Richmond Free Press © 2016 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 25 NO. 4
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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Report: Violent crime in Richmond down in 2015
JANUARY 21-23, 2016
Source: City Hall knew Adediran was managing church project By Jeremy M. Lazarus
It was no secret at Richmond City Hall that city Public Works Director Emmanuel O. Adediran was doubling as project manager for a new $5.3 million sanctuary that First Baptist Church of South Richmond is building in Chesterfield County, the Free Press has learned. According to a highly knowledgeable source, “everyone knew (Mr. Adediran) had been asked by the mayor to help with the church project.” Mr. Adediran is a volunteer associate pastor at the church and one of at least six highranking city employees who is a member of First Baptist, where Mayor Dwight C. Jones is senior pastor. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized by the city to comment on the controversy concerning Mr. Adediran’s work for the church working at City Hall. Despite allegations that he improperly did work for the church on city time, Mr.
Adediran actually had permission, the source insisted. While there apparently are no signed documents, Mr. Adediran followed protocol, the source said. In 2013, he verbally notified his superiors about his outside work on the church project and received permission to be involved with that development so long as it did not interfere with his city duties, according to the source. At the time, Mr. Adediran’s city personnel evaluations rated him as conscientious and capable, and he had been promoted from his initial job as an operations manager to deputy director for general services, the source said. He would be promoted to interim Public Works director and then department director after James A. Jackson, the for-
mer director, resigned in May 2015. Mr. Jackson did not respond to Free Press requests for comment. Mr. Adediran was counseled to avoid possible conflicts, such as driving a city car to the church site, the source said, but otherwise received no criticism for spending some time on the church development during city business hours. Email records show he sometimes used his city computer to communicate with companies working on the church site, according to City Auditor Umesh Dalal. Some of those companies were found to have received city contracts, although no evidence has developed that this was more than a coincidence. However, Mr. Dalal determined that the church identified the companies by the same vendor numbers the city assigned to identify them. Despite his double duty, Mr. Adediran “made sure that he got his work done. He stayed late and came in on weekends” to get assignments Please turn to A4
Mr. Adediran
Pulpit to politics, remembering Leonidas B. Young II
Family of fans Katrina Cheatham and her children, Camryn, 3, and Patrick, 5, enjoy the Freedom Classic basketball game last Sunday that pit Virginia Union University against rival Virginia State University at the Richmond Coliseum. Please see story and more photos on A8 and B6.
By Joey Matthews
The Rev. Leonidas B. Young II rose from the pulpit of historic Fourth Baptist Church in the East End to the pinnacle of Richmond political power, serving as the city’s mayor from 1994 to 1996. Elected to Richmond City Council representing the East End’s 7th District from 1992 to 1999, he was considered a rising political star by many at the time. However, any aspirations he might have had for higher office evaporated when he was convicted of federal public corruption charges in February 1999. Under suspicion for several years, he pleaded guilty to James Haskins/Richmond Free Press accepting money while mayor to promote the sale of city cemeteries to a private company, evading taxes by failing to report about $7,000 of illegal income on his federal taxes and obstructing justice by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press urging an ally to lie to meeting at City Hall. have worked 70 to 80 hours per week authorities about the cor- The Rev. Leonidas B. Young II ruption. He also admitted speaks to his congregation at New Ms. Drewry is exiting after 18 months crafting the budget proposal. Kingdom Christian Ministries on in the position. She was the Prince George Mr. Westbay said his office is “under- to embezzling inheritance North Side in December 2014. school system’s budget chief for 14 years staffed,” even with Ms. Drewry in place. money from an elderly prior to coming to Richmond. He said he would seek to quickly hire her couple in his church to help pay for extramarital affairs. The day his trial was to begin, he pleaded guilty. Earlier that Ralph Westbay, assistant superintendent replacement and add a senior financial same morning, he resigned from City Council and his church of financial services for RPS, called her analyst in a newly created position to help soon booted him out as pastor. impending departure a “huge” loss, “be- fill the void. He served about 18 months in a federal prison in South cause she’s the right arm … She’s the one In its budget, RPS is seeking about Carolina. who’s put the bulk of this work together $18 million more than the current budget After his release, he returned to his Richmond roots to found and put this budget together.” contains, a request that would increase He estimated that he, Ms. Drewry and Please turn to A4 two other analysts in the finance office Please turn to A4
Richmond Public Schools losing budget director during critical season By Joey Matthews
