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Housing authority buys Grace Place
The city’s housing authority has purchased a failing 11-story apartment building in Downtown in a bid to keep it as an income-restricted property offering lower than market rents.
Hope for healing
7 months after New York Times exposé, healthy equity advocates, Bon Secours report progress
Bon Secours Richmond is starting to receive positive feedback from advocates who had harshly criticized the hospital system for allegedly failing to re-invest income from a federal discount pricing program into low-income communities, most notably Richmond Community Hospital and low-income residents living nearby.
What dreams come true
City’s ownership of Mayo Island appears within reach
City Hall is jumping to buy a major James River island that the city has dreamed of owning for 40 years to expand parkland.
Approval looms for city’s revamped budget
Plan includes retiree bonuses, overtime pay for firefighters
Thousands of City Hall retirees will receive a one-time 5 percent bonus. And the city is setting up a fund to buy property for development.
RRHA prepares to launch home-buying initiative
Richmond is preparing to become the first place in the country to test a revamped federal regulation aimed toward making it easier for people who hold housing vouchers or live in public housing to buy homes. Describing it as a “groundbreaking and historic ini- tiative” that would build wealth for those who qualify, Steven B. Nesmith, the chief executive officer for the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority,
City plans to purchase Mayo Island
Richmond is moving rapidly to complete the purchase of Mayo Island, which a 2012 city plan described as the “green jewel” of the Downtown riverfront.
Finally
Bon Secours opens new East End medical facility
A battered Bon Secours Mercy Health is promising increased investments in health care in Richmond’s East End in pushing back against critics claiming the giant health care system has diverted savings on expensive drugs away from the community to wealthier areas.
Annual checkup
A year after scathing New York Times article, Bon Secours’ prescription for East End community includes jobs, training, upgraded facilities
Richmond Community Hospital continues to buzz with construction as its owner, Bon Secours, builds up operations at the East End health care center.
Council raises percentage of vehicle tax owners must pay
Richmond vehicle owners can expect to see bigger personal property tax bills for their cars and trucks this year.
Jackson Place, Mosby South advance
A proposal to bring a new hotel, apartments and for-sale townhomes to Jackson Ward now has a green light, as does the redevelopment of another portion of public housing, the 106-unit Mosby South in the East End.
Richmond church burns
A devastating fire Jan. 9 appears to have dashed the hopes of the congregation of Seventh Street Memorial Baptist Church of returning to their long vacant “home location” in the Highland Park neighborhood in North Side.
Shielding from responsibility?
City mum on funds diverted to police
Mayor Levar M. Stoney joined community partners Tuesday to announce the city is all for trying to prevent the killings that leave bodies in the street and families in mourning. However, during his City Hall press conference, the mayor didn’t mention that just a few weeks ago his administration gained approval from
‘We can no longer remain silent’
Coalition wants Bon Secours to increase investments in area’s poor communities
Sparked by a New York Times expose, a new coalition hopes to rally the East End community to pressure nonprofit Bon Secours Mercy Health to rebuild critical care services at Richmond Community Hospital and better meet the health needs of low-income communities.
Councilwoman hopes proposed changes to City Charter find support
Under proposed changes to the City Charter or constitution, City Council would gain new authority over housing subsidies and real estate tax relief to residents with low to moderate incomes, in addition to setting its own compensation and modi- fying zoning. Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch hopes to gain unanimous support from her eight colleagues at the Monday, Dec. 11, council meeting for the changes she has negotiated with Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration. If passed by the council, the package would be sent to the General Assembly for approval in the upcoming 2024 session. Many of the changes follow recommenda- tions that a council-created Richmond City Charter Review Commission submitted Aug. 2 after a year of study. As the most significant package of charter changes proposed since the 2004 creation of a mayor elected citywide, the amend- ments do not address the current relationship between the council and the mayor ahead of the 2024 elections for the governing body and chief executive. The biggest proposed change could well be the tax and housing initiatives that the charter review commission did not address. The proposed Section 2.09 amendment would allow the city to defer property taxes and tax increases for qualifying low or moderate income property owners, using the definition of such individuals established by the Virginia Housing Development Authority, now known as Virginia Housing. Such a program could allow the taxes to accumulate over time to be paid off from proceeds after the property is sold. In addition, the proposed charter change would authorize the city to create a program that could help such qualifying individu- als buy a home or receive rental subsidies. The city also could use state or federal funds to advance such initiatives. The charter amendment also would declare the creation of programs that could provide funds directly to individuals for housing to be “in the furtherance of a public interest” to get
HumanKind’s direct cash funds may soon dry up
Concern is growing over the dwindling money in a family crisis fund that Richmond created to provide direct cash payments.
High job hopes
Nonprofit offers former convicts free solar training for brighter futures
Criminal convictions can be a real barrier to finding work.
Community advocate raises concerns about City’s new Confederate shrine
Even as Mayor Levar M. Stoney and City Council revive a citizen commission to help Richmond eliminate slavery-defending Confederate names from streets and bridges, the city Department of Public Utilities has created a new shrine to fallen Civil War rebels.
Affordable housing for whom?
Next week, City Council plans to declare an affordable housing crisis in Richmond as rents and house prices soar, leaving many with below average incomes unable to afford housing. However, neither the council nor Mayor Levar M. Stoney who has pushed the resolution to be voted on Monday, April 10, plan to mention the ways he and the governing body have quietly reduced funding to support development of housing for families with incomes of $40,000 or less a year.
Ambulance charges may dramatically increase
$600 trips to medical centers could more than double
City Hall is pressuring the Richmond Ambulance Authority to nearly triple its charge for transporting patients to hospitals or other treatment centers based on a consulting firm’s recommendation, the Free Press has learned.
Supply and demand
City’s ‘housing crisis’ calls for 23,000 affordable living spaces
Seeking to put fresh emphasis on an issue that has been on the agenda for at least a decade, City Council on Monday followed through and joined Mayor Levar M. Stoney in “declaring a housing crisis in the city of Richmond.”
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