Latest news with #PetersburgCityCouncil
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Petersburg councilor on independent bid for lieutenant governor: 'Best way forward'
PETERSBURG – Ward 1 Councilor Marlow Jones has his eye on Virginia's No. 2 political job. On Wednesday, Jones announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor, joining an already crowded field on both sides of the aisle. A Republican, Jones told The Progress-Index he will run as an independent. 'I believe that if I am the deciding vote in the Senate, I should be nonpartisan,' Jones said, referring to the position's chief duties as presiding over the state Senate. In addition to presiding, the lieutenant governor has the ability to cast tie-breaking votes. 'I view this as the best way forward for the state,' Jones said. It is his first bid for statewide office. The announcement came as no surprise. Back in January, Jones posted on his Facebook page that he was exploring a run. More: Former Chesterfield Sen. Amanda Chase explores second bid for Virginia's governorship Jones' platform is his background as a business owner, civil service and community advocacy. He said in his announcement that he will 'bring transformative leadership to the commonwealth' with a focus on several areas – economic empowerment, educational advancement, healthcare access, environmental sustainability, community involvement, racial equity, homelessness and government transparency. Two groups for whom Jones regularly advocates are Petersburg's youth and senior citizens. 'Virginia needs leadership that truly represents the people,' Jones said in the announcement. 'I've spent my life serving this community – from my time as a firefighter to my role on the Petersburg City Council. I understand the struggles our families face every day, and I'm ready to fight for solutions that lift everyone up.' Jones has served on City Council for two years and is known for his tendency to engage Petersburg leadership – sometimes forcefully – during council meetings. He ran unsuccessfully for the Ward 2 seat, the last time coming up just a handful of votes short of getting elected. In 2024, after being redistricted into Ward 1, he ran for and won the seat vacated by the retiring Treska Wilson-Smith. More: 'Bold' to 'slash and burn': Virginia's congressional delegation reacts to Trump speech Jones is currently the only announced independent candidate for Virginia lieutenant governor, but he is far from the only person who wants the job. Five Democrats and three Republicans have offered themselves up for the respective June 17 primaries. On the Democratic side, there is former Richmond mayor Levar Stoney; state Sens. Ghazala Hashmi of Richmond and Aaron Rouse of Virginia Beach; northern Virginia attorney Alex Bastani; Prince William County School Board member Babur Lateef; and former federal prosecutor Victor Salgado of Arlington County. Republicans seeking the nomination are defense consultant John Curran Jr. of James City County; Pat Herrity, a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; and John Reid, a radio talk-show host on WRVA in Richmond. More: Mindset, not legal malice: Judge drops embezzlement charge against Hopewell city treasurer Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg councilor Marlow Jones wants to be lieutenant governor
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Petersburg City Council rejects proposal to turn vacant Oyo motel into studio apartments
On Tuesday evening, the Petersburg City Council unanimously voted against the proposed plans of a developer seeking to convert the former Oyo Hotel at 25 South Crater Road into a multi-family development with up to 75 studio apartment units. The former hotel — which was shuttered by the city in the summer of 2022 due to multiple safety and health violations as well as a notorious reputation for drug overdoses and illicit activities — is now vacant and in need of serious repairs, Planning and Community Development Director Naomi Siodmok told attendees during the city council meeting. The developer, Fortune Founders LLC, purchased the 1.408-acre property in 2023 and was seeking to convert the former hotel rooms into studio apartments for fixed-income residents with sleeping areas, kitchenettes and restroom and shower facilities. There would also be shared laundry facilities, a shared co-worker space and a dog park. More: Winter weather live updates: Late-winter major storm will punch Petersburg with snowfall Petersburg residents who attended the city council meeting resoundingly rejected the idea for the new development. '25 South Crater Road has a very bad past,' resident Jeff Fleming said during the public comment period, expressing concerns over the lack of standard kitchens potentially leading to residents using hot plates, deep fryers or similar items in their rooms and creating fire hazards. 'If this is approved, they should be held to a very high standard meet all applicable codes and ordinances … we've been trying to clean that area up.' 'We need affordable housing to come into the city ... we need smaller places that people can rent temporarily," Petersburg resident Gary Talley added. 'This is not the place for that. This is not a good place for apartments.' Petersburg resident Barb Rudolph agreed. 'Maybe it's a failure of imagination on my part, but I'm really having a hard time visualizing this,' Rudolph said. 'This just sounds like one of the most ill-advised things that I've heard of coming to Petersburg.' 'I just can't imagine having studio apartments there … it just doesn't seem like a place that's attractive to families or anything,' Rudolph added. 'It just sounds like such a stretch … I don't think it represents particularly an improvement over the hotel that was there before that didn't pass muster.' More: 'No kings on President's Day:' Hundreds gather to protest Trump at Virginia State Capitol Another resident, Carrie Stevens, also expressed concerns about the new development, adding that the project sounded like it was more about 'chasing the money than fixing the area.' 'The 75 units … it's chasing the money,' Petersburg resident Cheryl Brown agreed. 'That's too much. If they want to be up to code, I believe it should be reduced to half that so they can comply.' President of Fortune Founders, LLC Roy Ahluwalia, was the last to speak during the public comment period, defending his proposed development project. Ahluwalia told attendees that he had already 'successfully' completed two similar projects in Chesapeake and Newport News, both of which 'really helped fixed-income people.' Ahluwalia added that the proposed development in Petersburg would also be created with long-term fixed-income and retired renters relying on social security in mind rather than families, given the small living spaces. 'We'd clean that place up, we're going to have one person on-site, we'll have cameras, we'll have lights,' Ahluwalia said. ' … this whole project is going to cost us close to $3 million, and we could have taken that money to our existing project in Newport News, because they welcome us there, but we decided to be here because there's nothing similar available in the entire city.' More: New Family Empowerment Hubs provide resources for Petersburg families at schools Ward 1 Councilman Marlow Jones pushed back against Ahluwalia's statement. 'With all sincerity and all due respect, just because it's costing you $3 million and you say you can take it to Newport News … we're not thirsty for things like this, we're not hungry for someone to dangle $3 million in our face,' Jones said. 'This place has had multiple repair and demolish letters since I was fire marshal in Petersburg over 15 years ago and it's still standing,' he said. 'Unless you're willing to tear it down with that $3 million and build a pretty new structure, maybe I can agree with you. But I will not sit here and let that thing … open back up … ' Jones added that the location, on the border between a residential and commercial area, wasn't ideal for new apartment complexes and had a negative 'muscle memory' with locals. 'In my opinion, all of it needs to be knocked down — everything on that block — in order for us to move forward,' Jones said to applause from the city council meeting's attendees. Directly after Jones' comments, City Council voted unanimously to reject the proposed development. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: City council unanimously blocks redevelopment of shuttered Oyo motel
