Jewell Wants Graziano to Step Down
The war continues between H&H’s two council people as Marty Jewell has asked that Kathy Graziano step down as Council President. While Jewell says, “I’m not accusing anybody of anything,” Jewell said Thursday, “but it looks so bad.” He won’t stop barking about a $100,000 amendment that Graziano proposed to begin a study that the entire council, including Jewell voted for back in June of last year. Jewell however feels that this is somehow a payoff in the Hathcock case. Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring explains his position.
Herring said that after Mayor Dwight C. Jones did not include money for the supplements in his proposed budget for next year, Herring asked Council Vice President Ellen F. Robertson to submit an amendment for $230,000. When that didn’t happen, Herring said, he approached Graziano.
“He called and asked me to put it in,” Graziano said of the $100,000 amount. “Certainly, I wouldn’t see any impropriety in that. This budget amendment has to do with a discussion that occurred last year.”
All quotes above are from today’s RTD article.
OK, I’m new to this area, having moved here in mid-September 2010, so someone will have to tell me: has Marty Jewell every done anything positive in his time on the council? This is the second time I’ve read about his calling for Kathy Graziano to step down, he wants to cut funds for the parks (after previously complaining about cuts and job losses in the parks system) – so what has he ever actually done in a positive way for Richmond? It looks to this newcomer that he is just a gadfly and troublemaker, but of no real assistance to the citizenry of the city. Or am I missing something?
My feeling is that your perceptions are accurate: Marty is a grand-stander extraordinaire who is non-responsive to his constituents, and who generally serves no useful purpose.
Unfortunately, due to the geography and demographics of his district, he has proved difficult to get rid of.
Stuffa’s characterization of Marty is not incorrect, but that doesn’t mean Marty is wrong in this instance. Seeing as, in 6 years of residence in her district, neither Graziano nor her staff have even acknowledged any correspondence I’ve sent her way, I wouldn’t be sorry to see her go.
Perhaps next time I’ll send a letter via young, scantily-clad female courier. At least then maybe someone in her office will notice.
AreaMan: My experience has been the exact opposite. I’ve always found Kathy Graziano & David Hathcock to be most responsive.
I agree with Phil. I think Graziano has done a lot for our district. I have a feeling that council members get more correspondence than they can directly respond to, doesn’t mean they didn’t read or absorb content.
I’m happy for you both. It’s been my experience that living southwest of FH Ave & WH Blvd equals persona non grata. At least my state and federal reps have the decency to crank out a form letter before doing nothing- I seriously doubt city council reps receive nearly that volume of feedback. And 6 years in this spots tells me that the only thing that’s been absorbed is my increasing real estate assessment.
It’s amazing the difference a couple of blocks can make in governmental response. I’d trade the farmers market in a second for the ability to cross my own street without getting plowed over by speeders, but I guess that’s not as sexy.
Jewell is a not-so-funny joke. His raison d’etre is running for re-election.
I’ve been very happy with the responsiveness of Graziano’s office since moving into the district a few years ago. I would say one of the requests was rather minimal, but they helped direct me in the right direction to get the problem solved.
I have lived in this neighborhood for 28 years. I am well-pleased with the service and responsiveness of Ms. Graziano and her staff. Whenever I make contact, I receive acknowledgement and usually action. Marty Jewell, on the other hand……
Signed, a not young, not scantily-clad citizen.
I have no personal knowledge nor dealings with Marty Jewel.
However, last year, when, via e-mail to Ms Graziano’s office, I requested better signage for my one way street with specifics of why it was needed and exactly where it should be placed, I received an immediate response. I was “cc”ed on all follow up emails regarding the issue and new signage was put by the city up within a month. We haven’t had a wrong way driver on our block since. I was thoroughly impressed by the response.
Why do folk want Marty to retire from the council?