The New Ideas Agenda:

Danville, VA in the 21st Century

Written by Lee Vogler

Issued: January 2013

Table of Contents

I: Introduction

II: Scenic Rivers Designation

III: Municipal Marketing

IV: Designate the River District as a Tourism Zone

V: Reform city employees health care options

VI: Sector Policing

VII: Promote Zero­Based budgeting annually for the city budget

VIII: Create a Bike Transit System

IX: Conclusion

Introduction

Twenty years ago, Danville’s population was 53,561. Ten years ago, it was 47,280. Today, it

is roughly 42,900. I chose to begin with these statistics to illustrate a point: Danville is coming out of a

very tumultuous period in its history. This realization was magnified during the past decade, in which our

city saw its unemployment rate sink to 2.6% in December of 2000, only to skyrocket towards 16% in

January of 2010. Fortunately, in the past two years we’ve seen slow, but steady, growth in our local

economy. This progress has resulted in an unemployment rate that is hovering around 9%.

Despite this cautiously optimistic outlook we have in regards to the local economy, I believe

there are still major issues our city can, and should, address in the coming years. In light of that, I have

compiled a list of ideas; an agenda, if you will, for the next four years. This collection of proposals is a

blueprint for what, I believe, will get Danville on track to emerge as the safe and successful city we all

hope, and want, it to be. Some of these proposals will seem familiar to you, such as the Scenic Rivers

Designation and, what I call, “municipal marketing”, in which we allow local businesses to purchase

advertising space on certain city­owned properties. These were the two key proposals I pledged to

help implement when I was campaigning for City Council last year. Now I can thankfully, and

graciously, say that both of these proposals have become a reality. With that being said, I still wish to

explain the key tenants of these proposals and their significance to Danville’s future. I will begin this

“New Ideas Agenda” by doing so. Also in this list, you will find proposals addressing crime prevention

and modifying the way we approach policing in our city. I will also touch on revamping our River

District, as well as reforming city employees’ healthcare.

These proposals are not meant to be a “silver bullet” for all of Danville’s troubles. They are not

presented to claim superiority to alternative solutions. They are merely being put forward as a means to

expand the dialogue between our citizens and our city leaders. Some of these proposals may come to

fruition, as the Scenic Rivers Designation already has, while others may never see the light of day. All of

that remains to be seen. What I hope we will do, however, is discuss these ideas and weigh the pros

and cons of each one. By doing so, we will have taken one more step towards progress and prosperity

for our city and for ourselves.

Lee Vogler

Danville City Council

Scenic Rivers Designation

The Virginia Scenic Rivers Act, legislated in 1970, states that rivers in the Commonwealth

possessing superior natural and scenic beauty, fish and wildlife, and/or historic, recreational, geologic,

cultural, and/or other assets, would receive special designation as a “Virginia Scenic River”. For over

40 years this program has been successful at promoting and preserving Virginia’s natural resources

while dispelling myths of intrusive state government on riparian landowners or denial to improvements

and development. That is why legislation regarding this program continues to see widespread support

from both political parties.

While still attending VCU in the spring of 2010, I became aware of this program as news of its

40th Anniversary was released. As I began to research the program and the designated rivers therein, I

was astonished to discover that our very own Dan River was not included as a designated river. My

first thought was: why? Then I discovered that in order for a specific river to receive official designation

as a Virginia Scenic River, its local governing body must first issue a formal request to the Virginia

Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR). In our case, this meant Danville’s City Council. I

eventually found out that our City Council had never issued such a request. Upon returning to Danville

after graduating, I began to discuss the issue with, then, Vice Mayor David Luther. To Vice Mayor

Luther’s credit, he brought up the issue on two separate occasions at City Council meetings. During my

campaign for City Council, which started in late 2011, I had conversations with, then, Deputy City

Manager David Parrish about issuing this formal request to the DCR so we could begin the process of

receiving this designation. Several months later, and subsequently after my election, we received word

that representatives from the DRC would be visiting our area to officially study and consider the Dan

River for this designation. So a delegation of local officials, including myself, spent an afternoon

kayaking with the DRC officials who were studying our river. As I had suggested a few years prior, our

river did, in fact, meet all of the requirements needed to be designated as a Virginia Scenic River. This

designation was formalized, on our end, by an official vote (9­0) from Danville’s City Council to send

this resolution to the General Assembly for final passage.

