Richmond City Hall, 06/15/2015 8:00 am.
Richmond City Hall, 04/28/2014
Protesting the Cuts
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Category Archives: editorial
Open High Under Attack
This message is appearing local social media about what is happening at Open High:
Our staff at OHS was just informed this afternoon that Open HIgh School for next year is losing 1 whole English Teacher Position, 1/2 of a Science Teacher Position and 1/2 of a Foreign Language Teacher Position (French), and 1/2 of the ONLY Fine Arts Teacher Position. The fine arts program will be slashed in half, leaving Brigette there only part time. The system has decided that a ratio of 22:1 per classroom is acceptable. As a specialty program, we WERE fortunate enough to have smaller class sizes. RPS administration wants to change this for next year.
THE DEADLINE OF WHICH TEACHERS WILL STAY AND WHICH TEACHERS WILL HAVE TO LEAVE OR CUT TO HALF TIME HOURS WILL BE THIS TUESDAY, JUNE 16.
IF YOU WANT THE OPEN HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM TO REMAIN THE WAY IT IS….Please call THE Richmond Public Schools Superintendant’s Office this Monday morning, June 15 to VOICE YOUR CONCERNS.
PLEASE HELP US SAVE OUR WONDERFUL SCHOOL AND SPECIALTY PROGRAM. WE CURRENTLY HAVE NO OFFICIAL PRINCIPAL SO IT IS UP TO YOU AND ALL OF US PARENTS, STUDENTS AND GUARDIANS AT OPEN HIGH TO ADVOCATE FOR OUR WONDERFUL STAFF. I don’t have anymore information at this time.
Dr Bedden’s email is-dbedden@richmond.k12.va.us
The phone number for the Superintedant’s Office is 780-7710
You may also want to reach out and contact the entire RPS school board.
Belle Island ‘Drunkfest’
The Times Dispatch has been publishing Letters to the Editor that raise concerns about drinking and littering on Belle Island, part of the City’s James River Park system.
From a Letter to Editor in today’s paper:
“We took pictures and talked to several park employees who said they simply did not have the manpower to keep up with the litter problem. Occasionally volunteer groups come out to help clean up. Only one police officer is usually on patrol to help with security. Apparently, many Richmond citizens feel entitled to enjoy all the benefits of our river but don’t care at all about keeping it clean for others to enjoy. It shows a total lack of respect for all, Richmond citizens, tourists, wildlife and the James River.”
My only dispute with that statement is that a lot of the offenders are not City residents, but are from the surrounding counties. This also speaks to questions about the “Tredegar Green” amphitheater and the need for more (and better!) public trash/recycling receptacles.
Monroe Park Woes
The state of Monroe Park continues to create consternation.
From neighbor and Monroe Park defender Todd Woodson:
Last Monday evening, I spoke during citizen comment period at city council regarding the fact that the city currently has over 3/4 of a million dollars and hundreds of hours of planning in the Monroe Park Master Plan and that the plan has been approved by both the planning commission and city council and is prominently displayed on the richmondgov.com website and that they were currently replacing the entire north side of the park (600 and 700 blocks w Franklin) with new concrete sidewalks which do not comply with the specified brick with planting strip sidewalks in the master plan. I emailed the interim director at DPW before any concrete was poured and he responded that he would consult his engineers and get back to me. He never did. I subsequently requested the budget for the project under the freedom of information act but haven’t received it yet. They have now completed the northern perimeter and have started on the eastern side (Belvidere). It is now apparent that the city is going to complete the entire perimeter with inappropriate material in anticipation of the UCI races. This unfortunate waste of funds could reach up to 200 to 300 thousand dollars by my estimate. Should the master plan be implemented, all this concrete will need to be demolished, transported to a landfill, the site re-prepared and correct brick sidewalks installed.
I request that you do anything you can to bring this to the attention of the public. If they stopped and began the right plan, much money could still be saved.
This blatant and willful waste of taxpayer dollars and stress to the environment through all of the landfill waste is appalling and unconscionable. The administration of our city is out of control.
These Monroe Park sidewalks has been reported on before on this website.
Some Richmonders have also been wondering about this plaque, now without a corresponding tree:
Perhaps we will learn more at this upcoming Monday (May 4, 5pm)’s City Council Organizational Development Standing Committee Meeting being held in the Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall. Alice Massie, the President of the Monroe Park Conservancy, is scheduled to give an update. She has missed previous meetings. Also, Lucy Meade of Venture Richmond is scheduled to speak on “City Beautification Projects”. This standing committee meeting often has little public participation, despite the important matters that are discussed there.
Public Square On Segregation This Thursday
The Times Dispatch Public Square events are sometimes good and sometimes very weak, depending on how topics are presented and moderated. But this one sounds like it it could be a better one (and maybe of particular interest to Oregon Hill, which is often described as a “traditionally white neighborhood”):
Public Square 56: Why is Richmond still segregated? Thursday, April 23, 12-1:30 p.m., Richmond Times-Dispatch 1st Floor Auditorium (300 E. Franklin Street)
At the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s next Public Square, we’ll explore the issue of segregation in the region. We’ll include presentations from Heather Mullins Crislip, president and CEO of Richmond’s Housing Opportunities Made Equal, and John V. Moeser, senior fellow in the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement at the University of Richmond and professor emeritus of urban studies and planning at Virginia Commonwealth University. We’ll also hear from Victor K. Branch, Richmond market president for Bank of America and a HOME board member, and longtime Times-Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams. As always, the audience will be invited to ask questions and make comments.
