded to include a psychiatric and addiction clinic. Brennan said The Haven also implements Continuum of Care services such as staffing a Homeless Information line for anyone in need. “This could be someone who is about to become evicted, someone who’s going through the eviction process, or someone who is currently experiencing homelessness,” Brennan said. If that person does become homeless, they are asked to add their name into the coordinated entry system. Brennan said over 6,000 people called the hotline between April 1, 2025 and March 30 of this year. That’s up from about 5,000 the year before. The Haven offers three assistance programs with one of them being direct financial assistance of up to $3,500 for people close to losing their rental unit within 14 days and have no other resources. “Oftentimes, we’re partnering with other agencies, whether it’s the Pathways Fund for the city or [Albemarle County Emergency Relief Program] for the county,” Brennan said. “Piedmont Housing Alliance has rental assistance programs. So we’re doing a lot of really good collaboration to prevent folks from entering homelessness.” The other two programs are the Laura DeLapp Haven Housing Fund and a Rapid Re-Housing initiative. This past winter, the Haven served as an emergency shelter during the intense cold and ice snap. “We had an intense weather event this past January, February and the continuum of care came together,” Brennan said. “The city of Charlottesville contributed $25,000. Albemarle county contributed $25,000. And then we fundraised an additional $100,000 to provide hotel, shelter, food and support for a total of 109 unsheltered community members over 18 days.” Salvation Army preparing to launch next phase of Center of Hope campaign next week The Salvation Army has had a presence in Charlottesville since 1912 but began to get involved with providing shelter around 1980 according to Major Donald Wilson. “In this past year we have impacted over 9,653 individuals non duplicated counts which includes 16,304 nights of shelter, 1,367 food boxes, over 51,000 meals and also 3,186 personal care kits to help individuals in whatever situation they find themselves,” Wilson said Major Wilson said the Salvation Army has also pushed ahead with a plan to add six units for families with funding from Albemarle, Charlottesville and private donors. He said his office receives over 50 calls a day seeking assistance. The Salvation Army also continues fundraising for an expansion of its facility on Ridge Street to be known as the Center for Hope. He said they’re about 59 percent of the way to the goal. “$22 million in construction, $2.2 million in furnishings, fixtures and equipment,” Wilson said. “And the Salvation Army… requires that we establish an endowment for that particular structure. Not only for the maintenance of it, but primarily for the continuation of the program so that we won’t begin a program and not be able to operate.” The goal is to have 114 beds and to break ground on construction in 2027. More on this when the media campaign launches on May 12. Groups ask Council for additional support for Rivanna River encampment One of the questions at the work session is what should be done before a shelter opens at 2000 Holiday Drive. In late March, the City of Charlottesville hired a firm to go through a section of the Rivanna River embankment near Free Bridge where dozens of people have taken to living in tents. The idea was to both clean up trash but to provide outreach. “Outreach efforts will include distributing informational materials and providing fire safety guidance related to heaters, open flames, and carbon monoxide risks, as well as information about available community services,” read a press release from the time. No one was displaced as part of the clean-up. In February, both Brennan and Washington have joined a Public Spaces Working Group. “Our goal is to from each of our respective vantage points identify solutions that we all can get on board with to improve safety, improve health qualities both for the people in camp down at the river, the environmental health and the repercussions for businesses and residents who are adjacent to those encampments,” Brennan said. This week the group sent a letter to Council with additional requests. One is for delivery of portable toilets. The second is to identify an alternate location that would be much safer. “One of the biggest safety concerns is that all of the encampments are currently within what’s called the floodway,” Brennan said. “So when we get a heavy rain, that’s where the water is actively running. So there was a significant flood. It was 18 months ago. No one died but belongings were washed away. So we would love to find alternative, safer spots for folks.” Washington said BRACH has one outreach coordinator who goes out to the camp once a day to check on people. City Councilor Michael Payne brought up the issue of fire risk after seeing lots of propane tanks being used for heating and cooking. “I observed a lot of unsafe use around open flames,” Payne said. “We’re currently in a drought. It’s not just a thing to say. I mean, there’s a house in Albemarle that burnt down from a propane tank last year.” There were no major updates on the low barrier shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive at this meeting until an hour and 45 minutes in when Washington said Sanders had been sent an updated estimate on Phase 1 that