Town hall meeting plans future of city
By Caitlin Davis, Senior Staff Writer
Mar 8, 2013, 11:12
photo by Caitlin Davis The town hall meeting on Monday night drew residents from the city as well as councilors and city officials.
HOPEWELL — With this year’s budget cycle coming to a close, members of council are already looking ahead for the future of the city. To help with the planning process, council held a town hall meeting on Monday night to get feedback from residents on where they saw the city going in the next five to 10 years. From the trash in the city to wanting more police on the streets, residents spoke up on what they felt should be priorities for council in the coming years.
Councilor Christina Luman Bailey opened the town hall meeting, held at Carter G. Woodson Middle School, by making sure residents knew the night was about their voice, not the seven people on council.
photo by Caitlin Davis Councilor Christina Luman Bailey opens the town hall meeting by telling residents council wants to know what the residents see for the future of Hopewell and what they see as priorities for the city.
“We’re here to listen to you,” Bailey said. “We’re not here to tell you what council is doing. We’re here to listen to what the citizens have to say and get your input.”
Shirley Hut, a five-year resident, spoke up for more police presence in downtown Hopewell. She said many people are scared to come downtown, thus hurting businesses.
photo by Caitlin Davis
“Our stores and our businesses can thrive,” Hut said, if more police were located downtown.
Debbie Randolph, a 55-year resident, also spoke on crime in the city. She said while the police department has worked to reduce crime, more needs to be done.
“What I would really like to see this city do is to concentrate on the crime and also on the condition of the city,” Randolph said. “I think those two things hold us back in development and getting more businesses to be proactive in this city and to bring new businesses and new residents into this city.”
photo by Caitlin Davis
Randolph was just one of many on Monday night who spoke up on the beautification of Hopewell. Residents, such as David Walker, said the city looks dirty and it is time for something to be done.
“We talk about all these programs and things but until we clean the city up and do something ...,” Walker said. “We have a lot of these ordinances in place and we just don’t do anything about them. We have a historic district that is dirty.”
Carolyn Whitlock said Hopewell was once a wonderful city, not one that was littered with trash. She said the time has come to begin educating children, as well as their parents, about respecting their community.
“I do believe through education of our children, recycling clubs and things in schools, encouraging them to do what they should do, but the parents should set the example,” Whitlock said. “And we have to encourage them to take pride in their property and pride in the streets in which they live. I know that sounds like utopia but it can be done.”
photo by Caitlin Davis
The future of the children of Hopewell was also a focus from the town hall meeting on Monday night. Over the next five to 10 years, residents want to see an effort on helping the children of the city succeed.
“We don’t have anything gearing our children up to take these plant jobs that are in the city of Hopewell,” said David Silvestro. He wanted to see a stronger relationship between the industrial plants and the school system, noting there should be an increase in the vocational programs offered.
Yolanda Stokes, a 51-year resident, said there needs to be an increase in tutoring programs and after-school programs that would help students in areas such as math.
“I would like to see us focus more on education and community projects that deal with improving the SOL scores, particularly in math, for our high school students,” Stokes said.
Other issues brought up included a possible extension on the bus line in the city. Resident Patricia Jones said if she were to have vehicle trouble, it would take her an hour to walk to the nearest bus line.
Resident Cheryl Collins brought up several ideas at the meeting, including regionalizing the Chamber of Commerce, having better communications with residents, and improving the historic district in the city.
While some spoke on improving the look of the city, wanting more businesses in downtown Hopewell, reducing crime and education, resident Tommy Meadows said the biggest issue in the city rests with the seven people on council. He said there is too much fighting between members of council and not enough action.
photo by Caitlin Davis Mark Flynn, with the Virginia Municipal League, moderated the town hall meeting,
“Sorry guys, but you guys fight all the time,” Meadows said. “And people see it and it trickles down from there. We need to become more unified as a city. We need to try to move forward as a city and not this group or that group and not this person or that person.”
Sitting in the room that night were many members of council including Bailey, Vice Mayor Jasmine Gore, Councilor Jackie Shornak, Councilor Wayne Walton and Mayor Mike Bujakowski. Gore said listening to what the residents have to say was interesting, and she said most of what residents said mirrored her campaign platform when she ran for City Council back in November.
“I felt like I was on target with what a lot of people were saying,” Gore said after the meeting. “I think that we need to rely heavily on the police department and code enforcement and our economic development director and also quite frankly our public affairs director to make sure we market Hopewell as best as possible and as often as possible.”
photo by Caitlin Davis
Gore said she is also looking forward to the next town hall meeting which will be held March 21 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Hopewell High School.
“I really want people to sit back and think about what they would like to see in the city five to 10 years from now,” Gore said.
