The City of Richmond Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Monday, July 7 @6:30PM on the June 2008 Revised Draft Downtown Master Plan. The public is encouraged to attend the public hearing to share thoughts on the plan with the City Planning Commission.

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Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities serves free meals to children between the age of 1 and 18 at more than 120 locations throughout the city from June 16 to Aug. 29 through its participation in the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Meals for Kids Program. Last summer, the department served more than 306,000 free meals to children in the Richmond area.

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In the contest for the 2nd district council seat, there are 3 candidates: Tyron Bey, Patrick D. Kjellberg, Charles R. Samuels. Incumbent Lisa Dawson is being challenged by Kimberly B. Gray for the school board seat. [via]

The Richmond Free Press is reporting that “Charles R. Samuels, an attorney and former president of the Fan District Association [...] is running and plans to submit his paperwork before the deadline.” Tyrone Bey has already announced his intention to seek the city council seat being vacated by Pantele in his bid to become mayor.

The RTD has a list of people who have already submitted papers with the city’s office of the general registrar indicating that they will run for office this November. Candidates have until June 10th to file. So far, Tyrone Bey is the only candidate for the 2nd District City Council seat being vacated by Pantele in his bid for mayor, and no challengers have stepped forth for 2nd District School Board Representative Lisa Dawson.

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As called by the Free Press 3 weeks ago, 2nd District Representative and City Council President William Pantele used last night’s fund raising event to announce his candidacy for mayor:

“I want to fulfill the promise of this great capital city,” he said. “Five years ago, we were frustrated by the poorly-run government, the poor ethics and the city was not reaching its potential so we moved to an elected mayor form of government to put aside politics, unify the region and realize those dreams. Today, we’re still unfulfilled. [via]

The Richmond Free Press is reporting that 2nd District Representative and City Council President William Pantele will soon be joining Delegate Jones, Paul Goldman, and Lawrence Williams in the upcoming mayoral race. Pantele would have to give up his council seat to run…

Richmond’s newest neighborhood news site, Monroe Ward, has some info from last night’s 2nd District meeting.

This week’s edition of richmond.com’s Why Richmond, Why?!? looks into what it takes to get resolution to citizen requests for a sidewalk on the 800 block of Kinney Street.

From the article:

New sidewalk requests are prioritized based on how they would best serve pedestrians in the city and then built when funding is available. There are currently more than 90 open requests that would cost more than $7 million to build.

The 800 block of Kinney Street is prioritized in the top quarter of open sidewalk requests and would cost approximately $100,000. The high cost would come from dealing with trees and a steep land bank in the construction area. The sidewalk may be constructed in the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1 and goes through June 2009, depending on the priority of other requests and the availability of funds.

From the Office of the Press Secretary: Mayor L. Douglas Wilder announced today the beginning of a month-long “Give Us the 4-1-1″ campaign to help the City improve its new 311 Call Center to handle citizen requests for municipal services. Residents can dial 311 to report potholes, downed trees, utility issues, request social services, and other City matters. The campaign, which will run from March 11 through mid-April, is an invitation for City residents who have used the phone system and encountered problems to let the City know what those problems were so they can be corrected and the system improved.

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