Oregon Hill resident Caroline Cox has written a back page opinion piece for Style magazine, entitled “Missing the Bag“. Its about the opportunity costs of taxpayer money.
“Most of the ongoing debate about the proposed $318 million ballpark-anchored development in Shockoe Bottom has centered on the best place to put a new baseball stadium. But it’s not about the ballpark. It’s about opportunity cost. It’s about resource management, public goods and democracy.”
IMHO, this is an excellent editorial. But of course, its something that myself and the local Green Party has brought up again and again.
http://www.vagreenparty.org/richblog/?p=204
I will also say that this continues a long, proud tradition of Oregon Hill residents standing up for public interests. Our neighborhood is small, but we can take credit for many grassroots political reforms at the City and state level.
I’m still trying to follow how Oregon Hill residents can take credit for this Op/Ed and the thousands of angry richmond residents all over the city who are against public finacing. I’m certainly glad that our own Oregon Hill is politicaly active and motivated, but linking this story to an Oregon Hill tradition seems like a long 7th inning stretch to me…
Cox is a longtime OH resident who is an integral part of the neighborhood. She speaks for many of us on this topic in particular.
Well, you are welcome to disagree, yet I definitely see a link between Cox’s editorial and other neighbors’ grassroots reform activities – whether it be modern stuff like OH residents’ calls for public utility reform, OH residents Todd Woodson and Charles Pool investigating state historic tax credits (which lead to the arrest of developer Salomonsky Sr., and in turn, the bribery arrest of Councilperson Hedgepeth), former resident Chris Maxwell’s crusade for an alternative radio station (WRIR), Napi’s push for parks and Belvidere Greenway, or past history like Grace Arents’ public education, public library, public health innovations, the Richmond Bread Riot, or even the abolitionist activities of early Quaker residents of the Hill.
Perhaps I over-romanticize, but I believe this is evidence of something special.
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Just saw Caroline on TV, speaking brilliantly about the stadium situation. Interesting how Mayor Jones approaches it as a done deal, but there are many, many Richmonders protesting it. I was honored to get to know Caroline years ago when representatives of all of Richmond’s historic districts came together to form “Preservationists For Progress.” All our neighborhoods came together to support each other (our first project being the Superior Bldg in Church Hill)…. Hope that support is in place for the people in the Bottom and other neighborhoods affected by this.
Well said, Caroline!
Best,
Liz