Goldman on the Issues

Robert Grey just learned brutal truth about the real political physics of Richmond

2008-10-30T05:26:00.000-07:00

Robert Grey never saw coming when it got into the race as he failed to understand the real politics of Richmond. Poor Grey, he forgot the basic rules of Richmond politics. The reason the McCain-Gilmore-Pantele forces are united to stop Dwight Jones, and why Robert Grey has been roped into being part of the stop-Jones coalition.

By Paul Goldman, for the blog

Poor Robert Grey, he never saw it coming, neither did his mother, a super lady, such a terrific person and as I have said, that is one reason we need a Women's Monument to Richmond's women on Monument Avenue, to recognize the great contributions of the city's women. But in Richmond, is it really a surprise that I have gotten more calls from around the country from people who read about my proposal than from women in Richmond !

Robert Grey just never got it. As I I said in my endorsement of Dwight Jones, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand the basic laws of political physics here in Richmond. Or if you prefer, Bob Dylan said that you didn't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind was blowing.

How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn't see?

Robert Grey found out the answer this morning.

Two years ago, the RTD thought Bill Pantele's record and involvements were of such little moment that they urged voters to kick him off City Council. That's right: they backed his opponent saying that Bill didn't get it and his performance didn't merit your vote. They urged voters to vote for the proverbial anyone-but-Pantele candidate, a virtual unknown.

But back then, Bill had not, as Francis Ford Coppola might have said, "made his bones" with those that Dr. Crupi discussed in his report.

Remember the great opening scene in Godfather 1, when we are first introduced to Brando's character and Tom Hagen? It is in many respects, the most important scene in the movie. The undertaker had come to seek the help and blessing of the Godfather.

What a scene.

But to be fair to Bill, he has only done in the last few years what the legendary henchman of Boss Tweed's gang, George Washington Plunkett, predicted would happen.

Bill understood what Robert did not.

So now, Robert Grey, as predicted here, has been relegated to the role he has been chosen to take, as Bill Pantele's tag-team Tonto, assigned this role in the anti-Jones tag team by the usual suspects.

So it comes as no surprise to me that in entire RTD editorial endorsing Bill, THEY DO NOT MENTION ONE ACHIEVEMENT OF HIS.

NOT ONE!

They do not mention a single problem he has solved.

They say that it is "clear to us that Pantele is best suited to become a problem-solving mayor."

Yet the RTD says: "Pantele's tenure on the council means he already has identified the problems facing Richmond -- and they are legion -- and knows which lever to pull (or whom to call) to start making fixes. He recognizes the city's strengths and how to build on them." .

Say what? If the problems are legion, and Bill has been on City Council for 7 years, and yet the RTD can not cite a single achievement in solving any of these problems, what is really going on here?

"We believe Pantele can advance Wilder's call to treat taxpayers' money with more respect" says the RTD.
Say what? According to the Mayor, Mr. Pantele has been the most wasteful city councilman of them all! According to the Mayor, because of Bill's failure to follow the law, the Mayor says we have a $6 MILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT in the city budget!

So how can Bill "advance Wilder's call" when Wilder is saying that Bill is the reason we are going backward!?

But the most amazing RTD statement is this one: "Pantele has battled often with Wilder, which proves he can play in the big leagues."

Say what?
This is one for the record books. Why would bickering with Doug Wilder qualify anyone for the big leagues whatever that is suppose to mean.

SO WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON HERE?

Since the RTD seems to feel that Doug Wilder can help define the answer, let me leave you with one of the Mayor's favorite political sayings [cleaned-up], which I am quite sure Bill Pantele has heard before:

Even Ray Charles can see what his really happening here.

Because I like Robert and so greatly respect his mother Barbara, it does sadden me to know that they probably didn't see it until they read this morning's RTD editorial.

But he is stuck now, knowing that he is being used by the McCain-Gilmore-Pantele forces to stop Dwight Jones from becoming the Mayor.

Robert has a lot to offer Richmond, and hopefully he will get his chance in the future.

But he has now learned the brutal truth at the political physics of Richmond and why some of us have been working so hard for years to change it.

Goldman, Jones to hold press conference Today, October 21, at 11:00 AM in front of City Hall

2008-10-21T05:32:00.000-07:00

Goldman to shake-up Mayor's race tomorrow, October 21, with major announcement

2008-10-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

With two weeks to ago, it is now game time.

Date: Tuesday, October 21

Time: 11:00 AM

Location: 9th Street entrance to City Hall.

Richmond faces growing fiscal crisis as City Hall, City Council, media fiddle

2008-10-20T06:03:00.001-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 20 October 2008 - For Immediate Release - 804-833-6313

Whereas Emperor Nero when you need him?

"The failure of the Wilder-led Administration and the Pantele-led Council to be straight with the people of Richmond about their failed budget and financial policies is one thing: but the failure of the local media to understand the importance of these matters as to their impact on the next Mayor is quite another."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that "it is a sad day for Richmond when George Bush "gets it" and Mayor Wilder, City Council President Pantele, and the local media don't."

"Last week, the city finance director conceded that Richmond has to be prepared to deal with what could be it's biggest budget and financial mess in memory: and yet, neither the Mayor, the head of City Council, indeed the Council itself, not to mention the local media or business community, show any real urgency in dealing with this growing crisis, nor seem to truly understand the potential problem that could be facing the most vulnerable city residents as a winter recession approaches."

"From the local campaign finance reports, it is clear who has pledged to help make sure key private, special interests get a piece of the public treasury.

But who is going to look out for the public interest and insure that there is a level playing field in Richmond, who is going to protect the public treasury during a time when some of the toughest budget and fiscal decisions, along with social policy decisions, will almost surely have to be made?"

Did Grey, Pantele make private promise to bailout Arts Center, hide fiscal truth, to gain support for their campaigns?

2008-10-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

Occasional Column: By pure luck, we now understand what had previously been a major hidden factor in the funding and policy aspects of the Mayoral campaigns of Robert Grey and Bill Pantele.

By Paul Goldman, for the blog

Call me slow, real slow even. The hidden truth didn't hit me until last Tuesday night, as I was standing there on the stage for the last mayoral debate, with myself in the middle, Robert Grey to my extreme left and Bill Pantele to my extreme right.

Like so much else in politics, there was nothing really hidden about it, the self-evident was always right there for all the world to see. Truth is, something Robert and Bill said a few weeks ago had been puzzling me, and had popped into my mind on occasion while jogging. It was a small thing - part an aside, part an inflection - but it struck me that both of them were on the same page the same way in a way that made it seem they both had thought long and hard about it.

But why would they? Again, this puzzling thing had entered my brain, rattled around while I was running in circles around Mary Munford School, and then had receded from the ole frontal lobe.

In all likelihood, I never would have gone back to it had something not occurred Tuesday night that instantly got me thinking right then and there about the puzzle: then, just like that, it was as Tom Cruise might say, crystal clear.

One thing I have learned in politics over the years: listen to what your opponents are saying, for they often reveal more than they realize if you pay attention to the time, place and context.

So there I was, participating in the Virginia Historical Society debate, having just provided some honest and accurate factual data about my role in exposing the flaws in the failed $110 million dollar Center Stage project and how the City of the Future plan that I had helped develop - praised by Grey and Pantele I might add - showed the way to how to modernize the Carpenter Center in a fiscally responsible manner, an approach likewise adopted by Mr. Grey and Mr. Pantele more than a year later. On this particular question, I was the first-up to bat, and my answer was basically the same as it had been at other times over the course of the campaign, this was not a new question in that regard.

Having finished my answer, Dwight Jones went next and the Richmond lawmaker basically gave his usual answer to the question in the allotted 90 seconds.

So I was thinking, "well, this is just going to be the usual round of answers to this usual question, new to this particular audience perhaps but old hat to the mayoral candidates."

Robert Grey was up third, and I was standing there, my mind actually running through his usual pitch. where he uses a clever tactic that Obama's uses and that I have learned to use listening to Senator Obama who is very effective in that regard in my view.

Robert usually praises me for having come up with the City of the Future plan - which as I say is a good tactic since it makes him look above politics and very sincere to the audience - and thus sets-up everyone for his punch line when he says that of all the City of the Future projects, he led the charge on the one project that actually has a firm finish date, the modernized Carpenter Center to open as the Center Stage project next year. This is his way of making himself into the can-do guy.

Again, it is a good debate tactic, Senator Obama is the master of it, and I have learned from him, having praised Robert and Bill and Dwight at different forums as prelude to discussing a certain subject matter. And I have meant it, since all these guys have good things they have done over the years.

So like I say, my mind was ready for Robert to do his thing.

But last Tuesday night, Robert Grey suddenly went in another direction, and it caught me by surprise as I was standing there, listening to his answer to the Arts Center question. As I say, I was slow to pick-up on it since at the time, my thought was: "Gee, this is not Robert's usual opening lines in this area, so I wonder how he will get to it at the close." I fully expected he would.

That is to say, I figured Robert would make the usual pitch just in a different order.

Nada: Not to be. He didn't just start in a different direction, he was determined to go in a different direction.

As I wrote yesterday, he suggested I had some bad motivations in my taking the lead in exposing the the fiscal irresponsibility and fiscal flaws of the $100 million failed Arts Project that had led to that city auditor's report of $100's of thousands of dollars in unjustified expense reimbursements. He didn't disagree with what I had found, for how could he: The City Auditor agreed with my premise that much money had indeed been wrongfully or wastefully spent.

So instead, Robert went for the false personal attack on me, claiming falsely that I had held up good people to intentional ridicule for no good reason.

"Interesting" I thought, I remember looking out at the audience, the glare from the lights making me squint a little. This was, to be a sure, a very pro-arts audience, and so my initial reaction was that Grey had calculated that he wanted to slam me to this group, to make it seem that somehow I had attacked pro-arts folks personally.

In this format, there is no rebuttal as there was at the TJ debate. Thus, my having gone first, this gave Robert a clear shot since he was following me. I had seen him do this before, usually to Delegate Jones.

I wasn't overjoyed with the situation, but I knew the audience was a lot smarter than Robert did. So I was amused really.

Then came City Council President Pantele. Robert at least had a certain modulation to his false attacks. But not Bill, he pandered unbelievably, making it sound as if I had called the arts folks everything but a child of God: Bill was way over top, telling the arts folks that what I had done was beyond the pale, the worst thing he had ever witnessed, the biggest injustice since he had witnessed in his time on Earth, or at least close to it by Richmond standards. Bill wanted to take me to the Tower, along with Saint Thomas More and Anne Boleyn.

Off with his head!

I asked myself: What would they take this tactic at this time and place on this particular question? It seemed so out of sync with what they said on it a month ago.

That is to say: Why did they feel compelled to give such a negative, personal attack answer on Tuesday when they had not done that in all the months previous?

So it got me thinking, and then after Lawrence Williams had his turn at bat, the moderator asked a follow-up question that crystallized my thinking: He asked each candidate whether as Mayor, he would insist on a full accounting on all the monies that have gone into the project, since public funds comprise far more than 50% of the mix, that is to say by any standard, it is a mostly public project.

Dwight and I said yes, that when you have a project of this nature, the public is entitled to know all the fiscal facts, that is the normal course of things. Or to use the current phrase, full transparency.
This was a no-brainer really.

Yet Robert and Bill refused: They said the public was not entitled to all the fiscal facts. For example, the public was not entitled per se to know the donor of private money to the project, even though that person or organization contributing the money might also be seeking the assistance of the Mayor and/or City Council on a matter worth millions to that person or group.

Then it hit me: Of Course!. How dense of me!

Robert and Bill had been making private assurances to key big financial players in Richmond to get them to back them for Mayor.

And then it hit me further: Given the current economic and financial situation facing the City and the nation, the Arts Center is likely to need the city to use public funds to bail them out in order to allow the Arts Center backers to receive certain special privileges worth millions to the backers, to cover an operating deficit, to keep certain monies flowing to certain entities, and perhaps for other costs related to building and operating the Arts Center.

"But of course!" I told myself.

Why didn't I see this weeks ago?

The connection between the current situation in the economy and Wall Street relative to the Arts Center had not hit me until that moment.

Think about it: Assuming what we are seeing everyday in the newspapers turns out to be even half true, is this really the best time to be opening a new Arts Center?

As I have been saying for months now, Mr. Pantele and Mr. Wilder have created a fiscal mess in Richmond, spending more than the people could afford. Mr. Grey backs the fiscally irresponsible Wilder budget.

So then I got to thinking and asking people about some things relative to the Arts Center funding. And as it turns out, a close reading of the documents relating to the city's commitment to the various financial issues involved with the Arts Center over the years - such promises agreed to do in all particulars by Mr. Grey and Mr. Pantele - reveals some interesting details about how much the public is being asked to underwrite what was sold as a private project, not a publicly-funded one.

There was a time with the RTD and Style and the Richmond Free Press actually cared about making sure the public knew the facts: and that was when I was the person leading the effort to get the public these facts for the first time, as the City Finance Director admitted.

But since I left, there has been almost no real reporting on the issue of how much public money has been spent, and how much public money has now been promised, on this issue.

AND FOR GOOD REASON PERHAPS.

I dare anyone to do the homework. I dare anyone to think again about the operating bailout given to the Arts Center by the City government, what they call a subsidy, but what is actually a bailout since the Arts Center said it would not need any such monies only a year ago.

And if you do, if you think though the fiscal issues here, then the stances taken by Grey and Pantele are clear, as is a key component to their chances of becoming Mayor.

I have tried to level the playing field, to make it so that everyone in Richmond has a new level of equality in public matters that has not existed before.

Mr. Grey and Mr. Pantele have revealed far more than every intended last Tuesday.

I now have to figure out how to deal with it, to make sure the people of Richmond are not forced backwards.

As I have said, we have come too far to turn back now.

Grey/Pantele try to cover their fiscal irresponsiblity by attacking me yesterday at the mayoral debate

2008-10-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 15 October 2008 - For Immediate Release - 804-833-6313

In response to attacks from Grey and Pantele at last night's debate, Goldman calls on Grey and Pantele to come clean and explain how their fiscally irresponsible stances on the failed $100 Million dollar Arts Project shouldn't have voters worried about their having the Mayor's power over city funds. funds.

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, only candidate for Mayor who had the public integrity years ago to demand a full accounting of the public funds wasted on the failed $100 million Arts Project project backed to the hilt by Mr. Grey and Mr. Pantele, and the candidate who actually came-up with a financing plan that saved the city millions while showing how to modernize the Carpenter Center and build a Performing Arts Center in a fiscally responsible way, issued the following statement this morning about last night's debate:

"Last night, in an attempt to cover-up their own fiscal mistakes and political pandering that cost taxpayers millions, Mr. Grey and Mr. Pantele falsely suggested that somehow myself or others were allegedly making veiled personal attacks against individuals by merely demanding honesty in the accounting of taxpayer dollars spent by those behind the failed $100 Downtown Arts Project plan that Mr. Grey and Mr. Pantele backed to the bitter end.

Instead of attacking me for being the only staff person in the entire city government with the guts and public integrity to insist on a full public accounting of every taxpayer dollar spent on the failed and fiscally irresponsible $100 million Arts Center Project that had to be abandoned due to fiscal mistakes, I dare Mr. Pantele and Mr. Grey to face the public and make a full accounting on their involvement in a project that has helped create the current fiscal mess in city government, a fiscal mess create in part because Mr. Grey and Mr. Pantele are supporting two of the most fiscally irresponsible budget stances in recent city history."

Goldman wins appeal in historic victory: State DEMS overturn Jones endorsement

2008-10-13T06:30:00.001-07:00

Last night, the Virginia Democratic Party agreed with my legal and policy research, showing again that if you are willing to do the hard work, you can make needed change.

Since I was the only candidate for Mayor willing to do the hard work necessary to get the people of Richmond their right to elect their Mayor, is it any wonder that I was the one who took the time to do the work needed to make sure the Democrats of Richmond were not likewise effectively stripped of their right to elect the Democrat of their choosing by a handful of people who violated the party laws in a political powerplay last September?

I offer leadership, for a change, a proven record of having made real change that has been recognized nationally by Senator Obama, Senator Clinton, indeed Democrats, Republicans and Independents in articles and books.

Goldman wins appeal, sets historic precedent as Democratic Panel says Jones endorsement should be declared null and void

2008-10-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 7 October 2008 - For Immediate Release

Appeal Review Panel Backs Goldman Challenge in Historic Precedent

Agrees with Goldman that Jones' endorsement by Richmond City Democratic Committee was made in violation of party rules and should be found null and void.

(Richmond) - In an historic first for Virginia politics, the panel set-up by the 3rd and 7th Democratic Congressional District Committees of the State Democratic Party has issued the following findings, which reads in pertinent part:

To: Participants in the hearing held by a subcommittee of the 3rd and 7th Congressional District Committees to hear the appeal of Paul Goldman of the endorsement of mayoral candidate Dwight Jones made by the Richmond City Democratic Committee on September 25, 2008.

From: Appeal Review Subcommittee of the 3rd and 7th Congressional District Committees

Following the Monday evening hearing on the Goldman appeal, the subcommittee met to deliberate. The recommendations of the subcommittee are not the decision on the appeal but will be forwarded, along with all pertinent documents, to a joint meeting of both the 3rd and 7th Congressional District Committees for their decision.

The subcommittee will recommend to the joint committees that violation #6 of the Goldman appeal be found valid.

The subcommittee will also recommend to the joint committees that the endorsement action of the Richmond City Democratic Committee in the mayoral race be found null and void and that the endorsement process of candidates for City Council and School Board which is scheduled to take place at the October 23, 2008, meeting of the RCDC include the mayoral race as well.

Goldman attacked for daring to believe that rules should be enforced

2008-10-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

Dr. Jones uses his Doctorate in religion to give Democrats some legal advice

Dr. Goldman uses his Juris Doctor to try and give the Democratic Party some religion

By Paul Goldman, an occasional column for the blog.

In a filing with the State Democratic Party that seemed right out of the John McCain campaign, Delegate Dwight Jones accuses yours truly of "a series of distortions", indeed being "absurd at best" at one point.

