Category: Harrisonburg Issues
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After a petition, press conference, and questions about process, city council postpones vote on HEC nominations
The once-routine practice of appointing members of the Harrisonburg Electric Commission (HEC) attracted unusual attention this week, as some city residents raised concerns about transparency and the commission’s commitment to the city’s sustainability goals. As a result, on Tuesday night, the city council postponed action for a second month in a row on two appointments to the five-member commission that governs the city’s electric utility.
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At city council meeting, equal rights brings crowd to its feet
“Good job, ladies! Good job,” said Mayor Deanna Reed, before a standing ovation from about 80 people at the city council meeting on Tuesday evening. The applause celebrated the council’s support for Virginia ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. Small girls with their mothers and men sporting ERA buttons were among those clapping alongside eight women who had worked on the issue since Congress first passed the amendment in 1972.
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Several factors drive up cost estimates for new high school, but school board members confident in ‘options’ to move forward
The estimated cost of building the new high school has risen by $9.5 million, according to a presentation Grimm + Parker Architects made to the Harrisonburg City School Board on Monday evening.
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Police chief wants officers to better connect with the community. Here are some ways he plans to do it.
As Harrisonburg Police Chief Eric English outlined his policing philosophies and answered questions from about 30 community members at his first town hall meeting Monday, he kept returning to a central theme.
What’s next for the Not Thomas Harrison House?
What has been called the Thomas Harrison House for many years — and what the city of Harrisonburg planned to spend $1 million to restore and turn into a museum of the founder’s life — now remains in limbo as city staff decides where to go from here. But some residents see an opportunity for the still-historic, if not as old as first advertised, building to delve into more of the area’s background.
HPD Chief Eric English to field questions from residents at Monday’s town hall forum
On Monday evening, Police Chief Eric English will introduce himself, take questions and talk about policing in Harrisonburg at a public meeting at Thomas Harrison Middle School.
“A lot of people still have not met me,” said English, who was sworn in as Harrisonburg’s police chief last September. “I’ll talk about my philosophy and some things that we’ve already implemented, [as well as] things I’m looking to do going forward.”
After city council elections, school board setting groundwork for new high school to open one year earlier than previously decided
Although the school board had originally presented plans to open a new high school by 2021, city council voted almost a year ago to take a slower approach, opening in 2023.
But after Sal Romero and Chris Jones––Democrats whose campaigns supported earlier construction of the high school––won the city council race in November, the school board has begun behind-the-scenes work to make that possible.
19 Harrisonburg storylines to follow in 2019
Happy New Year! Now that 2018 is officially history, it’s time to look forward at some of the key questions and issues facing Harrisonburg in the new year. Here you’ll find 19 key storylines The Citizen will be following in 2019.
