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Mary Garner McGehee  0:07  

Thanks for tuning in to Charlottesville Soundboard. I'm your host Mary Garner McGehee. Soundboard airs every other Saturday at 6am on WTJU 91.1 fm and also comes to you as a podcast that belongs to the Virginia Audio Collective. It's been a while since we got back to our usual topics of conversation, like housing, education and climate. We call up Charlottesville Tomorrow reporters, Charlotte Rene Woods and Billy Jean Louis to talk about the school budget, businesses as they start to reopen and the Virginia Clean Economy Act. How are you all doing? It's been a while since we talked.

Billy Jean Louis  0:44  

I had the chance to do a video for CDL progress about how I cope with the pandemic. Somewhat like, you know, spread some positive message during this time. And, so, in my video I talked about, you know, me growing up in Haiti and surviving a coup d'etat, which is where you overthrew the President. I talked about how what I used to do was just like writing about my experiences, you know, what I was seeing, and then how that sort of like propelled me to go into journalism. You know, that's how I found my passion. For me, it was very therapeutic to even talk about, you know, how I cope with what I endured in Haiti.

Mary Garner McGehee  1:30  

That sounds really powerful. One of the biggest stories across the state right now is what the governor has dubbed Phase One of reopening businesses. What has this step looked like in Charlottesville?

Billy Jean Louis  1:40  

I talked to a business owner, she said although she put out a sign outside that said, you know, you're required to wear a mask as you enter the business, some people still do not comply with her request. What I've gathered from business owners is they would like for people to be more respectful, you know, during this time. Talking to them, they also tell me when they are putting these, you know, rules out, it's not even about you know them, they also want to protect the customers.

Mary Garner McGehee  2:12  

And the Governor's announced that starting on Friday, all businesses that operate indoors will need to require customers to wear a mask. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Charlotte Rene Woods  2:23  

From a Government standpoint, it's not something that law enforcement will likely get involved with. If a customer enters a store or a restaurant or any kind of business and say the owner or one of the employees asked, "Hey, can you please put on your mask?" or, "Could you please leave?" If the customer won't and it does maybe escalate, The Thomas Jefferson Health District, which is part of the Virginia Department of Health, reiterates like, let's try to keep this out of like official law enforcement. So, we don't really want to like punish people with criminal offenses or fines or jail time. We really just want to focus on everyone's safety is what they were putting it as. So, to report an alleged face mass covering violation, they encourage people to call the Virginia Department of Health. They said that VDH will only take action on like the most egregious violations. Otherwise, this is, a lot of this is really just operating on good faith  and it would be like a very worst case scenario if you know Charlottesville Police Department or Albemarle County Police Department got involved. But, mostly it's sort of like it's up to customers operating on good faith, business owners operating on good faith. And if it does get to a situation where someone really is adamant about not wearing their mask and it could become dangerous for others, just because COVID is spread through droplets, that's when, yeah, you could definitely call Virginia Department of Health. And in the meantime, the local arm of that Thomas Jefferson Health District is really doing its best to provide education and outreach and just reiterate if anyone doesn't know by now, like over two months into this, wear a face covering not just to protect yourself but to protect others.

Mary Garner McGehee  3:54  

What do local doctors and health care providers think of the decision?

Unknown Speaker  3:58  

So, we recently spoke with Dr. Leigh-Ann Webb and she's an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of Virginia Health. And she was basically just reiterating best safety practices, but she was saying, you know, just be mindful of yourself and others when you do go out in public. She was saying she's really been cognizant of that when she does leave her house for other reasons and just limits her time out with her with her husband and her children. Just because, you know, it is spread through close contact, it can be spread through breathing on each other. So that's why face masks are important, excessive hand washing, those kinds of things.

Unknown Speaker  4:33  

Charlottesville has a ton of restaurants and that was one of the businesses that has been allowed to reopen outdoor seating and stuff like that. Do you all know of like roughly how many businesses have taken the Governor up on that?

