Church Hill People's News

Church Hill People's News
news       classifieds       calendar       directory       crime info       about us       contact       advertise       subscribe       forum
Assignment Desk
Find us on Facebook.
CHPN on Facebook.
>>ADD EVENT   
Church Hill Creative Homemakers Society
Sat Jul 4 4:00 pm
Lower floor of Leigh Street Church (517 North 25th Street)
Let Freedom Ring Bus Tour
Sat Jul 4 10:00 am
Over the years, freedom, liberty and equal rights have helped define this nation. On this July 4th, explore the Richmond...
New Vision Civic League meeting
Sat Jul 4 10:00 am
WILL NOT MEET ON 7/4. Meetings held on the 1st Saturday at the East End Library. Contact Mary W. Thompson at (804) 648-7...
2009 Summer Reenactment Series
Sun Jul 5 1:00 pm
The Patrick Henry Committee invites you to bring your friends and family to a reenactment of the Second Virginia Convent...
An Afternoon with Eliza Poe
Sun Jul 5 2:00 pm
St. John's Church's cemetery is the final resting place of Elizabeth Arnold Poe, Edgar Allan Poe's birth mother and an a...
Community Picnic and Kite Fly
Sun Jul 5 1:30 pm
Celebrate your independence with Richmond Independent Radio! On Sunday, July 5th, from 1 to 5 pm, WRIR invites you to a ...
RPS School Board meeting
Mon Jul 6 4:30 pm
The RPS School Board meets at 4:30PM and 6PM on the first Monday of each month in Council Chamber Room on the 2nd floor ...
Tuesday St. John’s Knitting Circle
Tue Jul 7 10:30 am
The Tuesday St. John’s Knitting Circle’s weekly meeting, in the Parish Center. If you have questions, please call Ma...
Beginning Computer Classes for Adults
Tue Jul 7 10:30 am
Have computer questions and don't know where to begin? Come by the library and we'll help you get started! East End Libr...
Garden Day at the NRC
Tue Jul 7 3:30 pm
Fulton's NRC will be selling veggies out of the Gardens on Tuesdays during the summer. Call or come by to see what's fre...
Open Mic @ Poe's
Tue Jul 7 8:15 pm
Weekly Open Mic every Tuesday at Poe's Pub, hosted by Jim Daab. Sign up at 8:15, music at 9PM
CAPS Meeting
Wed Jul 8 6:00 pm
@ East District Initiative - 701 N 25th St. 2nd Floor
What's the Deal on Vermicuture?
Thu Jul 9 6:00 pm
@ the Jefferson Avenue Community Garden (between 23rd & 24th St) Learn about using worm bins in your home for small s...
>>ADD EVENT   

CLASSIFIEDS
$209,000 Awesome 2 story in Montrose on excellent block! 3 BR, DR, huge LR, sunporch, new 2 car garage, newer roof, fresh paint, floors just redone. All appliances. Clean! MUST SEE! Shannon RE/MAX Commonwealth 484 0367 shannonharrington.net
Seeking 2 Bedroom rental for Aug., Sept and possibly Oct while renovating in Church Hill. Air conditioned. Possibly furnished. 673-7505; plarke@gmail.com
Large Home in Churchill. 5 bedroom, 2 full bath, 2 story screened porch on back, large fenced yard that backs up to public tennis court. Available 7/1. $2,000/month. Please call or e-mail Julie for showing at 804-782-1788.
1000 N. 26th St., $189,000, 1681 s.f., BHC offers 3-BD, 2 1/2 BA home with durable, Hardi-plank siding; 9-foot ceilings; energy efficiency; bay window in MBR. Down payments and closing cost grants available to qualified buyers! Call Schirra, 644-0546x14
1211 North 30th St., $147,500, 1361 s.f.-BHC offers a newly renovated 3-bed, 1.5-bath home; spacious front porch and rear deck. Energy Star appliances reduce utility costs. Down payment and closing cost grants available to 1st-time Homebuyers. 644-0546x14
Looking for child care for my 9mo old twins starting in the fall. Please email me with references, your rates as well as what you can offer my children. (kmhalusk@yahoo.com)
Proform XP 520 Razor Elliptical PRICE REDUCED - $200 See craigslist ad
House cleaning evenings and weekends. Pre-sale cleanouts. Open house preparations. Post-moving/pre-settlement services. Garage straightening. I do not solicit for your possessions or offer to sell them. molly.macbean@verizon.net
CHARLES S. RICHARDSON. Custom and restoration carpentry. Old house specialist. 804.337.5440
PLASTER & STUCCO LLC. interior plaster repair and exterior stucco... call Todd Wittemann 804 929 8484.
Gridiron Goose's NFL Update...Media members of the NFL, College Hall of Fame & U.S. Pentagon...Advertising for dimes on the dollar...GridironGoose@msn.com
Trenchless Sewer line and waterline replacement. Protect the beauty of your landscape. S.A. Toler Construction, inc. 233-6170
I have extra water lettuce from a Koi pond that I would like to give to another pond enthusiast. Email me@ network41@comcast.net
2120 E. Marshall St. - All Utilities Included - 2 Room Office For Rent Contact abaisey@rbvainc.com or 649-2162
Basic home lighting fixtures offered by type, finish or price. So easy! 100% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION! www.lightinglampstore.com




