OHNA News Update

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From Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) email announcement:

Interested in entering the best-decorated house contest?
The Oregon Hill Halloween House Decorating Contest is now accepting submissions! If you would like your house to be considered, send an email with your address to OHNArva@gmail.com before Midnight this Monday, October 14, subject line “Halloween House Contest.”

FOURTH ANNUAL Oregon Hill / Open High Halloween Block Party!!
Oct 19, 11am-3pm on China St. between Laurel and Pine St at Open High School.
Arts, crafts, games, food trucks (Horne Dogs and TBT El Gallo), music, costume contests, and more. Most importantly: the RAFFLE! Once again, many of our favorite local businesses are supporting the neighborhood and Open High by generously donating gift cards, merchandise, and other great things! This year, the raffle will be online. Tickets are only $5 each–purchase as many tickets as you want for the prizes that you’d love to win! And remember, the more tickets you buy, the better your chances of winning the item you really want! Funds raised support the students of Open High, helping to pay for travel abroad scholarships, field trips, school supplies, and more!
Enter the raffle here: https://ohsrva.ptboard.com/formvw/store?store=5597
If you’d like to volunteer or have any questions, email OHNArva@gmail.com

Reminder: City Parks Survey
The city is planning parks improvements throughout the city through a new initiative called “Richmond Inspire.” They are collecting input on what residents want to see in our community parks: Surveys will be accepted until September 27 at 5pm. Complete the survey to be entered to win one of three $50 Target gift cards. https://www.richmondinspire.com/

OHNA Committees:
Please let us know if you are interested in serving on any OHNA committees. You can contribute to making Oregon Hill such a great neighborhood!

Pleasants Park Cleanup Day
Organized by Friends of Oregon Hill Parks on November 9 10-2. Bring tools and gloves if you have ’em, just come along if you don’t–water and snacks provided. Btw, join Friends of Oregon Hill Parks fb group to get involved with improvements and events! https://www.facebook.com/groups/191425087363006

The next meeting of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association
will be Tuesday, October 22, 2024 at 7pm, on Zoom. Please send any agenda items you may have.

Sincerely,

Valerie L’Herrou, President
Bryan Clark Green, Co-Vice President
Harrison Moenich, Co-Vice-President
Jennifer Hancock, Co-Vice-President
Mike Matthews, Secretary
John Bolecek, Treasurer

Mayoral Election RCV Poll

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Screenshot

We know we cannot count on the corporate media to supply alternatives, so we have to take it upon ourselves (the WRIR lesson)….
As stated here previously, Paul Goldman deserves a lot of credit for almost single-handily obtaining the 10,000 signatures needed to make the City charter change for voting Mayor at large in the first place, but it’s past time for more electoral reform. We know we need to update and strengthen the City’s Board of Elections anyway, so we might as well join other cities around the world in enacting RCV/IRV.

Ranked choice voting (RCV) — also known as instant runoff voting (IRV) — makes our elections better by allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference.

RCV is straightforward: Voters have the option to rank candidates in order of preference: first, second, third and so forth. If your first choice doesn’t have a chance to win, your ballot counts for your next choice.

RCV works in all types of elections and supports more representative outcomes. RCV means better choices, better campaigns, and better representation. That’s why it’s the fastest-growing voting reform in the nation…

Except, of course, in decidedly unprogressive Richmond, VA, where City Council tossed it aside.

UVA, GMU, JMU, and Washington & Lee use it for their campus/student government elections, but VCU, UR, and VUU are still behind the times, despite the offered prize.

Anyway, back to challenging the status quo… Note that this is just a poll, of course, and that according to the current Mayoral election rules, the winner is not who wins the popular vote. It’s not who gets the most votes, it’s who gets the most votes out of five out of the nine City Council districts. Which does makes an expensive runoff election a distinct possibility… a problem that RCV could solve.

But for now, vote in this ‘mock election’. Just don’t forget the real stakes involved and tell your favorite candidate to do the required homework…

Oregon Hill Block Party On October 19th

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From announcement:
Saturday, October 19th is the FOURTH ANNUAL Oregon Hill Block Party!! From 11am-3pm on China St. between Laurel and Pine St! We look forward to seeing you then. More information coming soOoOon.
Thank you, @broo_gus for once again making a stellar illustration for this years event! We will be sharing information about vendors, participants, merch, and more in the coming week! Can’t wait to see you all! SHARE WIDELY!