Delegate Danny Marshall, to his credit, submitted HB1397 for passage in the 2013 General

Assembly session. The bill passed the House with a 76­13 vote.

What does it mean for Danville?

This simple move will create a positive, albeit small, impact on our area and its local economy.

We have now been officially recognized for having a “scenic” river, which will have us listed on the

state’s website, as well as including signage to place around the city. I believe we can tie this new

designation into our marketing efforts for Danville and our increased promotion of the Dan River and

our rapidly­expanding Riverwalk Trail. This change is not a major one, but it’s another feather in the

cap towards a larger rebirth of our city.

Municipal Marketing

Those who grew up playing sports at some point in their life can probably remember seeing

signs for local businesses spread across the outfield fence of the softball or baseball field they were

playing on. This standard practice has been around nearly as long as the game itself. Yet despite this, if

you look around the Parks & Recreation fields in Danville you’ll notice that nearly all of them are

signless. This is due to a snag in the city’s sign ordinance that considered these unobtrusive ads to be

“billboards” and therefore illegal within the city limits. But what if we made a slight adjustment in the

language and allowed local businesses to advertise on certain city­owned properties? That is exactly

what we have done.

What does it mean for Danville?

By allowing these businesses to purchase ad space on our local ballfields (we have upwards of

12) and other structures, such as bus shelters and our city buses, we can create an entirely new revenue

stream for our city, as well as promote the local economy. While we have allowed ads on our buses

prior to now, we have never fully tapped into this potentially lucrative revenue stream. This will begin to

change. We live in an age where our taxpayers don’t want to pay any more taxes, but our citizens can’t

accept less services. But there could be a third way forward and that is by tapping into an industry and

a revenue stream that’s out there already, but it’s not benefitting our taxpayers.

Our municipal marketing strategy is currently only taking advantage of the most basic

opportunities, but I believe we can, and should, explore opportunities to expand this resource in the

years to come. Cities across the nation are applying this practice to a number of facilities and uses.

Other possibilities include: allowing sponsorship of our city’s recycling program, placing small ads inside

our public restrooms and allowing advertisements inside our city prison. Now I understand that some of

these possibilities could be controversial, particularly the latter. However, I believe these are

discussions we need to have. Who would want to advertise inside a prison, you might ask? Defense

lawyers and bail bondsmen. Erie County Holding Center in Buffalo, NY began displaying ads on new

high­definition television screens that defendants see immediately after arrest. The spots, which run on a

loop along with the informational messages from the holding center, sell for $40 a week and have nearly

sold out for the rest of the year. In Danville, we have seen our yearly prison costs continue to

skyrocket. This could be a way to offset those costs.

As I mentioned before, I realize there are pros and cons to any of these proposals. However,

this city, and its citizens, deserves a government that will have these discussions in an open and honest

manner. I believe this new revenue stream, combined with smart spending cuts, can substantially reduce

the possibility of tax increases on the citizens of Danville. The people of Danville deserve a city

government that is smart, innovative and efficient to a degree that it spends only what it needs to operate

in a safe and secure way, and nothing more. Our rise to prosperity should not come from an oversized

journey on the backs of the taxpayer.

Designate the River District as a Tourism Zone

In 2011, the Virginia General Assembly voted to grant municipalities greater financial tools to

lure prospective hospitality­related businesses and to expand existing ones. This past year, Newport

News became one of the first areas in the Commonwealth to take advantage of this new law, creating

four tourism zones in their city. We can do the same here in Danville and the River District, with its

already defined boundaries, is the most logical place for that to happen. The River District represents

Danville’s greatest opportunity not only to redefine its economy, but its culture, as well. We’ve already

seen progress in the district with the additions of several new businesses, the expansion of the Riverwalk

Trail and the now­annual River District Festival. Another statistic that cannot be ignored is the

ever­growing population within the River District. While the city as a whole has remained largely

stagnant, population wise, in the past few years the River District’s population has increased. This is

due, in large part, to a partnership between the city and the private sector in renovating many of our

historic warehouses into flourishing apartments and condos. Averett’s expansion into the district is

noteworthy, as well. There are several cosmetic changes on the way, including the streetscape

renovations that are happening now. While our progress has been profound in the past few years in the

River District, I believe we have an opportunity to do more to put our efforts into overdrive.

