Pantele: City’s future is bright

Mayoral candidate William J. Pantele spoke of cautious optimism for Richmond in the face of the national financial disaster during a luncheon speech yesterday to the South Richmond Rotary Club.

"Richmond has a very bright future," Pantele, president of the Richmond City Council, told 65 people at Meadowbrook Country Club in Chesterfield County. "Things are coming around for the city in a lot of ways."

But coming around doesn't imply insulation from the doom and gloom spreading across the country, he said.

Pantele proposed a seven-point plan for immediate action that, he said, would help Richmond survive: implement savings suggested in audits of the city's fleet and procurement departments; put aside budget surpluses for a heating assistance program; curtail any new programs; freeze hiring; eliminate the mayor's security detail and cut his public relations staff in half; coordinate purchasing with state officials; and suspend most city consulting contracts.

Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or .