afternoon. “We now have two concrete numbers for phases one and two,” Washington said. “So now we need the city to decide which phase you’d like to move forward with or if you’d like a third option.” This information is not yet public. Councilor Lloyd Snook said he had not seen the report but he said he had a concern. “The broad concern that some of us looking in from the outside have had is that it seems as though the different organizations, the different nonprofits have sort of fundamentally different ways that they think they want to approach the problem and that we need to have one approach,” Snook said. The story will continue to develop. #1045 is also a podcast This is an atypical edition. I very much wanted to be able to get one of these Council work sessions written up quickly. A lot happened at Council but I wanted to prioritize this very important story. I say a lot how this newsletter intends to document complexity and that’s what this edition attempts to do. Is this the best way to have told the story? Could there be other voices? The answer is always yes. But, what other media outlet in this community is capable of bringing you this information? Is anyone else even ambitious enough to try? I’m certainly willing to do so and glad for paid subscribers and donors to make it happen. You can learn more about the latter choice here. Today we end with the DJs from Buenos Aires. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • May 1 · 28 min

    Podcast for May 1, 2026: A new non-profit for public housing, the history and future of CAT, Emily Couric Leadership Forum scholarships, and two stories from UVA

    No matter what late April got up to, the first day of May brings another shower of sonic stories made up of various reports from this week’s text editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement. I’m Sean Tubbs and I got my professional start as an intern at a public radio in Roanoke over thirty years ago and believe the audio form is a good way to get information out to people. If you’ve not heard any of these stories before, today is a good day to listen. If not, this Friday edition of the newsletter provides links to just some of what I’ve reported this week: In this edition: * City Council allows CRHA to form a nonprofit for fundraising purposes (read the story) * Charlottesville Area Transit director briefs CARTA (read the story) * Emily Couric Leadership Forum awards $250,000 in scholarships (read the story) * Regional cigarette tax board turns five this October (read the story) * UVA Finance Committee briefed on need for tuition increase (read the story) First shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale Spring is well underway but there’s still time to get your home and garden the way you want. Get ready for the Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale coming up on Saturday, May 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Albemarle Square Shopping Center, U.S. 29 North at Rio Road, Charlottesville. The Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale will offer thousands of annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruit-bearing plants, herbs and houseplants, including a wide selection of native plants. Bags of locally produced compost also will be available. In addition, shoppers can purchase gently used tools, yard ornaments and outdoor furniture at The Green Elephant, a garden-themed thrift store. Cash and credit cards will be accepted. Master Gardeners will be on hand to help customers with their plant selections and will staff a Help Desk for answering gardening questions. An array of displays and information tables will cover such topics as conservation landscaping, soil health, composting, pest management, and controlling invasive plants. All proceeds support the many free and low-cost programs the Piedmont Master Gardeners offer to the community. Learn more at their website! Second shout-out: Inaugural Charlottesville Filipino Spring Festival The Inaugural Charlottesville Filipino Spring Festival is coming to the IX Art Park on this Saturday from 3:00 to 8:00pm. This free, family-friendly event celebrates Filipino culture through cuisine, music, and dance, with performances by local and regional artists, including traditional and contemporary Filipino dance and musical groups. There’ll be a marketplace showcasing food vendors, retail businesses, artists, crafters, and nonprofits. The celebration aims to promote greater understanding of the Filipino American community in Central Virginia. Check them out on Instagram! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • April 24 · 23 min

    Podcast for April 24, 2026: A budget adoption in Albemarle, budget reallocations in Charlottesville, and City Manager Sanders gives an update

