Category Archives: politics

Time To End Some Leases And Protect What Is Public

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Todd Woodson, past OHNA president, past Sierra Club Falls of the James ‘Green Giant’ award winner, and past member of City Council’s Monroe Park Advisory Council, released this post this morning:

NO CITY MONEY FOR THE MONROE PARK CONSERVANCY!
Friends- the writing is on the wall! As Historic Monroe Park falls deeper into dereliction only two years after an $8 million dollar renovation, it has become obvious that even though 2020 set a record for charitable giving, the Monroe Park Conservancy – the group responsible for the Park’s sad condition, is broke and can’t honor their agreement with the City. Alice Massie and treasurer Matthew Stanley have defied federal regulations by refusing to allow their form 990’s to be reviewed by the public. Having exhausted all sources of charitable giving, it is inevitable that this “conservancy” will or have asked the City for a bail out, using tax payer money. It will take millions to repair the damage they and they alone have caused to our most historic park. The answer should be a resounding NO! It is time to terminate the lease and put the historic park back in the hands of the community under our capable Parks Department’s management. Giving Massie and Matthew Stanley (who is also Outreach Director for Richmond Public Schools) more money would be an egregious waste of our hard earned dollars. Reach out to your representatives and ask that they terminate the lease immediately and fix the park with public restrooms, usable pathways and a RESTORED TREE CANOPY!

At this past OHNA (Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association) meeting, Councilperson Stephanie Lynch was asked if there was any news on Monroe Park. She replied that there was none other than rumors of financial difficulty on the part of the Monroe Park Conservancy and she did not know of any City Council requests to rescind the lease (something that OHNA has previously requested).

Given some of the same issues of park use and attempts at privatization, it is noteworthy that near the riverfront side of Oregon Hill, during or shortly after the recent ‘zombie show filming’, a sign went up in the Belle Island (part of the James River Park system) for “private parking”. The city’s lease with Venture Richmond stated that they would retain free parking in the Belle Isle parking lot i.e. public parking.

After citizens made inquiries, Venture Richmond quickly said more recently that the new signs would come down and blamed the towing company for misunderstanding. Many citizens remain skeptical and believe this was yet another attempt to sneak in privatization. Oregon Hill residents, including Todd Woodson, remain vigilant in trying to watch over Venture Richmond and other ‘public-private partnerships’.

And on that score, one other thing- Oregon Hill residents have heard that Dominion is planning to move ahead with its proposed solar array on top of its riverfront parking garage (which, btw, is not shared with the public for parking). While many Oregon Hill residents are very much in favor of renewable energy, this is in violation of the hard won height agreement there (which OHNA, the Sierra Club Falls of the James, and other community and environmental groups are part of). What does this mean if Dominion is not going to be held accountable for its own agreements that are there to protect a public view?

When you look at all that has recently been proposed around the neighborhood, including Richmond300 shenanigans to ‘affordable housing’ initiatives, it is time is to send some universal messages- BACK OFF! AND STOP TRYING TO TAKE FROM THE PUBLIC! Return Monroe Park to the public!

P.S. Please do click through the links in this editorial and appreciate the time and energy that Oregon Hill residents have sacrificed to protect this neighborhood and what belongs to the City and public in whole. The local corporate media often does not give the complete picture in these matters and we need everyone to recognize how corporate hegemony, be it from institutions like VCU, be it from private companies like Dominion, be it from ‘public-private partnerships’ like Venture Richmond, be it from our own compromised City government, is acting against us. (Coming soon to this community news site, more on how we can fight back on the local, city, state, and national level…)

OHNA Supports RCV For City Offices

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While there was lots of important neighborhood-centric discussion at last night’s OHNA Zoom meeting, one other thing the neighborhood association did was vote to support ranked choice voting for City offices.

It should be noted that while OHNA has not yet had an occasion to use ranked choice voting for its own elections, it has been part of the organization’s bylaws for several years now.

As interest in ranked choice voting grows locally, voters may want to attend this upcoming webinar to learn more about it:

https://www.facebook.com/events/722327248485427/

City Council Votes Against Neighborhood To Pass Richmond300 Plan

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Last night Richmond City Council voted unanimously in favor of the Richmond 300 plan, which changes Oregon Hill’s future land use from residential to mixed use.

This happened during holidays when most people are pre-occupied with family matters, in a pandemic emergency, during which the Virginia Attorney General has called on municipalities to suspend all non-life-threatening business, and specifically land-use issues.