Move over Barack, you and I got to share some room here as the punching bag.

Frankly, I was a little surprised at the harsh language used by my friend Dwight Jones in his written statement to the State Democratic Party submitted voluntarily - he was under no obligation to say it - as part of the review process being used to resolve the my challenge, joined in by Mr. Pantele and Mr. Grey, relative to the action taken by the Richmond City Democratic Committee at their September 25th meeting.

As former State Democratic Chairman Larry Framme pointed out last night at the hearing conducted by conference call [and open to the media and others dailing-in], all that this appeal stated was the self-evident: namely, that the Richmond City Democratic Committee had not followed some very clear and basic rules in making their "endorsement" of Delegate Jones by an unprecedented, unpublicized, and unfair issue-less, power-broker driven process effectively closed to 99.9999% of all the Democrats of Richmond.

To be fair to Dwight, his statement didn't strike me as his usual way of saying things and moreover, it was aimed at the substance of my position, not at me personally.

That being said however, such words do matter, as do deeds, in the larger context of things.

In 2003, in writing the Elected Mayor Law, I was very careful to write a law that took into consideration his views, that of Senator Marsh, and others opposed an elected Mayor so that the people could finally get their right to elect their Mayor.

The plan developed is unique in the United States, but it was necessary if we were to free Richmond from the grasp of a failed and corrupt form of government, as 80% of the people agreed in the pro-change referendum vote, the Elected Mayor law winning in 90% of the precincts in the City.

Yet despite all my efforts, Delegate Jones and Senator Marsh, who was a key leader of the pro-Jones forces on September 25th, objected to the final product, indeed Senator Marsh made some very inflammatory and personal comments about my motivations, all totally untrue which he knew to be the case.

However, I am use to being subject to that kind of stuff from all sides.

Still, I mention it now because all that my petition to the State Democratic Party asked was for the same consideration that Mr. Jones and Mr. Marsh asked to be given on my Elected Mayor Law.

The basis of their objection was that an African-American was put an unfair legal disadvantage under my Elected Mayor law.

Their position had no basis in fact. Senator Obama will get upwards of 80% of the vote in Richmond as did Doug Wilder when he ran for Mayor. Indeed, when my friend Senator Donald McEachin ran for Attorney General, he got less than 40% statewide, but carried Richmond easily.

The truth: By any honest analysis of politics, the Elected Mayor Law gives Dwight Jones as fair and open a chance to be elected as any election law in the country for the position of Mayor.

If not more.

So it strikes me - as they say in England - as rather "bad form" for Mr. Jones and Mr. Marsh to now be taking the position that the Richmond City Democratic Committee can use a procedure that is not fair, that is not open, that violates party rules, that is to say it suffers - in the eyes of any objective analyst - from the of kind of basic flaws that both men said were the reasons they opposed my Elected Mayor Law plan.

If they were so allegedly concern then, why is there no such concern now?

As I said in 2003: the Elected Mayor Law was fair to all concerned and it surely would not prevent Dwight Jones from having a fair and equal chance to win the race for Mayor. He concedes my point now.

What choice does he have given the objective facts?

So why then, when I point out what Mr. Framme and others all know - that the actions taken by the RCDC on September 25th were done precisely to deny the very fair and equal chance demanded by Mr. Jones and Mr. Marsh in 2003 - do I have to read the kinds of things I read in Mr. Jones' statement to the RCDC?

The next Mayor of Richmond, due in good measure to the fiscal mismanagement of the Wilder Administration and the City Council, will have to ask citizens to sacrifice in order to solve a growing fiscal mess. Thus, the person who holds that office needs to be seen as having been elected by a process that was not tainted, nor rigged either directly or indirectly in order to have the moral authority to ask for such sacrifices.

I treated the objections of Mr. Jones and Mr. Marsh in 2003 solely on the merits, as anyone who has read the Justice Department files can attest.

Whether Mr. Jones's written statement to the State Democratic Party meets that test I will leave it for others to decide.

Goldman warning not heeded about budget/fiscal mess in Richmond by Wilder/Pantele/Media: So as mess grows, the public will sadly be hurt more.

2008-10-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 6 October 2008 - For Immediate Release - 804-833-6313

Goldman Has Been Alone Among the Candidates for Mayor Warning Richmond About The Mess Being Created by the Wilder-led City Hall/Pantele-City Council Fiscal Fantasy

Any fair minded commentator on the Mayoral Debates and Forums knows that Paul Goldman has been the only candidate who had the vision and understanding of local finance months ago to tell voters that the growing city fiscal and budget mess was the top issue facing the new Mayor-elect [see an example of one of my fiscal warnings issued several months ago below]

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, issued the following statement this morning:

"As I have been saying for months - and yes, I do use email press releases which has produced interesting comments from editorialists and reporters who apparently believe making comments about the messenger somehow make less accurate the message - the Wilder-led City Hall and the Pantele-led City Council have created a fiscal and budget mess for the next Mayor-elect.

Having been a fiscal advisor to Governor-elect Mark Warner when he inherited a fiscal mess, I am the only candidate with the experience to steer Richmond through the growing crisis that will force the Mayor-elect to make some very tough decisions in the best interests of Richmond's future.

Starting from the day I announced back in February, I have been warning about the fiscal fantasies of the Wilder-led City Hall and the Pantele-led City Council.

For the last 7 months, I have used every Debate, every Forum, and whenever appropriate in discussing the future with voters, to try and alert the city to the fiscal and budget mess we face.

I urged the Wilder-led City Hall and the Pantele-led City Council to start making cuts IN THE 2008 FY BUDGET, not only the current 2009 FY budget assuming the two sides could ever agree to meet their responsibilities and produce a fiscal document both would agree is the legal fiscal plan for Richmond.

The media's refusal to hold both Mr. Wilder and Mr. Pantele accountable for not having an agreed-upon 2009 FY budget now over 3 months into the new fiscal year - a situation that has never before occurred in Richmond or any other Virginia locality to my knowledge - has only prolonged the situation in my judgment.

To quote Bob Dylan, how "many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn't see?"

The answer is blowing in the fiscal wind, and it is time my friends Mr. Wilder and Mr. Pantele and the others took their heads out of the sand.

For example, here is an email press release I sent out nearly 3 months ago: .

Goldman for Mayor - 11 July 08- 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contact, 804-833-6313 -[Emphasis added]

"City Hall and City Council have been paying for a rising cost of government from a housing bubble that is not going to be there next year"

"As I have been saying for months, Wilder's led City Hall and Pantele's led
City Council need to stop wasting money on the most expensive City Hall and City Council in the state, and start cutting their expenses and government expenses, big time."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor "said there is reason the Richmond Times Dispatch said of all the candidates in the race for Mayor, I was the only one with real credibility as a champion of the Richmonders' fed-up with the wasteful spending at city hall."

"And that reason should be clear this morning as Wall Street is rocked again today by what falling housing prices are doing to the credit markets and the economy" Goldman continued.

In a statement, Goldman said:

"Despite all my efforts these many months, the City Council and City Hall has refused to listen and instead heaped millions and millions of more spending on the backs of real estate property tax payers by wasting money we can not afford due to what they claim is another 8% spike in average home values, on top of several other successive years of galloping high assessment boosts. .

But in the real world of the next 12 months, all these rose-colored views of our city leaders are about to face the reality of the oil, housing, and retail market place that make up our economy.

There is not going to be any such double or near-double digit increase to pay for the bloated and expanded permanent city government they have now created. For too long, instead of making the hard decisions needed to expand our job base and thus our revenue base, and rein in the most expensive city hall, city council and city school bureaucracy in the state, city elected leaders and their fiscal teams have been authorizing spending at a rate that the people of Richmond can not afford.

The inability of City Hall and City Council to figure out what is the legal city budget without another law suit that will waste more money that Richmond can not afford is a metaphor.

The more City Hall and City Council waste in spending that we can't afford, the more in the end they will hurt the people of Richmond, especially the most vulnerable among us."
--------------30 ----------------------

VA DEM Party concedes validity of Goldman's appeal, admits only permissible endorsement process must be one where "everyone's voice is heard."

2008-10-01T05:45:00.000-07:00

The Jones for Mayor campaign needs to heed words of Bob Dylan:

"How Many Times Can a Man Turn his Head and Pretend That He Just Doesn't See?"

It is blowing in the wind folks.

By Paul Goldman

In today's Richmond Times Dispatch, the Virginia Democratic Party had this to say about my challenge to the RCDC "endorsement" action of last Thursday night:

" We're not going to pre-emptively change anything, but we want a process is [sic] which everyone's voice is heard," said Jared Leopold, a state party spokesman." [Emphasis added].

Given that one of the basic, fundamental premises of my challenge to the Richmond City Democratic Committee "process" that "endorsed" Delegate Jones is that even the RCDC members concede that it was not a process in which everyone's voice was heard - quite the opposite really - then this official statement from the Virginia Democratic Party concedes what all fair-minded people already know.

Everyone's voice was not heard last Thursday night at the RCDC meeting BY DESIGN, indeed the whole "process" never even allowed the candidates to speak to the RCDC, or even fill out the usual questionnaire PRIOR TO THE SURPRISE, NOT-PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED endorsement move.

As Jefferson might say, that is why it is self-evident that the RCDC process and action VIOLATED THE VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY PLAN AND THE RCDC'S OWN BYLAWS.

In fact, the reason the Jones for Mayor campaign did what he it did WAS TO ACT SO THAT ALL VOICES DID NOT HAVE A CHANCE TO BE HEARD!

So this is why I have urged the Appeal Committee created to hold their hearing ASAP, to ask Delegate Jones to allow it to be held ASAP, so we can quickly correct the damage done by the RCDC failures to follow the basic rules and values of the Democratic party.

News flash: Goldman wins first step on his Jones appeal. I was just informed....

2008-09-30T10:00:00.001-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 30 September 2008 - For Immediate Release

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, issued the following statement in response to an email received from Majorie Clark, the head of the 7th District Democratic Committee:

"I have just received the communication copied below from Chairwoman Clark, which is in response to my request earlier today, such request made as part of my appeal in the Jones endorsement controversy, and also copied below.

As I have said repeatedly, I like and respect Dwight, that is not the issue. But given the challenges facing the next Mayor of Richmond to bring this city together, the public interest is not served, nor Dwight should he win, by any taint that might attached to the process used to choose the winner in this campaign.

Having been Chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, I know it took a lot of guts and integrity for Chairwoman Clark to take such action. Eventually, everyone, will see that she did the right thing, for the right reasons, and in the end, everyone including Delegate Jones, will realize her actions are in the best interests of Richmond, the Democratic Party and whomever gets the honor of serving as the River City's next chief executive.

-----------------Forwarded Message:
Subj:
Please notify Jones campaign immediately of appeal of endorsement
Date:
9/30/2008 12:30:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From:
Mmclarkdem
To:
levar@vademocrats.org, dmark@vademocrats.org, fleone@spriggs.com
CC:
Klearb, mmclarkdem@yahoo.com
BCC:
GoldmanUSA

I believe that Paul's request is appropriate.

I hope you will notify the Jones campaign, the RCDC and all other campaigns immediately that an appeal is in the works and that claiming a final endorsement decision now may be premature.

Continuing to claim this endorsement, if the process turns out to have been in violation of the party plan, compounds the "smell" of unfairness and political rigging that will cling to the Jones campaign. If the endorsement process were conducted with correct notification of "all interested parties," the outcome would likely be the same; but there would definitely be positive vibes about the fairness. That would be good for Jones and for the RCDC.

The request should come from you at the top, rather than from the district committee chairs who have received the appeal.

Thanks.

Marjorie
804-276-2354

From: GoldmanUSATo: Mmclarkdem, Klearb, fleone@spriggs.com, levar@vademocrats.org, dmark@vademocrats.orgCC: eric@ericpayne.net, jennifer.l.mcclellan@verizon.comSent: 9/30/2008 10:19:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight TimeSubj: Addition to my appeal. Sorry, had the wrong subject on last email.

Dear Majorie, and Barbara:

RE: Addition to my appeal as to (e) action requested:

Given the circumstances, I request, as part of my appeal, that the Jones for Mayor campaign be contacted immediately and asked to stop from referring to Mr. Jones, directly or indirectly, as the endorsed Democratic candidate for Mayor until a decision on my appeal has been made.

This is only fair, not only to the other Democrats running, but to the people of Richmond.

Voting as already started in the Mayor's race.

Accordingly, we need to make sure no voter is under a false impression when he or she makes their decision.

Moreover, until a decision is reached, there is nothing to stop Mr. Jones' campaign from sending out literature, making phone calls and otherwise saying that he is the Democratic-endorsed candidate running with Senator Obama on his official ticket.

This claim can therefore be sent in the next few days to tens of thousands of voters in Richmond.

Should my appeal be upheld - as I believe will be the case - then this incorrect claim would have been communicated to all these tens of thousands of voters.

We all know the analogy to one of those courtroom scenes in Law and Order scenes when the lawyer violates the rules and the Judge tells the jury to "disregard what they heard."

The offending lawyer will smile, knowing that this is not possible.

As I have said repeatedly, I like and respect Dwight, that is not the issue. But given the challenges facing the next Mayor of Richmond to bring this city together, the public interest is not served, nor Dwight should he win, by any taint that might attached to the process used to choose the winner in this campaign.

Sincerely,

Paul Goldman

If Jones' endorsement by Richmond City DEM Committee stands, Mayor's election is over.

2008-09-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

My column to be published tomorrow will explain why, if the unprecedented, unpublicized and apparently rigged Richmond City Democratic Committee process is upheld, then Dwight Jones is the next Mayor of Richmond: that's right, the election is over even though election day is over a month away and most people in town have never heard of Dwight [nor the rest of us too].

Did unprecedented, rigged process used by Richmond City DEM Committee violate Voting Rights Act?

2008-09-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 28 September 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contact: 804-833-6313

Did the Richmond City Democratic Committee violate the Voting Rights Act by the questionable, unprecedented, and apparently rigged process it used to endorse Delegate Dwight Jones for Mayor this past Thursday?

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor issued the following:

"Surely Barack Obama and Paul Goldman aren't the only Democrats who realize that time has come for a new politics. I like Dwight, he is a terrific guy. But this is not about any one person, it is about the values and principles Democrats across America believe in.

Yesterday, following the procedures in the Virginia Democratic Party Plan, I asked the appropriate body to review the process.

In 2003 and 2004, some of the individuals who voted to break the rules last Thursday night were the same persons who said they didn't back the Elected Mayor law that I drafted because its passage had been done in violation of the Voting Rights Act. They heaped false personal abuse on myself and others.

So the question is: When will we stop the double standard in Richmond and in that regard, if the Richmond City Democratic Committee is incapable of believing in Dr. King's dream, then what does that say about the future of things in the River City?

As my filing showed - and as the additional filing will additionally show now that I am in possession of the RCDC bylaws - the rules passed to protect the rights of the minority, of the all the citizens of Richmond, were not followed last Thursday.

Having been the one person among the candidates running for Mayor who has a proven record of being willing to take the lead at historic moments to bring blacks and whites together so we get with the business of getting past the past, I can say this based on successful experience:

Two wrongs can never make things right, and in the end, the people who get most hurt by the public cynicism fueled by ill-advised action as the RCDC took last night are the very poor children and working families who have long looked to Democrats to level the playing field.

Goldman urges Democrats not to abandon principle, to realize any taint on mayoral election will only wind-up hurting the city's poorest children

2008-09-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

Statement from Paul Goldman to his fellow Democrats:

In 1985, when no other Democrat in the state who looked like me would do it, I took the chief cook and bottle washer position in order to free Virginia of an old politics that denied equal political rights to African-Americans and women, long denied any chance at being elected to statewide office.

I believed then - and I believe now - that Democrats need to champion a political process that is based on merit,is as open and fair and democratic as we can make it.

Clearly, the action taken by a small number of members of the Richmond City Democratic Committee violates - as I show in my official complaint filed this morning - those basic principles, not to mention the rules of the Virginia Democratic Party Plan.

I like Dwight Jones, he is a terrific guy. But life is a lesson in living and learning from your mistakes. Moreover, candidates are generally not informed of all the nitty-gritty details of such things as party plans, and notice requirements. They leave that to staff.

Richmond needs a Mayor who has a proven record of reaching out across racial lines, to bring people together. Thus the next Mayor must be elected in a way that does not make the people of the City think it was through a rigged process, which put the public interest second, and the political interest of the political power-brokers first.

In 1985, it was lonely out there on the front lines of change. The same for 2003 when we freed Richmond from the grasp of a failed and corrupt system of government. At the time, Mr. Jones and most of his key supporters opposed me, one basically comparing me to racist trying to take away the voting rights of African-Americans.

Having been called names before, I didn't worry, as Dr. King says, truth crushed to Earth will rise.

Now, Mr. Jones and my opponents, who were comfortable with the old failed system that denied Richmonders the right to vote for their Mayor, suddenly have had a death-bed conversion and want the job they said was not necessary.

I consider that progress, and worth all the personal abuse.

2008 now presents the next challenge here in Richmond.

In the name of the poor children of Richmond, who stand the most to lose, I urge the RCDC and the Democratic Party to realize that "endorsing" Dwight Jones, given the process used, holds the whole Richmond mayoral election up to ridicule: and in so doing, it will make it harder for Mr. Jones to be the Mayor he needs to be should he be elected.

So in that sense, everyone stands to lose unless principled heads prevail: and the right thing is done.

Reversing the RCDC decision will, admittedly, be unprecedented. It will embarrassing. We have all been there if you have had the guts to stand in the arena and fight for real change.

But it is the right thing to do, indeed the thing Richmond needs Democrats to do right now.

Pantele's crocodile tears: His plan to rig the DEM endorsement process fails as he is outrigged by Jones!