Unknown Speaker  4:46  

Well, for the most part, a lot of restaurants that have outdoor patio space are kind of embracing that at the moment because it is open air. You can socially distance. I noticed walking down on on May 15 on the first day that this was the Phase One started. I walked around just seeing what photos I could take and just getting a sense of what it looked like. And like Guadalajara down by the downtown mall, they had a socially distant patio. As I expected, it wasn't filled. Obviously, you think about Three Notch'd, they have a huge patio space. And I know that the Guadalajara on 29 has been part of a process to get permits and special allowances to set up seating in parking lot spaces. So I think a lot of restaurants are trying to be really innovative on how they can be safe, but be open because at the end of the day, they are one of the industries most economically hit. And with less revenue coming in from food sales, beverage sales, that also means less capacity to pay your staff, so that results in layoffs and/or reduced hours. And as somebody who at one point in my life, I worked in the service industry, I know how frustrating really bad tip night or tip week can be and sometimes that's beyond your control and you were relying on that to make rent or get your groceries. So, it's just really a domino effect of how people are affected. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I know keeping staff on payroll, keeping employees protected in terms of their physical safety, but protected in terms of having their income and having their benefits. That's, that's been a real struggle. And at least federally, there was the Paycheck Protection Program. Businesses were able to apply for loans that, as long as they kept their employees on payroll, they didn't have to pay that back.

Mary Garner McGehee  6:26  

So, Northam this week moved to start reopening some businesses, but he's been critiqued on that by a number of people, particularly the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus published a letter asking the Governor to delay Phase One, citing the disproportionately high numbers of cases, hospitalizations and fatalities of people of color in Virginia. Are the numbers disproportional here in the Charlottesville Albemarle area?

Charlotte Rene Woods  6:53  

The most recent data is showing that 23, a little over 23% of residents in the Charlottesville Albemarle area, or at least within the Thomas Jefferson Health District, are of African American...

Mary Garner McGehee  7:06  

 Is that cases or hospitalizations or...?

Charlotte Rene Woods  7:09  

That is cases. And right now, the fatalities are 21%, according to most recent data, and hospitalizations actually have gone to 52%.

Mary Garner McGehee  7:20  

So, particularly that hospitalizations number is really disproportionate in our area.

Unknown Speaker  7:25  

Mhm. And so, the Legislative Black Caucus, which is co-chaired by Delegate Lamont Bagby and Senator Jennifer McClellan, they had issued a letter to Ralph, Governor Ralph Northam, a couple of days before the official for Phase One of reopening started, just kind of asking him to rethink it because they felt that it was probably too soon and that it would continue to leave black and brown residents more disproportionately affected because there are certain areas where these are the communities that are working a lot of these frontline jobs that are at a higher risk to begin with. Especially if you think about like grocery stores workers, you know, you're, our nurses or doctors, but our grocery store workers, these people have been really on the front lines. Then, you factor in service industry waiters, busboys, sanitation, like a lot of people are excited to get out and go to a store to a restaurant because they haven't done that in a while. But, you know, gotta be safe about it because there are other people who are coming in contact with people all day long and have a greater chance of getting infected.

Mary Garner McGehee  8:25  

So, COVID-19 has really changed how we distribute resources like food, medical care and supplies and financial support. What resources, if any, have been particularly designed to reach people are at a higher risk from COVID-19?

Charlotte Rene Woods  8:39  

This is something one of our freelancers covered last weekend was when there was a COVID-19 testing drive that was happening at Mount Zion as well as at the Jefferson School Center for African American History. And, those were open to anyone who showed up it was sort of like a drive up, walk up, someone biked up, get tested, but the primary focus and the preference for the testing was towards communities of color or people who are working like frontline positions. And also for people who live in like multi-generational living and, you know, you're a frontline worker, and you're going home and your grandmother or your grandfather is there or maybe your, you know, uncle or your mother who has pre-existing conditions are there and you've been exposed, you might be affected, you might be asymptomatic, you don't know. And you're going home and in close quarters with your family member who has been trying to quarantine and not go out, but then they're still at risk anyways. So, this drive was really focused on those community members, the people who don't have as much luxury to quarantine at home or whose jobs necessitate that they can't. And then, the Charlottesville Free Clinic, before the pandemic, I mean, they're a free clinic. So, they focus on the uninsured or the under-insured. They have a pharmacy, a no-cost pharmacy. They have like 12 exam rooms. You can go in for checkups. You can get treated for minor things. They also have a dental clinic. The space that they operate out of is in the same structure that the Thomas Jefferson Health District operates in. I was speaking with the director of Thomas Jefferson Health District, Dr. Denise Bonds, and she was saying TJ HD as well as VDH, we really see this as like a marathon, not a sprint. And so, as the Virginia Department of Health is expanding its staff statewide, to allow for more contact tracing, more testing capacity and case investigations and administering of a vaccine if one is developed anytime soon. That means that all the different health districts have had to expand their offices and personnel as well. So, TJ HD is hiring more staff. As I was speaking with them a couple of days ago, I believe we'll have some new staff starting this coming Monday. With that, though, the flip side of that is that the Charlottesville Free Clinic is going to have to find a new place to operate out of because now TJ HD needs that extra space. So, their lease negotiations they have until November to find a new place to operate and there's a separate lease being worked out with the dental clinic just because of the specialized infrastructure that is in place there and would need to be, you know, relocated. Our Health District is really bolstering our capacity to take care of this and tackle this pandemic, but on the other hand, this nonprofit that has been really focused on some of the most vulnerable people in the midst of this pandemic is kind of like going through with a little existential find-a-new-home crisis at the moment. I know that VDH and TJ HD have been talking about working with the clinic on making sure that they can help make it a smooth process.

