Debates: Second, Fifth district candidates square off

Sam Isaacs
Staff Writer

Candidates battling for city council seats in the 2nd and 5th districts met on Oct. 10 in two debates open to the public. The debates were hosted by the Fan District Association and commenced at Fox Elementary School. NBC 12 anchor and VCU journalism professor Ryan Nobles moderated the debates and asked questions submitted by the public. Both debates touched on topics that heavily affect students, including street quality, parking, noise complaints and community safety.

2nd District Geography
Richmond’s 2nd District is bounded by Adams and 2nd streets south and north of Broad Street, respectively. The district encompasses much of VCU’s Monroe Park Campus, including all of the VCU student dorms located north of Monroe Park. The district also includes almost all of The Fan, between campus and North Boulevard and north of Floyd Avenue between Laurel Street and Shields Avenue, as well as north of Main Street west of Shields. The 2nd includes Carver, ending at the highway in the north.

5th District Geography
The 5th district includes areas north and south of the River. North of the river, the district includes Cary Town, Uptown, the southern half of the Monroe Park campus including the Gladding Residence Center.

5th District:
3 candidates discuss ideas on infrastructure, meal taxes

Parker Agelasto and Lee Shewmake faced off against incumbent Marty Jewell in the debate for the Fifth District City Council seat. Carytown, Oregon Hill, southern parts of the Fan and Belle Isle all fall in this district. The overall theme of the debate fell on what needs to be done to make the Fifth District a more livable place that families want to move to and stay in for more than just a few years.

Agelasto, a Virginia Beach native, has a master’s in art history and an M.B.A. from the Darden Business School and has lived in Richmond for the past six years. After spending time with the VMFA, he has involved himself in the community promising to be a more responsive Councilman.

Shewmake, who was born in Richmond and has lived here for the past 17 years, focuses on city growth and development with an emphasis on bringing new business to the area. She is a VCU graduate with experience working management and finance with both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, according to her website.

Jewell has served as 5th District Councilman since 2005. A buisness owner and VUU alumnus, he’s spent much of his time on the council pushing for new ways to bring and distribute revenue to the city. One plan involves selling off excess water to the counties.

Student-related issues including concerns about Richmond’s infrastructure were featured in the debate.

Agelasto pitched the idea of using a rotational maintenance schedule to speed up the efforts in fixing rough spots on streets and sidewalks.

“Richmond is not hurting for money,” Jewell said in regards to increasing the effort to improve the district’s streets and sidewalks. “We have a $271 million estimate worth of road and rebuilding needs and we only put $11 million in the budget this year.”

Shewmake agreed with Jewell and had other ideas on how to fix up the streets.

“We need to do more for infrastructure, the money is there,” said Shewmake. She also said that she thinks the city needs to look to outsourcing road maintenance due to the high prices the city has listed for projects to be completed.

Another issue that impacts the day-to-day lives of students is the six percent restaurant sales tax. In 2003, the city’s sales tax was raised to six percent to help pay for CenterStage, a performing arts center funded via a public-private partnership between the city and Thalheimer’s Department Store. With the theater completed, the candidates debated on whether or not that tax should still exist.

“We are surrounded by counties that are 15 to 20 minutes away … we need to be on a level playing field with them,” said Shewmake. Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover counties do not have have any form of meal taxes.

Jewell noted that many of the the cities tax policies haven’t been altered in 15 to 20 years and need to be revisited. “A meal tax at six percent is ridiculous, we are chasing customers to the counties,” the councilman said.

Agelasto noted that Carytown and Uptown, both in the 5th district, have some of the highest concentrations of restaurants in the city and it is important to price them fairly to draw in customers from the surrounding counties.

The issue of public school funding was the most discussed issue. Each candidate had a differing perspectives on the issue, but all generally agreed that strengthening the public school system would encourage more families to stay in the city.

2nd District:
Heated debate features safety, noise complaints

The second debate of the evening featured candidates for the city’s 2nd District. Incumbent Charles Samuels, who has served as the 2nd District’s representative to City Council since 2008, is an attorney with the Samuels Law Firm.His challenger, Charlie Diradour, is the founder and owner of Lion’s Paw Development and briefly campaigned unsuccessfully against Eric Cantor in 2009 for the 7th U.S. Congressional District seat.

The 2nd encompasses most of The Fan, Carver, Jackson Ward and most of the student dorms on the Monroe Park, including Brandt, Rhoads, Johnson, the Honors College, West Grace South and the Broad and Belvidere dorms.

The debate featured some heated discussion on a number of topics, especially on the issue of safety in the community.

With recent crimes on and around campus, safety has become a huge issue for both students and families in the area. The candidates butted heads on solutions to this problem.

“It is important to take care of where we’re going and how we’re going,” Samuels said. “I’ve been in touch regularly with the police to make sure we’re doing everything we can and make sure they have the resources they need to combat this spike.”

Diradour felt that there was a more specific action that would make the police force more effective: a more unified force with better job security. He suggested a rift in the salaries between police on the streets and higher ranking officers may be lowering morale.

Samuels responded by saying that the council approved of the the budget proposed by the police chief and was told no when asked if the department needed more money.

“The top brass, the chief and deputy chiefs all got pay raises, five percent pay raises, and yet the rank and file police officers did not. That’s unfair,” Diradour said. Samuels and Richmond Police Chief Brian Norwood have both since contested what Diradour said about the five percent salary increase, saying that there was no such pay raise in the recent budget.

Another issue integral to city living that the candidates discussed was noise complaints and the current noise ordinance, specifically how noise level is gauged.

“We chose to live in an urban area, 55 decibels is really not realistic,” said Diradour. “65 to 75 decibels is a lot more realistic of a number … if you live in an urban dense zone … there is going to be noise that you are going to have to deal with.”

Samuels suggested that there was more to the issue than just the decibel level specified in the current noise ordinance.

“It’s not where the sound is coming from, it’s from where it is offending. To just suggest a number isn’t giving the full story,” said Samuels. “The most effective way for the standard to be enforced is to be good neighbors.”

The current councilman pointed to his record and enumerated the issues facing the city in his closing statement.

“When you are looking to enhance your quality of life, when you are looking to revitalize neighborhoods, that’s what I’ve done,” said Samuels in his closing remark. “We have to address some issues in our city. We have to address poverty and we have to address education …. I’m in this with you.”
Diradour evoked a personal history with the 2nd District and said he hoped to be chosen as someone who could look out for the community’s interests.

“I understand this neighborhood, I grew up in this neighborhood with my father… It’s a unique community that deserves unique representation,” said Diradour. “I want to be your pair of eyes, I want to be that person that is out there looking out for you every day on the street.”