I. Lelia Vann, DNCL President, called the meeting to order at 6 pm. The recording of this meeting is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Omyt7RFFUeo

II. A motion to approve the minutes from last month’s meeting was made and seconded. The minutes were approved without change.

III. Financial/Membership Report-- As of August 31, 2022, the DNCL had a balance of $1,515.20, 110 individual members, and 38 business members.

IV. Crime Report – Alan Driskell, CRO, Norfolk Police Dept. Officer Driskell reported that car larcenies and stolen vehicles continue to be high downtown and across the city. Vandals are no longer testing car doors; they are just smashing car windows when they see valuables left in sight. Police advise to keep valuables out of sight and out of your car and to report any suspicious behavior to the non-emergency number (757-441-5610). There were four aggravated assaults in August three of which came from the Legacy Lounge incident; an arrest was made that evening. In response to a question asked regarding the fatal shooting at Chicho’s in March, Officer Driskell indicated that a suspect has been identified.

V. DNC – Mary Miller, President & CEO. Mary acknowledged that members may be interested in the Safe Night project that the DNC and the City are working on. She indicated that she would share more about the program at the October DNCL meeting. She also noted that there are continuing issues with alleys that they are trying to work through. MacArthur Square has been seeing an increase of homeless individuals in the square. The Clean Team recently power washed the entire square to remedy that situation. The NEON Festival is scheduled for Oct 20 - 21 with a clean-up day slated for Oct 8. Volunteers are needed for the Oct 8 clean-up as well as for the Grand Illumination Parade which will be back this year after a 2-year absence.

A. DNC Ops Report – Audrey Fussell, DNC Ops Manager. Audrey reviewed the operations stats for August.

VI. Guest Speaker – Ramin Fatehi, Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney. Mr. Fatehi addressed the questions sent by DNCL members prior to the meeting.

A. Q1: Crime is up significantly since 2020; how are you are your office working to make Norfolk safer? A1: That statistic is not correct. According to Virginia State Police statistics, there has been a steady decline in the City of Norfolk in felony arrests over the last 4 years. There has been an increase in violence, however. The increase since 2020 in gun violence, homicides, domestic assaults, and road rage, is nationwide. One common denominator is Covid and the nationwide/citywide closing of schools, rec centers, libraries, and other avenues of escape or refuge for victims of domestic violence. Like many offices, the Commonwealth Attorney’s office is understaffed. Mr. Fatehi has directed his staff to focus on gun crimes and violent crimes and structured the office to better share intelligence with the Norfolk Police Department.

B. Q2: What is the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony and explain when your office gets involved? A2: A felony conviction carries a theoretical minimum of one year in jail and up to life in prison. A misdemeanor conviction carries up to one year in jail and/or a $2500 fine. According to the Virginia General Assembly, the role of the Commonwealth Attorney is to prosecute felony cases and, at the Commonwealth Attorney’s discretion, to prosecute misdemeanors. Mr. Fatehi focuses the prosecution of misdemeanors on DUI’s, domestic violence, firearm infractions, stalking and now dirt bike/unlicensed motorbike misdemeanors.

C. Q3: What is the process when a felony arrest is made? A3: When a police officer determines that a felony has been committed, the officer completes the investigation and then brings the case before a magistrate. The magistrate—not the Commonwealth Attorney’s office-- determines if there is probable cause, decides what the charge should be, issues an arrest warrant, and then conducts an immediate bail hearing. No bail decisions in the state are under the control of the Commonwealth’s Attorney.

D. Q4: What percentage of felony arrests are certified to the Grand Jury? A4: There is no straightforward way to answer this question. The data show that fewer cases are being sent to circuit court, however.

E. Q5: What percentage of felony gun charges are reduced to misdemeanor concealed weapons charges? A5: Since taking office in January 2022, no felony gun charges have been reduced (assuming there is no “proof problem” with the case.)

F. Q6: Could you tell us more about the “not guilty” verdict in the murder case that took place near Zeke’s in November 2020? A6: Mr. Fatehi showed a clip of the murder that was introduced in the trial and noted that the Commonwealth Attorney’s office tried to get the defendant to plead guilty to a manslaughter, but he refused, and the jury found him not guilty of manslaughter.

Due to time constraints, Lelia asked Mr. Fatehi if he could respond to the remaining questions and to the chat questions in writing to be distributed to DNCL members later.

VII. City Planning Commission Projects/ARB – Preston Carraway, DNCL VP.

A. CUP for Caior Bistro & Social – Clarence Reynolds, Owner. New hours for this CUP reduce the closing time from 2 am to midnight on weeknights and from 2 am to 1 am on weekends. Clarence also presented ideas for the interior and outdoor dining areas.

B. HRT and RBA Ferry Shelters – Don Lint/HRT and Chris Crowder/ RBA. Renderings for the HRT Ferry shelters at Waterside, High Street, and North Landing were displayed and discussed.

VIII. Old/New Business

A. 2023 DNCL Officers. Four positions, President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. The Treasurer position will be vacant in 2023, please consider serving on the board.

B. Slate of Officers for 2023 will be presented at the October 17 DNCL meeting.

C. Election of the slate of officers will be held at the December DNCL Holiday Party.

IX. Announcements

A. DNCL September Social: The Brick anchor on Wednesday, Sept. 21 starting at 5 pm.

B. DNCL October 17 Monthly Meeting: Guest Speaker is Patrick Roberts, Deputy City Manager.

X. Adjourn – The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 pm.