What does it mean for Danville?

By designating the River District as a Tourism Zone, we will not only be promoting this

downtown renaissance with our words, but with our actions, as well. A series of incentives and tax

credits could be offered in different variations, depending on the individual circumstance. These are

details we can flesh out with our local Economic Development team (who has done a great job over the

last few years), Danville City Council and the Virginia Tourism Corporation. Businesses that qualify will

be eligible for incentives based upon capital investment and the number of jobs created. Lower minimum

thresholds will be set for existing Danville businesses located in the tourism zone.

In conclusion: a safe, strong and prosperous city must have a strong core at its center. For

Danville, that core is the River District. While we have seen tangible growth and progress in the district

over the past few years, there is still room for improvement. Designating the River District as a Tourism

Zone will further promote investment by providing certain tax incentives for companies and businesses

locating, or expanding, within the district. Other localities, such as Newport News, have seen varying

degrees of success with tourism zone designations and Danville could join them. The River District

represents Danville’s greatest opportunity for social and cultural growth, enhancing our image across the

Commonwealth. The Tourism Zone designation, also suggested by Vice Mayor Gary Miller, will help

foster this growth.

Reform city employees health care options

Rising healthcare costs are becoming a major problem, not just in Danville but nationally, as

well. To offset this, may local governments are turning to an old concept to produce new savings.

Imagine a way that city employees with ailments can go to a health clinic free of charge and see a

physician who can fill the prescription there. They also can go for follow­up care. Think of this concept

as having a “company doctor”, if you will. This concept is not new to many folks in the Danville region,

particularly those of the baby boomer generation and older. Companies have used this practice for

years. Now local governments are getting on board, as well.

The Gainsville, Georgia CareHere clinic, opened in 2009, for city employees and their families

has been successful in improving employee health while reducing medical costs, according to city

administrators. The clinic saved the city $181,300 in healthcare costs in its first year alone. Local

governments in states across the south and midwest have adopted similar policies in regards to

healthcare for its city employees and have found tremendous savings, as well as a happier and healthier

workforce. Several Florida cities, for example, have set up municipal on­site clinics to provide

everything from checkups to flu shots to nutrition consults. They also perform municipal health services

like pre­employment physicals, drug testing, and police and firefighter physicals. And they provide these

services for free, with nary a copay or deductible. Even certain medications, mostly generics, are free to

city employees who visit the clinic rather than their regular primary care physician (where they pay

through traditional coverage). The result has been fewer long­term health problems, happier employers

and lower costs for everyone.

What does it mean for Danville?

Of all the proposals listed in the New Ideas Agenda, this one could be the most sweeping, and

successful, for the long­term restructuring of our city’s budget. The potential to not only improve our

city employees health, but to save money annually in the process, is something we cannot ignore. It

should be noted that this proposal is not, in any way, a government takeover of healthcare. On the

contrary, it is deeply rooted in the private sector. Localities that adopt this method of healthcare reform

hire a private sector company for a flat pay rate each year. In return, that company hires the doctors,

nurses and nutritionists, takes care of the liability, handles the billing, and manages the headaches of

running a doctor’s office. The employees can schedule regular appointments for a ten minute visit with

their doctor, in which that time is undivided.

A healthy employee is a less expensive employee and that is good news for all taxpayers in the

City of Danville. It is one of the primary reasons we should consider this reform. Local governments

are very fond of these proposals because it saves them money each year in the bottom line of the city’s

budget. However, it is the employees themselves who seem to benefit the most from this program.

Having access to regular checkups, free generic prescriptions and no co­pays of any kind is resulting in

less sick time for them, and more money in their pocket.