2008-09-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

Bill Pantele and his people tried for months, led by the head of the Richmond City Democratic Committee Eric Payne, to pack the Richmond City Democratic Committee with pro-Pantele members in order to set-up a rigged the process to get Mr. Pantele the RCDC endorsement. But when they realized that Dwight Jones and his campaign had done a better job packing the RCDC with pro-Jones people, then Eric Payne tried to thwart the Jones people by dragging things out to make it impossible for them to get the endorsement. Last night, the Jones people pulled a power play on Pantele and got Jones the endorsement through an even more rigged process!

I saw this coming last April, which is why I wrote my letter to Mr. Payne hoping to force the process into the sunlight and why I wrote my article discussing the RCDC endorsement and what it would mean to get on the official Obama Democratic ballot.

But never did I imagine they would be so blatant about things, to have a total sham for a process, to treat everyone including the public with such disdain.

So today, to hear Bill complain about Jones is really more crocodile tears than the flood wall in Shockoe Bottom might be able to handle.

Come on Bill, fess-up: your plan to rig the DEM endorsement and then the election by getting yourself on the official Obama ballot was thwarted by Dwight and his campaign. Ironically, there is a good chance Bill decided to run for Mayor because Eric, et. al. promised him they could control the Richmond City Democratic Committee.

So when Highway 101 is in town to do a concert, they should call Bill and have him sing the chorus to their big hit "Cry, Cry, Cry."

Goldman challenges "sham, manipulated, undemocratic" process used by Richmond DEMS to endorse Jones.

2008-09-26T09:59:00.001-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 26 September 2008 - For Immediate Release

Statement from Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, former Chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, and recognized as one of the few leaders who stood up to the old, closed process, even suing the old Democratic Party, to make sure all Democrats got an equal say in party matters:

"I was just informed that the Richmond City Democratic Committee, in an example of a closed, non-democratic, boss-run, who-cares-about-the-issues-or-the-best-interests-of-Richmond process that would have even embarrassed the segregationist regime of Harry F. Byrd, last night endorsed Dwight Jones without (1) ever interviewing any of the other Democrats running for Mayor about their positions on the issues, (2)without providing notice to anyone even the press about what they were going to do, (3) (3) without considering how should an embarrassing and undemocratic process could split Democrats and thus hurt the chances of the Obama-Biden ticket to carry Virginia, (4) without any consideration on how such an embarrassing, insular and exclusionary process would hurt the ability of any Mayor to bring our City together and (5) without any consideration to the fact that the RCDC, which never helped me one wit when I was fighting to end this kind of power-broker controlled process of picking our Mayor, has shown once again that never wanted to give average Democrats any say in picking a Mayor in the first place.

As I have said repeatedly in this campaign, my career has been successful in making historic changes that have opened up our society so that all people can have a greater say in their government and their city and their state and their country because I have never been afraid of challenging the political establishment and the political power-brokers: and I see no reason to stop now.

Earlier this year, in a column for Style Weekly, I warned that something like this could happen. No one paid attention. No one cared.

But I believe that the people of Richmond, whatever their political philosophy, agree with me that we have come too far to turn back now. "

Wilder sets precedent, responds to Goldman analysis of city budget and fiscal mess. Why did Wilder respond?

2008-09-25T05:40:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 25 September 2008 - For Immediate Release

What did the Mayor say about the Goldman analysis of our city's budget and fiscal mess, the failure of City Hall and City Council to level with the people on our finances, and the fact the two bodies wasted all that money as they have been living off a real estate bubble leading to inflated real estate assessments, thus inflated real estate taxes?

In a statement, Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor said:

"The reason Mayor Wilder knew he needed to answer my analysis is clear to anyone who has followed Virginia politics over the years. As has been pointed out by those who were there, my AAA credibility on public finances in these situations has been long recognized due to my work in helping Governor-elect Wilder and Governor-elect Warner address the growing budget and fiscal mess they inherited upon winning the state's top job. They sought my advice not only during the transition period, but at those initial meetings either in the Governor's office or at the Governor's Mansion as they needed to make the tough decisions right at the start of their terms.

Sadly, the next Mayor-elect, like Governors-elect Wilder and Warner, is apparently going to going to inherit a budget and fiscal mess in terms of city finances going forward during this same time frame early in his term, something that will carry forward to least the first half of the next mayoral term.

Like Governors-elect Wilder and Warner, the next Mayor is going to have take honest, no-nonsense fiscally responsible action right from the start.

One reason I was the first to announce for Mayor early this year was my hope that it would enable me to sound the alarm, to get the Wilder Administration and the Pantele-led City Council to take the needed action starting with the last quarter of the previous city budget.

But Mr. Pantele and Mr. Wilder proved they would rather fight and feud.

Moreover, as the Mayor knows, my AAA credibility isn't just based on the fact that none of my opponents, taken individually or combined, has this real-time experience. The fact is that I also have a Masters in Public Administration from the top school in the country in that discipline, helping to make me an expert on public finance by education, the only candidate for Mayor with this training. .

Of all the candidates for Mayor, I am the only one that Mr. Pantele, the City Council, and the old power-brokers know they can't fool. I am the only one with the knowledge and independence to expose the truth about what they have done or tried to do with city funds over the years.

My AAA credibility on public finances, earned by not just talking the talk, but walking the walk, and my independence of any special interest is something they fear.

The Pantele-led City Council has tried to belittle me in hopes of hiding their fiscal incompetence.

But those Governors, who have had to inherit the kinds of budget and fiscal messes that Mr. Pantele and the City Council have helped create for the next Mayor-elect, know the truth.

And that is why Doug Wilder knew he needed to respond."

News Flash: Legendary investor Warren Buffett reports he will "invest in Goldman"

2008-09-24T05:03:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - September 24th - For Immediate Release

Richmond Times Dispatch is reporting this morning that legendary finance expert Warren Buffett "to invest $5 Billion in Goldman."

(Richmond): Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, issued the following statement this morning:

"For myself and of course Mr. Sachs along with the entire Goldman Sachs Group Inc, I want to thank Warren baby for recognizing proven performance and credentials.

$5 extra large is cool Mr. B. It will make for one heck of a campaign finance report next month.

The Buffett man can add. So with (1) Governor Kaine saying we face a 3 billion deficit at the state level, with (2) Uncle Sugar in D.C. facing a trillion - that's 333 times the size of the state deficit! - in debt explosion due to the need to save capitalism from the capitalists, and (3) the fiscally irresponsible Wilder-Pantele regime this past year having created a deficit-ridden, spending-splurge fiscal mess here in the River City that still defies a budget solution 3 months into the new fiscal year,
Mr. B. knew he had to find a someone who understood the 1, 2, & 3 of it all.

So he turned to Goldy, fearing otherwise that he and Richmond would get Sacked.

The Sage of Omaha knows I have been praise by several Governors for giving them no-nonsense and sound fiscal advice that helped them win national acclaim for how they dealt, in a fiscally responsible way, with serious fiscal problems inherited upon taking office.

And the next Mayor of Richmond is going to inherit a fiscal mess.

Mr. B. knows that I am the only candidate for Mayor with the proven record of fiscal acumen and graduate training in public finance to get us out of this growing financial hole.

Later today, I will again try to get the media of Richmond - I have been trying now since February - to finally focus on the fiscal mess here in Richmond.

Even Mr. Pantele has now been forced to concede that he has voted for a series of budgets that has given Richmond the most bloated and inefficient local government in Virginia, the amount of waste he conceded last night to be at least 30 million and likely close to twice that."

"Pantele too behold to real estate and other special interests to be trusted on Stadium issue"

2008-09-23T05:27:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 23 September 2008 - For Immediate Release

Goldman: "I am the only candidate for Mayor who has proven he can be trusted to oppose a Downtown Baseball Stadium. My friend Bill Pantele is too tied to the real estate interests bankrolling his campaign. Now we know why they and certain others have given him so much money after meeting with him in private. And now we know why he is trying to hide his true position until after the election as was evident in today's RTD story."

"A Downtown Baseball Stadium is a bad deal for Richmond as I showed the last time. As the RTD has said, I am the only candidate with the proven credibility to be trusted to defend the public interest of the average citizen on these kinds of key issues."

"Mayor Goldman will not allow the real estate and other powerful interests to use their financial and other clout to wield special influence over City Hall and City Council so they can force a Downtown Baseball Stadium on the people of Richmond."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, issued this statement this morning after reading the revelations in today's Richmond Times Dispatch about what has been going around in private in all those meeting between the Wilder Administration and City Council President Bill Pantele, among others, on the issue of a Downtown Baseball Stadium.

In this statement, Mr. Goldman said:

"Finally, the truth about what Mr. Pantele and others have been discussing in private. Of all the candidates running for Mayor, I am the only one who can be trusted to oppose a Downtown Baseball Stadium, for I am the only candidate who showed the leadership, the financial expertise, and the political honesty to expose the truth last time the special interests tried to force a Downtown Baseball Stadium on the people of Richmond.

To paraphrase what Joe Louis said to Billy Cohn: Mr. Pantele, you can run but you can't hide, it is now clear what you have been telling the real estate interests and certain others bankrolling your campaign in all those private meetings.

Mayor Goldman will oppose a Downtown Baseball Stadium, for as I have pointed out since 2005 after studying the issue, it is not in the best interests of the people of Richmond, it is just another Pantele giveaway, as was the case when he voted to raise the meals tax and give all those special benefits to the last failed project he supported, another ill-conceived project that I was able to help stop before it bleed even more millions from the public treasury.

If we want baseball in Richmond, then the current Boulevard location is the only viable option.

Only a Goldman Administration will have the expertise, the proven record and the political courage to stand-up to the old power-brokers: and they know it, because Bill Pantele was always comfortable with the old system, which answered to the old power-brokers as he said when first running for City Council.

There is a reason that I am the only candidate willing to publicly oppose a Downtown Baseball Stadium, Echo Harbor and the sweetheart deal that gave us the highest food tax in the state for a 100 million dollar project that we couldn't afford: and to publicly support the Patrick Henry Charter School and David McCoy for Police Chief.

And that reason is this: I am the one candidate with the independence and knowledge to be able to free Richmond from the grasp of the same old power-brokers on both sides who while claiming to be different, actually are the same in putting their self-interest ahead of the public interest."

Richmond's media failure to fight for openness hurts their credibility

2008-09-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Goldman won't attend closed, no-press or public invited debate-style forum before a private, membership-only group

"In any other major city in America, the local press would be demanding to be present, anything less would be seen as a total abdication of journalistic responsibility. The group might refuse, but at least the media would try."

Here are excerpts from today's RTD story:

Thursday, Sep 18, 2008 - Excerpts

By WILL JONES
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Richmond mayoral candidate Paul Goldman is withdrawing from an appearance before a group of corporate leaders, saying the closed meeting highlights the "plantation mentality" that he's running to change.

"I know of no place else in the country where a private group thinks all the candidates for mayor will show up for a private debate before them -- no press, no public," Goldman said yesterday at a news conference outside The Jefferson Hotel, where the Management Round Table is planning its Sept. 29 breakfast meeting.

Robert C. Sledd, Round Table chairman, said Goldman is "trying to make a mountain out of a molehill."

"There are forums for the media and public to attend," he said. "This is just an opportunity for business folks to hear what the mayoral candidates have to say. There's nothing mysterious."

Goldman, whose campaign has garnered no financial support from business leaders, said he was told the meeting would be closed because "it always has been."

"The office [of mayor] itself isn't for purchase," he said. "It's not for ownership by any private group. It is for the people, and the way you demonstrate that is when you . . . campaign openly. . . . I'm not going to fall for what I call this plantation mentality. I'm the guy that wants to change it."

The Management Round Table has about 60 corporate leaders as members who meet about five times a year to hear about community issues, said Sledd, former chairman and chief executive officer of Performance Food Group.

He said the breakfast meeting isn't a forum, although an agenda says the candidates will present their platforms and take questions from the audience.

Forty members of the Round Table are expected to attend, including executives with Bon Secours, Capital One, Bank of America, Wachovia Bank, Troutman Sanders, Williams Mullen, McGuireWoods, NewMarket Corp., Ukrop's Super Markets, Scott & Stringfellow and Media General Inc., the parent company of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

"It is our hope that the session will be valuable for you too, as most MRT members have not yet committed to a candidate," organizer Tayloe Negus said in an e-mail to Goldman.

Sledd said the Round Table, as a registered civic organization, is prohibited from making political contributions.

Other mayoral candidates aren't objecting to the meeting.

"There are plenty of opportunities for the general public and Richmond city voters to attend a public forum and see the candidates in action," said Craig Bieber, campaign manager for William J. Pantele.

Lisa Fulton, campaign manager for Robert J. Grey Jr., said Grey plans to attend the meeting. "While it would be our hope that all events are open to the press, those decisions are ultimately that of the hosts," she said in an e-mail.

Dwight Clinton Jones will tell the business leaders the same things he tells residents when he's campaigning door to door, campaign manager Kevin O'Holleran said.

Goldman declines to participate in private debate-style forum before Management Round Table where press is excluded.

2008-09-17T08:16:00.001-07:00

At Noon today, I will be holding a press conference to discuss the letter sent explaining my reasons for not believing it proper for a candidate for Mayor to participate in a private debate-style forum before a purely private group - in this case the Management Round Table - where the press, for example, is excluded.

Goldman support upsets old power-brokers: excerpts from RTD news story

2008-09-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

Goldman has $100,000 for race

Goldman willingness to challenge the same ole, same old power-broker politics that has held Richmond back gains support, makes real change possible next year. But will more people join the effort?

Sunday, Sep 14, 2008 - 12:08 AM - Excerpts from front-page, B-1 story

By WILL JONES
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Richmond mayoral candidate Paul Goldman will have cash to compete for votes in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Goldman, who has been running an aggressive, shoestring campaign, said yesterday that he has raised $100,000 -- a serious sum that three opponents reported having raised or nearly raised through June.

"It's like a card game," Goldman said yesterday. "This is enough to stay in the game, to get the next card."

Goldman said he expects the reports due tomorrow to show that Jones, Pantele and Grey have raised substantially more than he has. He said he expects to use the money to reach out to voters in the final weeks and believes it could also convince Richmonders that he is a viable choice.

"In the system we live in, the ideas are more important if you have a big bank account than if you have a small bank account," said Goldman, a lawyer and a former state Democratic Party chairman.

Goldman Backs McCoy for Police Chief

2008-09-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 9 September 2008 - For Immediate Release

Goldman Backs McCoy for Police Chief

"Given the incredible success in the fight against crime since we started the Elected Mayor form of government, Mr. McCoy has earned the great honor of having the word "Interim" removed and just being known as Richmond Police Chief David McCoy."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, says "Mr. David McCoy, a 23-year veteran of the Richmond Police Department, has been a integral part of one of the most successful crime-fighting teams not just in the history of Richmond, but around the country. He is a professional who knows how to keep our success going."

"My opponents were happy with the old way of policing, they opposed my efforts to change our form of government, which is the only reason we could get someone like former Chief Rodney Monroe. Under the old system championed by Mr. Pantele and City Council, we would be stuck with a failed anti-crime strategy that they knew was failing, but they didn't have the courage to change.

Mayor Wilder used his power under the new form of government to get Rodney Monroe to come to Richmond: and the rest, as they say, is history.

To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, why change horses in midstream now, when we have finally turned the corner in the fight against crime?

A decade ago, in an article for the Richmond Times Dispatch, I wrote that if we went to an elected Mayor, I guaranteed we would get a new, successful approach to fighting crime that would cut the murder rate by 30%.

Mayor Wilder made the right choice in choosing Rodney Monroe. Now, David McCoy is the right person to keep our anti-crime successes going. The record speaks for itself.

With Chief McCoy, Commonwealth Attorney Herring, and Mayor Goldman, citizens will have a crime-fighting team that has a proven record of being willing to make the changes necessary to help make our loved ones safer and keep Richmond from returning to the days when it was ranked as one of the most dangerous towns in America.

I applaud our police officers for their bravery and their success. As Mayor Wilder leaves office, he has a right to be proud of his efforts to build one of the most successful police departments in the country."

----------------

Goldman Praises Williams, West: challenges Richmond to get past racial politics

2008-09-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - September 6th - For Immediate Release:

"I urge everyone to read Michael Paul Williams column today in the Richmond Times
Dispatch, [copied below] it is an exception article and for the sake of the children of our town, I hope the adults of the River City reflect upon it, and take it to heart."

"Let me also say that Keith West is likewise doing what a public servant should do, he is working to bring people together to help improve the educational opportunities of the children of Richmond, I know the goal of providing greater educational opportunity is shared by every other member of the School Board, so as I said when working with others to get Richmonders their right to elect their Mayor, I know that change can be hard, but when it is necessary, we need to figure out a way to get it done. There are 4000 charter schools in the country, so it has long been a mainstream idea, and in our case, an idea whose time has come for Richmond."

Mistrust of charter school may mean missed chance

Saturday, Sep 06, 2008 -

By MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST

Rosa Parks, before her death, was associated with the charter schools movement.
Black parents and teachers in Topeka, Kan., are trying to establish a charter school in the same building where plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education were denied admission in 1951.
Charter schools have a track record of improving the achievement of black students in low-income urban areas, and are endorsed by none other than Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"Some of the strongest advocates of the charter movement in the U.S. have been African-Americans, Native-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and so on," said Joe Nathan, director of The Center for School Change at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

So why are some black folks in our town so leery of them?

Perhaps it's because, in Richmond, past is prologue and history is often at loggerheads with harmony.

Richmond is fertile ground for conspiracy theories for no other reason than they often prove out.

The Virginia State Conference NAACP is not alone in observing that one election after the change to the mayor-at-large system in Richmond, the City Council and School Board became majority white.

Some black folks who've stood by the school district, or had no other options, bristle at the thought of those who abandoned the district or who never belonged carving out an educational island. Some opponents argue that resources provided to Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts would be put to better use systemwide.

Nathan counters that charter schools can be more egalitarian than district schools, since no admissions tests are allowed like at say, Richmond Community High. Patrick Henry would hold a lottery to determine admission.

Three of the four black members of the Richmond School Board opposed the Patrick Henry proposal Tuesday.