    The British government subsidized the publication of North America’s first continuously published newspaper which was produced for the first time ever on April 24, 1704. All issues of The Boston Newsletter had to be approved by the Royal Governor. Aside from one very brief ad buy that was discontinued, Charlottesville Community Engagement receives no contribution from the government and relies on readers and listeners to maintain its independence. I’m Sean Tubbs, and I’m glad to get to report on the details of local and state government as best as I can. The links below go to Information Charlottesville, the companion website to this newsletter. In this edition: * Albemarle County Supervisors adopt a budget for FY2027 that includes $7 million for affordable housing and $386,000 for the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Foundation (read the story) * Albemarle Supervisors thank staff for turning meeting minutes around faster (read the story) * Council briefed on use of just under $4.5 million in surplus funds including $1.1 million for Angus Road crosswalk improvements (read the story) * City Council poised to reallocate $1.8M to cover cost overruns for Meadow Creek Trail, Pollocks Branch bridge (read the story) * Charlottesville City Manager Sanders provides update on work plan (read the story) * Charlottesville seeks applicants for boards and commissions (learn more) New here? Sign up via email to get all of the various items. Next up: The Week Ahead on Sunday! First shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale Spring is well underway but there’s still time to get your home and garden the way you want. Get ready for the Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale coming up on Saturday, May 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Albemarle Square Shopping Center, U.S. 29 North at Rio Road, Charlottesville. The Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale will offer thousands of annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruit-bearing plants, herbs and houseplants, including a wide selection of native plants. Bags of locally produced compost also will be available. In addition, shoppers can purchase gently used tools, yard ornaments and outdoor furniture at The Green Elephant, a garden-themed thrift store. Cash and credit cards will be accepted. Master Gardeners will be on hand to help customers with their plant selections and will staff a Help Desk for answering gardening questions. An array of displays and information tables will cover such topics as conservation landscaping, soil health, composting, pest management, and controlling invasive plants. All proceeds support the many free and low-cost programs the Piedmont Master Gardeners offer to the community. Learn more at their website! Second shout-out is a PSA for ways to pay for this newsletter The above shout-out is something someone has paid for at an introductory rate that enables me to continue experimenting with using this space to bring in a little extra revenue in order to keep my living afloat. I’m not ready to publish the media kit, but the hope is to have a low-cost way for businesses to get their work out and for me to have a little more of a cushion. Running Town Crier Productions is a seven day a week job, something I’m very glad to do because I believe this work is important. About 90 percent of my time goes into the reporting and other production related tasks. The other ten percent? Murky. Mysterious. Crucially important. We’re close to 5,000 subscribers on Substack, and just under a fifth of the audience is a paid subscriber or makes a charitable contribution. . These days there’s very little premium content and there likely won’t be for a while. There could be in the future, but I do this work because I want as many people as possible to know what’s happening in local and regional government. I want to double the number of stories. Want to help? There are many ways to do so and let me once again put all the social media links. * I created a BlueSky account because I missed Twitter but I don’t do much except post links to Information Charlottesville stories. I’m not interested in live-posting anything, but I do miss interaction sometimes. I may experiment. * There are 442 followers of the Town Crier Productions Facebook page which is currently solely used to let people know when a story has been posted to Information Charlottesville. I may begin using this to do live video of podcast recording. Interested? * There are slightly more followers on Instagram, but I have paused posting here because I want to make the images look better and so far that’s not been worth investing the time. * I post a version of the Week Ahead on Reddit each Sunday which is a little shorter. This is intended to attract people to the newsletter and many of you got here from there. But there is no official page and you have to know my username. Maybe I’ll change that in the future? * There is no TikTok page nor anything else with video because I do not know how to do that very well. One day I’d like to experiment, but I also don’t like being seen. * There is no new content on the Charlottesville Podcasting Network but it predates this newsletter by 15 years. I had a good idea and all I wanted to do was use to to tell stories about the community. Here I am still, hoping to get more people involved. Now on to the next set of stories but I think I may take the afternoon off now that this is posted. Thanks for reading or listening! Thanks for reading Charlottesville Community Engagement ! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • April 17 · 23 min

    Podcast for April 17, 2026: Albemarle Supervisors find an additional $2 million for housing fund in FY2027 and four other stories