Mary Garner McGehee  11:33  

So, there's a lot of economic pressure to reopen businesses, especially as extra funding for unemployment in the Cares Act is said to expire in about two months. Have any businesses in the Charlottesville Albemarle area closed permanently that you all know about?

Charlotte Rene Woods  11:47  

Yeah, there's been quite a few places that have shut down permanently. You'll see every few days or at least once a week, you know, there will be some posts on a company's Facebook page about, "Thank you for our time here and we've decided we need to close permanently." The amount of unemployment filings locally, statewide and nationally has just been like at record historic highs because of the pandemic. And, going forward, as things settle down a little bit, if we can avoid a second wave, if we can avoid spiking up the curve to buy time for a vaccine or just get more stable with this, it'll give time for the economy to recover a little bit. But, that said, there are still some places that have closed down permanently and definitely right now. So, at least locally, there's there's more people who will be looking for jobs.

Mary Garner McGehee  12:36  

Let's talk about education. There have been pretty substantial cuts proposed for Charlottesville and Albemarle County Schools. Where did these budget shortfalls come from?

Billy Jean Louis  12:46  

A lot of what I've been told has been the fact that they're not receiving as much money from the state as they're usually to either from the state and locally.

Mary Garner McGehee  12:58  

So Albemarle and Charlotte approached these cuts differently. Can you talk about their two processes and what the public response has been?

Unknown Speaker  13:06  

A lot of parents in the city schools have been upset with the processes. So, in the county, the county they sent out a survey. That's the first thing that they did. And then after that, they had a public hearing. And after that, they had a school board meeting scheduled where they voted on the revised budget. But in the city, city parents are very upset. They're saying that the city only had one meeting and some parents said they didn't even know if during that meeting there, there were there was going to be a vote taking place. So, they're saying that the city did not allow them the opportunity to weigh in the conversation at all.

Mary Garner McGehee  13:51  

What programs are being cut?

Billy Jean Louis  13:54  

So, specifically in the county, the county didn't have to cut any programs, nor did it have to lay off anyone. Some of the things that it had promised was going to happen, school officials are saying they're not going to be able to do these things, including raising the minimum wage for workers, like people working in the cafeteria and things like that. They said they were going to increase the minimum wage to like $15 an hour. That is not something that they say they're going to be able to do. They had also promised teachers in the county a 2.5 raise. That is something that they also won't be able to do as of right now. School officials in the county are saying these things are, they're being postponed. Does that make sense? It's not like they, you know, they're going to get rid of all these promises, right? They're going to review their, their budgets as the economy gets better. So going back in the city, 17 people, they had to sort of like switch their position and place them elsewhere, and a program that they cut was their Spanish language program.

Mary Garner McGehee  15:11  

How are students, parents, teachers and staff responding to these cuts and also the decision making process they used?

Billy Jean Louis  15:20  

So, going back in the city, parents are very upset with the fact that they didn't get the chance to weigh in to the conversation. They would have appreciated to have the opportunity to comment. I had the opportunity to talk to some parents that are saying how the majority of the positions that they eliminated are at the elementary level, so people are saying that when you making cuts like this, they would have appreciated seeing these cuts are made throughout the division.

