Remember what’s been written previously about “Richmond leadership that has been hostile to public demands”.

Yesterday, at his press conference on his proposed 1.5 (was previously 1.4) billion dollar coliseum scheme, Mayor Stoney was asked by a reporter about the ‘Put Children Before Costly Coliseum’ referendum, which over 15,000 City of Richmond voters have signed. His response was curt and dismissive:
“The project’s moving forward either way. I don’t have time to worry about political stunts.”

Its very clear that the Mayor and other leaders who ran and were elected on ‘Education’ platforms now champion the Tom Farrell/VCU coliseum plan IN SPITE OF the Put Schools First movement. They don’t care what citizens think. They don’t care about public ownership. They certainly don’t care about public schools. They just want their coliseum, period. And they are willing to skirt the law and use ‘fait accompli’ tricks to do it. This is straight from former VCU President Trani’s playbook.

Richmond’s citizens should be asking themselves and others how much public money and attention have already been wasted on just ‘the planning’ around the coliseum scheme? How many times have Richmond leaders broken promises surrounding these giant projects? Richmond citizens have heard the same sales pitch for years and years on project after project- they have all resulted over and over again in deferred maintenance for PUBLIC schools and parks while PRIVATE corporate welfare projects abscond with the taxpayers’ money. We now have the Put Schools First movement, which says enough is enough, invest in schools first, yet Richmond leaders dismiss it and continue to jam the same sales pitch down our throats.

This is the ugly, top-down, oppressive, corporatist culture of Richmond politics. It is anathema to true progress. Many Richmond residents keep hoping that new arrivals from other locales will recognize it and work to change it, instead of being indifferent and then eventually leaving. Citizens should unite in condemning this Mayor’s statement and actions.

The biggest backstory to Richmond politics right now is the VCU/Tom Ferrell/Mayor Stoney coliseum scheme. It’s been that way for a while, due to its collision course with the Put Schools First movement. Many Richmond citizens, including Oregon Hill neighbors, still believe that this backstory also had something to do with the upheaval regarding our beloved Councilperson Parker Agelasto.

For the last few months, one aspect of this whole thing has been the public right’s to know. Local attorney Paul Goldman has had to file Freedom of Information Act requests in order to obtain documents regarding the coliseum scheme. Even now, he is trying to get to documents that Mayor Stoney’s administration gave the Times Dispatch newspaper freely, but is refusing to give Goldman. According to him, the Mayor’s ‘crew’ is planning to hold up any more righteous disclosure with frivolous motions.

This is outrageous! It’s time for citizens to stand up to the Mayor and the VCU/Farrell corporate goon squad! And if there any 5th District candidate wannabe’s out there– now is the time to let citizens know which side you are on.

Tomorrow night, the Mayor has his “5th District Community Office Hours” scheduled from 6:30 to 8pm at the Randolph Community Center.

Zachary Brown, Ghazala Hashmi, and Eileen McNeil Bedell are running in the Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 10 on June 11, 2019. There are no candidates on the ballot in the Republican primary at this time. Glen Sturtevant is the elected Republican incumbent.

This might seem a little late in the game, but here are some pointed questions for the Democratic candidates leading up to Tuesday’s primary. Oregon Hill is a key neighborhood of voters in the 10th. Hopefully candidates will take the time to leave answers in the comments on this post.

Since other neighborhoods (and countries) have received written commitments from the Virginia Commonwealth University administration, as our State Senator will you require a written agreement from VCU that they will not encroach further into our historic neighborhood? In other words, what will you do specifically to protect our neighborhood from VCU, a state institution that the City cannot or will not control?

Some background on this can be found here, here, and here.

Anyone who has lived in Richmond for any length of time knows or should know that the City government is ripping its own citizens off with its water utility. Despite all the conjecture and follow up attempts, the current City administration has not showed any interest in reform and points to state code that they say allows them to continue with the status quo. As State Senator what will you specifically do to address this gross environmental/economic injustice?

More Oregon Hill neighbors have expressed interest in adding solar to their roofs. As a candidate for State Senate, do you support eliminating the 1% cap on distributed solar?