Mayoral candidate Paul Goldman said Richmond needs to focus on building jobs, not condominiums.

Calling for drastic action to reverse the loss of jobs in the city, Goldman is proposing to slash business-license taxes by 50 percent and to trim various fees by 10 percent.

He said the city can absorb the loss of $15 million in annual revenue without affecting services by cutting wasteful spending and canceling what he called giveaways, citing the $500,000 annual operating subsidy for the Richmond CenterStage arts center and Landmark Theater.

Goldman said the city's dwindling job base is being masked by a flurry of condominium construction in and near downtown. He said those developments won't improve the lives of average residents the way an influx of jobs would.

"A good job is the best anti-poverty program you've got," he said.

Last year, Richmond averaged 158,984 jobs, which was down nearly 5 percent from 2000, according to Virginia Employment Commission data. Henrico County supplanted Richmond as the region's employment leader in 2001.

Other mayoral candidates accused Goldman of campaign gimmickry. Last week, he proposed turning Carytown into a pedestrian mall. This week, he offered his 21-point plan for economic growth.

Mayoral candidate William J. Pantele, president of the City Council, said he agrees that the city's business-license taxes are too high and should be reviewed. However, he said "just making a broad statement about cutting them in half is irresponsible. That's not really an economic-development strategy. Closing streets in Carytown is not an economic-development strategy."

Lawrence E. Williams Sr., another candidate, said the mayoral race should be focusing on more substantive issues, such as ways to improve the lives of average Richmonders, the city's schools and its judicial system.

"Strong neighborhoods will solve a good bit of this," he said.

Goldman said he also would strive to reduce the city's real estate tax rate to 99 cents in part by tightening the city's tax-abatement program, which gives tax breaks to promote building renovation. The current real estate rate is $1.20 per $100 of assessed value.
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.