Board member Keith West, a charter school proponent, voted against the proposal because he said the contract governing the school was too restrictive. But instead of lawyers, this situation needs mediators.

Nathan was among the founders of the nation's first charter school in St. Paul, Minn. It opened in 1992 with fewer than 100 students. Today, more than 4,000 charter schools nationwide educate some 1.3 million students.

Nathan is quick to point out that not every charter school proposal has been a great one, and there have been abuses and misuse or theft of monies. But he urged Richmond to embrace the concept.

"We make progress when we try new things," Nathan said.

He attributes suspicion of the movement here to the bitter aftertaste of white resistance to the Brown v. Board of Education decision declaring school segregation unconstitutional.
"One of the things I witnessed in the South sometimes with African-Americans is a very strong recognition of the school choice movement of the late '50s and '60s, which was about promoting segregation and inequality," he said.

Indeed, the NAACP said in a recent statement: "There is a nefarious battle being waged by a segment of the population to take back what was lost in the 1970s. Charter schools were conceptualized immediately after the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1955."

What would Nathan say to the wary?

"I'd say that while I completely respect and understand the concerns about what's happened, and completely respect the concern that the world is not entirely fair, the evidence is quite clear that some African-Americans who did poorly in existing schools are doing far better in charter schools."

Shouldn't that be the bottom line?

Given failure on school construction, no justification for using City funds to build a new Baseball Stadium

2008-09-02T12:41:00.001-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 2 September 2008 - For Immediate Release:

Statement from Paul Goldman

In the Washington Post today, there is this quote from Mike Berry, the general manager of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority:

"One of the considerations in any discussion would be the playing venue as well as what the community feels it could invest," Berry said. "A partnership could be created with their expectation and what the local community is willing to support."

The RMA is a regional authority, so presumably the "local community" he is referring to are the localities represented on the RMA board.

It will soon be three years since my "City of the Future" plan was praised by Mr. Pantele, the Mayor, City Council and the School Board. It was part of what I call my "Construction Initiative" for improving our schools, a compliment to the "Instruction Initiative" that I want to enact if elected Mayor.

The key component of this plan was to begin the first wide-scale modernization of our school system in modern history, which has the oldest such facilities in the state.

To date, neither the Wilder Administration, any member of the City Council nor the School Board, has seen any urgency in all of these three years to make sure we even began the modernization of a single school, not to mention all the one's included in my plan.

As indicated, I am not sure what Mr. Berry has in mind regarding the City of Richmond putting up money for a new Baseball Stadium. Hopefully, he will enlighten us as to what he means and with whom he has been consulting.

But for me, the choice is clear: If the elected leaders of this city are so indifferent to the plight of the children and have shown no interest in the last three years in finding the time to figure out how to modernize one school in the oldest such system in the state, then there is absolutely no justification for this city contributing any funds from it's public treasury toward a new baseball stadium.

I don't see how a city that is prepared to vote overwhelming for Barack Obama can read his education platform, and then believe that the failure of these last three years in terms of school modernization can be at all justified.

And then to compound the failure by giving public money to a baseball stadium before you have even modernized a single public school?

That's why I say it is time for a change in Richmond.

Given this continuing failure on school construction, there is no justification for the City of Richmond dipping into it's budget, currently 6 million in the red, and spending many millions on constructing a new Baseball Stadium.

If it's Biden, this may explain Obama waiting so long to make the VP announcement

2008-08-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

If it's Biden, this may explain Obama waiting so long to make the VP announcement

By Paul Goldman

Following-up on this morning's earlier analysis, never in the history of modern presidential campaigning during this primary-dominated era has someone who fared so poorly as did Senator Biden this year been chosen for the Vice-Presidency over someone who did so well such as Senator Hillary Clinton.

Indeed, never before as a better performing candidate been rejected for a worse performing candidate, not to mention in this case a near winner being rejected for a huge loser, indeed someone who has now been forced to twice withdraw from the presidential contest after his campaign did so poorly.

If it's Biden, my gut says: The Obama high command was worried about a potential backlash from Clinton supporters for several reasons, not the least is the fact that the Clinton campaign made her gender such a big part of her strategy, and now, here again, we see the woman rejected for a man who she crushed in the primaries.

By keeping the Biden thing under wraps until the weekend before the Democratic Convention, when key Clinton operatives and feminist activists will be otherwise somewhat distracted by the need to be traveling to Denver, this makes any such big backlash being part of the narrative a lot less possible.

Once folks get to Denver, with Senator Clinton due to speak on Tuesday night, this calendar maneuver I think is calculated to reduce any possible " once again, the woman plays by the rules, beats the man, but he gets the job anyway" type of backlash in the media against Biden's nomination.

Think about it: The polls show that most of the Hillary constituency wants her to run for VEEP. They think she earned it.

She crushed Biden, who while a super-guy and a solid Democrat, still lost badly. He didn't have the money nor the opportunity to show what he could do, that's true, and he has a solid record in office.

But the operative issue is simply that he got beat, by her, and badly.

So, again we thinking out loud in terms of the average Clinton backer, why is that Hillary, the woman, loses to Biden, the man, for the VP prize?

As people know, I have addressed the issues of gender, race, and the like in several articles in the past in major dailies, I wrote some new one's this year, but the news media has chosen this time to review them, and in the end not to publish them.

In my view, the Obama team has been worried about a possible backlash being played out in the 24/7 media political echo chamber - not on the Convention floor - so they have reduced the time available for it.

For Senator Clinton's 18 million I think it is voters, and millions more, especially women who she targeted with her campaign strategy, the sense of hurt and rejection is a fair concern for Democratic leaders to have. Joe Biden has a solid Democratic record. But again, he got beat big time by Hillary Clinton.

Senator Clinton will be addressing it in her Convention speech, you can bet on that. So will her husband.

So if it is Biden, don't be surprised if the GOP tries to play some political games here.

Senator Bayh, a Clinton backer, would not have the Biden circumstance, the same for Governor Kaine, since he backed Obama, and in that regard, it is understandable that he would be more likely to be chosen than Senator Clinton.

Biden didn't back Obama, he ran against Hillary, he got beat big time.

Yet he ends up with the prize.

That is going to be the view of a lot of Clinton supporters in middle America.

Why Robert Grey and Bill Pantele are in Dire Straits

2008-08-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

[To be read with the Dire Straits Grammy-winning song "Money for Nothing" playing in the background on your MTV].

By Paul Goldman

Whose wasting the most taxpayer money, Robert Grey by backing the Mayor's budget spending, or Bill Pantele, by opposing it?

Truth is, both Robert and Bill are both wasting big $, indeed the same Big $, but at least Mr. Grey can say he isn't trying to hide anything. For some reason, the local news media has yet to inform the public about the level of spending in certain key areas at City Hall during these first two months of the new fiscal year: and how the rate of spending compares to the expected level of spending in such areas as contained in the City Council budget, which Mr. Pantele and his City Council posse claim is legal, although they refuse to try and enforce it!

Robert, Bill and I are lawyers of sorts, so we know this basic tenet of law, namely that the chief executive of a locality must have legal authority, through action by the legislative branch, before he or she can legally expend public funds. The Wilder Administration says it has such lawful authority due to the automatic enactment of the Mayor's budget on account of the failure of the Council to pass it's budget according to the requirements of the City Charter.

As indicated, big firm corporate lawyer Mr. Grey agrees with Hizzoner: small firm general practice lawyer Mr. Pantele naturally backs his own handiwork.

But focusing on the legal side of the feud misses the wasteful spending side, for as the feudists fiddle, the Wilder Administration burns up public dollars. The Council budget and the Mayor's budget differed significantly in certain areas of spending. However, the actual total annual amount of such spending is only one aspect of how big $ money can be wasted: there is also the rate of monthly spending in these certain areas by City Hall.

Remember: An executive generally has discretion as to the rate of his/her spending in any given month in many areas unless the law provides otherwise. Soon, we will be 2 months into the new budget year. The Wilder Administration says it is following their spending plan, not the Council's, to the extent there are no legally binding ordinances on the books.

What Big $ waste can this situation produce? Let's use round numbers to develop a hypothetical example. Assume the Mayor's budget proposed spending say $2,000,000 for public relations. The Council budget however only appropriated $1,000,000 in this area. .

Thus, assume they are are feuding over which is the legal appropriation, $2M or $1M.

But under either legal theory, the Mayor could spend $1M during this FY 09 before it could be argued that he has exceeded the law, since even if the Council budget was to be ultimately proven to be the legal one, their budget gave the Mayor $1M to spend in that area.

So here is the "rub" as they say. The Council appropriation in the above example presumed that this $1M would be spent over the 12 month period in some fairly regular fashion. But standard practice would be to leave the monthly the rate of such spending for the executive to decide. Thus, in the example above, the Mayor has the legal right to spend the full $1M during the last six months of his term, which is the first six months of the current fiscal year.

Query: Going from the above example used to explain the budget math to what is actually going in Richmond right, is the Council's failure on the budget, and the media's failing to focus on the issue, leading to a waste big $ due to the Wilder Administration's rate of spending in certain areas?

Remember: In the example above, the Council presumably thought that any spending in excess of it's $1M was wasteful and unnecessary. But if the Wilder Administration, using the math above, was spending at a rate of 2x what the Council thought was necessary, this would equate to the Mayor exhausting the entire million in just six months.

The above is just a example to help explain basic budget math.

But between Wilder and Grey's legal position on one side, and Pantele along with City Council on the other side, this begs the question:

What is the rate that Mayor Wilder is burning up public money in certain areas?

The Mayor says things are going along as usual at City Hall.

What does that mean in terms of spending in certain areas?

Surely Council, by virtue of elective responsibility, and the media, by the obligations of the fourth estate, have a duty to get the public the facts so we can judge ourselves.

Mr. Pantele objected to my saying that he and the other Council members, along with the staff of City Hall and City Council, were wheeling and dealing behind closed doors during these many weeks of the unprecedented situation of having no budget. He said they were hiding nothing.

But yet, the public has been told nothing officially, as Councilwoman Ellen Robertson, head of the Finance Committee, admitted in the RTD on Tuesday.

Mr. Pantele claims in his campaign literature that wants to be the "people's Mayor." Mr. Grey in his campaign handout says he has a different "attitude" than the Wilder Administration and that the people deserve "new approaches."

Unfortunately, their talk may not be very cheap at all: in their own way, they are perpetuating the same old things in the same old ways, getting the same old results.

More legalese from lawyers who, while taking different sides of the argument, wind-up justifying what could be just another Big $ raid on the public treasury.

Deep cuts in Mayor's office, Mayor's entourage, cost of City Council, top-level of city bureaucracy must be made: and now.

2008-08-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 19 August 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contact, 804-833-6313

"Any budget deal without deep cuts to Mayor's Office, the Mayor's entourage, the cost of the City Council, the top levels of the bloated and most expensive city bureaucracy in the state, is both unacceptable and irresponsible."

Goldman calls the 1% solution headlined in today's RTD "a an election-year back-room deal that someone with level of graduate education in public budgeting knows to be - and I am sorry to have to say it - amateur hour."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that "the revelations in this morning's Richmond Times Dispatch - based on material given to the newspaper only after Delegate Jones and I showed real leadership by challenging City Hall and City Council to reveal their wheeling and dealing behind closed doors - prove that Delegate Jones and myself "peeped Mayor Doug Wilder and City Council Bill Pantele's hole card" as they say in poker.

My experience had taught me that when elected officials order financial wheeling and dealing in the back-rooms so as to keep the public in the dark, there is usually something they are trying to hide from the public.

If Mr. Jones' reporting is correct, then our elected officials actually think that it is both fiscally prudent and fair to the people that the parks, the libraries, and other vital services be cut as much as the most wasteful, expensive, bloated and top-heavy City Hall and City Council in Richmond's history.

This kind of across-the-board budgeting technique is considered the height of amateurism by those of us who have studied public budgeting at the graduate level.

With all due respect to my friends Doug Wilder and Bill Pantele, they have allowed a bloated, top-heavy, wasteful City Hall and City Council bureaucracy to bleed the public treasury dry, to the point where we now, by their own admission, face a record budget deficit.

They have created an unprecedented fiscal mess, with Richmond now almost 2 months into the new fiscal year, with a deficit budget, something that is not permitted, much less even contemplated, by the City Charter.

City Hall preaches accountability, so does City Council.

The time has come for them to accept their responsibility and be accountable for the fiscal mess they have created.

There is only one way to achieve a fiscally responsible and fair resolution to the budget mess they have created: And that is going to require deep cuts in the Mayor's Office, the Mayor's entourage, the top levels of the city bureaucracy, the cost of City Council, for starters."

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Goldman cites President Lincoln in defending seniors, retirees, while challenging City Hall, City Council

2008-08-18T06:03:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 18th August 2008 - Release 9 AM - Contact, 804-833-6313

City Attorney said COLA enactment part of legally valid budget ordinance

Goldman worried "back-room political deal may be made by City Council and City Hall that will hurt the many senior citizens who had thought they could count on city leaders to abide by the law and provide what the City Attorney says is a legally valid cost of living pension adjustment."

Goldman says such a back-room deal "would be terrible for Richmond's image."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that "it is one thing for the Mayor and the City Council to heap blame on each other with endless finger-pointing. But it something entirely different when the result is to hurt innocent senior citizens and other city retirees by cutting their pension benefits.

"The City Attorney says the City Council budget is legal, which means the Cost of Living Adjustment [COLA] so included was properly granted. Thus, the practical effect of City Hall and City Council making a back-room deal to renege and eliminate this COLA amounts to cutting the pensions benefits of many economically squeezed senior citizens below what was promised by law a few weeks ago, creating a terrible image for the City of Richmond.

"Delegate Jones and myself are here today to tell City Hall and City Council that President Lincoln was right, they can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but on this issue, City Hall and City Council aren't fooling anyone any longer if their back-room budget deal reneges on the legal promise made to these senior citizen and other retirees."

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Robert Grey's 100% support for Mayor Wilder's confrontational, illegal budget action is a defining moment in his campaign.

2008-08-13T11:11:00.001-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - For Immediate Release - Contract, 804-833-6313

Robert Grey's full support for City Hall's confrontational, illegal budget action shows that a Grey Administration would be just more of the same, not the "change" he claims.

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that not "only is Robert Grey wrong on the law, his support last night for City Hall's confrontational "my way or the highway" illegal approach on the budget, the same attitude having previously given us Fiasco Friday among other things, shows Robert would just be more of the same, that he isn't anything like the change he is pretending to be."."

"Robert talks a good game, but at last night's debate, he made the amazingly revealing statement that he was in total support of the illegal, confrontational City Hall budget action taken by Mayor Wilder that has created an unprecedented budget situation in Richmond."

"Fortunately, the Grey statement was caught on video, and in my view, it may in retrospect prove to be the defining moment in his campaign."

-------30------------------

Richmond GOP challenged to repudiate Rove's anti-Richmond remarks at it's McCain HQ meeting tomorrow night

2008-08-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 12 August 2008 - For Immediate Release: Contact, 804-833-6313

12 August 2008

Mr. Cortland Putbrese
Chair,
Richmond Republican Committee
Richmond, Va

Dear Cortland:

According to you website, the Richmond Republican Committee is meeting tomorrow, August 13th, at the McCain Campaign Richmond Headquarters at 2819 Parham Road. This meeting will begin a 6:30 PM. Due to the recent disparaging comments about Richmond by Mr. Karl Rove, in his effort to demean our town and hold it up to national ridicule in hopes of gaining political advantage for the Republican national ticket, I believe the Richmond GOP has a community obligation, by formal resolution, to repudiate this former Bush White House official so that not just our fellow residents, but the entire nation, will see that we here in River City, Democrats and Republicans, are united in such repudiation of this offensive remarks uttered on national television.

To be sure, I am presuming that you and the members of your committee are by now aware of what Mr. Rove said this past Sunday, such disparaging comments the subject of Michael Paul Williams' column today in the Richmond Times Dispatch. Moreover, given Mr. Rove's status as another of those Inside-the-Washington-beltway commentators and believer that the bigger the government, the better [the federal deficit is now at an all-time high], his disparaging comments about middle-class towns like Richmond are, sadly, to be expected. They seem to have such an elitist attitude toward those towns whose residents raise the children, fight the wars, and obey the 10 commandments.

The people of Richmond, who have labored as hard as any in America to build our nation, don't need for someone who has benefited as much from this sacrifice as Mr. Rove - who has led a rather privileged life for most of this century at public expense - to be disparaged and ridiculed by a Republican of his stature on national television.

In this regard, I would hope we are all Richmonders, not divided into partisan political camps. To be sure, Mr. Rove may believe that Richmond is not the equal of Henderson, Nevada, a town that didn't even exist until after WW 2, a place that grew because it was a commute away from downtown Las Vegas, a locality best known in many circles for it's role in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever wherein Sean Connery barely foils the plan to cremate him alive at the Palm Mortuary!

But the issue now is not what he believes, but what the Richmond Republican Committee believes.

Accordingly, with this electronic letter, I am writing to request that your Richmond Republican Committee, at their meeting tomorrow, pass an appropriately worded formal resolution rejecting (1) the disparaging comments made by Mr. Rove and (2) extolling the many sacrifices and good works of Richmonders past and present in building not just a terrific City but a great state and country.

Sincerely,

Paul Goldman
Richmond
804-833-6313
.

Goldman defends Richmond, Kaine from Karl Rove's attacks seen on CBS-TV, Channel 6

2008-08-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 11 August 2008 - For Immediate Release

Dear Karl,

Why is it that so many people who work, or did work, for President Bush, seem so eager to thumb their nose at middle-class America? Case in point, your elitist attacks against us here in Richmond, stated this Sunday where you told the CBS TV audience:

"Will all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he's been a governor for three years," Rove told Bob Schieffer [host of Face The Nation on CBS]. "He's been able but undistinguished. I don't think people could really name a big, important thing that he's done."

