Received this media advisory about a public meeting to detail bicycle infrastructure plans from the City’s Department of Public Works. It’s taking place May 30 from 5 to 7 pm at the Main Richmond Pubic Library.
OHNA (Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association) will be meeting this coming Tuesday (fourth Tuesday of the month) at St Andrew’s Church at 7PM.
On the agenda are updates from VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University, RPD (Richmond Police Department), VCU police, Councilperson Agelasto’s office, a presentation by St. Andrew’s School of it’s proposal for the William Byrd Community House and Idlewood property, a presentation by the Storefront for Design on neighborhood parks, a presentation on an Open High School and Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay grant, stop sign petitioning, an update on the Oregon Hill/Open High/Richmond Parks beehives (Please remember to plant bee friendly plants and please DO NOT use Roundup or any other glyphosate based products as it poses a threat to the bees and possibly to humans. L.A. County recently banned its use as are other localities), FiOS installation, crosswalk painting, New Market corporation’s plan to fill in part of the historic canal, and other important matters.
From the Virginia Housing Development Authority website:
A meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Virginia Housing Development Authority will be held at 1:00 p.m. on May 21, 2019, in the Board Room on the First Floor of its offices located at 601 South Belvidere Street, Richmond, Virginia. The Board may also meet during meals before or after the meeting on May 21, 2019. No time period has been scheduled during the meeting for public comment.
From email announcement:
Dear Friends
This Friday, May 17th at 4PM there will be a peaceful rally asking to TERMINATE THE LEASE on Monroe Park held by the Monroe Park Conservancy. This will occur at Monroe Park across from the big tent. We will gather on Main st.
All members of the community are invited. The Monroe Park Conservancy holds a 30 year lease (since 2014) on the City’s oldest and most historic municipal park, purchased in 1851 by the City. The Park was reopened last Autumn after a 22 month renovation overseen by the City and the Monroe Park Conservancy. During that “renovation”, a substantial portion of the historic tree canopy was destroyed, ALL public restrooms were removed, the WWII Memorial was desecrated by a large electrical box and poorly planned and executed pathways were installed that wash gravel dust into the sewer system whenever it rains. Its time for the City to terminate this lease and start fresh on a new plan to fix all the things that went wrong under the Monroe Park Conservancy. Additionally, a recent City audit found that $345,000.00 used in the botched “renovation” was billed to the City’s School Building Fund. We ask that City officials work in partnership with the stake holding community to achieve positive changes in the Park.
Thank you,
Todd Woodson, director
Fans of Monroe Park
(Editor’s note: The Sierra Club Falls Of The James has previously called for ending the lease.)
This past Thursday, the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority met at the VCU East Engineering Hall. Here are videos from this meeting…
The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association is meeting tomorrow night, April 23.
The Richmond Free Press has been covering multiple lawsuits that seek the removal of Councilperson Agelasto from his 5th District City Council seat for moving his residence and family to the 1st District.
From the latest article by Jeremy Lazarus:
Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring told the Free Press that he would file his own lawsuit to remove Mr. Agelasto if the City Council member fails to notify Richmond City Council soon that he will resign his office by the end of the year.
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Mr. Agelasto declined comment Monday on Mr. Herring’s statement, leaving it to his attorney, Anthony F. Troy, who also is not commenting on settlement offers.
Meanwhile, two former City Council members, Sa’ad El-Amin and Henry W. “Chuck” Richardson, have filed separate legal actions requesting the Richmond Circuit Court remove Mr. Agelasto from office. Neither case has been set for trial.
And this issue keeps bubbling…
Paul Goldman responds to Richmond Public Schools superintendent Jason Kamras’ column in the Times Dispatch newspaper:
Dear Mr. Kamras, in response to your column which predictably starts by blaming white racism. Your open by saying opposition to the record taxes you and Stoney proposing to pay for huge new RPS spending is primarily rooted in a lack of “trust the money” as to how the money will be spent. The first reason you give for this lack of trust parrots the growing City Hall line Stoney aides post on FaceBook: “Some of that distrust has its roots in biases about race and class — conscious or otherwise — that still grip Richmond.” Mr. Kamras, with all due respect, if you want to know why people don’t trust, look no further than the bogus school modernization plan you, Stoney and Council championed. We now know it knowingly used $cost figures $hundreds of millions too low! In addition, 5 new schools where promised from the record meals tax hike: now we know we will be lucky to get 3. A 60% mistake! Sir, the people’s growing lack of trust isn’t caused by racism. But rather proven financial incompetence and knowing misstatements by you, the Mayor, Council on money matters.
By the way, Goldman recently entered a court petition that challenges the City on its secrecy surrounding the Farrell Coliseum redevelopment scheme. And a recent protest at Farrell’s appearance at the University of Richmond included prominent mention of the coliseum proposal. From the UR Collegian article:
The protesters, who are part of a group called The Virginia Student Environmental Coalition, were escorted out of the event. As they were escorted out, they chanted, “No coliseum, no pipeline, people’s lives are on the line!”
And one other thing… Virginia Business reports that Dominion Energy was among large corporations that paid no federal income tax for 2018 U.S. income.
Some previous posts about this subject:
CenterStage, Altria Theater Exempted From Real Estate Tax
Broken Promises: Richmond’s Leaders Don’t Want To Put Schools First
Thankfully, WRIC’s Kerri O’Brien is following up on the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association’s request for a full audit of the Monroe Park Conservancy’s budget and work.
“I think the City needs to get their financial house in order. That money was supposed to be in the school construction budget somehow it ended up getting spent on Monroe Park,” said Woodson.
It’s unclear if that money was on top of the $3 million the City gave.
“We need to make sure every single dollar down to the penny was accounted for. A lot of stuff is being done by paper and pencil. That’s a major issue,” Councilwoman Gray told 8News.
8News has also been looking over the original contract or the park. 8News found the agreement with the design firm 3north was modified three times, tacking on an additional $260,000 in taxpayer money.
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“We feel with that revelation it is imperative that a full and comprehensive audit be placed on the renovation of this park find to where all the money went,” Woodson told 8News.