Category Archives: politics

Last Chance To Give Voters A Voice On VCU/Farrell Coliseum Scheme

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If Richmond citizens want to be able to vote on the VCU/Farrell/Stoney coliseum scheme, their last chance to do so may be decided in the next few days. Over 13,000 Richmond citizens have signed the petition for the “Choose Children over a Costly Coliseum“ Referendum, drafted by Paul Goldman, supported by the Sierra Club Falls of the James and others. Many of these signatures were done on Election Day last year, but the deadline to file the petition is coming up quickly (like in the next few days!), and more signatures are needed to ensure it getting on the ballot. If it does not make it on the ballot, citizens may be forced to live with and pay up for whatever the Mayor and City Council do with the $1.4. billion scheme, and it could effect City budgets for a decade to come. So, what’s it going to be? Schools or corporate welfare?

In the interest of informing the public, I am going to post the petition/referendum here. However, please ask yourself, why has local media not done so- again, over 13,000 Richmond citizens have already signed it. So why have Times Dispatch, Style, RVA Magazine, etc. mostly ignored this heroic grassroots effort? If you have been following along, including the latest FOIA struggle, things may be more clear. The Richmond Free Press and oregonhill.net have offered the most coverage on it.

The first Put Schools First referendum was fairly straight forward in demanding that Richmond leaders, especially the Mayor, come up with plan to modernize the schools first in the City’s budget planning. This second referendum, perhaps due to opposing nature, is a bit more convoluted, so here’s a quick explanation: it first states that citizens want schools to come before a new coliseum. It then includes a poison pill provision against using a TIFF (Tax Incremental Financing Fund) to finance the scheme by stating that a majority of the funding raised would have to go to schools first. It then ends with a measure to keep the schemers from going back to the meals tax for money.

If you are a resident of the City of Richmond and a registered voter, please take the time to sign this petition, even if you ultimately decide to not vote for it once it is on the ballot. 13,000 of your neighbors have already done so, don’t let them down! Give people a voice!

School Rezoning and Oregon Hill

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Laurel Street neighbor Teresa Birchett wants to be sure that neighbors are aware of the rezoning discussion.

Richmond is currently exploring rezoning of schools. They have released two potential options. If you look at both options they would impact Oregon Hill. For elementary we are currently zoned Cary. From what I can tell for elementary schools, Option 1 would divide the neighborhood at the expressway with some kids zoned for Carver and the majority of the neighborhood Cary. For Option 2 Oregon Hill would be completely rezoned for Carver. For middle school the entire neighborhood is currently zoned Binford. Option one would divide the neighborhood again at the expressway, with the upper half of the neighborhood zoned Hill and the lower Binford. Option two would keep the neighborhood Binford. For high school we are currently zoned Thomas Jefferson. Option one and two would rezone the neighborhood to John Marshall High School. If you have concerns or support one of these changes, now is the time to let RPS know.
Here is a link to the two possible proposed zoning changes, the proposed map changes are at the bottom of the document.

More Candidates Enter 5th District Council Contest

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Local media outlets are reporting that more candidates are entering into the election race to take what was Parker Agelasto’s seat on City Council.

From the Richmond Free Press:

The first candidates have begun to emerge in the race to succeed Parker C. Agelasto as the 5th District representative on Richmond City Council.

The district spans both sides of the James River and includes Carytown, Maymont, Oregon Hill and Swansboro.

A special election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 5, to replace Mr. Agelasto, who announced his resignation effective Nov. 30 after he moved out of the district last summer.

Former 5th District Councilman Henry W. “Chuck” Richardson, who is pursuing a lawsuit seeking the immediate ouster of Mr. Agelasto that is to be heard next month, announced his candidacy Tuesday night following a meeting of the Richmond Crusade for Voters.

Earlier this week, Stephanie Lynch, a lobbyist and advocate for the Good Neighbor mental health and disability services program and a civic activist from the Woodland Heights neighborhood in South Side, announced her run.

Dr. Thad Williamson, a University of Richmond professor and former aide to Mayor Levar M. Stoney, announced several weeks ago that he is seeking the office.

Five to seven more candidates are weighing runs to fill the remainder of Mr. Agelasto’s term that will end on Dec. 31, 2020.

NBC12 and Times Dispatch recently highlighted Richardson’s candidacy, while the VCU Commonwealth Times focused on a recent VCU graduate, Nicholas Da Silva, that is contending.