For those who are interested in learning more about one of the primary companies being used

across the nation for these facilities, should visit: http://www.carehere.com

Sector Policing

Sector policing is what the Richmond, VA Police Department calls it, though other places might

call it that as well. However, it really is a take­off of the NYPD’s COMPSTAT program, which is part

of a larger movement in community policing (and in some cases, Broken Windows policing), which

involves practices such as getting the community involved in policing themselves (Community Policing),

having officers solve problems when called for service (Problem Oriented Policing), breaking

communities up into sectors (Community/Sector Policing/COMPSTAT), and targeting high crime

neighborhoods (Hotspot Policing). All of which are part of the move toward Intelligence Led Policing

and Evidence Based Policing. In short, many departments are starting to really use advances in

technology to hone their crime analysis and to use it to formulate responses.

I realize that we are already using some facets of this system in our city, most notably the

recently formed Street Crimes Unit that is using a variation of hotspot policing. However, criminals have

maps and they can read newspapers. If we confine our new techniques to only certain portions of the

city, then eventually criminal activity will simply shift around them. That is why I believe a city­wide

sector policing system would be the best way to attack crime in our city, not only in the short term but

on a permanent basis. I believe that, combined with a strengthening economy, will drastically reduce

violent crime in Danville.

A safe city is a strong city and I am committed to doing everything I can to make Danville as

safe a city as possible. Danville is very unique when it comes to crime classification. For a rather small

town in the south, we have a very urban environment and demographic within our city. Over the past

decade, violent crime has strongly persisted inside these urban “zones” of our city. This abundance of

centralized violent crime is one of these reasons, I believe, that our leaders elected to adopt a hotspot

policing approach a few years ago with the creation of the “Safe & Sound Neighborhoods” program.

While we’ve seen murders drop sharply in 2012 from previous years, violent crime is still persistent

throughout the city. The perception of Danville to many in the Commonwealth, whether real or

imagined, is that Danville is a crime­riddled city. This, combined with an excessive blight problem, has

led some in the media to dub our city: “The Detroit of Virginia”. While these comparisons are highly

exaggerated and untrue, they do create a perception that will haunt our city unless we take serious steps

to overcome it.

Many people equate success in fighting crime by how many people we lock up in prison. I

don’t believe this to be the case. Take New York City, for example. As the American prison

population has doubled in the past two decades, New York City has been a remarkable exception to

the trend: the number of its residents in prison has shrunk. Its incarceration rate, once high by national

standards, has plunged well below the United States average. And crime in the city has fallen by more

than 75 percent, almost twice as much as in the rest of the country. How did this happen? In the early

1990s, New York City began expanding its police force and introduced a computerized system

(COMPSTAT) to track crimes and complaints. Officers also aggressively enforced laws against guns,

illegal drugs and petty crimes like turnstile jumping in the subways. Arrests for misdemeanors increased

sharply.

Yet serious crime went down. So though more people were being locked up for brief periods

— including many who were unable to make bail and were awaiting trial — the local jail population was

shrinking and fewer city residents were serving time in state prisons. By lowering their prison

population, the city and state were both able to save money in their annual budget. This additional

money allowed New York City to hire more police officers to have on the streets. Studies have shown

that crime drops when more police officers are hired, so it is not surprising that the expansion of New

York’s police force in the 1990s by more than a third was accompanied by a drop in crime.

Virginia’s own Capitol, Richmond, was able to achieve similar success in the past decade by

adopting many of the principles of New York’s COMPSTAT program, as well as dividing the city up

into several “sectors”. This change in policing, ushered in by (then) Mayor Doug Wilder and (then)

Police Chief Monroe, took Richmond from being known as the “murder capitol of America” to being

one of the safest large cities on the east coast.

What does it mean for Danville?

I want to start by saying that I think Police Chief Broadfoot has done a tremendous job these

past few years tackling crime in Danville. He has been very open and receptive of new techniques and

ideas, and constantly reaches out to the public. The Coalition for a Safe Danville was a great first step

towards better communication between our police and the public. The proposal I am outlining here

expands upon that.

