CITY COUNCIL RETREAT
                        with Virginia Institute of Government – Part 2
                                  April 2, 2022 at 10:00 AM
                                 CitySpace, 100 5th Street NE

Call to Order
The Charlottesville City Council met on Saturday, April 2, 2022 for the second of a two-part
retreat with the purpose of determining and discussing Council priorities. In accordance with a
local ordinance amended and re-enacted on March 7, 2022 to ensure continuity of government
and prevent the spread of disease during the coronavirus State of Emergency, the meeting was
hybrid with Council and select staff in-person and electronic broadcast to the public on Zoom,
TV10, Boxcast and the city’s social media streaming platforms.

Mayor Lloyd Snook called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m. noting all councilors present: Sena
Magill, Michael Payne, Brian Pinkston, Lloyd Snook (Mayor) and Juandiego Wade (Vice
Mayor).

The following staff were also in attendance and provided input throughout the meeting: Interim
City Manager Michael Rogers, Deputy City Managers Ashley Marshall and Sam Sanders, Clerk
of Council Kyna Thomas, City Attorney Lisa Robertson, and Senior Budget and Management
Analyst Krisy Hammill.

Facilitated Discussion Continues
Charles Hartgrove, Virginia Institute of Government (VIG) Director was joined by colleague
Natalie Miller Moore from the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia. He provided
an overview of the April 1 discussion. Councilors and staff added aspirations of:
    • organizational excellence
    • external communications program
    • regaining the narrative and tell the community story
    • rebuilding government for a specific purpose
    • leveraging other financial resources including federal funds and maximizing return on
       investment
    • intentional equity for regular services and government functions, healthcare, emergency
       health care, and mental health care

Council identified regionalism and several partnerships that help to address local gaps in services

    •   Chamber of Commerce
    •   Downtown Business Association
    •   Neighborhood Associations
    •   Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority
    •   Nonprofits, building coalitions
    •   Housing - Habitat for Humanity, Piedmont Housing Alliance
    •   Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission
    •   University of Virginia

Council recessed for lunch at 11:33 a.m. and reconvened at 11:43 a.m.

Council continued discussion on the following topics:

   •    Staff capacity-building
   •    Equity actionable items and Equity Action Plan (internal to city and measured success in
        policy outcomes)
   •    Updating Council agendas memos to answer how each item moves toward fulfilling
        defined goals (Staff noted that the goals have not been clearly defined.)
   •    Investment in equity training for city employees
   •    Evaluating disparate impact of various policies
   •    Loss of institutional memory because of Council and city leadership turnover
   •    Climate Action Plan
        o Potentially adding a committee or task force
        o Transit – implementing green initiatives, while also addressing the needs of the
            population that would use routes the most and being efficient
        o Addressing green initiatives during site plan reviews
        o Writing requirements into the Zoning Ordinance
        o Funding for increasing staff capacity
   •    Housing Action Plan
        o Holding a dedicated work session
        o Addressing the unhoused community
        o Ensuring wrap-around care

Identify and Build Consensus for Priorities and Actionable Items
Council and staff identified action items:
• Housing work session item on the April 4 agenda
• Economic Development presentation to Council
• Report on effective land use, the zoning rewrite
• Report on city-owned properties
• Explore the city purchase of property to house individuals year-round
• Update on the Orange Dot Report (workforce development report) in parallel to the
  Network2Work and companion programs. Ms. Marshall and Mr. Sanders advised that the
  Orange Dot Report is schedule to be updated by the Fall. Ms. Marshall advised that
  Downtown Job Center programs and services are complimentary to other workforce
  programs.
• Reports on Minority Business Program, GO-programs, Community Investment Collaborative
  and funding through HUD Section 3
• Developing a community wealth building strategy
• Seek mentorship and internship programs within the city organization
• Incentivizing incubator space for small businesses and determining where grassroots
  economic development resides
• Staff stability and development: hiring, training, right-sizing pay scale

Next Steps
Mr. Hartgrove stated that VIG would summarize the meeting and provide a report.

The meeting adjourned at 2:13 p.m.

BY Order of City Council                                  BY Kyna Thomas, Clerk of Council