City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. WILLIAM C. WITHERS, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD TWO CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. BRADFORD C. ELLIS, WARD ONE HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., WARD FOUR Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Council Work Session March 1, 2018 Briefing with the Free Lance Star Editorial Board on the Work with the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, March 1, 2018, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Free Lance Start Publishing Company. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor William C. Withers, Councilors Charlie L. Frye, Jr. (called in) and Matthew J. Kelly. Council Absent. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy and Bradford C. Ellis, Also Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present. Free Lance Star Editorial Board, Greg Shriver, Barbara Hollingsworth, Phil Jenkins, and Dale Lachniet. Briefing on International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC) Work. Mayor Greenlaw stated that the Slave Auction Block was of significant interest and the Council knew it would require a lot of work on how to carry it out but they knew they needed to make decision in the context of looking at the broader history of race and memory. She talked about their visit to New York to the headquarters of ICSC. Mayor Greenlaw said she hope they would be able to assist with the community dialog to help tell the story of Fredericksburg. Mr. Baroody said this topic has the attention of the community and the FLS readers, so he wanted to emphasize the importance to head down a path methodically. The auction block received some attention last summer and the Council decided more needed to be done and they tasked the staff with coming up with options. Staff presented two options and sought significant community input more than 700 responses were received. The Council also held a special meeting to hear from the community. He noted that the Council did not tell the community what it was going to do but sat in the audience and listened to the audience. After the community input the Council ultimately decided on Option A – to keep the auction block 1 but better protect it and interpret it better. Mr. Baroody said he insist on the entire community participating in these efforts. He said he wanted the participation of all the stakeholders including the FLS. The City Manager said he signed the contract with ICSC and they plan to begin the first of three phases. The first phase would be an audit of what the City does and how it tells its story. The second phase would refocus on the Slave Auction Block and what the corner should look like. The last phase would be six to eight months of meetings with stakeholders. Mayor Greenlaw clarified that stakeholders were all the citizens and she said that did not exclude county residents. She noted that the City had many wonderful stories and that the City could set a model on how to handle social issues in a community. Councilor Frye said the City was making good by telling the whole story and allowing the community to come together. Mr. Jenkins asked if the work would be focused only on the Slave Auction Block or would it be broader than that. Councilor Frye said it would be broader. Vice-Mayor Withers noted that Kenmore had documentation as well as the Heritage Center on the slaves and information could be pulled from those two resources to help tell the story. Ms. Hollingsworth asked why the residents didn’t know the stories and Mr. Baroody said the history books in school are incomplete. Councilor Frye said it was also painful for some and they would rather not know. Vice-Mayor Withers stated that the ICSC would help with those who feel this was too painful by bringing them to the table throughout the process. Councilor Kelly stated that it was important for the block to stay in its location. He said it was important for people to feel something when they stumble upon it and children needed to know the stories and know this happened in their community. He said the City had an opportunity to set a different tone and he hoped it would enhance all of the City’s history. Mr. Baroody stated that the end result would depend on what ICSC came up with after all of their work was completed. He also distributed a copy of the scope of work to the editors as well as a timeline. See attachments for more information. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time. Mayor Greenlaw declared the session officially adjourned at 6:26 p.m. ___Tonya B. Lacey _______ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 2