    Could it be that a pattern has emerged with another Friday edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement? And how will this burgeoning habit be affected by the WTJU Rock Marathon, a weeklong celebration of music that will preempt the April 25 radio edition of this newsletter? I’m Sean Tubbs, and I look forward to seeing how that goes. Until then, here are the stories for this edition: * Albemarle Supervisors will not move forward with a personal property tax rate increase in 2026 (read the story) * However, Supervisors do find an additional $2 million for the Affordable Housing Investment Fund (story forthcoming at C-Ville Weekly) * Area planners hear from VDOT about a desire to coordinate transportation projects (read the story) * UVA representative to city PC reports on various projects including new access for Center for Politics (read the story) * Charlottesville’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services announces changes to the city’s Development Code (read the story) A programming note for CCE-1035A The second story uses two soundbites from the first story. That’s because I opted to write up a follow-up piece on Albemarle Affordable Housing Investment Program for C-Ville Weekly. Interested in learning more about decisions I make in the process of reporting? Ask questions in the comments and I’m glad to answer. First PSA: Olympic swimming champion Gretchen Walsh to speak This year’s recipient of the Emily Couric Leadership Forum‘s leadership award is Olympic swimming champion Gretchen Walsh. She will be the speaker at a luncheon to be held at the Omni Hotel Charlottesville on Monday, April 27th at noon. Walsh, a 2025 UVA alum, is one of the most accomplished swimmers of her generation, holding 13 world records across long-course and short-course competition. Online ticket sales for the luncheon are available now. For more information, visit, Emily Couric Leadership Forum dot Org Second PSA: Raising Courageous Humans in an Anxious World The Charlottesville Waldorf School is hosting “Raising Courageous Humans in an Anxious World”, a panel discussion on children, anxiety, and resilience, in partnership with the 14th Annual Tom Tom Festival, Thursday, April 23rd at 6:00PM at the Violet Crown Cinema on the Downtown Mall. This timely panel discussion explores one of the most pressing concerns facing families today - the rise of anxiety among young children. The event is free and open to the public. Community members, educators, parents, and caregivers are warmly invited to attend. Thoughts at the end of CCE-1035A At publication I still have to find seven more minutes for the version that will air on WTJU tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. That is a volunteer activity for me and this podcast is the companion. Next week there is no radio show and sometimes without that deadline it is difficult to get the motivation to produce the podcast. I do not have the capacity yet to hire an editor and in the meantime, producing the audio version before I do the print version goes a long way to improving quality. I am hopeful to hire an editor, but that will take bringing in additional resources. While paid subscriptions through Substack help, I now have a way people can make charitable contributions to this journalistic enterprise. You can do that here. I am not going to give up the audio even though the total amount of listeners is fairly low. I know many enjoy it, and that’s enough for me to keep going as long as I can. For now, I post this image to give Substack something to use as the main frame. Questions? Comments? Leave them in a comments or drop me an email. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

  • April 10 · 31 min

    Podcast for April 10, 2026: 83 percent of this edition has to do with either Albemarle or Charlottesville’s FY27 budget

    Friday has rolled around again which means it is time to scramble out another audio edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. This time around there is a big focus on municipal budgeting because the purpose of Town Crier Productions is to focus on the details of revenues and expenditures with a hope toward greater community understanding. At least, that’s the way this version of Sean Tubbs is programmed. In this edition: * Charlottesville City Council has adopted a budget for the next fiscal year that increased the real property tax rate by a penny, one fewer cent than had been proposed (full story below!) * Albemarle Supervisors have a few remaining decisions to make for the county’s FY2027 budget (read the story) * Albemarle and Charlottesville commemorate Dark Sky Week (read the story) * A preview of the Week Ahead Shout-out / PSA #1: Friends of JMRL Book Sale The Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library’s Spring Book Sale is running now through this Sunday from 10:00am to 7:00pm each day at Albemarle Square Shopping Center. Additionally, April 11th and 12th are ½-price days. Choose from thousands of books, DVDs, CDs, LPs, games and puzzles, with restocking occurring throughout the sale. Proceeds benefit our regional public library system. Visit jmrlfriends DOT org for more information Charlottesville goes with penny increase on real property tax rate rather than two Note: The podcast edition of this budget story is stitched together from several reports. This is a consolidated version used for a script and lacks hyperlinks and other resources. One of the most important duties of governing bodies in Virginia localities is to adopt a budget for each fiscal year. For Charlottesville City Council, the process began this year on March 2 when Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders introduced a budget that was built on a two-cent increase in