Rove even dragged Richmond into his sights. "[Kaine] was mayor of the 105th largest city in America," Rove said. "And again, with all due respect to Richmond, Virginia, it's smaller than Chula Vista, California; Aurora, Colorado; Mesa, or Gilbert, Arizona; North Las Vegas, or Henderson, Nevada. It's not a big town."

Karl, as I have been saying, ever since you went to Washington, you and the other Bushites have become creatures of the Inside DC crowd, who believe those in that federal enclave have all the knowledge and all the wisdom. You thumb your nose at us here in the middle of Virginia, like you do at Middle America generally.

You have lost touch, assuming you ever really had it, with the rest of America, those living outside the beltway, the middle-class families the do the work, raise the children, fight the wars, and move our country forward.

Yes, Richmond isn't the biggest city in America. Thank goodness for that. You believe, as one would expect from someone who advised the President to run-up the biggest deficits in American history, that the bigger the government, the better.

Richmond is a great city, with great people, and one reason is it's manageable size, and the fact it is still a community with so many small, viable, neighborhoods.
Tim Kaine did a lot to improve our City, and I was happy to work with him to improve our form of government, an historic change praised by Republicans and Democrats alike in our area.
It has been a long time since America has had someone with hands-on experience in dealing with urban and suburban issues as our Vice-President.

Karl, you think that kind of experience would be bad for American. I believe it would be not only good for America, but great for America.

Richmond may not be the biggest city in our country. But it is a city that faces so many of our challenging issues, and I would rather have Mayor Tim Kaine trying to solve them, then Vice-President Dick Cheney, who had no experience in these areas whatsoever [as he has shown], Vice-President Dan Qualye [true, I suppose he could have helped with First Tee], to name just the last two GOP VEEPS.

Indeed, Mayor Kaine proved to be a far better administrator and problem-solver on these crucial issues to America than anyone the Republicans have elected to Vice-President since Teddy Roosevelt in 1900, who likewise got his start in politics as a local leader [actually, TR ran and lost for Mayor of New York before becoming Police Commissioner].

Harry Truman got his start in local government: he faced the same elitist criticisms from the GOP. But HST was a great Vice-President and President.

Next time you are in Richmond, give a ring.

Sincerely,

PG

Wilder Administration Wrong on Baseball. Today's RTD about bulldozing The Diamond and not replacing it a huge mistake by City Hall.

2008-08-09T05:23:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 09 August 12 - For Immediate Release: Contact, 804-833-6313

Today's RTD story requires any serious candidate for Mayor to respond.

"First, I reject any plan to bulldoze the Diamond and eliminate any baseball stadium from the current area, indeed that would be tantamount to the Wilder Administration having driven baseball out of Richmond."

"Second, given that voters will soon be electing a new Mayor and a new City Council, it is the height of arrogance, not to mention a big waste of time and money, for a lame duck City Hall and/or lame duck City Council to be involved in the proposal process from developers and/or campaign contributors referenced in today's Richmond Times Dispatch."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, responding to the revelations about city government in today's RTD, said that "after failing to do anything for almost 4 years, and driving the Braves out of Richmond, it would be the height of arrogance for a lame duck City Hall and a lame duck City Council to handcuff the people of Richmond to another of their failed visions or schemes."
"In a very short time, we will have a new Mayor and a new City Council" Goldman said. "What City Hall and City Council need to do is to concentrate on closing what the Mayor says is a 6 million dollar hole - I believe City Hall and City Council have actually created a far bigger fiscal mess - in the city budget, not on some last minute attempts by lame duck officials to impose another of their failed visions or schemes on the people of Richmond."

"First, I reject any plan to bulldoze the Diamond and eliminate any baseball stadium from the current area, indeed that would be tantamount to the Wilder Administration having driven baseball out of Richmond, as there is no other viable location for a Triple AAA or Double AA stadium in the City."

"Second, given that voters will soon be electing a new Mayor and a new City Council, it is the height of arrogance, not to mention a big waste of time and money, for a lame duck City Hall and/or lame duck City Council to be involved in the proposal process from developers and/or campaign contributors referenced in today's Richmond Times Dispatch."
----------------------30--------------------

"Office of Mayor needs new financial rules" says Goldman. No more....

2008-08-07T06:19:00.001-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 07 August 08 - For Immediate Release

"Given what we know now, such arrangements as the Mayor remaining on VCU's payroll, even in a part-time capacity, should have been prohibited by the Elected Mayor."

"Additionally, without pre-judging any particular situation until all the facts are clear, it is also necessary that any hint of special benefits related to the sale, purchase or financing of real estate, as we learned may have been the case with several United States Senators, must be prevented especially given the current situation in the housing market."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, author of the Elected Mayor law, said that "the original draft of the Elected Mayor law prevented a Mayor from holding even a second, part-time job, but this provision was eliminated from the final draft of the current law. Given what we know now, it would have been wiser to have had such a provision in the law passed by the General Assembly in 2004."

"As someone who has been in the forefront in changing Virginia and Richmond for many years, I have always taken the approach of the greatest President of the 20th century, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who helped lift of the country out of our biggest economic crisis. He was never afraid to innovate, but likewise, ready to realize when improvements in approaches were necessary."

"Clearly, the minimum a candidate should do, after now having a chance to review the operation of things for roughly 4 years, is to lay out what he or she will do on a voluntary basis, whether the law is changed or not, whether anyone else will do it or not."

In a statement, Goldman listed the following voluntary pledges:

"I will not hold any other job, part-time or otherwise, while serving as Mayor.

I will not conduct any other business, or accept any other compensation or remuneration, including speaking fees or any such related fees, while serving as Mayor.

I will not accept any special preferences, either as a seller or a buyer, as regards any real estate transaction, in terms of below-market or above-market transactions, while serving as Mayor.

Hopefully, what I am going to do voluntarily will be put into the Elected Mayor law directly by the 2009 General Assembly. If given the privilege of serving as Mayor, I will be requesting that City Council ask the General Assembly to make these Charter changes since this is the process required for such legal enactments.

All things considered, it seems to me that going forward, this is in the best interest of the city of Richmond and in the best interest of the Office of Elected Mayor."

Does Richmond media care that Wilder, Council are violating City Charter on chosing an acting Chief Administrative Officer?

2008-07-31T05:28:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 31 July 2008 - For Immediate Release -Contact, 804-833-6313

Elected Mayor Law is clear on how Acting Chief Administrative Officer is to be Chosen

If City Hall and City Council had been doing their job, not feuding, there would be no problem

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor and author of the Elected Mayor law said today "that City Hall and City Council once again - does it ever end? - continue to hold Richmond up to ridicule by failing to believe they have any responsibility to make sure they follow the clear mandates of the City Charter."

"Yet all this raises a bigger question: Does the local Richmond media care either whether the Charter is followed or not, and to the extent they signal a negative answer, then should it be surprising that our politicians believe they can disregard the Charter whenever it suits their purpose, since without the media informing the public, how can more than only a handful of residents know what is in the City Charter?"

In a statement, Mr. Goldman discussed the relevant section of the Elected Mayor Law as it was incorporated into the City Charter:

"In 2004, in passing the Elected Mayor law, the General Assembly enacted the following section of the City Charter:

"§ 5.07. Acting chief administrative officer.

The mayor shall, with the advice and consent of a majority of the members of council, designate the head of a department, bureau or other officer appointed by the chief administrative officer, to act as chief administrative officer in case of the absence, incapacity, death or resignation of the chief administrative officer, until his/her return to duty or the appointment of his/her successor. An acting chief administrative officer shall serve at the pleasure of the mayor."

"To the best of my knowledge, this 2004 revision remains as part of the City Charter. According, City Hall and City Council should have long ago taken care to carry out their responsibilities under this section, namely to have an Acting CAO already designated.

Apparently, this was not done and no doubt each side with be blaming the other for the situation. But frankly, I believe most Richmonders are as tired and fed-up as I am with the constant blame gaming from City Hall and City Council.

But even more importantly right now is this: We need to make City Hall and City Council understand that the City Charter is not just something they follow when it suits their purposes.

Moreover, if the Richmond media wants to be taken seriously in the area of public policy, as opposed to being seen as their own version of tabloid or blog.com journalism, then reporters and editors have to likewise take responsibility for what they do and don't do.

Bottom line: If § 5.07 remains the law in Richmond, then it must be followed and the public must be informed of the law's existence.

As they say, for purposes of full disclosure, my being the only candidate for Mayor who actually wanted to give the people the right to elect their Mayor and who actually did the grunt work, from writing the law to leading the petition drive, might I suppose explain why I apparently take a different view from the others, taking such an old-fashioned view that City Hall and City Council should be required to follow the law."

VP choice prediction: Obama wants running mate who didn't support the Iraq War.

2008-07-30T07:50:00.001-07:00

The Goldman Blog

I believe Governor Tim Kaine is at the top of Senator Obama's short-list for VEEP, indeed, as I will show, the list may only have two people on it.

Here is the logical deduction, or at least an attempt at it. Unfortunately, to do the math right, it takes many steps, there is no way to do it in a few paragraphs and give the logic.

1. Senator Obama's 2002 opposition to the Iraq War was fundamental to his primary candidacy, and he continues to make his 2002 opposition to the war vs McCain's 2002 vote for the War a fundamental litmus test for November, using the same successful construct - Judgment vs Experience - that worked brilliantly against Senator Clinton.

By November, the Economy, not the War, is likely to decide the election based on historical analysis. But right now - and that is when the decision is being made - it is the Peace Issue, not the Prosperity Issue, that is dominating the Obama vs McCain battle.

And at this moment, the battle is less one of specific issues and more of defining them in a broad way with the general public. This is normal at this juncture of a campaign, at almost any level really.

2. Thus, Senator Obama has to ask himself one fundamental question at the very start of his VEEP decision-making:

Do I want to run with a Vice-Presidential nominee who is on record as having supported going to War with Iraq, either voting for the 2002 War Resolution or having voiced support for the invasion at the time?

To be sure, the 2002 Joint Congressional Resolution authorizing the President to invade Iraq if he thought it necessary to protect America's national security left the decision to Mr. Bush, so in technical terms a vote for the Resolution was not, per se, a vote to go to War. 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards made that point repeatedly in that year. But it didn't wash politically, even though it is legally true.

Politically, it was a vote for war, and the American people are not fools.

3. Obama's answer: No, unless I have no other viable option. HE KNOWS THAT if he chooses a pro-war running mate, THIS WILL be what the media use as the defining dimension to the selection, it will dominate the press conference held to announce the choice.

And Senator Obama knows this too: In the final analysis, his choice of a VEEP will be a big defining moment for him in the eyes of the public.

4. Accordingly, I think any pro-war voting Senator is out. This eliminates Bayh, Biden, and Clinton.

5. Here is the list of all the anti-War votes on the Iraq War Resolution: .

Akaka (D-HI)Bingaman (D-NM)Boxer (D-CA)Byrd (D-WV)Chafee (R-RI)Conrad (D-ND)Corzine (D-NJ)Dayton (D-MN)
Durbin (D-IL)Feingold (D-WI)Graham (D-FL)Inouye (D-HI)Jeffords (I-VT)Kennedy (D-MA)Leahy (D-VT)Levin (D-MI)

Mikulski (D-MD)Murray (D-WA)Reed (D-RI)Sarbanes (D-MD)Stabenow (D-MI)Wellstone (D-MN)Wyden (D-OR)
Among the Democrats, you have, in theory, potential running mates in Bingaman, Boxer, Conrad, Corzine, Durbin, Levin, Murray, Reed, Stabenow, and Wyden, under the anti-war analysis. If Obama were from any state but Illinois, I believe Durbin would be the pick.

The two Michigan Senators - Levin and Stabenow - come from one of the key states this year, but there are various reasons why they are not likely to be selected. Truth is, none of the anti-war Senators is considered a good fit for Obama, with Senator Jack Reed probably being the top pick here, followed by either Kent Conrad or Patty Murray. But the latter two are long-time Senators and thus they seem to have been eliminated by Obama saying he doesn't want a Washington insider, or at least someone who could be painted that way.

In that regard, Senator Reed, although a Congressman before moving up the Senate, is the best choice, having served in the military.

Net, Net: But for Reed, no anti-war Senator is likely to get to the final round.

6. Senator Jim Webb was on a paper a great VEEP fit, as he was not in the Senate in 2002, but as strong anti-war credentials yet was also President Reagan's Secretary of the Navy and a decorated military guy. Besides, Webb is super-smart, the anti-politician image, the whole package. But Webb said he didn't want in an almost Shermanesque way. As soldier, Webb would no doubt do his duty if asked, but when a guy says he doesn't want the VEEP thing, then Obama is going to respect that.

7. Senator McCaskill arrived in the Senate along with rookie Webb. She has proven to be a very effective pro-Obama campaign leader, she is savvy, good speaker, sharp on the issues and comes from the key state of Missouri. But she is not apparently under consideration.

8. So if you take out the sitting Senators, then you say: What about former Senators, former Governors, former top officials? A guy like former Governor and Senator George Mitchell, super-respected, savvy pol, would be a perfect choice if he wasn't a big time lobbyist now, the same for several other high profile former top DEM elected officials. Obama can not go there, and he knows it.

9. ERGO: Unless Senator Obama goes with an anti-war Senator like say a Reed, then logical deduction gets us to the sitting Governors. Moreover, it might be that Obama calculates that he should not go with either an pro-war or anti-war Senator, since this gives him maximum political flexibility, avoids a lot of questions, and as Emerson says, events are in the saddle and they ride mankind, in political strategy, having room to maneuver on the tough issues is worth more than all that Internet fund-raising.

10. Net, net: Senator Obama, by the process of elimination - the usual thing for VEEP choices historically - arrives at needing a sitting Governor, who has no 2002 position on the War, someone from a key state, someone he likes, you do the math.

Of course Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia is at the top of the short-list: he is likely the only one on the list except perhaps for Rhode Island Senator Reed. But it is better to go South or West, or even Midwest for Obama, the Northeast is the most reliable Democratic bastion in the country, the "Solid North" really, since except for New Hampshire, it has been as solid as the South in the last two presidential elections, indeed solid twice for Clinton.

Yet Reed has a great resume.

He is a Harvard lawyer though, so whether it be Kaine or Reed, it is Harvard Law ticket all the way.

Hillary is Yale and that might be a big problem too!

If the War is indeed the fundamental Colonel Travis line in the sand on the VEEP decision, then that leaves Kaine and Reed as perhaps the last guys standing.

Council, Wilder should do honorable thing, reimburse city for salaries paid from July 1 until they do their job and agree on a budget.

2008-07-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 25 July 2008 - For Immediate Release - 804-833-6313

First City Hall, First City Council in Richmond History to Fail to Agree on a Budget By July 1

"The Mayor and City Council should follow the lead of those members of the General Assembly who did the right thing, and refused to accept pay for the Special Transportation Session since it achieved nothing. The Mayor and City Council should reimburse the city for their salaries from July 1 until they both agree on the single most basic responsibility of any elected official: passing a budget each side accepts as the operative city budget for the new fiscal year."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that "it is time for City Hall and City Council to accept responsibility for the an unprecedented budget fiasco, the first time in the history of Richmond that City Hall and City Council have not agreed on a budget by July 1, the starting date of the fiscal year."

"I don't think any of this would have happened if the Mayor and Mr. Pantele, et. al knew they would not get paid for failing to fulfill their most basic responsibility, passing a budget each side would accept as lawful on July 1, the starting date of the city's fiscal year" Goldman said.

"The City Charter has a clear procedure that would have resolved these matters by now had the Mayor and the City Council done the right thing and followed the law. As the RTD editorial page notes this morning, I was the only candidate they could name who "has addressed the budget and related items" in my efforts to remind city officials of the Elected Mayor law revisions to the City Charter that reinforced this procedure."

"While the Pantele-led Council puts all the blame on the Wilder-led City Hall, and vice-versa, the truth is this: Both sides are to blame for the current state of the budget fiasco."

"Accordingly, starting July 1, 2008, both sides share responsibility for the unprecedented budget fiasco."

"Thus, given this continuing failure to do the most basic function of their jobs, each side should do the honorable thing and agree to reimburse the city for the salaries they will be paid from July 1 until they agree on a budget as required by the City Charter."

"Moreover, the longer these budget follies continue, the greater chance all Richmonders, or at least some of the citizenry, will be unnecessarily and unfairly hurt by the political fallout."

---------------------------------------- 30 -------------------------------------

Wilder, Council failing to follow City Charter: budget feud can be fairly resolved by following the process put into Charter for this situation.

2008-07-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 24 July 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contact, 804-833-6313

City Charter, as amended by the Elected Mayor law revisions, can resolve the budget feud without a wasteful law suit.

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that " the City Charter, as amended by the Elected Mayor law revisions, anticipated the kind of fiscally irresponsible budget politics we are seeing from City Hall and City Council by having in place a process that will work to balance the budget and do the people's business without a law suit if our elected officials will put the public interest ahead of their political budget feuding."

Goldman pointed out that "Section 6.16 of the City Charter, according to what is available on the General Assembly website, reads as follows after the last General Assembly revision:

6.16. Amendments after adoption.

..(c) If at any time during the fiscal year it appears probable to the Mayor that the revenue or fund balances available will be insufficient to finance the expenditures for which appropriations have been authorized, the Mayor shall report to the city council without delay, indicating the estimated amount of the deficit, any remedial action taken by the Mayor and recommendations as to any other steps to be taken. The council shall then take such further action as it deems necessary to prevent or reduce any deficit, and for that purpose it may by ordinance reduce one or more appropriations. [Emphasis added].

In a statement, Goldman continued:

"The above process offers a responsible way to resolve the current feud between City Hall and City Council without a law suit, assuming each side will put the public interest ahead of their selfish political interests.

Since the Wilder Administration say it's budget is the legal one, then Section 6.16 imposes a clear legal obligation on the Mayor given his statement that his budget has a big deficit.

The Mayor can not have it both ways: if is right and the City Council failed to pass it's budget in the time required by the Charter, then he has now failed to report to the Council as required by the Charter.

As for the City Council, they seem incapable of showing any leadership except to leading the way to the local courthouse. .

