~ Community policing lauded for quick clearance rate~ RICHMOND, VA. – During a media briefing today concerning the homicide rate in the city of Richmond, Mayor Dwight C. Jones issued the following statement: “In September we had eleven (11) homicides in our city – the highest that we’ve seen in a month since 2006. (There were 12 in 2006.) While we are always attentive and concerned about crime, the fact that we haven’t seen double-digit homicides within a single month for quite some time is of great concern. We are tracking at a pace that indicates we will likely see an increase in our overall annual homicide rate by the end of this year. Even as we continue to address these crimes, there are few things that I want to point out. “The increase in homicides that we’ve seen does not appear to be related to any organized gang or drug activity. We see no common thread in the events of the past month. Our overall violent crime activity to date has actually decreased (down 4%), ...

I, too, want to see water and sewer rates lowered for our residents.  We’ve taken steps to hopefully move us in the direction of adjusting rates, and I’m expecting recommendations from DPU by the beginning of the year.  I’ve also asked DPU to explore how we can offer more life-line rates for those that need them. We currently have our MetroCare program for the gas utility, but I want to see expanded options. Our challenge is that we face a number of fixed costs that must be paid that are inseparable from the service of delivering quality water and wastewater services.  We have an aging infrastructure and a combined sewer system and we have to maintain historic canals and water and wastewater treatment plants that were built in the early to mid 1900’s.  Even with these challenges, the City offers the lowest connection fees in the area.  It has also been erroneously communicated that our minimum water rates and our minimum sewer rates are the highest in the...

After a four-week-long competition which was held on Facebook, Outside Magazine  has announced Richmond, VA as the winner of the title “best river town in America.” This means that since Richmond was named the “ Best Town Ever ,” it was placed on the cover of Outside’s October 35th anniversary issue .  Richmond received 9,315 votes and won over the other nine competitors, including: Hood River, Oregon; Nevada City, California; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Asheville, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Boise, Idaho; Missoula, Montana; Durango, Colorado; and Ithaca, New York. Outside, with a print circulation of about 700,000 and a total audience of more than 2 million, has featured outdoors towns and cities annually for over 15 years.

A recent audit report (August 30) done by the City's Auditor suggests that operationally, the Office of Minority Business Development (OMBD) needs to make some improvements. The City plans to continue to improve upon having an inclusive agenda and appreciates the Auditor and the City Council supporting the City's efforts to include minority businesses in the economic opportunities that the City generates. Even though areas where the office needs to be improved were highlighted, the audit report indicated that "OMBD has made a positive changed in minority participation" and "there has been a steady increase in spending with minority subcontractors since FY 2008." The report also states that the "number of minority subcontracts receiving payments has increased" and shows that the City has increased the universe of those firms doing business with the City of Richmond. In just a few short years, City spending with minority business has increas...

With the month of August coming to a close, the Mayor’s Redskins Summer Training Camp Steering Committee followed through as anticipated with final site recommendations for the location of the training camp in Richmond beginning in 2013. The Steering Committee has recommended City Stadium and Leigh Street (more commonly known as the Science Museum site) as two viable sites for the Mayor’s consideration. The Steering Committee first convened on June 29, 2012, and indicated at that time that recommendations would be coming forth by the end of August. The intense eight-week review process was led by Steering Committee Chair Mike Fraizer. Mayor Jones stated, “Mike Fraizer has clearly been our quarterback for this review process. He has led us down the field and gotten us into scoring position by bringing forth these two viable recommendations.” Various site evaluation criteria were examined during the review, including football operation’s needs; the fan experience; development con...

The Washington Redskins’ Summer Training Camp Steering Committee (Steering Committee), which was established by Mayor Dwight C. Jones last month, held its second full committee meeting today with marked progress concerning recommendations for the location of the Summer Training Camp in Richmond in 2013. The Steering Committee Chair, Mike Fraizer, convened the full group today following several meetings of the Site Selection Subcommittee that have been held over the past few weeks. The Site Selection Subcommittee reported its recommendations to the full committee, including the sites that have risen to the top of the list. “We’ve engaged in intensive site review work over the past several weeks and we’ve visited with Redskins’ representatives at their headquarters in Ashburn,” said Mike Fraizer. “We are all on the same page about the criteria that must be met with the selected site, and that information has helped to narrow our list to four locations. We are now performing det...

Mayor Dwight C. Jones issued the following statement today following the tragic news from Aurora, Colorado. “So many lives have been forever changed by this act of violence. When we hear about senseless acts like this, we are reminded that life is indeed very fragile. Every day is to be cherished. I’ve reached out to the Mayor of Aurora to let him know that our hearts are with him and the people of Aurora in this time of tragedy. We must be supportive of those that have been impacted by these killings, even as we demand justice for anyone involved with this horrible act.”