Had I not been researching the cultural importance and financial troubles of Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), I probably wouldn’t have become concerned about the recent news that five members of Richmond City Council (CC) want Hakim Lucas, the President of Virginia Union University (VUU), to serve on the City of Richmond’s Coliseum Commission, a body created to analyze the merits of the proposed Coliseum plan, to assess the economic feasibility of a controversial and complicated plan to spend $1.5 billion to build a coliseum in the city.
The five members voting in favor of nominating Lucas to serve on the commission include CC President, Cynthia Newbille (7th-District), CC vice-president, Chris Hilbert (3rd-District), Rev. Michael Jones (9th-District), Ellen Robertson (6th-District) and Andreas Addison (1st-District). In his remarks asking his CC colleagues to support his and Robertson's (6th-District) effort to nominate Lucas, Jones was quoted by Mark Robinson of The Richmond Times-Dispatch as saying: “... There’s a group of local community leaders who share the concern about representation from Virginia Union University, because honestly Virginia Union is overlooked in so much of what goes on in Richmond.”Jones also said he had received "about 20 calls" from African American ministers concerning the need for more diversity on the commission who urged him to nominate Lucas to it.
I asked Jones if he would share the names of the ministers who contacted him advocating on behalf of Lucas. He said, “no.”
I also asked whether he, or any of his CC colleagues had bothered to read the lawsuit that Bethune-Cookman University filed against Lucas et al., less than six months after Lucas was hired by VUU. His response was succinct: "No.”
[CLICK HERE to read a copy of the 164-page lawsuit in Volusia County Circuit Court in Florida which accuses current VUU President Hakim Lucas (and others) of various breaches of fiscal leadership and financial double-dealing.
I asked if he, or any other CC colleague, had read the lawsuit much less done any independent research about why Lucas’ former employer, Bethune-Cookman University filed the lawsuit or what it could mean for VUU or the City of Richmond. He said that he had not.
CLICK HERE to read a column by J.L. Carter of the HBCU Digest, who notes that while Lucas has never spoken publicly about the financial troubles or lawsuit brought by his former employers at Bethune-Cookman, that he worries Lucas’ presence could present problems for VUU in terms of fundraising and enrollment.
CLICK HERE to read the petition posted by friends and families of VUU at Change.Org that calls for Lucas to resign.
I then asked Jones if he knew how many -- if any -- of the ministers who lobbied him on Lucas’ behalf actually live in the City of Richmond.
Again, his answers were succinct: “No, no and no.” He justified his refusal to identify them by saying “... It just wouldn’t be fair to do so.”
Seriously, FAIR?
How “fair” is it, I asked, for an elected official to vote on a matter that he or she has done little to no research about?
How fair is it to thrust any of the university presidents into the middle of what is fast becoming a high-stakes street brawl pitting the desires of Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and the leaders of the corporate community against the grassroots efforts of citizens who want no more than to have the coliseum question placed on the ballot in November.
How fair is it to vilify and defame Paul Goldman
and his supporters for their efforts to get the question on the ballot?
How fair is it to insinuate that Goldman and his supporters have some ulterior agenda to retard progress in RVA?
Thus far, more than 10,000 people have signed petitions saying we should fix our schools and repair our streets before we build a coliseum estimated to cost more that $1.5 billion.
Click HERE to visit local lawyer Justin Griffin’s website that breaks down the math and shows that the coliseum plan is unrealistic and not likely to deliver on its promises.
How “fair” is it that Richmond Mayor, Levar Stoney is using our tax dollars to pay for his appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court that if successful will essentially allow him to keep secrets from us?
How fair is it to force citizens who want to know the details of this deal to have to fight for every shred of information? How fair is it to malign the character of Paul Goldman and others who think that maybe we should fix our schools, fill our potholes and get our leaves picked up before our elected officials play footsie with the corporate community?
How fair is it to tell us to stop asking so many questions and “trust” them when they don’t trust (or respect) the citizens enough to be fully forthcoming with the facts?
Little wonder there is considerable opposition to the project, opposition fueled by a profound lack of transparency and protracted legal battles testing the limits of the Freedom of Information Act and the public’s right to know exactly how Stoney and Dominion Resources CEO, Thomas Farrell intend to spend our tax dollars.
I asked if he was aware of a saying made famous by former Governor and Richmond mayor, L. Douglas Wilder who was fond of noting that we need to "place necessities before niceties."
Hearing only silence, I asked if he would be so kind as to check with the ministers to see if they would be comfortable speaking with me or any other members of the media?
Jones laughed and in an exasperated tone of voice flat-out refused to even ask them, saying that he didn’t have the “band-width to do that.”
Undeterred, I persisted. I asked Jones if he and his colleagues were aware of the financial structure of the deal at the heart of the Bethune-Cookman University lawsuit, a deal that caused what was supposed to be a $72 million dormitory to wind up costing more than $300 million? A deal that threatens the viability of the school that Mary McLeod Bethune, Civil Rights activist and educator, founded in 1904. Click here to read about the school defaulting on more than $17 million dollars of bonds.
Jones said he was not aware of the details of the deal and that it was his understanding that the lawsuit had long ago been resolved. I told him that according to various documents available in the Volusia County Circuit Court digital files, the lawsuit is still ongoing despite efforts to have it dismissed and the court record sealed.
Next, I contacted City Council vice-president (and my council member), Chris Hilbert (3rd-District) to see if he was aware of the details of the lawsuit prior to voting in favor of nominating Lucas to serve on the Coliseum Commission. Hilbert replied “vaguely,”and like his colleague Jones, said he thought the lawsuit was dismissed. “Besides,” Hilbert gamely added,“Lucas was never indicted.”
Indeed, “never indicted.” Never. Indicted.
Never mind that Lucas and the president Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Michael Rao, the president of Virginia State University(VSU) Makola Abdullah, president of Virginia State University (VSU), have weighed in supporting the controversial billion-dollar-plus Coliseum plan that Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and Dominion’s CEO Thomas Farrell, are pushing.
More’s the pity that the lack of transparency and protracted legal battles surrounding the proposed project have polarized our community.
Never mind that Richmond citizens recently learned that Rao, Abdullah and Lucas all signed their names to commentary pieces that they did not themselves write, but which were actually written by employees of NH District Corp. on behalf of Dominion Resources and the Navy Hill project.
Now folks, I don’t know about you, but I have had more than enough of elected officials kowtowing to the corporate community and keeping us in the dark about the details of this deal.
Critical Condition: Bethune-Cookman and the Survival of the HBCU, Part 1
Michael Harriot 6/03/19 12:15PM
Bethune-Cookman and the Survival of the HBCU, Part 2: An Inside Job
Michael Harriot6/04/19 9:00AM
EDUCATION
Bethune-Cookman and the Survival of the HBCU, Part 3: Things Fell Apart
Michael Harriot6/05/19 9:00AM
New documents posted to a bond information website and others filed in Volusia Circuit Court in Florida, reveal that Bethune-Cookman University has defaulted on more than $17.5 million in bonds.
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