Mayor Dwight C. Jones State of the City

The Honorable Mayor Dwight C. Jones presents the STATE of the CITY.

Broad Rock Library to Close for Renovations

Broad Rock Branch Library located at 4820 Warwick Road is closing on Saturday, December 10, to allow for substantial renovations. The library will be closed for about seven months, with an expected reopening in July 2012.

Library patrons are encouraged to use Hull Street and Westover Hills Libraries while Broad Rock is closed. Beginning January 3, 2012, Hull Street Library will extend its hours to help accommodate Broad Rock customers. The Homework Help program and the GED classes held at Broad Rock will be moved to Hull Street Library.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones first announced the library renovations in March 2009 during his biennial budget proposal to City Council. More than $9 million, over the term of the project, has been set aside to complete renovations to all City libraries. Renovations to the North Avenue Library and Westover Hills Library were completed in 2010 and renovations to Hull Street Library and Belmont Library were completed earlier this year. Renovation funding is being provided through the “Building a Better Richmond” fund of the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.

Richmond Retirement System Receives Public Pension Standards Award

The Public Pension Coordinating Council has awarded the 2011Public Pension Standards Award For Funding and Administration to the City of Richmond Retirement System. The award is presented in recognition of the system meeting the professional standards for plan funding and administration as set forth in the Public Pension Standards. This is the second consecutive year the award has been bestowed upon the Richmond Retirement System.

“On behalf of the system’s staff, we are extremely pleased to have received this national and prominent award for the second consecutive year and will prominently display the certificate in our 2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, said Richmond Retirement System Executive Director Phillip R. Langham. “The dedication of the system’s staff is relentless in its pursuit of excellence in all that we do in support of those who govern the system and the members we serve in the city’s Retirement Plans.”

The Public Pension Coordinating Council is a confederation of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, and National Council on Teacher Retirement.

Richmond’s Mobile Website – Making City government more transparent

The City of Richmond has launched a mobile website (http://m.richmondgov.com) to provide residents a quick and easy way to get to information and online services on smartphones . This mobile website is a condensed version of the City of Richmond website (www.richmondgov.com) and is designed to display information on small screen smart phones such as iPhone, Android and Blackberry Bold.

Based on a review conducted on City’s website traffic, the most popular information and online services have been identified and this popular content has become part of the mobile website.

The mobile website offers real time information on traffic conditions in the Richmond metro area; access to latest City news and events, information regarding refuse collection, utility payment, personal property taxes, business licenses, bids and proposals and the MPACT program. Updates from the Mayor’s Office and City Council have also been included. Additionally, Richmond visitors can use the site to obtain information about cultural venues, museums, landmarks, family fun and tours.

The City plans to actively add new information to this website in order to provide residents access to valuable information and services - anywhere, any time.

City Names Director of Planning and Development Review

Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced Mark Olinger as the City’s new director of Planning and Development Review today. He will begin City service on Monday, September 12, 2011. Olinger will replace Viktoria Badger, transportation policy manager for the Department of Economic & Community Development, who has served as interim director of the department since March of this year.

Mayor Jones stated, "Mark's experiences and background align well with our focus of fostering unique, healthy and inclusive neighborhoods through strategies that encourage mixed-income housing, mixed-use development, and also facilitate creative efforts to make Richmond's communities more pedestrian-friendly. I am pleased that he has joined our team, and believe he will be an invaluable asset for this Administration and the broader city."

Olinger’s urban planning experience includes urban design, affordable housing, neighborhood and commercial district repositioning and revitalization with an emphasis on project implementation. For the past twelve years, he served as the director of planning and community and economic development and two years as the principal planner for the city of Madison, Wisconsin. As director, he oversaw the activities of 175 employees in the divisions of economic development, building inspection, planning, community development and housing operations. Olinger also served as the Executive Director of the Community Development Authority, overseeing the public housing and Section 8 programs for the city, and the city’s other redevelopment functions. Earlier in his career, he served as a senior planner in Dayton, Ohio, where he was responsible for transforming a once largely abandoned neighborhood, now known as Wright-Dunbar Village, into a model for neighborhood revitalization and rebirth, and a 2004 winner of an American Planning Association HUD Secretary Award.

Olinger earned his Bachelor of Art in Metropolitan Studies from New York University and a Master of Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati. He is a member of the American Planning Association, Technology for Urban Planning, and the Urban Land Institute.

Mayor's Youth Academy Culminating Event 2011

The Mayor's Youth Academy held its 2011 Culmination Event Friday, August 12, 2011 at Dogwood Dell where more than 400 youth ages 14 to 19 participated. This is the second year of the Mayor's Youth Academy, which is a citywide program that draws upon the expertise and resources of leaders in government, business, faith-based, and non-profit sectors to develop Richmond's future workforce.

The Mayor's Youth Academy consists of four components; Summer Works Initiative, Life Stages, Youth Gardeners, and Counselors in Training. The City of Richmond wants to continue to invest in our youth to teach them to be positive citizens in the community and to strive for excellence.

View the video from the 2011 Mayor's Youth Academy Culmination Event to see all of the hard work and dedication of our future leaders.

Bicycle, Pedestrian and Trails Coordinator Named

~Action is key recommendation of Mayor's Commission~

The City of Richmond has named Jakob C. Helmboldt as its first Bicycle, Pedestrian and Trails Coordinator, effective Monday, August 15, 2011. The new position was a key recommendation that grew out of the Mayor's Pedestrian, Bicycling and Trails Planning Commission report. Mayor Jones established the Commission in May of 2010 to give advice on ways to incorporate bicycling and walking as viable methods of transportation in the city.

Helmboldt most recently served as Program Manager for Vanasse Hangen Brustlin of Richmond, Virginia, where he was responsible for managing bicycle and pedestrian projects ranging from development of safety materials for federal agencies, to design of facilities. He also served as the technical expert on a project for the Federal Highway Administration regarding non-motorized transportation safety. Helmboldt previously served as statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Transportation.

"I'm pleased that we've been able to act on this priority recommendation of the Commission," said Mayor Jones. "We are about to launch a Healthy Richmond Campaign and Jakob's role is going to be central to much of what we do as the benefits of physical activity to reducing obesity and to increasing the health of our city are clear. Also, a well-publicized and effective system of pedestrian and bicycle trails and shared space can be a great selling point for economic and community development and tourism."

The City's new Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Trails Program has the goal of making Richmond one of the most bicycle and pedestrian-friendly cities in the country. Helmboldt's duties will include coordinating with various City departments to implement the recommendations of the Pedestrian, Bicycling and Trails Planning Commission, in complement to the City's Downtown Master Plan regarding bicycling and pedestrian improvements and programs, and with future Strategic Multimodal Transportation Plans. Helmboldt will lead a cross-functional team of individuals from the Department of Public Works, the Department of Planning and Development Review and other City departments to track the scope, design and budget for bicycle and pedestrian projects and build City staff capacity for developing the non-motorized transportation infrastructure citywide. He will also assist in securing grant funding and leveraging additional resources to accomplish City bicycle/pedestrian initiatives.

Mr. Helmboldt possesses a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning. The position reports directly to the Chief Administrative Officer and the Deputy Chief Administrative Office for Human Services.