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Richmond Free Press
VOL. 28 NO. 19
© 2019 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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‘Namaste’: Meet head of PYR
MAY 9-11, 2019
New housing honcho RRHA’s leader Damon Duncan outlines priorities that will impact city’s 10,000 public housing residents
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The new chief executive officer of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority is vowing that the agency will move “expeditiously” to redevelop the city’s decaying public housing. Damon E. Duncan put that at the top of the list of priorities he outlined in his first public comments Monday. He said he wants to move quickly to carry out RRHA’s longstanding goal of overhauling, replacing and modernizing the city’s nearly 4,000 deteriorating public housing units, the largest and most essential inventory of affordable housing for the city’s lowest income residents, seniors and disabled people. At his first news conference since taking the helm March 25, Mr. Duncan also promised to communicate honestly with residents about coming changes, to step up preventive maintenance to ensure residents do not again lose heat in the winter and to work closely with police on a strategy to continue the Please turn to A4
What’s better: A Coliseum replacement or a facelift? By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Here’s the choice: Spend $25 million to $35 million to revitalize the 13,500-seat Richmond Coliseum or spend $220 million to replace it with a brand new 17,500-seat facility and add another $20 million to $30 million to revamp East Clay and East Leigh streets. That choice has never been presented to the public. Instead, Chris Allerton©SussexRoyal Mayor Levar M. Stoney and his predecessor, former Mayor Dwight C. Jones, have insisted that the only solution is a new arena. Indeed, the working assumption on the part of city officials New mother Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, holds her son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, as he is that the Coliseum has outlived its useful life. is admired Wednesday by his grandmother, Doria Ragland, and great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. Smiling from the side are the baby’s great-grandfather, Prince Philip, and new father, Prince Harry. The baby, born Monday But both city and internal studies have long indicated that the to Prince Harry and Ms. Markle, is the first grandchild for Ms. Ragland and the eighth great-grandchild for the 93neglected Coliseum, built in 1971, just needs significant work year-old British monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh. Please see story, more photos, A6. to remain usable for years to come. That was the finding of the most substantial study on the building’s needs that was conducted in 2008. Richmond-based SMBW of underground pipes that dates service, street paving and a host By Jeremy M. Lazarus Architects PC undertook the back more than a century. of other city services. Like a steady drip, drip, drip, the cost of utility In addition, the increase is When council considered the study for the city with help services is continuing to rise in Richmond at a double- needed, the administration stated, Gray-Trammell plan to eliminate from two other expert builddigit pace, outpacing inflation and raising concerns in order for DPU to continue to the proposed rate utility increases, ing consulting firms, WJE of among some about affordability. support the general fund budget the administration swiftly noti- Fairfax and HCYU and AsBeginning July 1 when the new budget year with PILOT payments, or payfied the council that such action sociates of Glen Allen. The begins, the combined increase in rates for water, ments in lieu of taxes. would strip $4 million from three companies had experts sewer and natural gas service once again will rise by Under the City Charter, DPU DPU’s projected PILOT payment, examine the building and come Ms. Gray Ms. Trammell double digits — 11.5 percent — with an additional is required to pay into the city and the administration requested up with recommendations for 4 percent increase in the rate for stormwater service treasury an amount equal to the taxes it would pay from the council information on how that $4 million refurbishing the arena. The bottom line: The Colifor property owners. if it were a private business. reduction to the general fund would be replaced. The seum needed maintenance, reLike past administrations, the administration of Mayor Stoney’s budget proposal was based on Gray-Trammell proposal quickly died. pair and replacement of gutters Mayor Levar M. Stoney has sought to minimize the securing a DPU PILOT of $20 million to support and other internal and external Please turn to A4 impact of the increase on household budgets, telling the general fund, which goes to pay for police, fire items, but remained “a substanCity Council that