From email announcement:
Dear Friends and Neighbors
Our Monthly neighborhood association meeting will be held at St Andrews Church at 7pm this Tuesday, June 25th. Really, other than our important updates, there is not much on the agenda except perhaps electing a new Vice President as our sitting VP has moved out of the neighborhood. If you are interested, come state your case.
Please stop by.
Todd Woodson, President
Chris D. Bailey layback Oregon Hill back in the day.
This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup. 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 you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.
Various news outlets are still covering this, but Richmond Police Department says a woman with a gun near the Virginia War Memorial led to the Lee Bridge being closed this morning.
Update: The situation has been resolved peacefully and the woman has been taken to the hospital for mental evaluation.
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.
The James River Park is holding a Belle Isle History Hike this Saturday from 11 am to 1 pm.
Here is some information:
Join us for a family friendly hike to one of Richmond’s historic gems, Belle Isle. Learn about the geologic and human history of the area and the role Richmond played in the development of our nation. Please bring water, a snack and good shoes.
Ages: 8 and Up
Price: $5
Location: Tredegar Parking Lot
From Richmond Police Department:
N. Laurel Street between W. Main Street & S. Cathedral Pl. will be CLOSED June 9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th. The hours of closure for each day will be from 1 PM to 6:30 PM. There will be No Parking permitted in this location during these dates & times. Altria Theater will be having High School Graduations on those days.
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.