Welcome to the home of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association.

We Meet Every Month

Meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of every month (except December) at 7:00 pm at the St. Andrew’s Church chapel at 236 S. Laurel Street. Meetings are open to all people, and anyone living in Oregon Hill is automatically eligible for membership.

Bylaws of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (updated, 2020)

Article I- Name, Purpose, and Territory
Section 1: Name. This association shall be known as “The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association,”
hereinafter referred to as “OHNA” or “the Association.”
Section 2: Purpose. OHNA’s purpose is to promote the best interests of the Oregon Hill
community, to enhance its quality of life, and to preserve its historic character.
Section 3: Territory. For the purpose of these By-Laws, Oregon Hill shall be considered to consist in
that portion of the City of Richmond, Virginia, bounded by Belvidere Street on the East, Cary Street on the north, Hollywood Cemetery and that portion of Harrison St. lying north of the Downtown Expressway on the west, and the southernmost boundary of Oregon Hill Park on the sou
Article II- Officers
Section 1: Officers and their duties.
A. List of officers. The Officers of OHNA shall consist of a President, one or more Vice-Presidents,
a Secretary, and a Treasurer.
B. Responsibilities of officers. The officers shall have the responsibilities enumerated below. Officers
may delegate specific tasks need to discharge these responsibilities.
1. President. The President of the Association shall have responsibility for representing the
Association and for coordinating Association business except as set forth in these By-Laws 2. Vice- President(s). The Vice-President(s) shall have responsibility for conducting OHNA’s
monthly meetings, for assisting the President in coordinating Association business, and for representing the Association in the President’s absence. Any disagreement between Vice-Presidents about the division of these responsibilities shall be decided by a vote of members present and voting or, if that is impractical, by the toss of a coin.
3. Secretary. The Secretary shall have responsibility for keeping faithful and accurate minutes of OHNA’s meetings, including a record of all Oregon Hill residents attending; for keeping a true, accurate, and current record of all OHNA members; for maintaining original drafts of these Bylaws and any subsequent amendments; and for the performance of other duties customary to this office. At the expiration of his/her term of office, the Secretary shall surrender all Association records to his/her successor.
Section 2: Eligibility for office. Only members of OHNA are eligible to serve as officers of the Association.
Section 3: Terms of office. All officers shall serve one-year terms commencing on the first day of January.
Section 4: Election of officers. Officers shall be elected by OHNA’s members present and voting at the November meeting of the Association as described below. A vote of the members
present and voting at that meeting will determine the number of Vice-Presidents that the Association shall have for the following year.
Article III- Membership
Section 1: Membership in the association shall be granted to any person 18 years of age or older,
residing in the designated Oregon Hill boundaries. Additionally, membership is extended to one vote for each business, school or church within the designated Oregon Hill boundary.
Section 2: Membership shall be granted to a resident or a business, school or place of worship in Oregon Hill. Each business, school or place of worship shall designate a sole representative to vote in all matters presented to the association voting membership. Members can register with the association secretary.
Section 3: Termination of membership
A. Resignation. Members of OHNA may resign from the Association by notifying the Secretary in
writing of their resignation.
B. Annual membership review. At least once each year, the Secretary shall review the membership
roster and remove from the roster anyone who has eligibility for membership.
Article IV- Communication and meetings.
Section 1. OHNA shall determine by a vote of those members present and voting a public place for
the posting of OHNA communications, hereinafter referred to as “the bulletin board.” Section 2. All OHNA meetings shall be open to all residents of Oregon Hill.
Section 3. Monthly meetings. OHNA shall normally meet on the fourth Tuesday of every month at a
time and place to be determined by a vote of those members present and voting at the previous month’s meeting. If the fourth Tuesday of the month is a national or state holiday, the meeting shall take place on the first subsequent day that is not a holiday. Written notice stating the date, time, and place of OHNA’s monthly meetings shall be posted on the bulletin board not less than two weeks before each monthly meeting.
Section 4. Annual Meeting. Each December meeting shall be advertised throughout Oregon Hill as OHNA’s Annual Town Meeting. At this meeting, the outgoing President shall report to the members on the state of the Association.
Section 5. Special meetings. Special meetings of OHNA may be called by any twenty-five (25) members of the Association who submit a written request to a Vice-President. The Vice-President to whom such a request is submitted shall determine a reasonable time and place for such a meeting, which shall be not less than three days and not more than fourteen from the time the request is received. Written notice stating the date, time, and place of any special meeting shall be posted on the bulletin board as soon as reasonably possible after the determination of that date, time, and place.
Section 6. Parliamentary procedure. Meetings will be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order, newly Revised, tenth edition, by Henry M. Robert III et al. (Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing) 2000. Business shall be conducted by a majority vote of members present and voting except as stated otherwise in these By-Laws. The election of officers shall be conducted using Instant Run-Off Voting when there are more than two candidates for a given office.
Article V- Committees
Section 1. Standing Committees. There shall be five standing committees as described below. These
committees will advise and report to the Association on matters within their purview.