But as we can see from the above Charter section, this is totally unnecessary.

Instead, the Council should call on the Mayor to report to the city council without delay since Mr. Wilder says the budget is millions in the red. Given the language in the Charter, the Mayor has no option, since the word "shall" has an accepted legal definition. Moreover, if the Mayor were to refuse, then he would effectively negate his legal claim as regards his budget.

Once the Mayor responds as legally required, the Council can then make whatever appropriate budget adjustments a majority feel is necessary. The Mayor then has the option of using his veto, and the Council the power of override.

While it is not a perfect solution, it serves the public interest in a responsible, timely and balanced fashion while avoiding the acrimony of yet another expensive law suit if City Hall and the City Council are finally willing to put the public interest first."

-------------------30----------------

Pantele should step-down as Council head due to growing budget mess, law suit threat.

2008-07-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 22 July 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contact, 804-833-6313

"Wilder-led City Hall and the Pantele-McQuinn led Council have pushed Richmond into growing budget mess by putting their personal political agendas ahead of the public interest"

"The latest law suit threat shows that Bill fails to realize that given the anti-Wilder platform of his candidacy for Mayor, it is not in the public interest from him to remain as the head of the City Council, it mires this whole mess in mayoral election politics."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that the latest law suit threat from City Council shows that "it doesn't serve the public interest, nor help resolve our growing budget mess, for Bill Pantele to stay as head of the Council while he tries to get elected Mayor on an anti-Wilder platform."

"The fact is that both the Wilder-led City Hall and the Pantele-McQuinn led Council have pushed Richmond into a growing budget mess - the threat of yet another pricey law suit just their latest excuse to spend money the city can't afford - by putting their own personal political agendas ahead of the public interest."

In a statement, Goldman continued:

"While this latest threat of yet another feuding lawsuit may (1) serve Mr. Pantele's mayoral campaign strategy to be seen as the anti-Wilder candidate, and (2) Ms. McQuinn's campaign strategy to become the next Council President, it does not serve the public interest, quite the opposite.

As I have shown repeatedly, if all sides were serious about putting the public interest first, this latest political feud could be resolved without a pricey, political law suit that gets political candidates free campaign publicity at the expense of the public."

All it takes is leadership that puts the people, not the politicians, first.

Moreover, this latest chapter in Richmond's longest running political soap opera only diverts attention from the long-term fiscal issue: namely, the fiscal irresponsibility of both City Hall and City Council, which together have created a bloated budget that has given us the most expensive city hall in the state, the most expensive city council in the state, the most expensive school bureaucracy in the state, in point of fact a total city budget that wastes not only tens of millions but has become a far-too costly and growing burden on more and more residents.

We can not move Richmond forward by being (1) the most expensive city bureaucracy in the state: and being (2) last private sector job creation as the Kaine Administration shockingly found in it's study of the state's cities."

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2001 VA column gets recognized nationally even if is considered invisible by state leaders in 2008

2008-07-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

With the upcoming 2008 memorial dedication at the State Capitol, the leading 2001 article that has been declared invisible and never read here in Virginia by government leaders [even though a version of it also appeared on the top website covering state government and it was discussed openly] at least gets recognition nationally.

INCOMPLETE HISTORY CAPITOL SQUARE ISN'T TRUE REFLECTION OF VIRGINIA'S PAST
[FINAL Edition]

Daily Press - Newport News, Va.
Author: PAUL GOLDMAN Special to the Daily Press
Date: Aug 19, 2001
Start Page: I.1
Section: OUTLOOK
Text Word Count: 852

Abstract (Document Summary)
Gov. Gilmore and his administration concede our state capitol grounds will be the center of attention for hundreds of thousands of new tourists and the world media. Unfortunately, our governor and his fellow politicians appear to only see this event in terms of the money, estimated in the tens of millions, it will cost to repair and refurbish the Capitol Square grounds and facilities. Admittedly, Jefferson's Capitol, home to the oldest legislature in the new world and the governor's office, needs immediate and expensive maintenance.

All the new construction materials will not hide the obvious: there is not a single statue on the Capitol Square featuring an African-American or a female Virginian. The last new statue erected on the grounds was the likeness of Harry F. Byrd, the foremost segregationist in Virginia political history.

Staff photos (color) by BUDDY NORRIS; No statues on Richmond's Capitol grounds represent African- Americans or women. Those honored include Thomas J. Jackson, left, for his service as a soldier and patriot, Hunter Holmes McGuire, center, a civil and military surgeon, teacher and writer and William Smith, governor of Virginia in the mid-1800s. The newest statue on the state Capitol grounds is of harry Byrd. It faces the monument to George Washinton and the Capitol building. Staff photo (b&w) by BUDDY NORRIS Workers reconstruct walkways around the Capitol this week.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

Style Magazine features Goldman blog quotes

2008-07-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

Style Weekly [from the current edition]

July 16, 2008

Quotable Goldman

Snippets from Paul Goldman’s ceaseless e-mail blogs.
by Scott Bass

June 7, 2008

“Who let the dogs out!” … The Big Dogs — Grey, Jones and Pantele — and the big special interest power-brokers behind them are ready to chew up Richmond, get control of all that public money and patronage they covert … unless they are stopped by that little underdog, the one person not controlled by any special interest, “little Goldie” the guy who actually did all the hard work (big dogs are too big to do grunt work). …

“Who let the big dogs out?” indeed.

Woof, woof.

April 27, 2007

Off With Goldman’s Head! You can never find Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre [when] you need a man these days.

Shakespeare said, “The Law is an Ass.”

Take the Prisoner to the Tower!

If Goldman will not agree to the divorcee between the City and the Elected Mayor law, then cut off his head.

May 29, 2008

Surely, it is a sad day for Richmond when a City Councilman examines this area of government policy and believes it reasonable to conclude that existing city government policy actually results in a net loss of trees.

Feb. 22, 2008

So yes, I would be a Green Mayor.

Mayor Wilder should be embarrassed by the misleading "newsletter" sent out by his Administration

2008-07-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 14 July 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contact, 804-833-6313

Goldman says "at least this candidate for Mayor wants an honest, positive campaign, not more of the same kind of divisive politics that has so badly hurt Richmond starting with Fiasco Friday and continuing today."

"The time has come for the Wilder Administration to stop using public money, this time in their so-called "Visions Newsletter", to build a negative attack-case against a candidate for Mayor, in part by purposely failing to give the people all the relevant facts."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, released the following statement today regarding the latest version of Mayor Wilder's so-called "newsletter" produced and paid-for with public money:

" The Wilder Administration's so-called "Visions Newsletter" purposely fails to reveal a key fact in another tax-payer funded negative attack on a candidate for Mayor, although this attack was not by name, nor was it the only substance."

We read today in the so-called "Visions" newsletter the following, written and published using public dollars:

" In 1995, they [the public] voted 2-1 in favor of change to have the Mayor elected at-large and this proposal had the full support of Council, but it was stopped cold in the General Assembly by a former Richmond Mayor who substituted his own voice for the people's voice...

Why did the politicians repeatedly try to prevent change when the people so clearly called for it? Fortunately, the people knew that a change in government was essential to the future of Richmond. "

But this so-called "newsletter" purposely omits a pertinent newsworthy fact: Doug Wilder himself worked to block what the "people so clearly called for." That's right: What the Mayor now concedes was so vital to Richmond, what the Mayor now concedes was the basic fundamental democratic reform needed to get a Rodney Monroe to become Police Chief, he worked to make sure was "stopped cold in the General Assembly." Indeed, he has never been shy about discussing his role behind the scenes in that regard.

"You [the people] were patient in 1995 when narrow interests suppressed your voice to directly elect the Mayor" declares the newsletter at any other point.

Yet it was Doug Wilder who was one of those "narrow interests" that "suppressed" the voice of the people!

Do the writers of this missive have such a low opinion of the press and public that they feel we have no interest in a fair discussion of the facts?

In terms of this attack on Mr. Jones, the so-called "newsletter" attacks him for what they claim he did or didn't do relative to the 2003 referendum.

I see no reason to repeat this attack here.

But I do see a reason to remind the Mayor and others about why some of us took the lead position in doing all the real grunt work to make the Elected Mayor law a reality.

The Elected Mayor change was not only an effort at structural improvement, it was also an effort to move Richmond past the old politics of division. As the leader of the petition drive and the Referendum campaign, I said repeatedly it was not possible to build a new Richmond on the old, discredited, divisive politics.

Sadly, those writing the Wilder Administration's so-called "newsletter" either took no part in making all this historic change a reality, or have no real appreciation for how to move Richmond forward."

Mayor Wilder's Administration misreads the City Charter

2008-07-09T20:02:00.001-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 9 July 20009 - For Immediate Release

Mayor Wilder's Administration misreads the City Charter

Statement by the Mayor yesterday that the "City Charter states that the Mayor’s budget stands, and he can submit amendments at any time to adjust the budget as necessary" is legally incorrect.
(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor and author of the Elected Mayor law said today that "my friend Mayor Wilder is wrong in his interpretation of what he is obligated to do under the Elected Mayor law charter revisions if indeed his budget is, as he claims, the operative one for FY 2009."

"Assuming, for purposes of discussion, that the Wilder Administration wants to be taken seriously in this debate, then surely they can not have it both ways."

"As I pointed out earlier, Charter Section 6.16 imposes a specific and mandatory legal duty on the Mayor if his budget is the operative one and if he is going to keep the Council-passed tax rate." Charter section 6.16 reads:

6.16. Amendments after adoption.

..(c) If at any time during the fiscal year it appears probable to the Mayor that the revenue or fund balances available will be insufficient to finance the expenditures for which appropriations have been authorized, the Mayor shall report to the city council without delay, indicating the estimated amount of the deficit, any remedial action taken by the Mayor and recommendations as to any other steps to be taken. The council shall then take such further action as it deems necessary to prevent or reduce any deficit, and for that purpose it may by ordinance reduce one or more appropriations. [Emphasis added].

In a statement, Goldman continued:

"Since the Mayor has admitted that his budget, the one he says is the operative one, is out of balance and thus is a deficit budget requiring $ 6 million in cuts, then 6.16 applies immediately and imposes a clear legal obligation on the Mayor.

To date, the Mayor has not fulfilled this obligation."

-----------30 ---------------------------------

Goldman opposes proposed increases in state taxes on auto/consumer spending/housing sectors as bad economic policy given current realities

2008-07-09T05:07:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 9 July 08- For Immediate Release - Contact, 804-833-6313

Goldman opposes raising General Assembly proposals to raise taxes on auto industry, consumer spending as BAD ECONOMIC POLICY for Richmond and the Metro area right now.

"The job of Mayor is non-partisan and requires taking unpopular stands. So today I have to tell my fellow Democrats in the House of Delegates to the General Assembly that the working families and business owners of Richmond can not afford the tax increases being proposed on automobile sales and on consumer spending in our area."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that " Richmonder's live in the real world, and so must those elected to represent them. To be a leader, one has to be willing to do the unpopular thing if that is in the public interest. And while I respect my fellow Democrats in the General Assembly, the Mayor of Richmond is a non-partisan job."

"Yes, we have transportation issues to address both at the state and local levels. But there is a greater reality right now facing the people of Richmond and the Metro area: working families, and business owners, are facing an economic squeeze and moreover, there are several key components of our economic base under special pressure, such as the automobile sector."

" Unfortunately, there is no turnaround in the forseeable future. In case the members of the General Assembly have not been paying attention, car sales are falling, more than they have for many, many years."

"Recently, a leading banking and brokerage firm - that is to say among those such firms still left standing amid the Wall Street carnage - said it was possible General Motors might have to declare bankruptcy! GM stock is at it's lowest point since the Eisenhower Administration.

" As the new car industry goes, so goes the dominoes down the line, to the auto dealers, the auto repair sector and so on, with tens of thousands of jobs, and related business owners at risk."

"Bottom line: Regardless of where you may have studied economics, it is bad economic policy to raise taxes - that is to say increase government-mandated costs - on sectors during these kinds of contractions."

"Accordingly, I oppose such increases and urge Richmond legislators, Democrats and Republicans, to do the same.

"As for the housing tax increase being proposed for Northern Virginia, this is not related to the job of Mayor of Richmond. However, let me say that if the General Assembly tried to impose such an increased tax on our area, I would strongly oppose it, as once again, those who live in the real world know the economic squeeze facing the housing industry right now.

"And until the housing sector turns, the economy can not make a full recovery."

"The Day of No Women Need Apply" for Monument Avenue must end.

2008-07-01T05:32:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 1 July 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contract, 804-833-6313

Goldman says it is time for Richmond to enter the 21st century.

Proposes first-ever monument on Monument Avenue to honor the great historic achievements of the women of Richmond.

(Richmond) - "With all due respect for my friends at the Richmond Times Dispatch" said candidate Goldman, " the monument to the contributions of women I have proposed for Monument Avenue, and discussed in today's newspaper, was aimed at honoring the historic achievements of the women of Richmond, as clearly stated in the plan I announced on June 10th."

Below is a copy of the press release from that date.

Goldman for Mayor - 10 June 2008 - For Immediate Release

Jefferson Davis Statute Proposal Highlights Historic Void

"What we need on is Monument on Monument Avenue that honors the contributions of the women of Richmond whose achievements have been too long overlooked"

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said that "what is needed in Richmond is a monument on Monument Avenue to the contributions and achievements of the city's many historic women."

"Today's story about another proposed Statute of Jefferson Davis, this time at the Tredegar Iron Works, highlights this historic void" Goldman added.

In a statement, he continued:

"The Tredegar Iron Works doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the next Mayor and so unless asked, I don't think it is my place as a candidate for Mayor to be commenting on the news story unrelated to the election at hand.

But with the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment in the not too distant future, I do think it appropriate for a candidate for Mayor -given today's story - to point out that it highlights the need to fill what is surely a self-evident void, that is to say the lack of a monument on Monument Avenue to the contributions and achievements of Richmond's many historic women.

All the monuments are dedicated to men.

The time is long past that we had one dedicated to the many remarkable women of one of the most historic cities in America.

If given the honor to serve as Mayor, I will make it one of my priorities to set in motion a process for having such a monument constructed for dedication on Monument Avenue in time for the 1920 celebration of the 19th amendment to our Constitution."

----------------------------30 -------------------------

School Board Member Keith West praises Goldman as only candidate challenging education status quo, backs Goldman call for citywide School Uniforms

2008-06-30T04:53:00.001-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 30 June 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contact, 804-833-6313

7th District School Board member Keith West says "Goldman is the only candidate willing to challenge the failed status quo and call for a badly needed citywide School Uniform policy. He will be the Education Mayor."

West will join Goldman at 11AM press conference at Bellevue Elementary School, 2301 East Grace Street. .

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today" he was proud to stand with school reformer Keith West, who has been far ahead of the rest of us in realizing that a citywide School Uniform policy is something we need do at the start of the new school year. It doesn't require millions more dollars, indeed it will save parents money. It can begin to change the culture of our schools, and teach our children to "dress for success" and compete for better grades, not for who has the "coolest" sneakers, clothing and jewelry."

Mr. West, who represents the 7th district on the School Board said that "Paul Goldman offers change we can believe in. The RTD said Paul was the "Idea Man", the only candidate running with real credibility as a champion of the average Richmonder fed-up with a failed status quo. Style Magazine called Paul the "man who Got Things Done."

"So when Paul says he will roll up his sleeves and work with others to make the changes we need in education, it isn't just campaign rhetoric, he is the only candidate with a proven record of bringing people together to make such changes, his "City of the Future" plan to modernize our schools just one example of why he will be the Education Mayor."

Mr. West and Mr. Goldman will be discussing the need for a citywide school uniform policy at the their Press Conference today, 11 AM in front of the Bellevue Elementary School on 2301 East Grace Street."

-----------------------------------------------30--------------------------------------------

Goldman Says Time to Turn the Page on the Old Politics of Richmond

2008-06-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

For immediate release, 7 March 2008 - Goldman for Mayor: Contact, 804-833-6313

Statement of Paul Goldman:

" "As the candidate of change and unity in this election, recognized by Style Weekly as the "Man Who Got Things Done" by taking the lead to work with others, the new budget proposals from City Hall amount to an "Old Politics" budget that fails the city's middle class, it's kids especially those in city schools, the private sector and business community we need to produce the jobs, and most importantly, it fails the city's future.

We need to turn the page on not just the type of rhetoric the Richmond Times Dispatch and columnist Michael Paul Williams rightly say today has no place coming from a Mayor of Richmond, but also on a budget that unfairly punishes hard-working taxpayers in order to pay for a wasteful government, indeed the continued refusal of the Executive and Legislative branches of city government to practice what they so self-righteously preach down to the rest of us.

This "Old Politics" budget has record high taxes, record high spending, record high perks and salaries for the few at the expensive of struggling families that work hard, and record high waste if you believe the City Auditor and other reports.

This is not what those of us who worked so hard to get the Elected Mayor referendum on the ballot wanted in 2003.

This is one reason my campaign has proposed the "Richmond Unity Council" so that we can turn the page, and get a bold new "It's a We thing, not a Me thing" mayoral leadership to make Richmond all it can be working together."

------------------------------------------- 30 --------------------------

Goldman says City Hall and City Council being fiscally irresponsible

2008-06-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

Press release - Goldman for Mayor - March 11, 2008 - Contact: 804-833-6313

Goldman calls on Mayor, Council to make immediate spending cuts

"Since money is tight, as they concede, then why aren't the Mayor and City Council developing new plans for immediate spending cuts right now, as opposed to arguing about how large a tax increase, and how large an increase in record bureaucratic spending, they want to impose on Richmonders in the new budget staring July 1 of this year?"

(Richmond) - Calling on the Mayor and City Council to "stop arguing about how much they want to raise taxes and start acting to cut wasteful spending", Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, called on the city's elected leaders "take immediate action to cut spending since there potentially millions to save, by their own admission, during the last 3 1/2 months of this budget year."

