Sandbox-City Government

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The Charlottesville City Council (2020-2021) is the current governing body of the City of Charlottesville which sCharlottesville City Council (2020-2021)

Council’s configuration & power

Since 1928, the council has been composed of five councilor members, one of whom serves as mayor. Each member is elected at-large, by voters to four-year, staggered terms. Following the 2019 election, held on November 5, 2019, three new members, Lloyd Snook, Sena Magill and Michael Payne, each took their oath of office on December 19, 2019, allowing them to assumed full duties immediately on January 1, 2020 and thereby filling the seats being vacated by Mike Signer, Wes Bellamy and Kathy Galvin who each declined to seek re-election.

Organizational meeting

Mayor Nikuyah Walker was selected for a second term as the Charlottesville’s ceremonial leader at the bi-annual organizational meeting of the City Council on January 6, 2020. Walker was appointed mayor on a 3-2 vote in the new City Council’s first action of the new council term. Walker and Councilors Michael Payne and Sena Magill voted in favor of her appointment. Councilors Heather Hill and Lloyd Snook voted against it. Walker was appointed mayor on a 4-1 vote in January 2018 in the fallout of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally[1]

Council president (mayor)

Charlottesville is a city manager-weak mayor form of local government, the positions of mayor and vice mayor largely are ceremonial. The President of City Council (called mayor) is elected by the five members of Council at the beginning of each two-year Council term and serves until the next election. Nikuyah Walker, an independent, won a second term as president of the council (mayor). Councilor Sena Magill (D) was selected as vice mayor. Walker is the first mayor to serve more than one term since Satyendra Huja stepped down in 2015. Former Councilor Mike Signer served only one term.[2] Prior to the 1990's, the custom of the Council was of selecting as president of the Council, or mayor, the senior council member who had not already held the position.

City Officers

Council's most significant role is to enact laws, to adopt the city's operating budget and to hire the City Manager to run most city operations. Council is in charge of policy oversight and also hires the Chief of Staff/Clerk of Council, Director of Finance and the Real Estate Assessor. Council has an advisory role in appointing the City Attorney [3]and the Chief of Police. Council also has the authority to decide who sits on various city boards and commissions. As a result, City Council has significant influence in shaping city policies and programs. Among the officers and clerks who have served at the pleasure of the Charlottesville City Council (2020-2021):

City Manager

The City Manager, appointed by the City Council, acts as the City’s Chief Executive Officer. The City Council delegates broad administrative power to the City Manager subject to its review. Qualifications, powers and duties of the City Manager are provided for in the City Charter.

Chief of Staff/Clerk of Council

Formerly referred to as the City Council Clerk, the position was expanded by the Charlottesville City Council (2018-2019) under the title of Chief of Staff / Clerk of Council[5].

City Finance Director

The Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer assists the City Manager in the operational and financial aspects of all City functions and coordinates interdepartmental activities.

City Assessor

City Attorney

City Police Chief

School Board Members

The city has an elected at-large school board. Prior to 2006, members of the Charlottesville City School Board were appointed by the City Council.

Appointment of advisory boards, committees and commissions

refer to Main Article: List of Boards and Commissions

City Council Standing Committee assignments (2020 – 2021)

Advisory City Council Committees

Most, but not all, of Council's standing committees are organized into specific policy areas. The committees each have a chair, vice chair and a minimum of 3 members. They consider policy areas that are directed to them by the Council. The committees report back to the full Council on their work. The standing committees have special rules for appointing leadership and members. All five Council members serve on the various Committees. City Council Committees do not replace the City Council as final decision makers on behalf of the full City Council.

Boards & Committees

The City Council appoints various boards, commissions, and committees to support the City Council in the policymaking and decision making processes. One or two City Council members may serve on a committee as a representative of, or liaison to, the City Council.

Compensation

Committee members are not compensated for their service. City Council members are compensated for their service but do not receive any additional compensation for serving on a standing committee, ad hoc committee, or other committee.

City population

Population as of most recent census (April 1, 2010): 43,475

  • According to the current data from U.S. Census Bureau Quickfacts, the estimated population in 2018 was 48,117, which represents a 10.67% population growth since the last census.
  • The area within the city limits was 10.27 square miles, giving it a population density of about 4,600 people per square mile. Relative to local populations, Charlottesville has one seat for every 8,700 residents.
  • As for historically under-represented groups, the city has about the same percentage of blacks in council as in the general populations; in Charlottesville, blacks makeup 18.3 percent of the population [10] and 20 percent of the council.
  • Elections are non-partisan elections
  • The council post videos of council meetings online as well as searchable databases of legislation.
  • Council does not post members’ personal financial disclosure statements or lobbying records.

Salaries

Charlottesville has one of the highest average salaries for council members in Virginia, $xx,xxx council, $xx,xxx mayor. Total budget including employee benefits Council consumes x.xx percent of city general-fund spending. Advisory City Council Committee members are not compensated.

Charlottesville City Council (2018-2019)

Budget per resident

Charlottesville's average council tenure at the end of 2019 was xx.x years while first-term members held xx percent of the seats

Frank Buck had been in office 8 years, longer than any other Charlottesville City Council member since at least 1920, and xxx other members have served for more than xx years.

council consumes 1.01 percent of city general-fund spending

  1. Web. Walker to continue as Charlottesville mayor; Magill named vice mayor, Nolan Stout, dailyprogress.com, The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA, January 6, 2020, retrieved February 5, 2020.
  2. Web. Walker to continue as Charlottesville mayor; Magill named vice mayor, Nolan Stout, dailyprogress.com, The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, VA, January 6, 2020, retrieved February 5, 2020.
  3. https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/articles/council-decides-on-process-for-hiring-city-attorne, Council decides on process for hiring city attorney, Charlottesville Tomorrow, Sean Tubbs, April 14, 2018, May 22, 2019
  4. Web. Packet for March 6, 2019 public interviews of managerial candidates, March 5, 2019, retrieved March 6, 2019.
  5. http://www.nbc29.com/story/39094545/criticism-comes-down-on-city-council-for-clerk-of-council-budget-increase
  6. https://www.charlottesville.org/home/showdocument?id=36287
  7. Web. Brackney officially chosen as Charlottesville police chief, Chris Suarez, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, May 21, 2018, retrieved May 28, 2018.
  8. Web. Charlottesville names Thierry Dupuis interim police chief, The Daily Progress staff, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, Dec 27, 2017, retrieved October 25, 2019.
  9. Web. Charlottesville names Thierry Dupuis interim police chief, The Daily Progress staff, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, Dec 27, 2017, retrieved October 25, 2019.
  10. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/charlottesvillecityvirginiacounty