The Aughts: A Decade of Storms and Hype

Doug Wilder celebrating his

2004 victory. My illustration.

The following piece, attempting to sum up the passing of a decade, was published by Richmond.com on Dec. 16, 2009. 

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The Aughts: 

A Decade of Storms and Hype

by F.T. Rea

It was in 1999 that Richmond.com began its life on the Internet. On Dec. 31, 1999, Republican Jim Gilmore was governor of Virginia and Democrat Tim Kaine was Richmond’s mayor.

Throttle Magazine ended its 20 years of publishing with the passing of the century. Since then we have lived through a time during which technology has rocked the world of publishing. Online ‘zines, such as Richmond.com paved the new way, then came Richmond’s blogosphere and more recently newer forms of social media.

Today even the most stubborn of Luddites has a cell phone, even if they haven‘t joined the Facebook and Twitter crowd.

Back to the waning minutes of 1999, remember the Y2K scare that had civilization collapsing into chaos? When the new millennium arrived, it turned out the threat of millions of computers seizing up had been little more than hype. What had been mostly an Internet-driven prank opened a decade in which hyperbole would become ubiquitous.

In the decade soon to end the ordinary has routinely been called awesome. The everyday has been bragged about, on and on, as the biggest, or most ever! Or, it’s the all-time worst!! An avalanche of exclamation marks has passed for style in the aughts.

And, speaking of style, although much about Richmond has changed in the last 10 years, some things, not so much -- two members of City Council resigned on their way to the pokey. They were Sa’ad El-Amin in 2003 and Gwendolyn Hedgepeth in 2004. In the previous decade, two council members also went from a seat on council to jail -- Chuck Richardson in 1995 and Leonidas Young in 1999.

However, much in the way of politics has changed in Richmond since 1999.

In 2003 the voters of the City of Richmond decided they wanted their mayor to be elected directly and be the person to manage the city’s government. That, instead of City Council selecting one of their own to be a ceremonial mayor and hiring a city manager to call the shots.

In 2004 former Gov. Doug Wilder was elected as Richmond’s first "strong mayor" since 1948. Wilder had campaigned as a problem-solver. He pointed at controversies whirling around the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation’s problems to do with building CenterStage and said he could fix what was wrong. Likewise, he said he could bring common sense to the controversy over the location for a new baseball stadium. He pointed at waste in municipal spending and said it would end.

Perhaps Wilder’s rhetoric raised expectations too high. CenterStage was scaled down but its critics weren’t silenced. The Richmond Braves left town. As he bumbled and blustered his way through his last two years in office, stories of Wilder -- himself -- playing fast and loose with tax money began to overshadow whatever achievements he may have initially made toward sound fiscal management.

On Fri., Sept. 21, 2007, Mayor Doug Wilder locked down City Hall and tried to evict public schools officials. A judge abruptly halted what became known as the Friday Night Fiasco: eviction kaput. Wilder’s influence has been in a free-fall since that night.

The aughts were stormier than some decades: In 2003 Hurricane Isabel blew through town and knocked down thousands of old trees. Electric power was out for over a week in parts of town. In 2004 Gaston flooded Shockoe Bottom from inside the floodwall. Then, in 2006, Ernesto’s drenching rain and a broken pipe flooded Battery Park.

In 2005 the first of three National Folk Festivals was held along the banks of the James River. Local promoters have continued the tradition the last two years.

2006 began with the news that Bryan and Kathryn Harvey and their two daughters had been murdered in their Woodland Heights home on New Year’s Day. Bryan had been a celebrated musician/songwriter; Kathy had created the World of Mirth in Carytown. Six days after the horrifying tragedy a memorial ceremony for the Harvey family packed the Byrd Theatre.

In October of 2006 the last High on the Hog, No. 30, was held in Libby Hill Park. The last band to play was the Memphis Rockabilly Band. Fittingly, they played during a driving rainstorm.

After the 2008 season ended the Richmond Braves packed up and moved to the suburbs of Atlanta. The same summer the Carytown Monkey had its 15 minutes of fame.

2009 began with people wondering which death-spiraling menace would finish them off first, the sinking economy or the swine flu. In spite of those fears the first new movie theater within Richmond’s city limits in 37 years was completed, as Movieland’s 17-screen complex opened its doors. In June the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts main galleries closed for renovation and expansion. It will reopen in May of 2010.

After all the twists and turns in its story, with much ballyhoo, CenterStage opened in September. After a year without professional baseball, the Richmond Flying Squirrels will play their home games next year at The Diamond.

With 2009 came Mayor Dwight Jones. Now he has a year on the job under his belt. His time in office has been so quiet, in comparison to his predecessor, that some Richmonders may wonder what he does with his time.

The decade will end with Republican Bob McDonnell poised to move into the Governor’s Mansion in the recently renovated Capitol Square, to follow the two Democrats who followed Gilmore. And, so it goes …

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