RVA News
Best Comments 2008


RVA News
Best Community Blog 2007


Richmond Magazine
2007 Editor's Pick
"Media Pleasures"





June 7, 2006

Richmond housing chief owns vacant, blighted property

The RTD reported yesterday that “Freed G. Etienne took office yesterday as the city’s first deputy chief administrative officer in charge of housing, land use and community development”. He is the “new housing boss to spearhead efforts in community development”. Here is the rub: Etienne is the owner of at least one property in the neighborhood that has been vacant and blighted for years. This is how you develop a community?





3416 East Clay Street (front)



3416 East Clay Street (back) (this isn’t a code violation?)

The city’s property report for 3416 East Clay Street shows that Etienne has been part-owner of the property since 1996. Judging by the condition of the house, the property has been vacant for at least a significant portion of that time.

It appears that the house has been very recently unboarded to undergo some sort of renovation and we applaud this, though we have 2 questions — 1) why did the house sit empty for so long?, and 2) does Etienne own any other blighted housing in the area?

Posted by john_m at 3:20PM under Oakwood-Chimborazo, government, real estate, redevelopment | Tags: ,

23 Responses to “Richmond housing chief owns vacant, blighted property”

  1. posted by John at June 7, 2006 3:50 pm [#]:

    This post was via a tip from a regular reader. Thanks 100%. (You can out yourself if you’d like // or not)

    If I were a real reporter I would’ve contactd Etienne for a quote or explination. I couldn’t find contact info for Etienne, though, so I’ve contacted the Press Secretary to the Mayor via normanlp@ci.richmond.va.us.

  2. posted by Anonymous at June 7, 2006 5:21 pm [#]:

    If anyone’s swinging by the courts building in the near future, it is pretty easy to run a quick name search for Etienne in the property records on a computer in the clerk’s records room.

  3. posted by Anonymous at June 7, 2006 5:26 pm [#]:

    This is his only property in Richmond. I checked.

  4. posted by Anonymous at June 7, 2006 8:26 pm [#]:

    Give this guy the benefit of the doubt………maybe he forgot he had this piece of property. I’m glad the same people that did his background check don’t do the ones for the police department.

  5. posted by v at June 8, 2006 9:12 am [#]:

    how typically Richmond and hypocritical…. the housing deputy whose job is to develop a vital and healthy community has been the owner of a blighted property for years. I’m not sure if we should be laughing or crying…. I live down the street from this house and it has been perpetually ill maintained- overgrown weeds, tons of cats living in the house and frequent squatters. Where has this guy been for 10 years??

