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.

Get ready to climb out of those ditches along Jahnke Road. Richmond is working on a plan to install sidewalks, curb and gutter, and a way to separate traffic on the heavily traveled two-lane road in South Side between Blakemore Road and Forest Hill Avenue. Currently, passengers on GRTC Transit System buses have to step over ditches as they board or disembark. Traffic accidents are up, especially at the intersection of Jahnke and Blakemore, near Lucille M. Brown Middle School.

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.

The days of mostly empty GRTC Transit System buses barreling around Richmond could be numbered. Under a proposal scheduled for public hearings beginning tomorrow, the Richmond City Council will consider eliminating or severely reducing six routes and scaling back three others to help GRTC save about $1.2 million annually. Of the routes in question, the No. 68 Lunch Time Express has attracted the fewest riders—an average of 12 per day in fiscal 2008-09, compared with 641 for Westhampton. Overall, GRTC has about 40,000 riders per day on its 40 routes.

One of Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ top administrators is out of contention, but controversy still swirls over Richmond’s pending appointments to the GRTC Transit System board. The City Council is set to vote Monday to appoint former Chief Administrative Officer Sheila Hill-Christian, as well as current members Linda G. Broady-Meyers and James M. Johnson, to the GRTC board of directors. Chesterfield County, which jointly owns GRTC with the city, will tap the other three members.

The investigative work of Richmond City Auditor Umesh V. Dalal isn’t as newsworthy as it used to be—at least in the minds of city officials. The City Council’s office has stopped publicizing the release of auditor’s reports that routinely point out waste and inefficiencies, as well as potential savings, at City Hall. Officials said they’re mirroring the practices of other local governments—not downplaying the reports, which continue to be posted on the city’s Web site for anyone who happens to be checking.

Elected officials from throughout Central Virginia probably run into one another frequently. There are social functions to attend, as well as sessions of regional boards. Civic groups sponsor events. These things usually occur in government buildings, community centers, conference rooms on corporate campuses, hotel banquet halls, and colleges and universities.

A Richmond woman can keep street access to her carport on Stuart Avenue. The City Council voted 6-2 yesterday to strike a proposal to revoke the permit allowing Roberta Crowell to build a driveway across a city sidewalk in the Museum District. First District Councilman Bruce W. Tyler had proposed canceling the permit, citing safety concerns and the driveway’s proximity to St. Gertrude High School.

Sometimes regionalism starts at Starbucks. Every other Monday, Chesterfield County’s Midlothian District Supervisor Daniel A. Gecker and Richmond City Council President and 4th District representative Kathy C. Graziano meet for coffee and conversation in South Richmond. They talk about issues of mutual interest in their neighboring localities and districts, regional initiatives and their children.

Richmond’s City Council could decide tomorrow whether a resident can keep her driveway on Stuart Avenue. Citing safety concerns, Councilman Bruce W. Tyler is seeking to revoke a permit allowing a curb cut to serve the concrete driveway at 3304 Stuart Ave., near St. Gertrude High School. Roberta Crowell got the permit last summer and built a carport.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration announced yesterday its first shakeup of City Hall with a plan to create a consolidated Department of Economic and Community Development. Peter H. Chapman, who was hired this summer as deputy chief administrative officer for economic and community development, will lead the new department, which will control the city’s real estate holdings and its business-development financing programs.

The peace at Richmond City Hall has taken the urgency out of fixing flaws in the city charter that were at the root of legal clashes between then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder and the City Council. While a commission is polishing its recommendations after months of review, council members are talking about not taking amendments to the General Assembly in 2010, as planned.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced yesterday plans to correct “major financial management failures” in the city’s Department of Social Services after the discovery of an estimated $3.8 million overbilling to the state. “We have no evidence that any of this is based in fraud or corruption, but rather poor management and record keeping which indicates a need to make significant procedural changes and improve the department’s operations,“ Chief Administrative Officer Byron C. Marshall said in a statement.

Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring said yesterday that his office will investigate whether any crime was committed as part of a nearly $1 million purchase of police cars that violated procurement rules. He said he could not discuss details and added that it probably would take several weeks to determine whether charges will be sought.