Mary Garner McGehee  15:57  

So, you all have recently brought back the Weekly Develop Digest and it feels like we're living in a totally different era than when the last one before the pandemic came out. What is the development outlook for Charlottesville looking like these days?

Charlotte Rene Woods  16:11  

To be frank, it's all slowed down quite a bit. Naturally, through the effect of the pandemic causing a lot of things to happen online now. There was kind of like a learning curve for people to adjust to that being the new normal for government proceedings, at least in the interim. And then, also in terms of developments, like things are just moving slower. It's, it's taking a little bit longer to work out some processes and cross the line, dot the T's kind of thing. But then also, I think that the pandemic going forward will really influence what types of developments continue or are needed in this area or not needed. I mean, right now, there's going to be a bunch of office space coming up with a couple different developments. In the same time, a lot of people are working remotely. So, what happens going forward our, our company is going to start to realize we don't need as much office space as we thought. So, you know, commercial real estate might alter the way we know it, at least for the near future, but it also might be changed forever or things might bounce right back to the way they were. But, residential real estate will be interesting because if you're working from home, your home is now also your commercial real estate. So, yeah, I think there will be a lot of focus on, on affordable housing as continued the way that that's been a topic to tackle here. But, also just making sure that if there are these plans from different companies to to grow and to bring in more people in Charlottesville Albemarle area continues to grow in population each year, there will be need for more housing and then what type of housing we'll, we'll see how that will shake out.

Mary Garner McGehee  17:44  

Have we seen any change in rents or prices yet?

Charlotte Rene Woods  17:47  

Not confirmed yet, but a lot of the developments that I was speaking with that were slated for opening up for residential this summer have been pushing, and commercial, have been pushing back their dates. So, we'll see kind of what changes there, if prices stay the same, if they end up dropping out of need. And then there's also, we recently got some announcements from UVA on a, likely it'll be like a hybrid online and in person semester, at least for the fall. And, we know that UVA is such a huge influence on every other sector and industry in town. So, that will help determine how many students are going to be looking for apartments too. What will residential life look like on campus? What will the job market look like for the students who do internships and work jobs and outside of their education here? How many students can return back? There's just a lot is still up in the air right now and in the next couple of weeks, certainly, in the next few days and the next few months, there's, it's constantly going to be evolving. So, every reporter in town, we're just trying to keep up.

Mary Garner McGehee  18:51  

How has construction been impacted?

Charlotte Rene Woods  18:54  

In some ways, it's been safer for construction workers. Early on in this, I was speaking with a company that does roadwork and they were saying this is the safest my employees have ever felt working on the interstate because there's less cars out on the road. You know, there's more social distancing.

Mary Garner McGehee  19:11  

Construction hasn't really halted here, right? Like construction was deemed, for the most part, an essential industry? So... 

Charlotte Rene Woods  19:17  

Yes.

Mary Garner McGehee  19:18  

Another group of frontline workers.

Charlotte Rene Woods  19:20  

But the process to get to construction through government has slightly taken some hiccups. Recently, a years-in-the-process proposal for a convenience store and a gas station out near Keswick has been just back and forth through government processes over the years as they've been working with residents and elected members to make concessions on, "Well, okay, well, where can we give? Where can we take to get this approved and get it and get going and off the ground?" And it was likely supposed to wrap up in a recent Board of Supervisors meeting, but given that everything's been happening, happening virtually, there was a missing stake in advertising virtual participation for the public hearing grant. There had already been a million public hearings for this and there still was one that night for three and a half hours. But, because there was that technical, we didn't advertise those the way we should have. They did push it, kick it back a little further and it is delayed, and there will be another chance for public hearing before official votes. So, as everything goes forward, local government is working hard to, to keep maintaining their meetings, albeit virtually, deal with their budgets, which they've had to completely work from scratch on due to the pandemic. So, thank you to all of our elected officials for the extra work they've had to put in, and then also maintaining that public forum component of democracy is, "How do we make sure that we are bringing people to the table who want to speak during city council Board of Supervisors Planning Commission virtually?" It's an added layer of challenge there.

Mary Garner McGehee  20:56  

Do you have anything on where all these budget shortfalls are coming from? I know Billy mentioned the state. Where else are we gonna see, see less revenue?

