Monroe Park Board takes form

Four current/former city officials, three representatives from VCU, two lawyers, Chair of the Conservancy and a local businessman.

February 18, 2014; 10:57 AM • by Richard Hayes

The Monroe Park Conservancy is preparing to lease Monroe Park from the city for $1 per year over the next 30 years. The conservancy is presenting to the City Council’s Land Use, Housing and Transportation Committee today at 3 PM at City Hall and full council on February 24th.

RTD has the details including who will be sitting on the board.

In an interview Monday, Massie said the group was assembled largely to establish a 501(c)(3) organization that could raise funds, but she expects the board’s membership to change as plans progress.

“We know that a third will come from the city, a third will come from VCU and a third will come from citizens,” Massie said. “That’s so there’s always a check and balance.”

The conservancy’s backers say it’s a legal vehicle that will help create a better park, but some residents have pushed back against the idea of the council relinquishing control over one of city’s most high-profile public spaces to an outside group.

“The fate of our park, belonging to the citizens of our great city, should not be decided by fiat by a cozy group of VCU and city administrators,” Oregon Hill resident Charles Pool wrote in an email to City Council members last month.

The 11-member board includes:

Mayor Dwight C. Jones
David Hicks – Mayor’s senior policy adviser David Hicks
Christopher L. Beschler – Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Operations
Suzette Denslow – Mayor’s former chief of staff who now serves as deputy chief of staff to Gov. Terry McAuliffe
Brian J. Ohlinger – VCU associate vice president for facilities management
Cathy W. Howard – VCU vice provost of community engagement
Thomas F. Huff – VCU vice provost for life sciences
Alice Massie – President of the Monroe Park Conservancy
Mark S. Dray – Lawyer at Hunton & Williams, focuses on tax law and employee benefits
John W. Bates III – Lawyer at McGuireWoods, focuses on real estate, financial and municipal law
R. Scott Ukrop – Businessman