Parking meter fees will increase from 50 cents per hour to 75 cents per hour beginning July 1.  Richmond City Council approved the increase on May 28.  Results from two parking studies conducted in 2002 and in 2010 indicated the City’s parking meter fee was not commensurate with cities of comparable size.  To bring the fees to industry standards City Council adopted Ordinance #2013-99-99.  The expressed purpose for the installation of parking meters is not to collect fees, but to create turnover parking.  The use of parking meters resulted in the reduction of long-term parkers from occupying on-street parking spaces that are intended to support retail use.   In the 2002 Desman Study, “A Comprehensive Strategic Parking Plan for the City of Richmond,” it was determined 50 cents per hour was not sufficient to achieve the goal of the parking meter, which is to preserve short term on-street parking spaces.  The study suggested an increase to $...

~ Time reduced from four hours to two hours in Central Business District~ Beginning immediately, parking for vehicles with disabled parking placards will be limited to two hours in the Central Business District. The change from the previous four hour time limit was approved by City Council in late May.   A recent survey revealed downtown parking spaces are often occupied for an extended time by vehicles displaying disabled parking placards, limiting access for other placard holders, as well as other motorists needing parking spaces.    Due to an increase in the demand for parking spaces and the limited turnover of parking in the Central Business District, Council adopted Ordinance No. 2013-108-74 to provide for two hours of  parking time.  The Central Business District is defined as Interstate 95 to the North and East, the Downtown Expressway to the South and Belvidere Street to the West; which includes the neighborhoods of Jackson Ward, Monroe W...

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) notified Mayor Dwight C. Jones today that the city of Richmond has been ranked as the 10th Most Vegan-Friendly City in the U.S. PETA, in releasing its Top Ten listing, noted the fact that the capital of the Commonwealth hosted festivals celebrating compassionate culture and is home to many vegan-friendly restaurants, bakeries, bars and businesses led to the city’s ranking. In accepting the recognition Mayor Jones stated, “I would like to thank everyone at PETA for this acknowledgement of our City. Richmond has a variety of meat-free restaurants such as 821 Café, Rooster Cart, Phoenix Garden, Harrison St. Cafe, Ipanema, and the bakery RVA Vegan. Establishments such as these contributed to creating an environment for not only eating healthy, but living healthy.” Mayor Jones introduced the Healthy Richmond Campaign in October 2011 to actively engage the public with a variety of health promotions and health education activities, ...

Mayor Dwight Jones issued the following statement following the passage of the biennial budget by the Richmond City Council: “City Council has worked hard to review and improve our budget proposal. This Administration has faced persistent budget gaps, but we have always strived to bring down spending and to present streamlined budgets for Council’s consideration. The budgeting process provides an opportunity for us to refine city operations together. And every year I am encouraged that even though this is a complex process, we work together to agree on priorities. “I feel that a fair budget was passed today in that, among other things, we have: protected necessary programs, called for lower base water and wastewater rates for Richmond residents, not imposed additional taxes, not called for employee layoffs or furloughs, provided a 2% across the board salary increase for eligible city workers provided step salary increases for eligible Police Officers and Firefighters, provided...

Mayor Dwight C. Jones issued the following statement today in response to the devastating tornadoes that touched down in Oklahoma City and the surrounding communities on Monday afternoon: “On behalf of the residents of the city of Richmond, I send our deepest sympathies to all those who are affected by the destructive tornadoes in Oklahoma on Monday. To all of the families who have experienced a tragic loss as a result of the storms, please know that you are all in our thoughts and prayers.”

Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced today the retirement of the Director of the Richmond Department of Social Services (RDSS), and the resignation of the RDSS Deputy Director. This announcement follows the release of the first of three on-going reviews of RDSS. The City ‘s Office of the Inspector General reported the results of its investigation of RDSS’ Child Protective Services (CPS) during the City Council Audit Committee meeting at City Hall this afternoon. “I’m grateful to the City Auditor for his review of the City’s Department of Social Services,” said Mayor Jones. “The report is difficult and painful to read. It highlights several failures in an agency charged with protecting our most vulnerable residents. When we initiated the reviews of the Department of Social Services, I said that we would take immediate corrective actions as we became aware of problems. I am taking those next steps today.” Mayor Jones continued, “The findings in the Auditor’s report are very serious. The ...

The following are the prepared remarks for Mayor Dwight C. Jones as he outlined the STEP increases for FY2014 and FY2015 for all Richmond firefighters and police officers. “Thank you all for joining us today as we announce and detail the STEP salary increases for our Richmond Fire Department and Richmond Police Department staff. “Despite the need to close a $31 million budget gap, my administration has been committed to providing pay increases for all City employees for the third time in my term as Richmond's Mayor.  (Two raises and one bonus) “I submitted a budget to the City of Richmond to Council that included a 2% increase for all City employees. I also proposed an amendment to that budget to provide an additional increase for sworn police and fire department employees in recognition of the fact that their step increases had been frozen for five years. But we also wanted to make this effort due to the day-to-day dangers of police and fire jobs, in protecting lives and property...