City Council voted for this despite opposition from many different parts of the City, but especially from this neighborhood, which has taken part in the process from the beginning, put up with bad online ‘presentations’, and has consistently asked for changes in the plan.

Laurel Street neighbors Scott Burger and Charles Pool wrote prominent letters to the editor in the past few weeks, and outgoing Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association president Todd Woodson wrote a very heartfelt editorial in Style magazine.

It’s worth noting that as a City Council candidate Stephanie Lynch wrote:

“I absolutely pledge to defend the Oregon Hill Community from inappropriate encroachment from surrounding entities like VCU. One of my top priorities will be to work with Oregon Hill residents and the administration at VCU to enter into a longer term agreement regarding future development that is respectful of the needs and wishes of Oregon Hill residents. As a two time VCU grad, I understand all that VCU brings to the Richmond Community, but I also have close ties to Oregon Hill and I recognize that VCU could be a better neighbor to the Oregon Hill neighborhood and its residents. I think it’s imperative that before we approve future expansion plans from VCU, we work with them to enter into MOUs with surrounding communities like Oregon Hill. I additionally support the requests laid out in the OHNA’s written submissions to the Planning Commission and the RVA 300 planning committee. I’m looking forward to working with everyone in Oregon Hill to make sure that the neighborhood is protected and kept intact, housing needs are met, and the neighborhood character is preserved.”

And as Oregon Hill’s elected City Council representative, Stephanie Lynch did write to the Richmond300 planners, sharing neighborhood concerns. So some residents were surprised and taken aback that Lynch did vote for the unchanged Richmond300 plan last night.

What Councilperson Lynch has indicated is that she would be joining other Council members in putting forward amendments in the new year that may help the neighborhood’s cause.

All that said, questions abound. What will these proposed amendments consist of? Will they really get passed by City Council? If passed, will the Planning Commission accept them?

Is this setting up the neighborhood for success (to use Woodson’s wording) or failure?

Land Use Committee Meets Tuesday

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The Richmond 300 plan is in the agenda of the Land Use Committee this Tuesday Nov. 17th at 1pm.
The Councilpersons on the Land Use Committee are Robertson, Gray, Jones and Trammell.

Many Oregon Hill residents are hoping that Councilperson Stephanie Lynch asks the Land Use Committee to amend the Richmond 300 plan in favor of a Residential future land use designation for Oregon Hill. Many cite her pledge from when she was a candidate.

Dear Delegate Carr and Councilperson Lynch,

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Dear Delegate Carr and Councilperson Lynch,

As you both are well aware, the City of Richmond will hopefully be electing a new Mayor in a few short weeks. You both probably also know that, ultimately, candidates vying to be Richmond’s Mayor need to win a plurality of the vote in at least five of the city’s nine city council districts. Should no candidate have achieved that feat on November 3rd – something considered a distinct possibility considering the numerous serious candidates left in the race – a second round vote between the top two city-wide vote earners is to take place (with the same requirement of winning a majority of the city’s districts). In addition to discord, a run-off election could prove very costly financially to the City.

On April 10, 2020, Governor Northam signed HB 1103. This Act amended the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 24.2-673.1, relating to using ranked choice voting (RCV) in local elections. The Act stipulates that elections of members of a county board of supervisors or a city council may be conducted by ranked choice voting pursuant to this section. The decision to conduct an election by ranked choice voting shall be made, in consultation with the local electoral board and general registrar. The law shall be enacted within the county or city by a majority vote of the board of supervisors or city council that the office being elected serves (or, this being Richmond, is it the General Assembly?). The Act will go into effect on July 1, 2021.

Unfortunately, the Act also stipulates that any costs incurred by the Department of Elections related to changes in technology that are necessary for the implementation of this Act, including changes to technology for receiving the results of elections conducted pursuant to this Act, shall be charged to the localities exercising the option to proceed with ranked choice voting. On behalf of FairVote Virginia, I respectfully request that you both ask the City of Richmond Registrar to provide Richmond City Council and the Virginia General Assembly with an estimate of the costs associated with the implementation of this Act.

After receiving this estimate, City Council, (or, this being Richmond, is it the General Assembly?) will be in a better position to make a decision regarding the implementation of ranked choice voting in future Richmond local elections.

A couple of things that are also on my mind in regard to this matter:

I am closely watching for the findings of a study required by the General Assembly Budget Amendment HB29, which explores replacing VERIS (Virginia Election and Registration Information System.) If VERIS is replaced, the new system chosen must be compatible with RCV ballots. I am hearing the study completion is on target for October reporting, and since RCV has already passed the legislature and has become an option for all localities in 2021…it will be part of the initial requirements!

