A key excerpt from today’s must-read cover story in Style Weekly on the unfulfilled promises and projections surrounding Richmond’s $170-million convention center expansion:
“In trying to do the great big, fancy, turn-it-around project, they often ignore the more responsible, the more practical common-sense things that would put people on the streets,” [Dr. Heywood] Sanders says of city planners. “Trying to grab for the brass ring and the great big fancy project is often the biggest mistake.”
Refresh my memory: Why do we need the Fan District Association to go around regulating the activities of “young people” with their “Party Patrols”? Is there any reason other than to aggressively reinforce a negative image of Richmond as a censorious, ultra-conservative, repressed backwater?
Let’s find out from the Association in their own words, shall we?
“Well the short answer is we should not! Why because when young adults are out on their own they should have develop a sences [sic] of responsibility and the desire to work with the comminity [sic] to make it a better place to live, and many do just that. However, as we have come to learn many young adults have neither respect for the neighborhood or their neighbors. Add to this that the Fan District Association is still interesed [sic] in reducing underage drinking by individuals who are not adult enough to be responsible. It’s these irresponsible youths that are the root cause of the distrubance [sic] in our historic and quiet neighborhood where people of all walks of life live, work and play. This is not to say that older more mature adults do not have parties, they do, and on occassion [sic], they may even get noisy. The question is does the noise and behavior violate State and City ordinances? Probably not!”
That’s a genuine quote, folks. I swear that I did not take that — or this — from a first script draft of Footloose.
Richmond’s ongoing war on young people? Oh sure, the FDA talk a good game with all of their misspelled words and tortured run-on sentences and their pathological overuse of exclamation points, but those politically-connected, “comminity”-minded busybodies are totally missing the boat on how to throw a memorable party patrol. Win or lose, it’s all about having fun out there:
City Cops Settle Pepper-Spray Suit
by Scott Bass / Style WeeklyRichmond Police and 19 pepper-sprayed partygoers have settled a lawsuit alleging that police used excessive force in breaking up a gathering in May 2004.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that police officers went too far when without warning they set off a fogger containing oleoresin capsicum, the chemical agent commonly known as “pepper spray,” on Second and East Main streets downtown.
The officers entered the apartment around midnight to break up a small party, the lawsuit alleges, and approached the stage where a band was playing. One officer grabbed a singer’s microphone and tossed it to the floor. The officers then set off the pepper spray and then left the apartment. At no point did the officers audibly identify themselves as police officers, the lawsuit charges.
Afterward, the lawsuit alleges, one police officer was overheard saying, “Man, we got to use the pepper spray, that’s always fun.”
If you were one of those parents or concerned taxpayers turned away from this morning’s “State of the Schools” event, hosted by the Richmond School Board at the Children Museum, you aren’t alone. I arrived at the event ten minutes late and was informed that the meeting hall was filled to capacity.
Ah, but I noticed that Vice-Mayor Bill Pantele and his entourage— arriving two minutes before I did — didn’t have a problem getting in. But then again: he’s kind of a little guy and probably doesn’t take up too much room.
Seriously, if you’ve been following the sad and too-typical tale of Richmond’s school board, and the budget they passed last week that all but thumbed its nose at a city auditor’s report that identified millions in potential savings, you probably aren’t surprised at all that area parents were turned away from this important meeting. How Richmond it is to hold such an important (and sure to be crowded) event in a venue that is long on symbolism (”it’s for the kids”) and short on actual seat space.
Considering how people in charge around here love to embrace oversight and accountability — I’m being highly sarcastic — how Richmond is this statement? [emphasis mine:]
“The actual mission of the Richmond Public School System is to educate the children of the city of Richmond and to advance student achievement,” [school board chairman George Braxton] said during a phone interview with Richmond.com. “Our job is not to constantly answer audits and deal with detractors.”
Mayor, and chief “detractor,” L. Douglas Wilder continues to take issue with this mentality. And good on him:
Wilder…had no kind words for the school system in a 30-minute speech that reviewed his accomplishments since becoming the city’s popularly elected mayor more than two years ago.
The mayor renewed his attack on the Richmond School Board for not closing old, underused schools and not moving to carry out the recommendations of a recent report by the city auditor.
“I think it’s very unfortunate that some of these things have taken place,” he said.
For more on the school board and their not-ready-for-prime-time budget, check out Snoopy’s excellent reporting on the situation at River City Rapids — here and (especially) here. If you have kids in the system, or pay taxes in the city, you owe it to yourself to closely eye this situation and to become one of those “detractors” of the current state of Richmond’s schools.
The mysterious Jandek is the uncrowned King of “Outsider Music.” For nearly thirty years, the Texas musician’s prolific, self-recorded lo-fi sounds have been available on the similarly shadowy Corwood Industries record label. He’s only agreed to one in-depth interview in his entire career and, until a 2004 performance in Scotland, he had never made a public appearance or performed live.
So, no doubt, the forthcoming Mar. 11 live appearance by this indie music pioneer at the Firehouse Theatre, brought to you by Patchwork Collective and Beats Ugh Lee, qualifies as a real event. But be warned — Jandek’s music is not for everyone. I’ve heard a few of his LPs over the years and a couple of them I found rather challenging — a nice way to say they were unlistenable — while others had a kind of soothing (if amateurish) charm. Richie Unterberger summed up the situation nicely in his book, Unsung Heroes of Rock ‘n’ Roll:
“When it comes to idiot savants with mystique, no one can beat Jandek… who has self-released over two dozen albums featuring spooky, slightly demented stream-of-consciousness rambling and guitar playing which rarely strays from set notes and chords, none of which can pick out anything close to a melody. His voice can range from a hushed whisper to a Janovian primal scream; unsettingly, he hardly ever mines the wide territory between those extremes. Sometimes the guitar is acoustic, like a deathbed Neil Young; sometimes he sounds like the 13-year-old who’s just gotten his first electric for his Bar Mitzvah…”
Jandek has influenced numerous D.I.Y. musicians over the years, including Sonic Youth, and is undeniably an American Original… and this local appearance at the Firehouse should be one for the books.
It’s a fair question.
The musings at this space have been preempted by work and family duties. But we’ll be back in a jif.
In the meantime, enjoy this blast from the past.
