City Council candidates wade into area's race issues

The candidates for Charlottesville City Council weighed in on issues of race and representation Wednesday, with several hopefuls acknowledging that many in the city feel neglected while offering ideas about how to reach out to those populations.

All seven remaining candidates — three Democrats and four independents — attended a forum Wednesday night hosted by media-production company Positive Channels and the League of Women Voters. About 50 people attended the event in the council chambers at City Hall.

The event announcement promised a focus on “uncomfortable yet important issues,” and some of the first questions from moderator Andrea Copeland focusing on how the city could be more inclusive to black and Hispanic residents.

Directing a question to incumbent councilor Satyendra Huja, Copeland asked: “There’s a declining African-American population in our city. How do you make Charlottesville a city of choice for African-Americans, whether they’re professionals, para-professionals or blue-collar? And if there is no African-American who is appointed to City Council, will this community still have an advocate on the council?”

Huja said the city should attract black workers the same way it attracts others, with opportunities for culture, housing and employment. He added that a councilor doesn’t have to be black to represent black residents.

“I think you can represent all people,” Huja said. “One of the nice things about our system is that we have an at-large system. We have people who represent the total community, not just part of the community.”

When asked by Copeland how he would assure people that they would not be forgotten, Huja pointed to the Dialogue on Race initiative as an attempt to resolve issues between people.

Independent Andrew D. Williams, an insurance claims adjuster and the only black candidate remaining, piggybacked on Huja’s remarks.

“I’d like to see the Dialogue on Race expanded,” Williams said. “In order to assist someone and address their issues, you do have to understand them and understand where they’re coming from.”

Williams said the City Council has had plenty of opportunities over the last eight years to address issues in “underrepresented communities” that are suffering financially.

“And our communities that are suffering just so happen to be the underrepresented populace, the Latino community and the African-American community,” Williams said. “Have someone on council that understands them.”

Democrat Kathy Galvin, an architect and city School Board member, said competition in housing has played a role in the declining black population.

“We’re also competing with other areas, other counties that have a different kind of housing stock. It’s newer, it’s bigger and it’s cheaper, relatively speaking, to what we provide in the city of Charlottesville,” Galvin said. “… So just like a lot of other ethnic groups, when they achieved a middle class or upper working class status, a lot of the African-Americans, when you look at the census, have also moved to other counties where they could get a bigger house for less money.”

Galvin suggested making houses easier to remodel through a tax abatement program and looking at energy efficiency as ways to make city housing more attractive to the black middle class.

Independent Bob Fenwick, a contractor and dredging activist, said black underrepresentation is an important part of why he supports a ward election system in which councilors would represent a specific geographic area.

“I’ve never had my neighborhood bulldozed. I have never had my neighborhood taken over by somebody else and moved out. That’s the important thing about our African-American community being represented. They have that community memory that most of us don’t have,” Fenwick said. “And that’s the importance of my support of the ward election system. Everybody would have not only a voice, but a part in the decision-making.”

Independents Scott Bandy and Brandon Collins were asked how the city could better engage its growing Hispanic population.

Bandy, an unemployed former retail worker, said there’s no simple answer, but holding town halls in different city neighborhoods is one step.

“There are so many different things that could be done to engage individuals on a personal level, to bring them in not just to council but to the different committee meetings,” Bandy said.

Collins, a restaurant worker and self-described socialist, said engaging Hispanics has been a big part of his activism locally and around the state, and suggested the city should do more to make sure Hispanic residents don’t feel like “outsiders.”

“I think if we can make Charlottesville a place where all documented and undocumented immigrants feel comfortable, that’s going to go a long way toward their feeling included in our society,” Collins said.

Democrat Dede Smith, a water activist and former city School Board chair, brought up the issue of race when asked how the city could expand with new residents while ensuring that current ones aren’t pushed aside.

“I do think that Charlottesville is experiencing growth and that growth is coming from new citizens coming in. But we do have a wealth of experience here and history here,” Smith said. “And I think that is what we need to be very cautious about losing, particularly among our African-American population, who have a generational history with this community.”

The seven candidates will face off in the Nov. 8 election.

Independent Paul Long withdrew from the race.

In his opening statements, Huja hinted at a possible promotion that may be coming his way. The chairs had been arranged so that he was sitting at the center of the dais, where Mayor Dave Norris usually sits during council meetings. Huja thanked whoever was responsible.

“They’ve promoted me to the mayor’s position,” Huja said. “It may be a sign of things to come.”