the average utility customer would tial and serviceable building pay an extra $5.82 each month. whose original character and According to a statement from the administration, quality are still intact.” the city Department of Public Utilities is proposing The study estimated that on average, per single family residential customer, a more than $11 million in work $1.86 monthly increase for gas and a $3.96 increase was needed to extend the buildfor all three water utilities — water, wastewater and stormwater. with Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney ing’s life for 10 years or longer. By Jeremy M. Lazarus But that’s just this year, and only for small users. Michael N. Herring. Mr. Herring required But like other studies on the Richmond City Council set the stage The impact is likely to be larger on businesses and Mr. Agelasto to resign if he did not want condition of city buildings, it this week for a special election on Nov. 5 apartment building owners. to face a court action seeking his removal ended up being shelved for lack And it doesn’t take into account the increases of to replace Councilman Parker C. Agelasto from office for failing to live in the district of money. As far as can be determined, the past and the coming increases, according to two as the 5th District representative. he serves as state law requires. no similar assessment has been The council voted Monday to petition City Council members, Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, One person known to be weighing a run and Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, who were unsuc- Richmond Circuit Court to set the election to for the 5th District seat is Thad Williamson, authorized or conducted since cessful in seeking to roll back the proposed utility coincide with the November general election a University of Richmond professor who then. Mr. Agelasto Between 2011 and 2015, the in which voters will select representatives rate increases. led the city’s anti-poverty initiative under city allocated about $4 million to the General Assembly. Mayor Stoney and the department received a majority former Mayor Dwight C. Jones. Dr. Williamson also Mr. Agelasto, who has been under fire for remain- has served as an adviser to current Mayor Levar M. primarily to replace plumbing of the council’s support with their argument that the so the building could have hot hike in rates was essential to maintain service, meet all ing on City Council after moving to the 1st District Stoney. federal and state regulations and enable the department last year, announced April 23 that he would resign The action on the election came after City Council and cold running water and working mechanical systems. at the end of November. to continue to borrow at low interest for its program Mr. Agelasto made the decision under a deal to upgrade or replace the city’s aging infrastructure Please turn to A4 Please turn to A4
A royal arrival for Mother’s Day
Council members concerned about latest utility rate hikes
City Council to seek election to replace Agelasto
Maternal mortality: Black women far more likely to die giving birth than Caucasians By Arianna Coghill and Kaytlin Nickens Capital News Service
Last fall, Tanca McCargo, a Chesterfield native, found out she was expecting her second child. Ms. McCargo, who already had a 3-yearold son, discovered early on that her second pregnancy would be different. Her complications began when she experienced light bleeding.
“The morning after scheduling an appointment with my OB-GYN, I passed an actual blood clot,” Ms. McCargo said. She was sent to the emergency room for a transvaginal ultrasound, which allowed doctors to examine her reproductive organs. They found that Ms. McCargo’s pregnancy was ectopic: Her fertilized egg had attached to her fallopian tube instead of to her uterus.
Ms. McCargo, 22, faced a lifeand-death dilemma. If she proceeded with the pregnancy, her fallopian tube likely would rupture, causing internal bleeding and possibly her death. There was only one other option. “I couldn’t keep the baby,” Ms. McCargo said. “That was the most heartwrenching and traumatic experience I’ve ever had in my life.” Three months into the pregnancy, Ms. McCargo decided to have an abor-
tion. But it did not go smoothly. Doctors gave her chemotherapy injections to stop the fetus from growing, but the injections initially didn’t work. “Those injections made me feel horrible. I was nauseated almost all day every day,” Ms. McCargo said. “I experienced extreme fatigue. I slept less. It was just overall mentally and physically exhausting.” Eventually, the abortion was performed. Ms. McCargo is still recov-
ering from her ordeal. Currently, she is a stay-at-home mom caring for her son, Zakhai. Her situation is not uncommon. For black women, childbirth can be a death sentence. Nationwide, African-American women are three to four times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related causes, according to Please turn to A4