Richmond Public Schools is losing one of its chief budget architects as the School Board and Superintendent Dana T. Bedden prepare to kick off their budget negotiations for fiscal year 2017 with Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Richmond City Council. Betsy Drewry, RPS director of budget and planning, will leave her position Friday, Feb. 5, to become director of budget and finance for Prince George County, she told the Free Press at Monday’s School Board
Few African-Americans weigh in on Boulevard site By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Citizen comment is being welcomed as Richmond begins its push to create a master plan and find a private developer to transform 60 acres of municipal property on North Boulevard into apartments, offices and retail outlets that will provide a gush of tax revenue for city coffers. “We want to hear from each of you,” Mayor Dwight C. Jones said Tuesday before leading a tour of the site long noted as the home of the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center, The Diamond baseball stadium, a soccer stadium and track, city vehicle repair shops and other operations of Public Works. He urged people to express themselves by emailing Blvd.comments@Richmondgov.com. He also called on Richmond residents to participate in a survey the city will release soon or attend one or more of the six public meetings his administration plans to hold, the first of which was Tuesday. “Your vision, added to the ground work that we’ve been preparing, will allow the Richmond community to get the maximum benefit from this site,” Mayor Jones said, in insisting that the process of deciding the future of the property “needs to be open” with “meaningful public input” before any decisions are made. The city is investing heavily to ready the site. By its own estimate, nearly $20 million is being invested to clear out the old city repair shops — and it will take eight to 10 years to repay that cost from a successful development. And it could take 15 to 20 years to fully develop the site, according to the city’s most recent estimate. If all goes well, the city would receive $8 million a year in new revenue from the site when the development is done, according to projections. The property still is not fully cleared of the Public Works’ opera-
Michael Wallace/City of Richmond
Participants weigh in on Boulevard redevelopment at first public meeting Tuesday. Location: Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles headquarters.
tions. According to the administration, the city is pumping $8 million in new buildings on South Side to relocate the city’s radio, traffic signal and sign shop and the Public Works operations center. One big question to be resolved is whether The Diamond — and the Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball team — will still have a home. At Tuesday night’s public meeting, the mayor’s staff got an earful from an almost completely white crowd of about 100 people about the need to keep baseball at the site. However, the mayor and his administration, based on several economic studies, want the stadium that now occupies prime land to go. His plan to move the stadium to Shockoe Bottom collapsed nearly two years ago. The city acknowledges that its economic studies project that a baseball stadium could be located on the site. If there is to be a stadium, “it would have to be entirely privately
financed,” said Lee Downey, the city’s deputy chief administrative officer for economic development. He said that’s the only way for the city to maximize its tax earnings from the site — and new revenue is a big part of what the Boulevard development effort is all about, along with boosting shopping options. Another big question is what to do about the 4-acre Ashe Center, the Richmond school system’s aging combination gym and convocation center. During the tour, Mayor Jones indicated that the center, too, needs to go in order to maximize the site’s value. But he said he doesn’t know where money would come from to replace it at another site. Meanwhile, one odd element that could remain at the Boulevard site is the Sports Backers Stadium, which occupies 7 acres in the middle of the site. Virginia Commonwealth University owns the property. At this point, the mayor said, the city essentially is not pushing for it to be relocated.
Bus Rapid Transit
Can Richmond afford to maintain proposed expensive bus service? By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Can Richmond afford to operate the proposed Bus Rapid Transit system that promises speedier travel and is described as the biggest revamp in public bus service in the city in at least 50 years? That question now hovers over Richmond City Council, whose nine members are scheduled to decide Monday, Jan. 25, whether to give GRTC the green light to move the $49 million project from the drawing board to construction reality. While the council earlier endorsed the project and set the planning for it in mo-
tion, no one is certain — given the cost — whether at least five council members are prepared to push the project forward at a time when the city is strapped for money to overhaul crumbling schools and deal with Mr. Burton other pressing infrastructure and service needs. Building BRT is not the problem. The money is in hand to develop the system’s 14 stations, to overhaul traffic lights and
to buy buses. That includes $41 million in federal and state grants, plus the city’s share of $7.6 million and $400,000 Henrico County is to contribute. What is not in hand — and may Mr. Marcus not be — is the money Richmond would need to keep the planned system running 18 hours a day on a 7.6-mile Please turn to A4