Tell Stoney To Release The Coliseum Scheme Documents

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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.

Questions For the 10th District Candidates

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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?

Many neighbors view climate change as the most important environmental issue impacting not only our natural environment but our economy, our quality of life and our national security. As a candidate for State Senate will you sign the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter’s climate pledge and permit them to list you among the candidates signing the pledge?

Oregon Hill is not one of Richmond’s wealthier neighborhoods, and in fact, in part due to its student population, is technically an impoverished area. As State Senator will you support legislation to address any disproportionate economic impact that changes in energy and climate policy have on disadvantaged communities?

Oregon Hill is one of the City neighborhoods that has been redistricted in recent years. In the 2019 session, the General Assembly passed a redistricting reform resolution that would amend the Virginia constitution to significantly improve the redistricting process. Passage of the same resolution in 2020 is necessary in order to move this reform along as a Virginia Constitutional amendment subject to a referendum on the November 2020 ballot. As State Senator will you vote for and support in the 2020 legislative session the redistricting reform resolution that passed in 2019?

Again, I invite candidates to leave their answers as comments on this post.

Photos From Friday’s March

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While Dominion’s RiverRock festival is still raging on the riverfront, here are some photos from Friday’s poignant environmental justice march, which ended with a rally at the Overlook. The official title was “End Environmental Racism Now: March With Union Hill, and it brought people of many faiths and ideologies (including Green Party) together to protest gas pipeline construction in Virginia. WRIC, Channel 8 news, did a good job of not only supplying video of the event, but informing people of the bigger picture (click here for story). While a few neighbors expressed some nervousness regarding this political happening outside their doors, they were gratified that the march organizers did a good job of making sure the area was clean afterwards.

Environmental Justice March On Friday

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The Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups are sponsoring a protest and march this Friday.

From their event page:

Virginians from all across the state will unite in common cause to oppose unjust and unneeded fracked-gas pipelines anywhere in the Commonwealth, and to stand in solidarity for environmental justice and the climate.
On Friday, May 17, we will gather in Richmond at Canoe Run Park with members of the Union Hill Community, William Barber, III and Karenna Gore, march across the Lee Bridge and end at the Oregon Hill Overlook, for a rally.

11am: Meet at Canoe Run Park (600 W 22nd St, RVA 23225)
Noon: March across the Lee Bridge
1pm: Gather at Oregon Hill Overlook (end of S. Pine Street)

Councilperson Agelasto Facing Legal Challenges

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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.

Coliseum Vs. Schools II (Or Is It V?)

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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

Schools Before Stadiums!

Broken Promises: Richmond’s Leaders Don’t Want To Put Schools First

Coliseum Vs. Schools: Time For A New Referendum (I)

East Coast Greenway and ‘ATP Trail Study’

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I am not exactly sure why local planners and media do not bring it up (are they worried about it taking attention away from the ‘Cap-To-Cap’ Trail?, does it go against corporate rulers’ schemes?, are they worried about provoking Agenda 21 conspiracy theorists?) but the Times Dispatch has an article on the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) preparing to build a 40-mile bike trail from Ashland to Petersburg, one that still does not even mention the East Coast Greenway (www.greenway.org) effort.

Of course, this ‘ATP Trail Study’ fits in with the East Coast Greenway planning. Why not report on it in those terms?

This community news site has been bringing it up for over a decade now. Originally, neighborhood leaders were interested in having the East Coast Greenway connect with the Belvidere greenway, which connects the Parsons Linear Park with the Riverside Park and the James River Park. That fits in with the Belle Island trail already being designated part of the East Coast Greenway.

From Belle Island, today:

Unfortunately, VCU and other bad development have stymied those thoughts, even though it would have been really cool to have a trail connect Monroe Park and Carver via a trail along Belvidere. Since then, many citizens hope that the East Coast Greenway will utilize the Cannon Creek Greenway, and then have the trail go west to connect with Belle Island. This could really be a boon for Barton Heights and other Northside neighborhoods that need more economic development.

It’s important that everyone understands how important this is for Richmond’s future. Having the East Coast Greenway intersect with the Virginia Capital Trail will be amazing. Imagine bicycle tourists traveling down from DC, coming into Richmond, staying and enjoying the area before making to the choice to fork or not. Pretending this is just a regional thing is just ridiculous.

VDOT will hold a public information meeting on Tuesday, March 26, from 5-7 p.m. at the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, 1000 North Lombardy Street, Richmond, VA 23220.