  6. posted by Anonymous at June 8, 2006 11:17 am [#]:

    …getting a PhD at VCU in, err.. urban policy…So, he would be Dr. “Demo by Neglect” to you and me…Anyway, he wrote his dissertation on the thriving metropolis of Roanoke. So, perhaps he forgot about old Richmond. Anyway, who ever said city leaders cannot be complete hypocrites and still be effective. Most effective leaders I have ever met all seem to possess the quality of hypocritical irony. But, then again, the inneffective ones do too…

  7. posted by Bill at June 8, 2006 1:43 pm [#]:

    Ouch. This was great investigative reporting. I am a little shocked there has been no response from City Hall? Maybe he didnt disclose this little skeleton on the application.

  8. posted by Anonymous at June 9, 2006 6:08 pm [#]:

    I recommend someone check to see where Freed was working when he bought the slum property. I believe he was working for the City at the time.

  9. posted by john at June 11, 2006 1:49 pm [#]:

    and real media notices, though they didn’t get any real explanation either…

  10. posted by amy at June 11, 2006 3:23 pm [#]:

    how dare they call CHPN “scrappy”?!?!!!

  11. posted by john at June 11, 2006 3:30 pm [#]:

    I thought that was a good thing, like kind of cute but prone to occasionally biting someone…

  12. posted by J at June 11, 2006 11:47 pm [#]:

    Scrappy is a compliment. In the news biz, scrappy is often used to describe small newspapers who aren’t afraid of taking on big subjects — or bigger newspapers.

  13. posted by amy at June 12, 2006 8:54 am [#]:

    well, if you’re not offended, I won’t presume to be offended for you. In any case, I would guess more people read CHPN than the richmond magazine blog….

  14. posted by Bill at June 13, 2006 5:07 pm [#]:

    Dr. Etienne is new to this job. It couldnt have been an easy first week for him. That being said, I say we work with him to make Church Hill,Union Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods proud models of urban revitalization! I would welcome his comments from time to time on this site.

  15. posted by Anonymous at June 14, 2006 11:42 am [#]:

    This would have to be a contestant for the WORST(first) WEEK ever :)

  16. posted by Me is the Ridor at June 22, 2006 4:38 am [#]:

    Congratulations!!! Good job in doing this research!

    Way to go!

    Cheers,

    R-

  17. posted by Concerned citizen at August 15, 2006 1:09 am [#]:

    Yeah, I met Etienne once. He may have a doctorate, but after talking with him , he struck me as a pretty dim bulb.

  18. posted by John m at September 28, 2006 6:20 am [#]:

    City Housing Czar Fired

    Richmond city’s housing czar is out of a job. Mike Etienne has reportedly been fired, less than four months after he was handpicked by Mayor Doug Wilder to oversee the improvement of Richmond neighborhood’s.

    also in the RTD

  19. posted by ann at September 28, 2006 10:50 am [#]:

    Wow! Full circle. Good reporting from start to finish, pun intended.

  20. posted by bob at September 28, 2006 3:41 pm [#]:

    Looks like he can’t rehab a house or a career.

  21. posted by Bob Stokes at September 29, 2006 11:54 am [#]:

    Perhaps the title “Czar” was a bit regal in retrospect: heavy is the head that wears the crown and all. Although I should say that the last real Czar suffered a far worse fate. Why anyone would see coordinating anything in this city as a good career choice is beyond me. Could there be a more thankless job? Cat hearder might be a more proper title. So, the moral of the story is: Czarin’ aint easy! Especially when your own political irony quotient is off the charts.

  22. posted by James at January 2, 2007 10:45 pm [#]:

    Found out Etienne was bought out by the other owner, and work has begun to repair the house again

  23. posted by jesse at February 17, 2007 10:15 pm [#]:

    I heard at a funtion that Etienne was actually fired because he questioned the mayors unsafe tactics with the whole train underground saga, the house was a scape goat tactic of big politics, opportunity and all. If a job was in jeapordy, wouldn’t it make sense to hire a large company to renovate in weeks time. Granted, 10 years is a long time.

Share a Comment

Please remember that you are talking to your neighbors.




SEARCH
ARCHIVES

CATEGORIES


Click to view the photos. More info.

COMMUNITY BLOGS

advertise on this site!