Also:
Richmond Public Schools (RPS) State of the Schools Address Tuesday, April 28, 6 p.m., 1500 N. Lombardy St., RVA 23220
Come join the members of RPS and the Richmond community to discuss the current state and future of the schools in Richmond. The event will be held at the Claude G. Perkins Living and Learning Center (on the campus of Virginia Union University).
Richmond Urban Land Institute Meeting On Wednesday: “Progress on Richmond’s Riverfront: Cultivating Connections with the James River”
It’s not free to attend, but there is a meeting this Wednesday by the Urban Land Institute that is focusing on riverfront connections.
How should Richmond take advantage of the opportunities that the James River offers? What types of infrastructure is necessary to encourage interaction with the James? What progress has already been made?
Join ULI and it’s Young Leader’s Group for a panel-led discussion that will highlight projects that encourage Richmond to engage with the James River. Our distinguished panel will provide commentary on the progress that has been made along Richmond’s Riverfront and will discuss the vision for the future.
Note that it is being moderated by Lucy Meade of Venture Richmond. Can we really expect the public interests to be adequately represented at this meeting?
Neighbor Featured In Newspaper Editorial
Todd was Correspondent for the Day with an eloquent letter asking Richmond to ban the use of bullhooks on circus elephants be banned in Richmond. Todd inspired a City Council resolution, still under consideration, to ban bullhooks on elephants in Richmond. This impending resolution was in part responsible for the Ringling Bros. circus to announce that they will retire their elephants by 2018.
To quote from today’s lead editorial:
Todd Woodson attended the March 4 event honoring The Times-Dispatch’s 2014 Correspondents of the Day. His Sept. 29 letter called on Richmond to ban the use of bullhooks when training circus elephants. On March 5, Ringling Bros. announced it would phase out elephant acts. It cited changing attitudes among the reasons for its decision. Woodson expressed sentiments embraced by a growing number of Americans. He made a difference.
After the Ringling Bros. announcement, Woodson forwarded an excerpt from Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamozov”: “Love the animals: God gave them the rudiments of thought and an untroubled joy. Do not trouble them, do not torment them, do not take their joy from them. Do not go against God’s purpose. Man, do not exalt yourself above the animals: they are sinless.”
Woodson also is one of central Virginia’s most accomplished jazz musicians. The designation “Renaissance Man” applies to him.”
Vigil and Protest At Dominion’s HQ On Wednesday
Virginians are gathering on Tredegar Street this coming Wednesday morning, concerned about the ongoing tragedy of Fukushima and Dominion’s nuclear plans.
I expect a less noisy and more somber event than the recent pipeline protest, but perhaps as equally as important.
From FaceBook event page:
Please join us ~
Wed. March 11, 2015 from 7:30am-10:00am.
We will be participating in the global day of action ~ Commemorating the 4th year of the ongoing nuclear disaster in Fukushima and protesting against Dominion’s plan to build a 3rd nuclear reactor at North Anna on the fault line.8:30am ~Vigil for the victims of Fukushima in plain view of Dominion Executives as they drive into work.
(will we be the next victims?)
10:00am ~ Moment of silence for the victims of Fukushima, followed by a brief memorial tribute and press conference.Our State & Federal government is placing us at enormous risk!
Even with the past nuclear disasters (TMI, Chernobyl and the ongoing/uncontrollable disaster in Fukushima spreading radiation all over the world), nothing has stopped VA Dominion Power from moving forward with a plan for another reactor at North Anna.
VCU Community Engagement Celebrated
Today VCU’s Division of Community Engagement hosted a lecture this afternoon by Dr. Barbara Holland, an expert on organizational change in higher education, with a focus on the institutionalization of community engagement.
Part of the impetus for the event was also celebrating VCU having received Carnegie Foundation’s designation as a “Community Engaged Campus”. Former First Lady of Virginia and education advocate Anne Holton attended and spoke also. 
The only question that time allowed from the audience was in regard to adjunct professors’ pay and declining state support for education. 
While it may be easy for Oregon Hill residents to question VCU’s local commitment given past difficulties and controversies (not that this event attempted to address specific neighborhood concerns), the declining financial investments on the part of corporations and government in research make it clear that VCU’s challenges for community engagement will be very real. Hopefully Dr. Holland’s lecture will spur more open discussion and action.
Separate from this keynote event, on an even more positive note, residents may want to mark on their calendars the upcoming opening of the RVA Toolbank (on March 19th), with support from VCU.
City Responsibility
Please note, it has been determined that the City is responsible for snow removal, condition, and maintenance of the 195 bridge overpasses, including pedestrian sidewalks, along Idlewood, Cumberland. Parkwood. No more deceitful ducking of issues by saying that the RMA or VCU is responsible. And if there is any problems with budgeting, I suggest money be cut and repurposed from Vulture Richmond’s “Clean and Safe” program, which currently receives over a quarter of million from the City.