Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) endorses a bill proposing the addition of a 17th member to the University's Board of Visitors. The new bill requires that the additional member be appointed from the Charlottesville and Albemarle county community.
"This is something that local lawmakers want to have, and after discussing it with University officials and members of the Board, [the governor] didn't see any reason to oppose it," Gilmore press secretary Lila White said.
Del. Mitch Van Yahres (D-57th) proposed the bill in the General Assembly at the request of the Charlottesville City Council.
Charlottesville Mayor Blake Caravati said he was surprised Gilmore threw his support to the bill after Del. Paul Harris (R-58th) publicly denounced the new proposal.
"If Paul Harris didn't support it then that was a good indication that that side of the aisle wasn't going" to support it either, Caravati said. "I was flabbergasted that the Governor stood behind it."
Harris could not be reached for comment.
Members of City Council decided to request the change after pointing out that fewer Board members are being appointed from within the Charlottesville area.
"We had seen a trend in political appointments that had been away from [this area] and that worries us," Charlottesville mayor Blake Caravati said.
Caravati said that the request to appoint an additional member was not a referendum on the abilities of Board member William Crutchfield, who presently represents the Charlottesville and Abemarle county areas. The proposal seeks to keep the University and Charlottesville communities in closer contact, Caravati said.
The city relies on the University as the University relies on the city, and having a direct line of communication between the two at the policy level is important to city council, he said.
Although Harris did not encourage the bill, Van Yahres chose to throw his support to the City Council's proposal.
Even though Charlottesville is presently well-represented on the Board, "that doesn't mean that we will get a Bill Crutchfield again," Van Yahres said. "We want to make sure that the governor will always appoint someone from the community."
But Crutchfield himself disagrees. He said he believes that allowing the General Assembly to create a new Board position earmarked specifically for Charlottesville/Albemarle community members would set a dangerous precedent.
If special interest groups can petition City Council in matters relating to the Board, it opens the door to other special interest groups, Crutchfield said.
"I had a strong conversation about this issue with [Crutchfield]," he said. "It's an absolute insult to the members of this Board who serve from the local community"
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