the real property tax rate to an even $1 for every $100 of assessed property. Since then, there have been several work sessions in which Sander’s recommended budget gradually became the one that Council adopted on April 9. These were mostly held on Thursdays beginning on March 5 with a work session dedicated to the Vibrant Community Fund on March 12. That’s the process through which the city provides money to nonprofit organizations. Informal budget hearing On March 19, the city held an informal public hearing during what is billed as the Community Budget Forum. The only speaker was Jim Moore who said he has eight rental properties within Charlottesville. “I tend to try to keep my rents a little below market, and I have some tenants that really can’t afford much more than that,” Moore said. Moore said the property assessment for one of those rental units increased by 74 percent from 2021 to 2025. He asked for the city to lower the anticipated rate increase. The budget forum ended up being more like a work session with staff presenting information to the City Councilors on potential ways to lower the rate. But first, budget director Krisy Hammill explained why the two cent real property rate increase had been proposed. “Most of the new revenue for the tax increase was put in the budget to offset the deeper transit investments, the increased match for the schools, and also the impacts of collective bargaining,” Hammill said. That two cent tax increase generates $2,467,724 a year. To help eliminate one of those pennies, Hammill said staff were comfortable projecting slightly higher revenue forecasts and also showed some ways to reduce revenue, including less funding for Charlottesville Area Transit, tapping into a reserve fund, and eliminating funds for Council Strategic Initiatives. “One other option would be to move the schools back to the original 2 million that we had originally built the budget around, thus reducing their increase by $569,000,” Hammill said. The budget anticipates hiring ten additional drivers for Charlottesville Area Transit. Under one potential scenario to reduce funding, money would be in place to hire five in July and the other five would be hired in January as well as additional mechanics and supervisors. That might also mean scheduled service improvements might be delayed. City Manager Sam Sanders said this would defer spending and Council would have to build positions into next year’s budget. That would create a structural imbalance that would have to be addressed. “Any creation of a structural imbalance is a risk,” Sanders said. “The question is how much of a risk are you willing to take. When you create the imbalance this year and solve it this way next year, you’re saying that your reassessment should be higher to start with. And you can’t guarantee that.” Councilor Jen Fleisher said she liked the idea of limiting the real property tax rate increase to a penny as a middle ground option. Councilor Natalie Oschrin said she did not support delaying expanded transit. “I appreciate coming up with the CAT adjustment scenario to try and make it fit,” Oschrin said. “I would prefer not to do that since it just kind of kicks the can down the road a little bit.” Oschrin said she could support using the reserve and eliminating additional funding for Council’s strategic initiatives. Councilor Michael Payne said he could support a one penny tax rate increase but said the risk to split funding for CAT personnel would be too high. “I don’t like in the past when we’ve set ourselves up with kind of fiscal cliffs,” Payne said. Mayor Juandiego Wade also said he could support a penny increase. “I appreciate the work that I’ve done to kind of bring back because we’ve been hearing from residents about the, the cost of living, the, the tax increase and this I believe is a good, won’t satisfy everyone,” Wade said. “But I think it’s a good, good compromise if we decide to go in this direction.” No decisions on tax rate at March 26 CIP work session The March 26 work session dealt with the Capital Improvement Program. That’s the portion of the budget that sets out what a locality expects to spend on infrastructure over the next five years. “The CIP plan for 27 is just over $47 million with $196 million over the five years,” Hammill said. “If we were to look in terms of dollars spent, education is the highest in this plan, followed by transportation and access, and then affordable housing coming in third.” There were no major changes in this year’s CIP. The Charlottesville Planning Commission had a work session on the capital budget in late November and later had a public hearing in December. The five-year CIP currently includes $500,000 a year for a line item called Parks and Recreation Master Plan Implementation. Sanders said that number will increase in the years to come because the master plan adopted by Council in March 2025 had a $78 million price tag over ten years. “We know that those numbers need to be dramatically different if we’re going to come anywhere close to that,” Sanders said. “But we now have an assistant city manager here who’s going to be working with the team to try to figure out how do we allocate better over the next five year cycle.” Part of the plan calls for major changes to Market Street Park, Court Square Park, Washington Park, and Tonsler Park. Sanders said each will be expensive and staff still needs to work out the timing. Parks and Recreation Director