Audits released this week for the cities of Austin, Texas, and Denver have stung two senior members of Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration. The Denver audit is particularly critical of work by Seedco Financial Services, which was led by Peter H. Chapman before he was hired this summer as Richmond’s deputy chief administrative officer for economic and community development.

Cynthia I. Newbille easily won a special election for the 7th District seat on Richmond’s City Council. Newbille, a one-time city administration official, was endorsed by Mayor Dwight C. Jones,

Cynthia I. Newbille appeared poised to win yesterday’s special election for the 7th District seat on Richmond City Council. With five of seven precincts reporting, Newbille, a one-time city administration official who was endorsed by Mayor Dwight C. Jones, had 1,162 votes to lead five other candidates vying to represent the city’s East End, according to unofficial totals.

The city of Richmond won’t ask the next General Assembly to fix some of the issues in the city charter that were at the root of clashes between then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder and City Council. Despite nearly a year’s work by a review commission, council members agreed last night to hold off seeking state approval of potentially controversial changes relating to who has the authority to appoint the city attorney, the city auditor and the city assessor, and how the appointment of the chief administrative officer is handled.

No one anticipates a fleet of moving vans rolling up again on City Hall at nightfall. Still, the relationship between Mayor Dwight C. Jones and the Richmond School Board has taken a turn for the Wilder. Jones recently unveiled an aggressive school-construc tion plan that calls for an $81 million replacement for Huguenot High School, as well as money for two elementary schools and a middle school.

The historic theater and adjoining Taylor Mansion on North Second Street could open by April 2011 as a live-music venue and theater known as The Hipp, according to a proposal submitted to the City Council.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones is jumping in to try to sway next Tuesday’s special election for the open 7th District seat on the City Council. After weeks of speculation, Jones is endorsing Cynthia I. Newbille in the six-candidate race to represent the East End. In a recorded phone message that went to district households Tuesday, Jones encourages people to vote for Newbille. Another round of calls is expected next week.

Bond Kenney Lewis Newbille Powell Robinson The political shuffling that began when Dwight C. Jones was elected Richmond mayor last year will end Nov. 3 with a special election for the 7th District seat on the City Council. Six candidates are vying to represent the East End: Ronald L. Bond, Clarence Kenney, Deanna Lewis, Cynthia I. Newbille, Garry F. Powell and Robin D. Robinson.

Richmond, which has stopped running and hiding from a fundamental facet of its history, is poised to give birth to a slavery museum that never should have been shopped elsewhere. The Richmond Slave Trail Commission unveiled plans Monday for a slave heritage site in Shockoe Bottom that would include a slavery museum. It’s hard not to examine what has been proposed by the commission, led by Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond, and not sense that we’re at the portal of something transformative.

Richmond is tapping the brakes on a proposal to build roundabouts at four intersections in South Richmond and the East End. At the same time, a City Council committee moved a step closer to blocking a proposed roundabout at a busy intersection in North Richmond. The Land Use, Housing and Transportation Standing Committee voted 2-1 yesterday in support of a proposal to prevent a roundabout from being created at Laburnum Avenue and Hermitage Road. The long-pending proposal by 3rd District Councilman Chris A. Hilbert now moves to the full council at its meeting on Monday.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones unveiled an aggressive plan to build four schools in the city by 2014 and start construction on the first in a little over a year. Jones identified replacing Huguenot High School as a priority during a meeting last night with the Richmond School Board. “I really have a desire, or want to suggest, building a high school in the first phase,“ Jones said. “We have not built a high school in about 40 years. I can say without fear, Huguenot definitely needs to be replaced.“

The Richmond Slave Trail Commission yesterday released its vision to develop a $100 million to $150 million heritage site in Shockoe Bottom, including a slavery museum, an African-American genealogical center and a glass-enclosed Lumpkin’s Jail archeological site. Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond, chairwoman of the commission, emphasized that plans for a 4.5-acre site between Main Street Station and Interstate 95 are preliminary but said she has begun to court prospective directors of a nonprofit to oversee the project. She cited Mayor Dwight C. Jones as a supporter and said someone of national or international prominence would be recruited to lead the project.

Richmond will consider building roundabouts at four intersections as controversy continues over one planned at the A.P. Hill Monument on North Side. The City Council is being asked to allow roundabouts at Belt Boulevard and Hull Street Road; Forest Hill Avenue and Roanoke Street in South Richmond; 25th Street at Fairmount Avenue and Nine Mile Road, and 23rd Street and Fairfield Avenue in the East End.

Former Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Sheila Hill-Christian’s work for the city won’t end with her recent appointment to the GRTC Transit System board. She’s also partnering with a Texas-based consultant on an economic-development study for the city. TIP Strategies of Austin tapped Hill-Christian as a subcontractor to conduct interviews with local officials and business owners and to organize focus groups, she said.

Richmond isn’t penny-pinching on leaf collection, even as revenues are falling with the leaves. The city is returning to two cycles of leaf vacuuming this fall and winter after fielding numerous complaints from residents about last year’s single round. The city saved about $300,000 by going with one cycle that was scheduled for December and January, but residents griped that leaves were getting picked up too early or too late.