The Richmond Ambulance Authority has severed ties with an employee who is clerk of Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ church after the authority pursued allegations that she had been performing church work during business hours.
The city of Richmond’s director of public works helped oversee the construction of Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ new church in Chesterfield County while on city time, according to a report released by the city’s inspector general this week. The director, Emmanuel O. Adediran, spent at least 38 hours at work on church-related conference calls during a 1½-year period, according to estimates included in the report. The report, dated Jan. 5, also found that he made “limited use” of the city’s email system related to church business.
Richmond City Council President Michelle Mosby said the January symposium is open to all who want to attend. Richmond City Council President Michelle Mosby is kicking off her 2016 mayoral campaign early next month with a three-day symposium she says will include five black female mayors from around the country.
Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones used his State of the City address on Thursday to call for “bold, intelligent action,” saying that his baseball-focused economic development plan would be a major step forward for a city that has higher tax rates and more poverty than its neighbors.
Several Richmond City Council members have expressed concern about recent comments by Mayor Dwight C. Jones, who told a mostly black audience that a majority of the council “does not look like us” while criticizing some of the council reaction to his baseball-focused development plan. According to an article in this week’s Richmond Free Press, Jones made the comment on New Year’s Day at Fifth Baptist Church while speaking to the Baptist Ministers Conference during an event commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation.
It was more hardball than softball Thursday night when Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones took questions on his proposal for a Shockoe Bottom baseball stadium at one of the first of many public forums scheduled throughout the city.
Despite a warm welcome on Twitter, @MayorJonesRVA is apparently a phony. After media inquiries, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration on Wednesday evening announced that the new Twitter account, which has picked up nearly 300 followers, including residents, reporters and politicians, was a fraud.
Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones is expected to weave his personal story into the city’s historical ties to slavery today as he makes his pitch for a Shockoe Bottom development plan that includes both a baseball stadium and a heritage site to commemorate what was one of the largest slave markets in antebellum America. The long-anticipated Shockoe plan, which would involve private and public investment of more than $200 million, also includes a Kroger grocery store, a Hyatt hotel, 750 apartments and a parking deck, according to prepared remarks and other materials provided to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, but the slavery memorial is a key component that could defuse some of the opposition to a ballpark in Shockoe Bottom.