Riaan Anthony said the department will seek grants in addition to tax dollars to pay for the various projects. “In order for us to get there, we have to right size our department and the city,” Anthony said. “We are working in partnership with Public Works, reaching out to their department to say hey, do you have any resources?” There was further discussion of the parks and recreation master plan at the April 6 City Council work session. March 26 work session At the March 26 session there was a further discussion on the possibility of a one cent sales tax increase, what to do with anticipated payment-in-lieu fees for student housing projects, as well as miscellaneous discussions. Toward the end, Sanders hit reset on the discussion of the tax rate. On March 19, there had appeared to be consensus to limit the increase to a penny but Council still had to make decisions. “We’re looking for you to finalize what scenario we are actually going with for offsetting, for addressing the fact that you’re stepping back from two cent increase on the real estate tax to a one cent increase on the real estate tax,” Sanders said. However, that discussion did not happen at the meeting. Instead, Councilors sent suggestions to Sanders and Hammill via email on how to offset the funding if they wanted to proceed. April 2 wrap-up The April 2 budget work session was described as a wrap-up session. “The items that are open for discussion that we’re looking for answers on is closing out the review of the Vibrant Community Fund process and how Council is looking to utilize your Strategic Initiatives fund,” Sanders said. The Vibrant Community Fund process had been covered at the March 12 work session. This is how nonprofit organizations seek funding from Charlottesville. The full report can be seen here. Mayor Wade wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page regarding the penny increase on the real estate tax rate. “We had initially looked at a two cent tax increase, but we saw options where we could do one,” Wade said. “And I just want to make sure if you, if we have that information we can bring them make sure everyone’s on the same page with that. And if I can get a head nod or yes from everyone as we go down the line, make sure we are all okay with that.” As the meeting began, Council had a $228,000 gap to fill if they wanted to go with a penny increase. Hammill displayed the math on a spreadsheet, a spreadsheet made available to the public after I asked for it. The real public hearings on April 6 After multiple budget work sessions, Charlottesville City Council held the final set of public hearings on April 6 for the budget for Fiscal Year 2027 as well as the real property tax rate. The only speaker for the tax rate hearing was Richard Spurzem of the development company Neighborhood Properties who urged caution when increasing taxes. “Many communities have a history of reducing the tax rates when assessments go up,” Spurzem said. “For instance in Waynesboro in 2023 they reduced their tax rate from 90 cents to 77 cents.” Spurzem said Charlottesville is increasing the tax burden for business and he said that might lead to investors deciding to go somewhere else. He said the Development Code has so far led to no approvals for major buildings and the current student housing projects of the Verve and the Blume might be the last. “I don’t know who’s going to build hotels that are going to compete with the brand new hotels that UVA has built on Ivy Road and out at Darden,” Spurzem said. After the public hearing for the tax rate, budget director Krisy Hammill explained that the amended budget is for just over $280 million, higher than what had been recommended by City Manager Sam Sanders on March 6. In addition to including higher revenue forecasts, staff found several line items in the budget that will not be spent down in FY2026 so that money will be added to the FY2027 at around $910,000 in available revenue. “It includes a few accounts that generally we carry over from year to year, including Historic Resources, Sister City Funds, the citywide reserve, the Council Strategic Initiatives account, money or donations that have been received and unspent for the Grand Illumination, the Councilor discretionary funds, the Minority Business Fund and also the job fair,” Hammill said. Two people spoke during the public hearing on the budget including former Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker. She said people are beginning to feel the effects of an increased tax burden and said the city is not expanding the Charlottesville Homeowner Assistance Program fast enough to provide relief. “A lot of low income families are being pushed out and middle income families are struggling,” Walker said. “There are a lot of wealthy people in Charlottesville. We know that they can afford the increase, but because you all are not expanding it at the rate that you need to be, it is not as it was intended to work.” Walker also called on more accountability for Charlottesville City Schools. A second person wanted to know why health care for employees has increased 15 percent and why funding for public transportation is going up 17 percent. “And yet when I see the buses pass here, there, and everywhere, there’s not many people riding the buses,” said Richard Finley, a recent Charlottesville resident. “Before you increase so dramatically, do you do an audit or an evaluation of the ridership on the buses?” Finley