Statement by Paul Goldman:

" Right now, City Council and the Mayor are arguing over how high to raise taxes on the public, how high to raise the salaries, perks and retirement benefits of their top aides, and how high to raise bureaucratic spending in next year's budget which starts on July 1, 2008.

But what is really needed by the people right now, as the economic crunch on Richmonders grows worse, is for the Mayor and City Council to stop bickering about how high they want to tax and spend, and start working together to make immediate reductions in the political lard of wasteful bureaucratic spending that is part of the current budget, as they have been forced to now concede given state reports, audits by the city officials, investigations by newspaper reporters and the findings of fiscally responsible citizens.

If the Mayor and City Council were serious about finally making an effort to reduce the record high wasteful administrative spending in the current city budget they passed last year, they could work together to save millions of dollars during the remainder of March, through April, May, and June. This period encompasses over a quarter of the current budget.

Since money is tight, as they concede, then why aren't the Mayor and City Council developing new plans for immediate spending cuts right now, as opposed to arguing about how large a tax increase, and how large an increase in record bureaucratic spending, they want to impose on Richmonders in the new budget staring July 1 of this year?"

-------------------------------------------------------------- 30 -----------------

Goldman takes lead in challenging flawed fiscal policies of City Hall and City Council

2008-06-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 23, April 2008 - For Immediate Release

Goldman wants a "new budget process" and "new fiscal responsibility" at City Hall and City Council. .

"For reasons discussed below, the higher taxes and fees demanded by City Hall and City Council of Richmonders has not been justified

(Richmond) - Mayoral candidate Paul Goldman, who fronted the money and led the petition drive to get Richmonders the right to elect their Mayor by 2004, called for a new budget process and new fiscal thinking at City Hall and City Council. "The new form of government, which flows from the Elected Mayor law and charter changes that I was instrumental in getting enacted in to law, was intended by myself and others to be a way to significantly reduce the bureaucracy and cut wasteful spending: instead, it is now being used to do the opposite."

Goldman continued:

"Sadly, despite my work and that of others, City Hall and City Council, while praising and passing many of my reforms and ideas, has come-up short on the implementation side, as has been demonstrated in news accounts by reporters for the Richmond Times Dispatch, the Richmond Free Press, Style Weekly, and television news journalists such as Mark Holmberg and others working for WTRV, WRIC, and WWBT.

As Councilman Bruce Tyler has pointed out, complacency when it comes to such bloated and unnecessary spending is a "close second cousin to corruption" in terms of it's ultimate wasting of public dollars.

In that regard, City Hall and City Council have used the new form of government to justify increased wasteful and unnecessary spending, not reduce it.

We have the oldest schools in the state and the newest, most bloated bureaucratic government spending.

So until we get a real anti-spending plan, containing the kinds of tough, fiscal policies I have championed over the years to cut out this kind of unjustified spending, the new tax and fee increases proposed by City Hall and City Council cannot be justified based on my knowledge and educational training in public finance and administration."

City Council ducking responsibility to require full accounting of upwards of $1 million dollars

2008-06-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 6 May 2008 - For Immediate Release

After months of tough talk, City Council still refusing to meet it's responsibilities under section § 4.16 of the City Charter despite finding that nearly $ 1 Million dollars in public money has been wasted, if not illegal spent

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor and author of the original Elected Mayor law ballot referendum, said today the report of the Council's investigatory committee into what it concedes is the waste of nearly $ 1 million dollars continues a pattern of months of tough talk from City Council, yet a continued "refusal by Council to meet it's responsibilities under the City Charter, offering again more proof that Council's failed oversight is encouraging waste in city government."

"Whoever said talk is cheap wasn't living in Richmond at the time" said Mr. Goldman. " The people of Richmond once again see that the cost of lip service, that the cost of City Council talking tough but failing to meet the responsibilities given it - not once but twice - under the new form of government has contributed to what Council Bruce Tyler concedes is a culture of city government complacency, which he himself said was a close second cousin to corruption."

In a statement, Mr. Goldman continued:

" The people are paying millions for this culture of complacency. The original Elected Mayor law enacted in 2004 included City Charter section § 4.16, a provision that includes the basic checks and balances long regarded as necessary to prevent millions of dollars of wasteful spending by city government. This provision, entitled "Powers of investigation" has long been approved by the General Assembly of Virginia.

Then again, in 2006, this same City Charter section § 4.16, entitled "Powers of investigation", was re-enacted with a few minor technical corrections.

Mayor Wilder supported it, City Council supported it, the General Assembly of Virginia passed it, and Governor Kaine signed it.

They knew section § 4.16 was necessary to protect the public treasury and to make it clear to the people of Richmond that their tax dollars would be protected, not only because such specific instances like "Fiasco Friday" might involve hugely wasteful, if not illegal expenditures, but in addition, a failure of oversight on part of City Council or City Hall would encourage the very culture of governmental complacency that leads to more and more wasting of the people's money.

As the head of the Council's investigatory committee concedes, the Council still has failed to meet it's responsibilities under section § 4.16.

We need to end the culture of complacency not only in city government, but likewise the one apparently operating on City Council because once again, we have proof that it is costing the people of Richmond millions of dollars.

Talk is not, and has not, been cheap in Richmond: it is time for City Council to meet it's responsibilities as envisioned by the people, the General Assembly and the Governor when section § 4.16 was enacted."

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Green "DNA" must be part of new City Building Code

2008-06-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 7 May 2008 - For Immediate Release

"A green DNA must be part of the City's future building code"
-
(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that "one of the 10 fundamental changes the next Mayor has work with others in the community to achieve is make a green DNA part of the City's future building code, for it will have tremendous economic and environmental benefits for our city during the 21st century."

"If we turn the page on the failed politics of the past and embrace the cooperative leadership style that my new "Richmond Unity Council" proposal will bring to our town, then we can give our citizens and their children the enhanced quality of life, both now and in the future, that they deserve."

" This is one reason I have worked so hard with others to give Richmonder's a new way to modernize what has become a Separate and Unequal system of educational opportunities due to the fact that our city has the oldest such school facilities in Virginia according to a recent state study."

" Modernizing old facilities is not only mandatory in terms of education, but such modernization, if done right, is most environmentally friendly and cost-effective as a recent newspaper article points out."

"As the adage goes, the "future is now" and given the growing realities in terms of comparative economics and developing environmental markers, Richmond needs to accept the challenge of being a leader in the 21st century."

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Turn City Treasurer Into Money-saving Fiscal Watchdog

2008-06-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Goldman Proposes bold change for Office of City Treasurer to save millions

"When it comes to trusting the people vs the politicians, I trust the people"

(Richmond) - Saying that the "City Council, by admitting the current city budget wastes millions of dollars" has made the case for the need to a truly independent city auditor, Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today. The only way to ensure that "millions more of public money isn't wasted" is to create a "truly independent city auditor not tied to the failed politics of the past."

"City Council concedes there continues to be many millions in wasteful if not worse spending" said Goldman "and yet, while blaming the Executive Branch, they fail to accept responsibility for having voted for the very budget they say wastes all this public money!"

"We need to turn the page on the old blame game and take a new bold approach."

In a statement, Paul Goldman continued:

" In 2003, those of us willing to lead the effort for change created a new form of government for the purpose of bringing needed accountability to City Hall and City Council to end the waste of millions of the people's money.

Based on recent news reports, even City Hall and City Council concede this has not happened almost 5 years later.

Accordingly, we need a truly independent auditor, someone who never has to worry about whether he or she might lose their job due to pressure from the politicians on City Council or in City Hall on account of any audit project.

Therefore, I propose that the City Treasurer be given the city auditor function, thus transferring that legal responsibility to an independently elected official accountable to the people. When it comes to a choice between trusting the people vs the politicians on protecting the public's money, my vote goes to the people of Richmond.

There are no perfect solutions. But Article VII, Section 4 of the State Constitution allows the General Assembly to amend the City Charter to reshape the office of Richmond City Treasurer into a position that includes a truly independent audit function, allowing it to be fearless in doing the type of audits and making the necessary proposals needed to finally stop all this many millions in wasteful spending.

Unfortunately,City Hall and City Council remain stuck in the old politics on this issue, again debating creating yet another old-style bureaucratic entity tonight.

We need to turn the page from this old politics.

The General Assembly has the power to free Richmond from the failed politics of the past and save us millions. During my campaign for Mayor, I will be seeking the support of the people to do just that. If elected, I am confident the new City Council will work with me to make this needed change."

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Goldman proposes First-in-the-nation "Richmond Unity Council"

2008-06-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 14 May 2008 - For Immediate Release

Goldman: "While it would admittedly be unique, I predict that whether I win or lose, a Richmond Unity Council will be created next year by the next Mayor"

This Citizen-dominated panel "will turn the page on the old politics of division, and forge the unity we need to make Richmond all it can and should be."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said that the creation of a "Richmond Unity Council" is an idea whose "time has come" here in Richmond "based on the overwhelmingly positive reaction to this forward-looking, admittedly unprecedented plan, that I am getting from citizens going door to door collecting petitions."

"Admittedly it is unique, as best I can tell from my studies of public administration. But the people of Richmond are telling me they are ready for it" Goldman continued.

In a statement, Mr. Goldman said:

"With the leaders of City Hall and City Council continuing to blame each for the constant and hugely expensive bickering, record taxes and fees, many millions in wasteful if not seemingly at times illegal spending, and a laundry list of failed promises, it has become clear we need to turn the page on this old, failed politics.

And we can.

The Richmond Unity Council will consist of 10 citizens chosen on the basis of their work in the private, non-for-profit, business, community, education, environmental, financial, housing, public safety and related sectors, along with 8 of city's top elected or appointed government officials. It will be chaired by the next Mayor. The membership will also consist of the 17 other individuals as listed below, making a total of 18, the same number as the state Council on Virginia's Future.

The Richmond Unity Council will meet every three weeks, at the same time and place, with all meetings open to the public, and in its advisory capacity, review the current policy, plans and operational performance of city government, with the goal of developing better ways for all of us to work together to improve our city. The public will be able to ask the group questions and every such inquiry will be answered either then or not later than the next meeting.

Having now been able to discuss this idea with citizens over the past many weeks, I have taken into consideration their advice and made some revisions in the membership since first announcing the plan this past winter."

The Members of the Richmond Unity Council will be:

Mayor
Chief Administrative Officer
City Council President,
City Council Vice-President
School Board Chair
Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools
A member of Richmond's delegation to the General Assembly appointed by the delegation
The Police Chief/Fire Chief [given their duties, one or the other will attend each meeting]
A citizen representing the Richmond business community appointed by the Mayor
A citizen representing the Richmond small business community appointed by City Council
A citizen representing Richmond higher education community appointed by the Mayor
A citizen with a record of doing volunteer work in our public schools appointed by City Council
A citizen with a background in vocational education appointed by the Unity Council
A citizen representing neighborhood associations appointed by City Council
A citizen with a record of community involvement in affordable housing chosen by the Mayor
A citizen with a record of community involvement in public safety issues chosen by the Richmond Unity Council
A citizen with a record of involvement in "green issues" appointed by the Mayor
A citizen with a record of improving the delivery, and reducing the cost, of government services appointed by the Richmond Unity Council

Goldman Only Candidate Opposed to Record Taxes and Spending in City Council budget

2008-06-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 20 May 2008 - For Immediate Release: Contact, 804-833-6313

Goldman: "Last month, a leader of City Council was criticizing City Hall for wanting record high taxes and wasteful spending even though City Hall said money was tight. Yet, while Council now concedes money is tight, they have too have now proposed record high real estate taxes and city government spending on citizens and businesses."

(Richmond) Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, says that while he is "pleased City Council adopted my proposal of abolishing those undocumented and wasteful car allowances given to as perks to a handful of high-level government employees" he gives the proposed Council budget an "overall failing F grade due the fact that it is out of touch with the economic squeeze being faced by many in Richmond's business community and far too many of our citizens."

"There is an economic squeeze being felt right now in the private sector, affecting so many businesses and Richmond workers and their families. But City Council either doesn't see it, or refuses to see it and this can be shown in part by their refusal to make sure as much of the wasteful spending of city government that could be cut will be cut. This can be seen not only on my own analysis of the bloated city government structure, but also on the findings, reported for all citizens to read in the newspapers, of the audits conducted by City Council's own appointed city auditor" Goldman said.

"Last month, "Goldman continued " a leader of city council was criticizing the Mayor for saying money was tight yet asking for record high spending and taxes.

"Yet now, while City Council concedes that money is tight, they too want record high real estate taxes and wasteful spending.

"We need to stop this same ole, same old budget game. We need a real change in the city's budget process and I have already detailed a plan for how this is going to happen in a Goldman Administration, saving many millions of dollars for citizens while reshaping a bloated administrative structure so that we can get a better, less costly and far more efficient delivery of services to the people."

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Goldman 12 point "Success for Life Education Plan"

2008-06-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 27 May 2008 - For Release at 11:15 AM, Contact: 804-833-6313

12 Point "Success for Life Education Plan" announced

Backs school uniform standards, merit pay, Green school construction, "Zero-to-Five" care and education initiative, mandatory health examinations, mandatory improvement in teacher credentials for teaching math and science, new advisory boards to help schools improve, better use of new City Charter authority to make school spending more cost-efficient, and a new success-pay initiative that will apply to the new School Superintendent, top RPS officials and the School Board.

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that " as Richmond begins the search for a new School Superintendent, I believe it is incumbent on a candidate for Mayor to lay out the new ideas and new vision he would hope the new Superintendent would be willing to seriously consider, if not already share."

"My "Success for Life Education Plan" is so entitled because I believe what Senator Barack Obama had to say last November 10th was absolutely right, and so I have endeavored to bring together proposals expressed in his campaign platform, along with those of Senators Clinton and McCain, educational leaders along with adding my own ideas for a broad, non-partisan approach that can achieve real and successful change."

"Over the next few months, I will be adding other ideas and proposals, as we have our discussion on education, public safety, and the other issues facing our City."

In a statement, Goldman continued:

"In order to make sure we all work together to make all the progress we can, the Goldman Administration will enact the "Richmond Unity Council", so that the Mayor and the new School Superintendent, along with 6 other top city officials and 10 independent citizens, can work together on a regular basis to improve education, public safety and other areas.

In recent years, the Richmond Public School system has made progress. I applaud the efforts of all those responsible.

But any objective analysis of all the results has to conclude that given the per-pupil cost, the dropout rate, the SOL and SAT scores, disruption incidents and other relevant statistics, we continue to risk doing what Senator Obama rightly says our community must not permit.

We need to reject the same ole, same ole, and embrace fundamental changes for the good of our children and our community.

"Success for Life Education" Plan, part one:

* Support the use of school uniform standards, the precise definition I of course leave to the School Board and School Superintendent.

* Support the use of merit pay, on a system wide basis, as part of a comprehensive
plan to address compensation issues .

* Support the implementation of the my historic phase 1 "Construction Initiative" -
there have now beenseveral years of delay - which is the educational component
to my original "City
of the Future" plan. We should already be working on plans for phase 2. The delays
has already cost taxpayers many millions of dollars besides denying our children 21st
century "Green facilities", giving Richmond the unacceptable
distinction, at least to me, of having the oldest city schools in the state.

* Support a "Zero to Five" plan, aimed at providing needed assistance to young children
and parents at the earliest possible time.

* Support doubling the availability of after-school programs.

* Support implementation of my "Mobile Health Van" initiative which will provide free, and
mandatory health examinations [unless the parents provide proof that the child has already
received a health care exam ] to students to make sure we start attacking the root causes
of many physical and psychological issues facing youngsters at an early stage when
they are best addressed. We mandate health exams as a requirement to participate
in school sports. I would hope the School Superintendent and School Board would follow
the lead of other jurisdictions in making periodic health exams [3rd grade, 6th grade,
9th grade etc] likewise a requirement for all students to attend that grade.

* Support a "Math and Science Education" instructional priority by
addressing the need to greatly improve - in a mandatory way - the math and science
credentials of those teaching these subjects in city public schools both currently
and in the future.

* Support a "21st century Teacher Recruitment and Retention" initiative that will ask
local business leaders the area's educational community, and state government officials
to join the new Mayor in developing a public/private package of housing assistance, debt
repayment, residency scholarship and grant funds, and graduate degree advancement
incentives to keep and attract top college graduates as a way to encourage them to make
a career teaching in Richmond's public schools especially those
schools with the greatest educational needs.

* Support new approaches to address what national political and educational leaders
have admitted is a "dropout crisis" affecting not only Richmond but many inner city
school districts.

*Call on the School Board to adopt my "Advisory School Board" patterned after the
successful effort at Richmond Community High School, an idea I presented last month as
an initiative for George Wythe High School as a start.

*Pledge to far better use the budget authority that I worked to help get added to the City
Charter in order to better protect taxpayer dollars going for education, reduce wasteful
administrative costs in the Richmond Public School system, and thus provide a more
cost- efficient use of school dollars at great benefit to students and great savings to taxpayers.

*Support unprecedented success-pay initiative for School Superintendent, top RPS officials
and the School Board that will provide financial incentives for meeting tough,
new performance results

Goldman Only Candidate Opposed to City Hall and City Council's failed tree policy

2008-06-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

Bruce,

Your meeting last night was very informative and I thank you for holding it. However, it would be remiss not to point out that back in November of last year, the Richmond Times Dispatch put City Council on notice about the tree policy you said last night needed to be changed. In an article entitled "City chops down 5 times as many trees as it plants", reporter Michael Martz had already exposed the situation in time, meaning City Council has actually at 6 MONTHS of full public notice to take the actions you said last night needed to be taken.

Accordingly, the actual situation relative to trees chopped down vs new trees planted appears to be far worse than you discussed although perhaps the RTD and you were using different parameters for analysis. While this is an important numerical matter to resolve, it doesn't change the following:

To wit, City Council has been on notice for more than sufficient time to resolve many of the things you correctly pointed out last night needed to be resolved relative to trees.

We need a new and better policy on trees ASAP, it is long overdue, and based on my analysis, I believe you and Council can make it happen in 2008.