Membership of these committees is open to all interested members of OHNA. Each of these committees will meet annually, in conjunction with the November meeting of the Association, and at other times as the committee deems appropriate. Each committee will elect its own chairperson at its November meeting. The examples cited below for each committee are for illustrative purposes only; the committees are neither bound to address these issues nor precluded from addressing any others within their purview.
A. Beautification Committee. The Beautification Committee will address ways of improving the sights, sounds, and smalls of Oregon Hill. For example, it might seek to reduce litter or to improve sidewalk maintenance.
B. Resident Assistance Committee. The Internal Relations Committee will address the welfare of Oregon Hill residents and the maintenance and improvement of relations among them. For example, it might seek to improve financial literacy among Oregon Hill residents or to help at-risk children.
C. Community Relations Committee. The Community Relations Committee will address the maintenance and improvement of relations between Oregon Hill and its neighbors, the City of Richmond and other people and organizations that interact with Oregon Hill. For example, it might meet with other neighborhood groups on issues of common concern or lobby public officials on behalf of neighborhood interests.
D. Housing Committee. The Housing Committee will address the status of housing and housing opportunities within Oregon Hill. For example it might seek to help tenants deal with irresponsible landlords or to preserve historic houses.
E. Public Safety Committee. The Public Safety Committee will address the improvement of public safety in Oregon Hill. For example, it might promote a neighborhood watch or pursue stricter enforcement of speed limits.
Section 2. Ad hoc committees. Other ad hoc committees may be formed by a majority vote of OHNA’s members. Such committees will advise and report to the Association on matters within their purview.
Article VI- Amendments
These By-Laws may be amended at any duly constituted meeting of the Association by a two-thirds
vote of those members present and voting, provided that the amendment was submitted and
read at the previous meeting of the Association.
Article VII- Temporary Officers and Adoption
Section 1. Temporary Officers. Notwithstanding the provisions in Article II, Sections 3 and 4 above,
the following people shall serve in the indicated offices from the inception of this Association through December 31, 2001:
David Houghton shall serve as President;
Georgianne Stinnet and Gayla Mills shall serve as Vice-Presidents;
Michele Smith shall serve as Secretary; and Charles Woodson shall serve as Treasurer. Section 2. Adoption. These Articles shall be adopted by a majority vote of those OHNA members
present and voting in a meeting at St. Andrew’s School on August 27, 2001.
Article VIII- Addendum
Section A. Memoranda of Understanding for OHNA and OHHIC
Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) is a nonprofit neighborhood civic association
(possibly a 501c3 in the future). Its mission is to organize residents of Oregon Hill, represent their interests, and improve the neighborhood. Its a volunteer organization.

Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council (OHHIC) is a 501c3 nonprofit, community development corporation. Affiliated with LISC and based in the Jacob House, its mission is to provide mixed-income, sustainable, historically sensitive housing and home improvement for Richmond neighborhoods. It utilizes full and part-time staff as well as volunteers.
While OHNA and OHHIC are both based in Oregon Hill, their missions and operations are different. In the past this has been the source of some confusion and controversy. This memoranda attempts to address this.
1. While OHNA officers may serve on OHHIC’s Board of Directors, there is no special status or guarantee of office granted to those who do so. It is imperative that both organizations maintain their own regular, democratic elections for representation. Because OHNA and a certain amount of OHHIC’s Board of Directors must be elected from a relatively small group of Oregon Hill residents, both organizations must maintain open lines of communication and recruitment. It should be understood that OHHIC’s Board of Directors receives more scrutiny as the organization’s service area changes. To avoid public confusion, the OHNA President should not be President of OHHIC’s Board, and vice versa.
2. Because of potentially overlapping missions, both organizations must be circumspect in regard to their literature. OHNA’s website and newsletter should focus on neighborhood news about parks, trees, crime watch, streets and traffic, neighborhood businesses, city/neighborhood politics, gardening tips, emergency preparedness.
OHHIC’s website and newsletter should focus on housing issues, construction and maintenance techniques and tips, activities and information regarding the Jacob House, neighborhood, city, and national news non-specific to Oregon Hill, neighborhood organizing non-specific to Oregon Hill.
One topic that both organizations should feel free to draw upon is the rich and shared history of Oregon Hill. Coordination of this is encouraged.
Both organizations should take steps to delineate their missions and direct readers to appropriate literature. Coordination of headlines and stories to avoid overlap should be encouraged. The organizations should avoid partisan commenting on each other’s policies and elections, but nonpartisan reminders of each other’s meetings and elections should be encouraged.
3. OHNA and OHHIC should avoid competing for the same resources. Grants, donations, advertising for newsletters, and fundraising in general should be specific to missions. Both organizations draw upon many of the same volunteers and they should not be put in a position of conflict because of this. OHNA needs to be sensitive to the more pressing financial responsibilities and obligations of OHHIC’s daily operation.
4. In terms of representing the interests of the neighborhood, OHNA is the ‘public face’ of Oregon Hill. While OHHIC, with its housing mission, has its own public role to play. These roles must be coordinated, with open lines of communication.
5. The Jacob House is considered a neighborhood resource. While OHHIC holds title, its ties to the neighborhood must be protected and celebrated by both organizations.
6. The memoranda will be reviewed and updated periodically by both organizations.