also asked if the city had ever tried to require the University of Virginia to make a payment in lieu of taxes to cover the cost to use municipal infrastructure. Councilor Lloyd Snook said under state law, a locality cannot compel such a payment but that an institution could make one voluntarily. April 9 adoption Council held a special meeting on April 9 at 6:30 p.m. to formally adopt the tax rates and the budget for FY2027. The deadline under Charlottesville charter is April 15. While there were no surprises, the meeting gives a glimpse into some of the details of how taxation works in Virginia. Changes in Richmond can affect what happens in localities for years to come, such as when a former governor campaigned on elimination of the “car tax.” “The City gets about $3.5 million from the state every year,” said Charlottesville Commissioner of Revenue Todd Divers. “That’s kind of what’s left over from Governor [Jim] Gilmore’s attempt to eliminate personal property tax. They tried it for a while, ran out of money, and then they sort of froze the amounts to all the localities, and that’s the amount we get.” The city uses that $3.5 million to offset a percentage of everyone’s personal property taxes. Council has to agreed to that number and this year it has been set at 31 percent. “Essentially, if your vehicle qualifies, if it’s a personal use vehicle, 31 percent of your tax bill will be paid by the state,” Divers said. Council voted unanimously to approve that number. Next was a resolution to adopt the FY2027 budget and tax levy. City Manager Sam Sanders had some remarks and said that this has been another challenging budget year as he seeks ways to fund spending desired by the City Council. “I continue to talk about Charlottesville as a place that punches above its weight class,” Sanders said. “Every budget cycle is a reminder of that, because we are dedicated to the idea that we are that community and that we want to try to do as many things as we possibly can.” Sanders said the idea of a tax rate increase is hard for many and it weighs on him to have brought one forward. “My goal is always to help you not go but so far in any pursuit that you have as you change that rate, because it does go into the pockets of individuals who have difficulties in our community,” Sanders said. The advertised budget was for a two cent increase, but Council moved that down to one penny throughout the course of their work sessions. Then there was the vote. “We have a budget,” Wade said. “Thank you so much. So, do you like take a month’s vacation?” “About an hour,” Hammill said. This reporter knows the feeling. Shout-out / PSA #2: Gretchen Walsh to speak at Emily Couric Leadership Forum on April 27 This year’s recipient of the Emily Couric Leadership Forum’s leadership award is Olympic swimming champion Gretchen Walsh. She will be the speaker at a luncheon to be held at the Omni Hotel Charlottesville on Monday, April 27th at noon. Walsh, a 2025 UVA alum, is one of the most accomplished swimmers of her generation, holding 13 world records across long-course and short-course competition. Online ticket sales for the luncheon begin on Monday, March 23rd. For more information, visit, Emily Couric Leadership Forum dot Org A rudimentary week ahead to fill a two minute gap in audio This week’s edition is a little short so that’s a good a time as any to look ahead to what’s coming up the week of April 13. Monday the 13th! Let’s start with the University of Virginia Board of Visitors who meet the evening of April 15 for a reception and again on April 16 for business. Committees that will convene include the Finance group and the Audit, Risk, and Compliance panel. In Albemarle, the Places29-Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee on Monday will hold a community meeting for a proposed rezoning that would allow for 15 townhouses on a one-acre parcel. On Tuesday, the Albemarle Planning Commission will discuss changes to the county’s rule on importing fill dirt and will hold a public hearing on a special use permit for a 400-person religious assembly hall right at Interstate 64’s Exit 107 in Crozet. On Wednesday, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors will hear what “big moves” staff wants to make to implement a new Comprehensive Plan. Will lighting reform to protect the Dark Sky be on the list? In the evening, there will be a public hearing on increases of Development Fees as well as the tax rates for the current calendar year. A reminder that this includes a proposed 15 cent increase in the personal property tax rate. Then a public hearing on the budget, but Supervisors will wait a week before finally adopting the document. On Thursday, Albemarle County will hold a public meeting on the future of a pocket park on Hillsdale Drive In Charlottesville, the Economic Development Authority meets on Tuesday and continue to do so off camera with no recording. Later on the Planning Commission meets and will have a public hearing on Community Development Block Grant funding. The Planning Commission will also take action on a special exception and get a report on a study of student housing fees. Next week the Housing Advisory Committee and the Board of Zoning Appeals will meet. More details in the Week Ahead newsletter that will go out on Sunday. Hello anyone who made it to this line! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

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