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Richmond has initiated Project Exile, a tough gun safety law praised by both gun rights and gun control groups and promoted by President George Bush as a crime-fighting model for the nation.
“With no tax increase, we built and opened five new schools,” Kaine continued. In fact, he noted, virtually every tax levy in the city was reduced during his time in office. “We tried to do it in a strategic way to make positive things happen,” Kaine explained. To encourage the growth of small business and stem the exodus to the suburban fringe, business license taxes for small businesses were eliminated. Real estate tax relief was extended to low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities. To encourage the re-development of the inner city, an innovative tax abatement program was instituted, exempting property taxes for renovated housing and commercial space for 10 years to 15 years if the property is in a low-income area.
The city’s old train station has been reclaimed as , a transportation hub, with Amtrak to begin service there for the first time next year. And the 2000 census results shows Richmond reversing the decline and again gaining population for the first time since 1970. “We’re doing things that make a difference in the quality of people’s lives,” Kaine said.
“And it shows. Richmond has gone from a problem city to a solution city. We’ve gotten things done by reaching across lines — racial lines,
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