“It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Elections release a Request for Information in fiscal year 2020 related to the replacement of the Virginia Election and Registration Information System (VERIS). The Department shall provide an update to the Chairs of House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on the options and potential costs for replacing VERIS on or before September 1, 2020.”

https://budget.lis.virginia.gov/amendment/2020/1/HB29/Introduced/FA/83/1h/

During the pandemic, ranked choice voting has become a necessary alternative to lengthy assembled run off conventions, RCV was used in both Democratic and Republican Party Conventions this year in Virginia. Most notable, in August, to elect the Republican Party of Virginia’s State Chair. In the second round of tabulation Rich Anderson received 62% of the vote.

In VA10 and VA11 districts, the Republican Party conventions selected candidate for House of Representatives by ranked choice voting. Commentary in an article on thebullelephant.com noted that in the 10th District convention, “was a very well run unassembled convention with everything working as it should have. For most of the day, there were no lines at all, with some short wait times in the early morning when Loudoun county was voting. There were 1600 delegates registered and 1240 showed up to vote, an excellent turnout.”

Arlington County Democratic Party used ranked choice voting to endorse candidates for County Supervisor and School Board.

Also, in Arlington County, there is an initiative underway to implement RCV in local elections.

Regardless, I appreciate any information or attention you can give to my humble request for RIchmond.

Sincerely,
Scott Burger
FairVote Virginia board member and 5th District resident

(FairVote Virginia is a non-partisan, non-profit champion of ranked choice voting. Our members cover the entire political spectrum and come together from across the Commonwealth, united by a shared mission to revive real, representative democracy by enacting and implementing ranked choice voting legislation.)

UPDATE:

Thank you very much for your prompt response.

Sincerely,
Scott

On Oct 26, 2020, at 1:15 PM, Betsy Carr – House of Delegates wrote:

Dear Scott,
Thank you for your email. I will forward your request to the Richmond Registrar’s Office. Please keep in mind that since the election is a week away, they may not respond until after their work relating to the election is complete.

HB1103 stipulates that the local governing body (i.e. the City of Richmond’s Council, not the General Assembly) in consultation with the local electoral board and local registrar can decide to implement RCV in their locality.

Additionally, I spoke to House Appropriations staff about the HB29 budget language regarding the report on the replacement of VERIS. Due to COVID-19, budget language was passed that allows for state agencies to defer their reporting in order to prioritize their response to the pandemic. The Department of Elections is one of those agencies that has had to seriously shift their focus in order to ensure that all Virginian voters are able to safely vote. A report is expected around the end of the year.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Betsy

Mayor Wants To Take Away Park Land For ‘Affordable Housing’

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Mayor Stoney’s Biennial Real Estate Strategies Plan wants to use city land to promote affordable housing development and affordable homeownership.
To that end, it proposes taking City-owned parcels to the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust (MWCLT) for the development of affordable homes.

It is including at least two parcels in Oregon Hill’s Samuel Parsons Park in this proposal.

(and least people think this just about Oregon Hill, the Biennial Estate Strategies Plan also identifies other city park lands such as 1800 Maplewood in the Randolph neighborhood and 1901-1905 Conrad Street in the East End as building sites.)

Neighbors, understandably, are very upset. But so far, either the Mayor’s office, other City officials, the media, and the Mayor’s challengers in the election are ignorant of the proposal or don’t care.

Of course, many neighbors believe in and support affordable housing, and have done so historically in Oregon Hill and elsewhere.

But this proposal is bringing up bad memories from when other parts of the park were built on due to City government’s (and in particular, the Planning Department’s) ineptitude and callousness.

It’s part of the utter disregard for established neighborhood plans and the neighborhood’s dream for a Belvidere greenway.

Neighbors can’t help but see this as part of a coordinated attack on the Oregon Hill neighborhood in conjunction with the disastrous Richmond300 plan. If they were not aware of the target lines being drawn on the community before, they are becoming aware now.

Olinger’s Storefront Canard

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This past Wednesday evening, City of Richmond Planning Director Mark Olinger and planner Maritiza Pechin did a Zoom presentation for Oregon Hill residents. It was primarily a discussion of Oregon Hill’s proposed future land use in accordance with the Richmond300 planning.

What needs to be understood by everyone is that land designation is used to justify future zoning. Objective #1 of the Richmond 300 plan is change zoning to match the future land use designations. Any SUP will be recommended for approval by planning if it matches the future land use designation. Oregon Hill neighbors worked hard for our appropriate R-7 zoning and we need a future land use that matches it!

