Lynchburg City Council to discuss resolution banning diversity training in city government
Just one meeting in today's newsletter on local government meetings in the Fifth District
Just one local government meeting today and it is in Lynchburg. I would like to have the bandwidth to cover some of this, but I’m currently attending to a lot of family issues as well. I’m grateful to the reporting in the Lynchburg News & Advance and glad for my subscription.
The seven-member Lynchburg City Council meets at 4 p.m. in the Council Chamber in City Hall at 900 Church Street for a work session. That’s followed by a regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. (meeting page)
This particular work session features four items followed by two business item briefings.
The first four item is an update on efforts to bring more flights to Lynchburg Regional Airport.
“The update contains information on our air service prior to the pandemic, industry challenges during the pandemic and our updated plan moving forward out of the pandemic,” reads the staff report.
That plan includes an application for a grant from the United States Department of Transportation’s Small Community Air Service Development program. There are currently only four daily flights. A presentation puts the blame on a shortage of airline pilots.
There’s also an update on summer youth activities. Specifically there will be a discussion of the Beacon of Hope program and the Mayor’s Youth Council.
There’s an update on a statue for Mayor M.W. “Teedy” Thornhill planned for a roundabout on 5th Street.
“M.W. Thornhill was first elected to the City Council in 1976 and became the first African American Mayor of Lynchburg in 1990,” reads the staff report. “Mayor Thornhill was the president and owner of Community Funeral Home located on 5th Street and also served as the president of the Lynchburg Voter's League for over 40 Years.”
The statue is to be cast at the Carolina Bronze foundry in Seagrove, North Carolina on July 3 and unveiled at a public ceremony on August 19.
There’s an update on a request from the ANCH LLC to use the public right of way for a wheelchair ramp at 2204 Bedford Avenue.
The two business item briefings:
There is a request for the vacation of an easement for public right of way on Elm Street. This will be on the July 11 agenda. This is for the expansion of The Wayne.
There’s an organizational meeting and rules of procedure. One potential addition is a statement that Councilmembers may speak about matters pertaining to the city only at roll call, and that no debate is to be permitted at that time.
There are three public hearings:
The first is for the aforementioned wheelchair ramp.
The second is as well.
The third is for the issuance of an appropriation of $250,000 to prepare for the issuance of a Bond Anticipation Note of $68,500,000. A BAN is how Albemarle County will initially raise funds to purchase 462 acres of land near Rivanna Station. “This BAN will fund current and future projects in the City ($35.9m), Schools ($5.6m), Water ($13.0m), Sewer ($9.0m), Stormwater ($3.0m), and Airport ($1.5m) Capital Projects Funds.”
There’s over a dozen public comments. Many of them are about a proposal from Councilmember Marty Misjuns called “A Resolution to Promote Merit, Excellence and Opportunity in City Government.” More on that in a moment.
First there is a resolution to amend the budget to appropriate $964,424 from the National Opioid Settlement Funds to expand the Lynchburg Adult Drug Court.
“LADC began in 2017 in Lynchburg City as an alternative to incarceration of individuals
with substance use disorders who were involved in the criminal justice system,” reads the staff report. “Substance use disorders (SUDs) have been linked directly and indirectly to serious problems, both on an individual and societal level.”
Second is a resolution to authorize negotiations between the Lynchburg School Board and Southern Air for heating renovations at Dunbar Middle School.
Third, the long-awaited School Board appointments.
Next, Councilmember Misjuns’ resolution which seeks to ban any city government activity related to discussion of diversity, race, or sex. Misjuns is a member of the Republican majority.
“We have accomplished great things so far, with more to come,” Misjuns writes in a request to City Clerk Alicia Finney to place the item on the agenda. “This resolution is another component of the shift in governance that will contribute to improving workplace culture and ensuring our taxpayers are not funding unnecessary and divisive concepts in the workforce.”
Misjuns resolution defines nine “racist or sexist concepts” that city employees will be forbidden to discuss. Take a look at the image below to see them all.
If adopted, the resolution would prevent training on diversity. For more details, take a look at Bryson Gordon’s article in today’s Lynchburg News & Advance.
