Charlottesville Community Engagement

The introductory paragraph of every edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement is intended to be a script for a podcast but recently there was a disturbance in the workflow. Efforts are being made to build a new framework and the arrival of steel beams this week to the construction site for Buford Middle School has prompted me to take the next step. I’m Sean Tubbs, and I miss the podcast, too:

On today’s podcast edition:

* Charlottesville City Council adopts a budget that reflects a move toward unionization of the city’s workforce, higher salaries for ci...

I will state clearly at the outset that this newsletter and podcast comes from Virginia, and not from either Indiana or North Carolina. The celebration of the beginning of the second quarter of the year often comes with merriment and mirth, but this April 1, 2024 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement comes at a time when there’s information to get out. I’m Sean Tubbs, because who else would I be? 

In today’s installment:

* Council will hold first reading tonight on a proposed budget for FY25 based on three tax rate increases, and only a...

For the past six weeks, a version of the podcast has aired on WTJU 91.1 FM at 6 a.m. For most of this week, I’ve only posted print editions because I need to more time now to make sure the audio is produced correctly. I spent a good chunk of Friday getting this ready for the airwaves and this Saturday morning all of my energy wants to turn to the next set of stories rather than create a new edition.

Town Crier Productions is an experiment in the practice of journalism and this is the latest iteration. Th...

One of these things is not like the other, which is to say that these words are written as a script for a podcast edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement that’s made up of stories from recent editions of the newsletter. I’m Sean Tubbs, and this is an experimental time for Town Crier Productions. Why? There are many reasons I could state but for now, perhaps it’s just better to get on with this edition. 

This version of the podcast includes:

* A red flag day last week resulted in brush fires all across Central...

Since I first began this newsletter in July 2020, I’ve published almost all of the regular newsletters concurrently with the podcast version. The Charlottesville Quarantine Report was something I started on March 15, 2020 as an experiment on a day when I wasn’t a journalist as the world was about to change. In 1995, my first professional work was as an intern at WVTF Public Radio.

I’ve always worked like a radio reporter. I love to work with sound, and even in the days I was at Charlottesville Tomorrow, I used audio software to do my work. I had al...

It is Monday, March 18, 2024 and this is Charlottesville Community Engagement. This program began four years ago as a podcast I started to cover the local response to the pandemic. I took a leap of faith in the summer of 2020 to become an independent journalist and we’re now up to 648 editions of a newsletter and podcast that seeks to cover as much as possible about municipal government in the third decade of the 21st century in this small American community. I’m Sean Tubbs, glad you’re reading or listening. 

On today’s show:

* Another set of Ch...

For many years, the Comprehensive Plans of both Albemarle and Charlottesville have called for additional density to be located in walkable communities where public transit is a viable option for getting around without a car. But how well are the various systems working to meet that goal? A direct answer may not be available In today’s edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, but this one does catch up on a variety of meetings held at a time when there’s a lot of talk about creating a Regional Transit Authority. I’m Sean Tubbs, still watching the wheels go round...

There are an even 300 days until the end of 2024 now that it is March 6. A lot of things have happened on this day in history, There are likely a lot of newly created holidays for this day, but Charlottesville Community Engagement is currently not using either frame to create these opening paragraphs, paragraphs whose function has never been beta-tested or shown to a test audience. I’m Sean Tubbs, lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. 

On today’s show:

* Charlottesville City Council has directed City Manager Sam Sanders to settle a lawsuit with Albemarle County related to th...

There are only a few days left before most Americans will adjust their clocks to continue a practice that readjusts time away from the regular sequence, shifting patterns that will disrupt some but may not be noticed by others. Will the 106th transition to daylight savings time affect the production of Charlottesville Community Engagement? I’m Sean Tubbs, and I won’t know the answer for another 130 hours or so. 

On today’s show:

* The regional body that makes decisions on transportation projects signals support for adding traffic signals at the U.S. 29 interchange at Fontain...

Recent editions of this newsletter and podcast have demonstrated my thrill at the existence of Leap Day, and that is followed up by my absolute love of March 4th, a position on the calendar that is also a triumphant command! This is the Charlottesville Community Engagement edition for the 64th day of 2024. I’m Sean Tubbs, a lover of calendars. 

In this edition:

A lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Architecture and former chair of the public housing authority is now a member of the Charlottesville Planning Commission 

* Charlottesville City Council is p...