Charlottesville City Council to announce new council member at Tuesday meeting

Charlottesville City Council plans to fill its vacant seat on Tuesday during a meeting containing several reports and a packed business session.

The council plans to announce and swear in a replacement to the seat formerly held by Sena Magill, whose abrupt resignation earlier this year resulted in a state-mandated 45-day window to name a replacement.

Six hopefuls whittled down from a list of 20 are still in the running: former council members Kathy Galvin and Kristin Szakos, former school board member and University of Virginia administrator Leah Puryear, current school board member Lisa Larson-Torres, nonprofit programs director Alex Bryant and winery wedding sales manager Natalie Oschrin.

At the same meeting, the Charlottesville Tree Commission is expected to give a presentation on the city’s declining tree canopy, which a commission report says creates higher costs and physical risk for residents, particularly in low-income neighborhoods.

Several items also appear on the consent agenda for Tuesday, including consideration of a special use permit for an expansion of Three Notch’d Brewery and the appropriation of funds for the Safe Routes to School Program in the midst of an ongoing bus driver shortage.

The public may view the first portion of Tuesday’s meeting at 4 p.m. online by registering for a Zoom link at charlottesville.gov/zoom. After a closed session from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., members of the public may attend the business session of the meeting online or in-person at City Hall in downtown Charlottesville by reserving a seat online.

Open session is also broadcast on Comcast Channel 10 as well as all city streaming platforms including Facebook, Twitter and charlottesville.gov/streaming.

Source: www.dailyprogress.com