Charlotte Rene Woods  21:06  

I think some of the goals that local governments and state governments might have had before they're gonna have to kind of earmark for later now because there has to be some wiggle room for Worst case scenario of the pandemic. The city and the county are working on that. I know that General Assembly will be reconvening at some point this summer to finalize some things probably similarly to how they did the veto session where they socially distanced in a tent.

Mary Garner McGehee  21:32  

What was the most interesting article that of the many, many you worked on this week?

Charlotte Rene Woods  21:37  

I guess, for me, some of the really, really interesting ones have been more in the climate beats. Just because this past legislative session, the Virginia Clean Economy Act passed. And, that is like the legislative like booster that the state and localities really needed to help reach the next level of these climate goals to teach net zero, which is to be carbon neutral by 2050. And, renewable energy plays a huge part in that and kind of like reshaping our utility companies plays a huge part in that. I know Dominion has been working to pivot away from their fossil fuels. But, at the end of the day, they are a utility company, they still have to provide a service and build out of complete renewables doesn't happen overnight. So, that's why you see Dominion pivoting away from a lot of coal but still leaning on natural gas, which is debatable on "Yes, it's a fossil fuel, but it's the cleanest of them." Meanwhile, wind and solar really are going to be stepping up and into the future of Virginia and also it's an economic development creator because especially solar panels, you know, wind turbines, they work in various parts of the US, but they're not quite as feasible in Virginia, although we are getting some offshore wind. But, renewable energy through solar panels, that is very much like when you look at Southwest Virginia, when you look at the Peninsula, these are really great areas where local governments can work with their local farmers to lease out space for solar farms. And then the the revenue that comes from that goes right back into the localities, it's infrastructure costs upfront to install, but it is very little maintenance going forward. And, then it also creates jobs because it takes installation and it does take a little maintenance. So, we did a couple articles in the recent weeks where I wrote one about the Cooper Center at UVA partnering with the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy for like an advisory program, which is going to help local governments with the regulatory process, who maybe haven't ever worked with solar before and don't understand all the nuances involved to be able to get through the paperwork so that way the actual construction work can happen. At the same time, we had a freelancer working on a piece that really dug in deep on the Virginia Clean Economy Act and checked in with renewable energy companies around the state and the many of whom are based right here in Charlottesville about going forward and how this pandemic. It has been a public health issue, but it's also just been a disease to our economy and now renewable energies could be one part of healing that. And that was so cheesy the way I said that, but yeah. I cannot not say this because I cover government and I do the annual traditional voter guide. The June primaries for our Fifth Congressional District Democrats is on June 23. There's also a Republican primary for State Senate. So, Senator Mark Warner is being challenged by 3 Republicans. He doesn't have a primary, but they do. And, I spoke with one of them yesterday I'll be speaking with the other two. And then, as you know, Denver Riggleman our incumbents and Bob Good, his challenger, they are having a Republican convention. Tyler Hammel at Daily Progress has been covering that from a very good league. He's the courts guy, so it's it's been juicy and fun to to read.

Mary Garner McGehee  24:51  

And the Governor is encouraging everyone to vote by mail, vote by absentee ballot in those primaries if they can.

Charlotte Rene Woods  24:57  

Yes, mine came in the mail recently, so I still have to, I still have to send mine in. But yeah, June 16th is the, at 5pm is the deadline to request an absentee ballot. So, as long as you request it by then, you have until June 23rd to send it in. So, check out the voter guide, hm and ha and decide who you like most if you are still undecided.

Mary Garner McGehee  25:20  

Thank you so much, Charlotte. In those June primaries, anyone can vote by absentee mail-in ballot. To apply for an absentee ballot, go to vote.elections.virginia.gov. Charlotte Rene Woods and Billy Jean Louis are reporters for Charlottesville Tomorrow. You're listening to Soundboard here on WTJU 91.1 fm and the Virginia Audio Collective. Both are a service of the University of Virginia. However, opinions expressed on this show are not the positions of the University of Virginia. WTJU is supported by the Southern Environmental Law Center. During these challenging times, the Southern Environmental Law Center is remaining strong and resolute in protecting the fundamental right to clean air and clean water, and a healthy environment for all. Well, that does it for this week's edition of Soundboard, your source for news, culture and community issues in Central Virginia. If you've got something to add to the conversation, tweet us @CVLSoundboard. My name is Mary Garner McGehee. Our theme song is Chioggia Beat by Morwenna Lasko and Jay Pun. This is Soundboard.