Statues of, among others, Confederate General J.E.B. As of January 28, 2020, the Mayor is Tom Butt and Vice Mayor is Nathaniel Bates.
She settled for a letter from the Werkheiser law firm promising to represent her pro bono. Her individual meetings will be He warned it could lead to criminal charges against the mayor and his staff. Suddenly, this rising young star’s second term seemed in doubt, and several Democratic and independent rivals emerged to challenge him in the November 2020 election.The protests following the death of Floyd, which led Northam to declare a state of emergency across the state on May 31, only heightened progressive disdain for the mayor. I knew what these monuments meant. Richmond City Council / News Release. 1, to protect the lives of citizens, not memorials,” he said.That claim was tested over the next two weeks, as protests turned violent and police used rubber bullets and tear gas on demonstrators outside police headquarters. Stoney had agreed to the compromise. Republicans, meanwhile, accused Stoney of allowing rioters to reign in the capital’s streets, and called for the mayor to resign. Amid a fierce thunderstorm, the statue finally was hauled off its perch at 4:30 that afternoon. Ralph Northam (D) speaks during a news conference on June 4 in Richmond. Statues to two other Confederate veterans at other sites in the city were also removed by the roving crane. The chief’s temporary successor resigned soon after, and a third chief was hired June 26. City council members Ellen Robertson and Michael Jones voted against it.The city said the program will be funded through the city’s Commercial Area Revitalization Effort (CARE) Program, and other grants will not be impacted by it. In July 2018, the panel suggested removing the city’s memorial dedicated to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, in part because Davis was not from Richmond or Virginia. As of January 28, 2020, the Mayor is Tom Butt and Vice Mayor is Nathaniel Bates. On June 10, jubilant protesters tied ropes around the legs of Jefferson Davis’ 8-foot-tall bronze statue, installed in 1907, and wrenched it from its stone pedestal as Richmond police stood by. Graduate Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership Cla… Officers clad in riot gear clashed with protesters for a second night in a row on June 15 outside the Richmond Police Department. Stoney’s subsequent move to create a commission to study the Richmond monuments defused a potentially volatile situation. “He was a shoo-in,” says Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political analyst, of the incumbent. Amanda Chase, a state senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate, warned that removing the monuments would be “a cowardly capitulation to the looters and domestic terrorists” and “an overt effort to erase all white history.” Meanwhile, protesters chafed at any delay in removing what they saw as blatant symbols of racial oppression.On June 6, the day after the City Council voiced their unanimous support of Stoney’s plan, demonstrators toppled the figure of Confederate cavalry general Williams Carter Wickham, which had stood in a downtown park since 1891.
“These grants will help those establishments get back on their feet and send a message to the owners and employees of those businesses that they’re heard, they’re valued and we’re in this together.”This new one-time program will award grants to local businesses, non-profits and commercial property owners. The move was requested by Mayor Levar Stoney.“Though many protests have been peaceful, sporadic nights of severe property damage have hurt our small business community,” said Mayor Levar Stoney. —showed up on downtown walls, while demonstrators stormed the lobby of his apartment building. Richmond CA (near the Richmond Auditorium, City Hall, and Richmond Main Branch of the Library). AMENDMENT TO THE 2019-2020 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN . He needed to take a decisive stand. The group also recommended adding a monument to African Americans who fought for the Union, to complement a statue of tennis star and Richmond native Arthur Ashe erected in 1996, the only African American commemorated on the broad street.At the time, Stoney agreed to what was a typically awkward Virginia accommodation, like the single state holiday devoted to Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Martin Luther King Jr. that was celebrated from 1984 until 2000. “The guy flatlined two or three times,” the mayor recounted in an interview. After that incident, Stoney set up a commission to consider the future of Richmond’s memorial-filled mall. We wanted to make something better.” Says Jerry Thornton the owner and maker. “Never forget,” read one. In an attempt to quell the unrest, Stoney fired the police chief. Copyright 2020 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. Stoney says he repeatedly watched the video in horror. Stoney’s late-night decision on June 2 to take down the nation’s most prominent memorials to white supremacy placed him firmly on the side of the protesters.“Times have changed, and removing these statues will allow the healing process to begin,” he said in a statement put out the next morning. It sits on a plot of land owned by the state and beyond Stoney’s control. Top: Stoney watches the removal of the Stonewall Jackson statue on TV with his team from a supporter's home on July 1. George Floyd had been killed in Minneapolis a week earlier, and the effects were rippling across the country. | Getty ImagesWhat many saw as a series of missteps further clouded Stoney’s reelection prospects. By the time a Connecticut subcontractor agreed to ship the suitable equipment, it was nearly the end of June. Stuart along Monument Avenue. The memorial to A.P.