To put it simply: I believe Danville should be divided up into several "sectors", in terms of

policing, with each sector having their own streamlined police unit. That way, you will have the same

officers patrolling the same neighborhoods week after week, building up a rapport and relationship of

trust. This is nearly identical to the strategy the City of Richmond adopted during the term of Mayor

Doug Wilder, whom I’ve had a friendship with since my time as a student of his at VCU. They held

regular “town hall” style meetings in each one of the city’s sectors, so they could hear directly from the

people living in those neighborhoods. In Danville’s case, it appears obvious to me that some sectors of

our city would need more police presence than others. This ties back into the concept of “hotspot”

policing. Along with the practice of having the same officers patrolling the same sectors each week, I

believe it would be best to have a permanent “base” in each sector, similar in size and scope to the

Green Street Police station. This could be done in some sectors by utilizing city­owned property that is

not currently being used. Some of our recently closed schools come to mind. I believe this can be done

with minimal expenditure increases and/or manpower. It's simply a matter of changing the way the

officers are used. However, if there is an area of the budget where I would be more willing to increase

spending than others, public safety would be it. As I said before, a safe city is a strong city. It is my

belief, however, that by making these changes we will see a reduction in our prison population, therefore

lowering annual costs. Often times, more officers on the street equals less guards in the prison.

I commend our City Manager Joe King for his efforts to address the growing blight problem in

our city. As I will explain momentarily, blight is not just a cosmetic problem. It becomes a crime

problem. This is personified in the “Broken Windows Theory”. For example, consider a building with a

few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more

windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become

squatters or light fires inside. Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter

accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take­out restaurants there or even

break into cars. It is no coincidence that the most blighted areas of our city are usually the most

crime­filled.

I believe we need to aggressively move to eradicate blight in Danville but we must do it in a

smart and sensible way. I believe we should first identify entire streets or neighborhoods that are

stricken with blight (there are plenty of them), and begin the transformation process there. It makes no

sense financially, or for the future of a neighborhood, to single out individual homes on a random basis

for demolition. We need a cohesive, pragmatic strategy that looks to revitalize entire neighborhoods.

There are some streets in our city that have been almost completely abandoned. Those are the areas

we should address first. Demolishing those blighted structures will leave a large, clean area for a private

sector developer to come in and transform the neighborhood.

In conclusion, a combination effort of fighting blight, hotspot and community/sector policing, I

believe, will put Danville on the right path towards long­term peace and stability in our city. To me, this

is one of the most important issues our city leaders will face over the next four years.

Promote Zero­Based Budgeting annually for the city budget

Zero­based budgeting is an approach to planning and decision­making which reverses the

working process of traditional budgeting. In traditional incremental budgeting, departmental managers

justify only variances versus past years, based on the assumption that the "baseline" is automatically

approved. By contrast, in zero­based budgeting, every line item of the budget must be approved, rather

than only changes. By choosing this method, you can virtually guarantee that every cent of the

taxpayer’s dollar is being justifiably spent. Currently, many Danviallians don’t feel that is the case and

honestly, we don’t have a foolproof way to prove otherwise. If we adopt an annual zero­based

budgeting process, we will.

To begin, the city government would first be divided up into “decision units” –the lowest level at

which budget decisions are made. Decision units could be formed along functional or organizational lines

– for example, a division of a department is a common decision unit, but programs could be used as

well. Managers in each decision unit then prepare a detailed description and evaluation of all activities it

performs, including alternatives to current service delivery methods and the spending plans necessary

to achieve the decision unit’s goals. This information is used to create a number of “decision­packages,”

which show marginal spending level differences that represent varying levels of effort and cost. There

should be at least three decision­packages for each decision­unit, though there could be as many as ten

or even more.

What does it mean for Danville?

At a time when a shrinking tax base, combined with a growing demand for services, has led to

yearly budgetary headaches, we must look for ways to, not only balance our budget for the current year

but, substantially reform the structure of our local government. We must take a long, hard look at each

and every provided service and decide if our local government is the best way to deliver that service to

the public. If it’s not, then it should be eliminated or contracted out to the private sector. Privatization

has led to many great innovations in society with programs or services that were once offered by

government. Our Wastewater Treatment Plant is a great example.

What this argument between “targeted cost cutting” vs “zero­based budgeting” boils down to is

this: “Justifying what to remove” vs “Justifying what to keep”. Among the many arguments that

Danville’s City Council can, and will, have in the coming months and years, this one should be at the top

of the list.

Create a Bike Transit System

This past summer I spent an entire week in the state of Tennessee. A couple of those days

were spent in the river city of Chattanooga. While I was there, I couldn’t help but notice the many

similarities between their city and ours. They had a beautiful river that cut right through the center of the

city. Similar to our own, they had a well designed riverwalk trail. Like us, they were a former industrial

town that was transforming their local economy. Looking at Chattanooga was almost like looking at

what Danville could be in 20­25 years.