What Olinger kept coming back to during the Zoom meeting is that he and other planners would like to see ‘old storefronts’ brought back to commercial use and that is why they are insisting on giving Oregon Hill “neighborhood mixed use” land designation despite repeated demands by the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association and many residents that would like for Oregon Hill’s land designation to remain ‘residential’.

This is not to say that OHNA and neighbors are against ‘old storefronts’ returning to commercial use. The overall record (voting included) makes it very clear that Oregon Hill has encouraged more small commercial return to the ‘old storefronts’. The reality is the storefronts that are currently not operating as businesses are homes and people are living in them. If they wanted to run a business, they simply have to ask for a special use permit, and they would most likely get it. The proposed change in land use designation is solving a problem that doesn’t exist.

It’s not just nomenclature though. The proposed change in land designation also opens the door to knocking down houses and building apartments and commercial spaces for taller buildings. Olinger suggests that the Planning Department, government, and neighbors would still have some say and control over replacement structures. But Oregon Hill neighbors know from the recent ‘805 W. Cary’ development that that simply is NOT TRUE! If anything, the decks were stacked strongly against any neighborhood say or control.

The city zoning code defines a story as 15 feet in height. The appropriate, current R-7 zoning has a height limit of 35 feet, which matches our historic two-story streetscape. Four stories mixed use would allow a height limit of 60 feet, almost double the current zoning!

Oregon Hill neighbors know that we cannot have our R-7 zoning undermined by this mixed-use future land use designation that allows multi-family projects 4-6 stories. This will be a green light for developers to buy up Oregon Hill to build ad hoc dormitories (and may explain recent 70% increases in land values on property assessments). If this happens, its pretty clear that the historic Oregon Hill neighborhood that residents and visitors love and cherish will be lost within a decade or two.

OHNA and individual neighbors have repeatedly asked Richmond300 planners for Oregon Hill to keep its hard-won ‘residential’ land use designation. Thankfully, Councilperson Lynch has indicated that she supports this. She was successful in establishing the residential future land use designation for most of the Randolph neighborhood in the Richmond300 plan.

Also, Oregon Hill is not the only neighborhood to question who the Planning department is really working for. Many residents in the Fan are now concerned about a recent proposal to raise the height limit on Broad Street to twenty stories after previously having an agreement for a twelve story limit. For this to happen during a pandemic with limited public interaction is outrageous.

It’s understandable that Olinger was originally hired as the City’s planning director in order to bring more density to the City of Richmond, especially along the Pulse corridor of Broad Street. But at this point, many Richmond citizens are questioning if he is the right person for the job.

Who Will Be Richmond’s Next Mayor?

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With a lot of voting already underway, many Richmonders are confronting the reality that they still don’t know who to vote for Mayor.

Sadly, as with the last Mayoral election, the corporate media is trying to paint the election as being between two headline candidates, incumbent Mayor Stoney vs. challenger City Councilperson Gray, and a litmus test on Stoney’s tenure.

But for many Richmond citizens, its not nearly so cut and dried. Many find the frontrunners in both the Mayoral and Presidential elections to be extremely unpalatable, and it has not been unexpected in that regard (and I can’t help but wonder how different these elections would be with needed reforms like ranked choice/instant runoff voting). For Oregon Hill residents, questions still zero in on what ALL the candidates can and will do for THIS neighborhood.

For example, both Stoney and Gray have failed to act on the Monroe Park debacle, which is a fiscal and environmental disaster under the private ‘Conservancy’. The Sierra Club Falls of the James recently endorsed Alexsis Rodgers, based on some sort of green promise. But it is not very well defined and says nothing about Monroe Park, Richmond’s most historic PUBLIC park.

Oregon Hill residents know how important it is to exact promises now, especially given the existing threats and still-existing threats.

Only mayoral candidate Justin Griffin has said he will act to terminate the Conservancy’s lease on Monroe Park. Furthermore, Griffin has also stated:

This is not an out-right endorsement, for we still need to know more about Griffin’s overall stances, but his tagline does ring true, “Because we deserve better”.

We know Richmond overall deserves better, and we would love to hear specifics on what candidates plan to do about many other issues, including everything from the water to the sun.

Former Governor and Mayor Wilder has also made this observation. Hopefully his upcoming debate will bring the fire.

As has been made clear from past elections, Oregon Hill residents vote and their votes matter- if Mayoral candidates want to win, they need the Central 5th District, and thus they need Oregon Hill.