Solidarity With Assange

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Julian Assange during a 2014 press conference attended by international media

On October 1, 2024, Julian Assange broke his silence. The WikiLeaks founder testified before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) about the chilling effect his detention and conviction has had on human rights. When Assange was detained, The Committee previously found he met PACE’s definition of a political prisoner. Assange’s testimony marked his first substantive, public comments in over half a decade. Other than his remarks at his sentencing hearing, the public has largely not heard from Assange since his 2019 arrest.

For what it is worth, this ‘community news site’, even in its mostly ‘amateur’ status, declares its solidarity with Julian Assange. Hopefully, this site will not get targeted by the C.I.A. for doing so. It is more noteworthy and distressing that local ‘professional’ journalists have not done more to declare their solidarity.

It’s also an election year, and, incredibly, Donald Trump is running for re-election as President of the United States. What is sad and remarkable is that many citizens still don’t know or have forgotten that Assange revealed how Trump was made into a serious political candidate in the first place. The reality is that much of the ‘transnational repression’ we have seen from the U.S. government in regard to Assange is most likely not instigated from the WikiLeaks publication/documenting of U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, but from their revelations on the amount of triangulation involved in American politics.

It’s noteworthy that one of Oregon Hill’s previous Halloween parades (2013) was in honor of whistleblowers Assange, Manning, and Snowden.

When journalism is criminalized, as in Assange’s case, things get truly scary.

Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow Morning

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Tomorrow is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup.

Please go over what can be recycled.

NOTE: CVWMA (Central Virginia Waste Management Authority) has announced that all curbside recycling must now be INSIDE the CVWMA containers with lid closed. Items beside the container or on top of it will not be collected. In fact, incorrect setouts may not be collected at all. This is new as of July 1 for all our curbside recyclers, with the exception of townhomes/condos still using small bins. (And yes, this also applies to flattened cardboard boxes.)

Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.

If it seems like pickup did not happen, use this online form:
https://cvwma.com/programs/residential-recycling/recycling-service-request-form/

In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.

In recycling news, just as auto technology has changed with growing electrification, so has auto recycling. You may think auto recycling is just about scrapping end-of-life vehicles, but both state and federal legislation initiatives are shifting the landscape dramatically.

Folk Festival Weekend Began Last Night

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Rancho Aparte

Bombino, a crowd favorite, returns

Neighbors are encouraged to take advantage of the Richmond Folk Festival. You can be against the new amphitheater but still enjoy world class musicians playing for free only a short walk away.

But then there is also the Festival of India, the Richmond International Film Festival, and then next week, the State Fair of Virginia, the Richmond Veg Fest, the Richmond Zine Fest, and so much more.

Mandatory Homework for Mayoral Candidates

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Photo by Julia M Cameron via Pexels.

New school year, but you know the drill…

If you are a candidate for political office (state or City), and in particular a City mayoral candidate, please submit via official campaign email to info@oregonhill.net both a pledge (to defend the neighborhood from more VCU disrespect and encroachment, to recognize the demands already made to Richmond300 and the City of Richmond’s Planning Commission, and to do everything in your power to get VCU to make a written Memorandum of Understanding (aka MOU or commitment) to Oregon Hill, including but not limited to requesting a meeting with VCU Board of Visitors), but also a description of how you personally plan to defend and help this historic neighborhood if you win your election. In other words, what will you do to protect and defend, but also help and improve the Oregon Hill neighborhood.

This work will be accepted up to October 15. Late work will NOT be accepted. Grades will NOT be on a sliding scale.

By October 16, neighbors will know who NOT to vote for. We are looking for candidates who we CAN vote for. And make no mistake about it, Oregon Hill votes strongly and can be a deciding factor for the 5th District.

This comes at a time when the historic Oregon Hill district is under incredible pressure from developers (and let’s make no mistake about it, some of these people are little better than gangsters) and a new, corporate, riverfront amphitheater. Neighbors see the high-rise apartment buildings in Manchester and Scott’s Addition and don’t even recognize those neighborhoods anymore.

Neighbors are also watching the campaign contributions and making lists. Many of you may have taken part in the OHNA zoom meetings, but we know talk is cheap. Let’s see how your writing fares.

Historic preservationists have worked tirelessly to protect this small neighborhood’s historic streetscapes for decades. If you believe in historic preservation, now it is a good time to make the commitment.