I wish you success. But rest assured that on my first day, if elected, as Richmond's new Mayor, you are invited to my office to help develop, along with others, a plan of action that will start the process of putting in place whatever ordinances and management policies are required to fix whatever may still need fixing in terms of city trees.

Again, enjoyed the meeting.

Sincerely,

Paul Goldman

"Fishy" 18 Million dollar City Contract Needs to be Investigated

2008-06-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 8 June 2008 - For Immediate Release: Contact, 804-833-6313

Independent Investigatory Commission into "fishy" $18 million city contract, indeed the entire operation of the City Finance Department, now needed. .

Council's failure to do it all it could do to get to the bottom on the costly Fiasco Friday school episode "demonstrates that they are still too tied to the old failed accountability system to be trusted to getting to the bottom of what could be one of the most high-profile influence-peddling scandals in city history."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today "that when I led the effort to get the Elected Mayor law on the 2003 referendum ballot, it was to help rid city government of the influence-peddling and special interest power-brokering that had too long been part of the way City Council and City Hall operated."

"I said at the time that City Council and City Hall were either incapable or unwilling to do what needed to be done in terms of preventing such abuse of the public treasury. So we needed a new broom, one I took to City Hall when I became the first person to ever demand a full, public accounting of the millions in public money spent on another project, my suspicions later proven true in an investigation by the City Auditor."

"Now, in a front-page RTD story, we discover that a contract for $18.4 has been awarded to an out-of-state company for "work that most local governments handle themselves" according to reporter David Ress."

"As the only person running for Mayor with a Masters in Public Administration, I am greatly concerned about what has now been revealed by Mr. Ress."

In a statement, Mr. Goldman continued:

One member of Council said the work "could easily be handled in-house" according Mr. Ress' story, adding that Councilman Bruce Tyler, an architect, said "the proposed cost of the contract is far above what's normal for project management".

In commenting on the fees at issue, the "amount was just ridiculous," said Council President William J. Pantele as quoted by Mr. Ress."

So my MPA training makes me ask: What is really going on here?

We all also discovered this morning that the City Finance Office concedes it was "also trying to basically use this as a model for how the city may do all of its business down the road" leaving open the question as to what other public operations have been conducted in this manner by City Hall in conjunction with other people who have similar kinds of connections as mentioned in the Ress story.

It is now also clear our school children have suffered do to the failure of City Hall and City Council to clean-up the mess they have created over the years.

While City Hall and City Council will likely engage once again in another round of finger-pointing over this latest revelation, the fact is we have a "fishy", unprecedented contract raising serious questions about influence-peddling and special interest power-brokering in the spending of millions of public dollars that neither has saw fit to fully investigate to date.

Sadly, it is therefore necessary to conclude that we need to create as soon as possible a Independent Investigatory Commission mandated to get to the bottom of this $18 million contract and the operations of the City Finance Office. If our current elected leaders are unwilling to create one, then I promise the following to the people of Richmond: If elected Mayor, I will use my authority under the Elected Mayor law that I wrote to authorize such an investigation, giving it's members full access to all City Hall documents, and mandating them to write a report that let's their investigative chips fall wherever they may.
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Goldman Wants Full Public Accounting of Tens of Millions in Public Funds

2008-06-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 28 May 2008- For Immediate Release

Goldman wants full accounting of all public monies connected to the failed $100 Million Downtown Arts Center project, the new Arts Center project, and a review of the operating subsidy agreed-to by the City Council and City Hall.

"Given that Mr. Pantele just voted for record taxes and wasteful spending despite the economic squeeze facing Richmond citizens, and Mr. Grey supported City Hall's budget that had would have imposed even higher record taxes and wasteful spending on the public, I think a full accounting and review of all the public monies involved and expended on these Arts Center projects is required before the new city budget is finalized."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that with Bill Pantele and Robert Grey "getting ready to announce their candidacies" the time has come for full-accountability on all the public monies involved with the failed $100 Million Downtown Arts Center project, the new Arts Center project, and of course the operating subsidy deal agreed-to by the City Council and City Hall."

"Bill and Robert were major supporters of the failed $100 Million Downtown Arts Center project, and backed the unprecedented move of raising a general public tax to directly benefit a private development project without requiring even the most basic of financial oversight. Moreover, supporters of the project promised the public they would not ask, nor need, a public operating subsidy.

Those lobbying for imposing higher taxes and higher wasteful spending on the people of Richmond, for public and private projects, already have powerful allies at City Hall and in City Council.

The next Mayor has to be someone who can be an independent voice for the people, willing to champion the public interest, willing to protect the public treasury: for if the Mayor cannot do it, then it will not be done.

As Bill and Robert know, it took my "City of the Future" plan to finally provide a fiscally responsible path to actually get the Carpenter Center modernized. So my support of the arts is well-known in objective circles.

But there is a difference between fiscally responsible support, and a fiscally irresponsible waste of public money on a fiscally irresponsible $100 Million project.

The Elected Mayor law that I wrote was intended to create an independent Mayor, answerable only to the people, not another cheer-leader for the High Tax and Spend Lobby, especially with the economic squeeze facing the citizens of Richmond."

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New study says Richmond School Administration significantly overstating the High School graduation rate

2008-06-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 20 June 2008 - For Immediate Release: Contact, 804-833-6313

New study funded in part by the Gates Foundation and published on the highly respected "Education Week" magazine's online site analyzes data from around the country

"Given the results of what is surely the most comprehensive study of graduation rates not just in Virginia but every Congressional district in America, it appears the graduation rate claimed by the Richmond Public School Administration is considered significantly inflated by objective, national education experts."

"We can't move Richmond forward when you have to go back and back again to recheck the basic numbers claimed by the School Administration, City Hall and City Council"

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that "it is time the School Administration, along with City Hall and City Council, are all taught the most basic lesson of all: inflating things to make yourself look good only makes matters worse for citizens you are expected to serve."

In a statement Goldman continued:

"How can we move Richmond forward when we constantly have to go back and back to check on the basic things claimed by those responsible in government?

Let me quote from this new report:

"Analyses conducted for Diplomas Count by the EPE Research Center also continue to show wide disparities between state-reported graduation rates and the center’s estimates"

First, we learn that the basic formula used in Virginia - so this is not just a Richmond problem, but actually one shared by 32 states - significantly - and knowingly - overstates graduation rates.

Second, we learn that this "wide disparity" may actually be wider still for Richmond although this can not be definitively determined by the statistics in this new study.

It is not possible to make the best policy decisions regarding the future of education in Richmond by using bad statistics.

This new report points to several fundamental changes that can be made to help improve our ability to make the right decisions moving forward.

In that regard, it must also be noted that the report indicates that State Education officials have not done all they need to do, and should do, to assist local school districts in setting the necessary standards of measurement.

As Mayor, I pledge to work with school officials and state officials to get the job done, for to do less is to let down the students, their parents, and all the school teachers and officials who work so hard every day to achieve the full progress we all want for our children.

In addition, I should add that if City Hall and City Council had acted several years ago on my "City of the Future" plan's commitment to vocational education, and if city government and the School Administration will move quickly on my proposal for a first-in-the-nation charter school for Vocational Education, then we will be able to add hundreds and hundreds of students to the graduation honor roll."

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Goldman Wants Monument on Monument Avenue Honoring Richmond's historic women in time for 2020 celebration

2008-06-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 10 June 2008 - For Immediate Release - [Excerpts]

"What we need... is a Monument on Monument Avenue that honors the contributions of the women of Richmond whose achievements have been too long overlooked"

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said that "what is needed in Richmond is a monument on Monument Avenue to the contributions and achievements of the city's many historic women."

"Today's story about ...Jefferson Davis...highlights this historic void" Goldman added.

In a statement, he continued:

"The Tredegar Iron Works doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the next Mayor and so unless asked, I don't think it is my place as a candidate for Mayor to be commenting on the news story...

But with the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment in the not too distant future, I do think it appropriate for a candidate for Mayor -given today's story - to point out that it highlights the need to fill what is surely a self-evident void, that is to say the lack of a monument on Monument Avenue to the contributions and achievements of Richmond's many historic women.

All the monuments are dedicated to men.

If given the honor to serve as Mayor, I will make it one of my priorities to set in motion a process for having such a monument constructed for dedication on Monument Avenue in time for the 1920 celebration of the 19th amendment to our Constitution."

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'Live-in Richmond" Initiative for Teachers, Police, Fire Fighters

2008-06-28T12:51:00.001-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 18 June 2008 - For Immediate Release - Contact 804-833-6313

Goldman Plan: First-in-the-Nation New Home Initiative for Teachers,
Police Officers, and Fire Fighters to turn current housing market to city's advantage

"Live In A Richmond Home Initiative" aimed at getting the best, and keeping the best, with
unprecedented financial incentives aimed at the American dream of home ownership

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said that "we need a new, unprecedented initiative to attract the best of the new generation entering the workforce and also make sure we keep, indeed attract those proven performers in education, law enforcement and fire fighting. At the same time, we also need to address the issue of the many homes in our town in need of being fixed-up so they add, not subtract, to the quality of life in our neighborhoods. And thirdly, given the current economic situation including the housing downturn expected to last for another year, there are many beautiful homes in our city that are not being sold despite the fact there is a willing seller prepared to make a very attractive deal with a willing buyer."

"So" Goldman continued, "I got to thinking: why can't we marry these three situations into one new and unprecedented approach to move Richmond forward?"

In a statement, Goldman continued:

"We can. My "Live In A Richmond Home Initiative" will create a win-win-win situation for taxpayers, teachers, and those on the front lines keeping us safe, neighborhoods with properties in need of fixing, and homeowners being hit by the current housing slump. There are opportunities being made available in the housing sector due to current economic and credit conditions.

But that can be a win-win-win for both buyer and seller, since the seller might not otherwise be able to sell his or her house despite having a need to do it.

Leaders don't give up during tough times, they figure out ways to move Richmond forward. .

The American dream of home ownership is a powerful incentive. I want to harness that dream, and that incentive, to make Richmond attract to those future teachers with the best credentials coming out of college and those current teachers with the best performances in educating our children. The same for police officers and fire fighters, those brave men and women on the front lines battling to keep us safe. We need them not only working in Richmond, but living in Richmond.

Accordingly, I believe we need to create a "Live In A Richmond Home Initiative" financial mechanism to make homes in need of repair, along with those homes that would normally sell in a short period of time but have not attracted a buyer due to current economic and credit conditions, available to those in public service with the talent and credentials we need to build a better Richmond.

I would urge the Mayor to act on this right now. If that is not the case, if elected, I will ask Richmond's top public and private finance experts to develop a financing mechanism whereby the city can lead the way in developing a plan to make these these homes available to qualifying teachers, police officers, and fire fighters as part of a compensation package aimed at attracting them to live and work in Richmond, or to keep them here, as the situation may be on a case by case basis.

For example, the best qualified new college graduate in the teaching profession might not have the credit rating to get a loan for a starter home. Yet he or she has the good job to pay the mortgage terms we can provide. Or a proven, experienced police officer whose family is in need of a bigger home might not have the cash for the down payment. But again, we know he or she can surely afford the mortgage payments in the financial arrangement the city can develop.

Or there could be any number of other financial wrinkles that would normally make it impossible for that individual to own his or her own home even though the city can develop a plan that we know is affordable due to their salary as a teacher, fire fighter or police officer. .

Accordingly, if the city uses it's financial status wisely and prudently, then there should be a practical and prudent way to make home ownership a dream for these individuals while at the same time, structuring an arrangement that will not only completely protect the city, but actually make the city money in the long run.

I know this can be done. Everyone wins when we do it right.

By giving a talented new teacher, a dedicated police officer, or a proven educator a chance for part of the American dream that she or he might not otherwise be able to attain, we will cement a bond between them and our community the value of which will pay big dividends to our children and our quality of life for years and years to come."

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Goldman Stands Alone in Protecting The Riverfront

2008-06-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 20 June 2008 - For Immediate Release -

Goldman Stood Alone Last Night Against the Those Who Want to "pave paradise and put up a parking lot" (copyright acknowledgement below)

As reported this morning by Will Jones, Paul Goldman was the only candidate last night who "called for land along the James River to be preserved."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that "it is now clear that my vision for Richmond is the only one that can be trusted to protect the Riverfront for future generations."

"Once again, I am the only candidate opposed to Echo Harbour and the only future Mayor who can be trusted to be innovative, informed, and independent when it comes to siding with the public interest, not the special interests of the special interests."

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Big Yellow Taxi

by Joni Mitchell

Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got Till it's gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lotThey took all the trees Put 'em in a tree museum And they charged the people A dollar and a half just to see 'em Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got Till it's gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot
Copyright © Siquomb Publishing Company

Goldman The Only Candidate Opposed to Echo Harbour

2008-06-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 13 June 08 - For Immediate Release 2

Goldman opposes Echo Harbor says "Grey/Jones/Pantele can run but they can't hide" as Joe Louis pointed out many years ago."

Goldman says that "as lawyers, my friends Mr. Grey and Mr. Pantele know that silence is considered acceptance" in these kinds of matters.

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, said today that "it is telling that I remain the only leading candidate for Mayor willing to protect the Riverfront and all it means to the future of our City by stating my clear and principled opposition to the Echo Harbor project that continues to receive political aid and comfort from my opponent's continued refusal to join me in public opposition."

In a statement, Paul continued:

"Given the news in today's RTD concerning yet another twist and turn as regards City Hall and it's activities over time, the Echo Harbour proceeds apace.

Indeed, as the project's lawyer, James W. Theobald told the RTD today, the "the original plan" is the one they are still determined to build.

Clearly, the continued silence of Mr. Grey, Mr. Jones and Mr. Pantele is giving him and the Echo Harbour developers hope that should any of them get to be Mayor, then the sky is the limit to use a pun for this High Rise project that will destroy one of the great scenic treasures of Richmond.

So while I am the only candidate willing to do the right thing and state my public, principled opposition to Echo Harbour, and thereby protect the Riverfront for future generations, I believe the public is on my side.

It is time to say No, once and for all, to Echo Harbour."
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Goldman "Economic Growth" Plan for Richmond

2008-06-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Goldman for Mayor - 23 June 08 - For Immediate Release - Contact, 804-833-6313 -

"We can not become a first tier city, we can not reduce the economic, social and governmental costs of poverty, while running last in job creation."

"My "Economic Growth" agenda - which will drive down taxes and the cost of government by giving families new hope by helping to lift them out of poverty - is centered on creating more jobs and more businesses in Richmond, not more Echo Harbour type projects."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, announced today a comprehensive "Economic Growth" plan based on a basic economic premise:

"Richmond can not become a first tier city, Richmond can not reduce the economic, social and governmental costs of poverty, while running last in job creation."

Goldman continued. " When Governor Kaine's Urban Policy Task Force studied the state's 19 largest independent cities, they made a startling discovery: Richmond ranked last in the category they called "employment growth." Truth is, "employment growth" really was a misnomer when discussing Richmond, for the Kaine Administration found that in our River City, jobs had actually declined by 6500 in the first half of this decade."

The Goldman Difference.

"The Kaine study concluded what is clear to me but not my opponents: we need a Mayor with the vision and proven political courage to challenge the old thinking and the old power-brokers who have brought us to this cross-roads.

We need to make Job Creation....Job # 1 in Richmond.

Having been cited in three different decades for being a leader not afraid to do the grunt work and take the point position in efforts to make historic, fundamental change, I am not afraid of taking the criticism necessary to make real progress for real people.

As the Kaine Task Force concedes, unless Richmond moves from dead last on jobs, the job of solving Richmond's social problems will get harder, not easier.

I am the only one running for Mayor who had the vision, and was also willing to do the grunt work needed, to give us what my opponents now concede was necessary, a fundamental change in our form of government.

Now, we need to make a fundamental policy shift: move away from an approach that looks for ways to give significant tax and other governmental incentives for projects like Echo Harbour and move towards my "Economic Growth" approach that looks for opportunities to offer new and significant incentives for private capital to invest in expanding the businesses we have in Richmond, bringing new businesses to Richmond, all of which will create more jobs."

The "Gold Standard" of Economic Growth: Less Government, Lower taxes, More Business Growth, Unprecedented vocational and technical skill training, Record Job Creation.

This year, Americans will be going for the Gold at the Olympics. They will try their best.

Why should we in Richmond do any less?

The Kaine Report admits that the state has not done enough to spur economic growth in cities like Richmond. My plan includes a novel way for the state to assist economic growth not just Richmond but all localities willing to cut local business taxes.

THE "GOLD STANDARD" PLEDGE:

Given my commitment to fiscal responsibility, and given a seeming lack of transparency in city finances [for example, we have City Hall and City Council arguing over whose budget is legal!, this plan is of course subject, as was Mark Warner's fiscal action plan, to my getting the opportunity to inspect the books upon taking office.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GOLDMAN "Economic Growth" Agenda: [Full-position paper with all the points and further discussion to be released tomorrow]

* Slash by 50% Business license taxes in new budget starting July 1, 2009
* Cut bureaucratic Government Spending by 15 million in new budget starting July 1, 2009.
* Reduce certain business-related fees by 10% in new budget starting in July 1, 2009
* 99 cent property tax rate is achievable far faster than you think if the many specific
policy recommendations contained in my "Economic Growth" agenda are adopted.
* Charter school for Vocational and Technological Education to raise local job skills
* Reduce bureaucratic Red Tape at City Hall: Within two years, I want it said that it is easier,
faster, and less costly to start a business in Richmond than anywhere else in the region.
+ Richmond First Tourism Initiative making us the destination city to learn history of
the Southern woman
* Create new incentives aimed specifically at attracting the new 21st century economy to
Richmond
* 8th and 9th District Economic Development, Grow Port of Richmond,
* Top-notch "cost-benefit" study to determine whether the Richmond Coliseum
needs to be replaced by a modern facility
* Jump Start a Revitalized Farmers Market by banning traffic from 17th Street
* Action Agenda for The Diamond and the Boulevard Corridor
* Novel state legislation to help Kaine's Urban Task Force keep pledge to Richmond