One of the most interesting features Chattanooga had to offer was their Bicycle Transit System,

or as they call it “Bike Chattanooga”. The concept was simple: several “stations” were positioned

across the city, primarily along the river, with bicycles docked in them available for people to rent. Two

access options are available depending on your needs. Frequent riders save money and time by

becoming a Bike Chattanooga Annual Member. Riders wanting a quick adventure have the choice of a

24­Hour Access Pass. Shorter rental usage times are also available. The bikes can be returned to any

of the 30 stations located throughout the city.

With assistance from private funding sources, a Chattanooga citizen endeavored to create a

bike share system in Chattanooga. In late 2009, however, the opportunity arose to apply for state

Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) funding from TDOT. They

were awarded $2,075,000 to launch a 30 station system. As they had prior experience working with

their transit provider, CARTA, these funds were transferred through to the Federal Transit

Administration and CARTA was selected to manage the procurement process. I have spoken with

Philip Pugliese, the head coordinator for this project, and he informed me that in the first 7 months of the

program they’ve had over 12,000 trips taken. They would deem this very successful.

What does it mean for Danville?

Along with the gradual expansion and promotion of our Riverwalk Trail in the past decade has

come an increasingly growing subculture in our community: bicycling. As the Riverwalk has grown, so

has the amount of people you see riding bicycles throughout our city. Once completed, a person can

ride the trail from the outer reaches of Angler’s Park to the new Robertson Bridge, through Ballou Park

to downtown and back again. This new “route” through our city gives us a unique opportunity. I

believe we can create and sustain a Bike Transit System here in Danville, very similar to those in

Chattanooga and London, England. Of course ours would be on a much smaller scale but the same

principles could apply. This could be the perfect opportunity for our city to partner with some of our

local businesses, like Spin Bike Shop and the newly formed e­Bike. I would think a group like the

Danville Regional Foundation may be interested in sponsoring this new transit system.

Not only would we be promoting exercise and creating a healthier community, but we would be

adding another feature to our newly crowned “Virginia Scenic River”. Many of the issues and

proposals I have mentioned in this agenda are not here by coincidence. They tie together to create a

larger picture. Our Scenic River designation will bring added attention and notoriety to the Dan River.

Our River District holds the most available commercial space surrounding the river in our city. By

taking advantage of this new designation, we can add to its success by creating a Tourism Zone within

the River District. The Bike Transit System will be another positive feature within the River District that

helps tie it all together.

If done properly, this is an easy way to generate funds for the city. Chattanooga expects to turn

a slight profit in its first year and grow larger each year after. The Bike Transit System would make

sense for citizens, both economically and environmentally, as exhaust emissions in the city would be

reduced and travel would be cheaper than the average bus fare. As gas prices continue to rise, people

will be looking for alternative means to travel short distances. We now have bike lanes in nearly every

section of our city, particularly at its center. Why not take the next step?

Conclusion

City Manager Joe King often says, “Danville is a small town with big city problems.” This is

true. But where some see problems, I see opportunities. Right now, Danville is filled with

opportunities. The potential in this city is limitless. Yes, we’ve faced hard times. Yes, we’ve struggled

through most of this 21st Century. But we have survived. We have come out of these dark days

stronger and more determined than before. I see it every day. There are thousands of bright,

determined and passionate minds in this city that want to step up and take action. All we need now is a

blueprint. A map to show us the way.

By no means am I suggesting that any of my proposals are slam­dunk solutions for all that ails

our city, but I am putting them forward to contribute to the dialogue that can only enhance our city's

well­being for the present and in the years to come. My hope is that this New Ideas Agenda will spark

conversations. Yes, undoubtedly there will be some who disagree with these ideas or scoff at the

possibility of their success. My own personal experiences in the past year, however, tell me that

anything is possible. Through hard work, innovation and determination we can take this city as far as we

want it to go.

The time is now. The place is here. We are the difference makers. We are the innovators.

We are the captains of our fate and the makers of our destiny. We are Danville in the 21st Century.

Lee Vogler

Danville City Council