Richmond isn’t likely to see a repeat of last year’s budget fight between the mayor and the City Council. However, local nonprofits could be preparing for one of their own. After scuffling with then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder last year, City Council members are working closely with Mayor Dwight C. Jones on changes to his $629.6 million plan for fiscal 2009-10.

Richmond City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson wants to find out how—and whether—various plans for Shockoe Bottom are going to fit together. As part of their review of the proposed fiscal 2009-10 budget, council members will consider setting aside $150,000 toward a planning study for the historic area. Specifically, they want to look comprehensively at the proposed Shockoe Center ballpark development, bus transfer center for GRTC Transit System and slave-heritage projects of the Slave Trail Commission. The city money would be expected to be matched with private funds.

A developer got approval last night to build 46 homes in the Carver neighborhood, despite concerns that the units could end up being rented to Virginia Commonwealth University students. The Richmond City Council voted 8-0 to approve plans for Sylvia Place, a development of 23 duplexes on North Lombardy Street across from the Maggie Walker L. Governor’s School for Government and International Studies.

The James River Park System gives Richmonders a wild, natural escape in the center of the city. The land would stay pristine forever under an idea that was floated 10 years ago but now is garnering support with the City Council.

The Richmond City Council voted unanimously tonight to appoint Betty Squire to fill the council’s open seat in the 7th District. The seat was vacated with Delores L. McQuinn’s election last month to the House of Delegates. Squire will serve the East End district until a special election in November to determine who will complete the four-year term that McQuinn won last November. Squire does not intend to run.

The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s vision for the $100 million Dove Street revitalization began coming into view last night. Then it dropped into something of a haze as City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson began questioning placement of public housing units. What’s certain is that other than geography and street names, the future won’t have any resemblance to the past for a 50-acre area long known for criminal activity, urban depression and miscellaneous blight.

Betty Squire is expected to be appointed next week to the vacant 7th District seat on the Richmond City Council. She said yesterday that City Council President Kathy C. Graziano informed her she was the top candidate and that Squire made arrangements with the city clerk’s office to sign papers today in anticipation of her appointment Monday.

Delores L. McQuinn moves from the Richmond City Council to the Virginia House of Delegates. The Richmond City Council has only started accepting résumés for its vacant 7th District seat, but one candidate’s recent move into the district and her work there are generating significant attention. Comments posted on the Web site Church Hill People’s News have taken aim at Cynthia Newbille, who is former 7th District Councilwoman Delores L. McQuinn’s recommended successor.

No one likes being panhandled. I can’t imagine the panhandler enjoys it, either. The giver (or rejecter) wades through a sea of emotions—intimidation, guilt, mistrust, anger. Compassion mingles with the nagging fear that you’re subsidizing an unhealthy habit. I can’t speak for the beggar, but the act looks depressing and demeaning. If it’s a hustle, it lacks glamour.

Richmond City Councilwoman Delores L. McQuinn concluded her tenure in City Hall last night before she crosses East Broad Street to work in the General Assembly. “I hope that I’ve been instrumental in helping to change the city of Richmond and my district,“ the longtime 7th District councilwoman said. McQuinn is resigning today so she can be sworn in tomorrow to serve the 70th District in the House of Delegates. She won a special election this month to fill the seat vacated when Dwight C. Jones was elected mayor.

Richmond City Councilman Chris A. Hilbert is abruptly dropping a proposal to reimburse a police officer for expenses related to a murder charge that ultimately was dismissed.

One of the first assignments for the next Richmond City Council will likely be picking a replacement for one of its members. Council members will have 45 days to appoint a representative from the 7th District if longtime Councilwoman Delores L. McQuinn wins a Jan. 6 special election for a seat in the General Assembly. McQuinn is running unopposed in the House of Delegates’ 70th District after winning Saturday’s Democratic primary. The strongly Democratic district includes parts of the city’s East End, as well as eastern portions of Chesterfield and Henrico counties, and it’s currently represented by Mayor-elect Dwight Clinton Jones.

When she was named president of the YWCA of Richmond in 1963, Vernelle “Nell” Barnes Pusey said she had only one hobby, an interest in people. She credited her father, who ran a country store in Heathsville in the Northern Neck. “He believed every human being deserved respect,“ adding that she always was surrounded by people, including her father’s customers and her seven siblings.

MONDAY, NOV. 24 Richmond City Council, begins at 3 p.m. with an informal meeting followed by a formal meeting at 6 p.m., council chambers, 900 E. Broad St.  TUESDAY, NOV. 25 Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, 3 p.m., Public Meeting Room, County Administration Building, 10001 Iron Bridge Road. Prince George County Board of Supervisors, 7 p.m., third-floor boardroom, County Administration Building, 6602 Courts Drive.

Minus Richmond’s current and future mayor, members of the City Council and School Board pressed tonight their priorities for the 2009 General Assembly session. The dinner discussion touched on a range of topics but was dominated by a hope that lawmakers would limit the impact of potentially severe budget cuts on critical services, including education and public safety.