Category Archives: government

GRTC Task Force Meeting Rescheduled For Next Thursday

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From City announcement:

All residents are invited and encouraged to attend

WHAT (Richmond, Virginia U.S.A.) — The Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force will hold a meeting. The purpose of the Task Force is to make recommendations to Richmond City Council with regard to enhancing mass transit in the Metro-Richmond area and the efficiency and effectiveness of the GRTC Transit System. The meeting is free and open to the public and all residents are invited and encouraged to attend.

WHEN Thursday, March 14, 2013
4:00-6:00 p.m.

WHERE Richmond Department of Economic Development
Richmond Main Street Train Station – 3rd Floor Conference Room
1500 East Main Street; Richmond, Virginia 23219

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What’s That Number, Part 2

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Well, the number did not come forward this month, but thankfully, reporter Robert Zullo is following the issue. From the Times Dispatch:

Advocates for lower Richmond water and sewer charges have thus far been stonewalled by the city administration in attempts to obtain a consultant’s study that will be central to the utility rates the mayor will propose this month as part of the city budget.
The city’s Public Utilities Department has denied a Freedom of Information Act request from Charles Pool, an Oregon Hill resident who is among a chorus of city utility customers calling for lower base charges for water and wastewater, for the report by Raftelis Financial Consultants.
….
Before drinking a single drop of water or flushing a toilet, Richmond’s water and wastewater customers pay $49.40 a month, the highest base charge in the area and, some argue, higher than most municipalities in the country. The water, wastewater and gas utilities, after covering their own operating expenses, will contribute an estimated $21.5 million this year to the city’s general fund in the form of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, a provision of the city charter that critics say subsidizes city government on the backs of utility customers.
….
The study’s recommendations will be included in the budget the mayor is scheduled to present to the council March 12. And though the council won’t vote on the final budget until May, Bedell argued that once the rates make it into the mayor’s budget, they’ll be more difficult for council members to alter. The rate discussion, he said, should be conducted with the council and public.
“It’s like all the proposals the city tries to push through,” Bedell said, citing the new city jail and Washington Redskins training camp now under construction. “I think their whole philosophy is … hold back as much as you can and spring it on them on the last minute.”

Oregon Hill resident Charles Pool has been bringing this issue for over five years now. Will 2013 mark a turning point?

Dominion and Renewable Energy In The General Assembly Update

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Following up on some earlier news and editorials about our neighbor, Dominion Power….

McDonnell signs Va utility regulation bill.

Activist Ivy Main has written an overview of the 2013 General Assembly session on the Power for the People VA blog:

The Virginia General Assembly will soon wrap up its work on the 2013 legislative session. Renewable energy advocates began the session with high hopes for a series of bills that promised to reform our renewable energy law, expand net-metering, and open up new opportunities for financing solar systems and small wind turbines.
So how did we do? Well, this is Virginia. Progress is slow, the utilities are powerful, and half the legislature doesn’t believe in climate change. On the other hand, they do believe in business. Under the circumstances, we did okay.

Click here for more.

4th Precinct CAPS Meeting Tonight

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From email announcement:

This is just a friendly reminder to all that the monthly CAPS meeting for the 4th precinct is swiftly approaching. It will be held next Thursday, February 21st, at the usual time and place: 6 pm at 1600 West Laburnam Avenue, in the library of Linwood Holton Elementary School. Come on out and speak with CAPS and RPD representatives about concerns in your neighborhoods!

Hope to see you there!
Matthew Toner
4th Precinct MPACT Coordinator
City of Richmond
(804) 646-1062
matthew.toner at richmondgov.com

Constitutional Amendment Introduced in Congress Ensuring Rights for People, Not Corporations

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This topic has been broached here (and here) before. And there has been movement elsewhere in the state. Now, who on Richmond City Council will put forward the resolution of support? Certainly we have seen plenty of corporate manipulation on the local level.

From MoveToAmend.org:

Reps. Nolan & Pocan Respond to Hundreds of Local Resolutions Calling for “We the People” Amendment

(Washington D.C.) – The movement for constitutional reforms that would end what organizers call “corporate rule” has arrived in the chambers of Congress. This morning, two members of the U.S. House of Representatives joined Move to Amend by announcing their sponsorship of the “We the People Amendment,” which clearly and unequivocally states that:

Rights recognized under the Constitution belong to human beings only, and not to government-created artificial legal entities such as corporations and limited liability companies; and
Political campaign spending is not a form of speech protected under the First Amendment.
In making the announcement, lead sponsor Rep. Rick Nolan (DFL-Minnesota), said: “It’s time to take the shaping and molding of public policy out of corporate boardrooms, away from the corporate lobbyists, and put it back in city halls – back with county boards and state legislatures – and back in the Congress where it belongs.”

Ben Manski, a spokesperson for Move to Amend, agreed, saying: “Today, members of Congress join a movement that insists on the fundamental equality of all Americans, and that rejects the idea that the corporate class should have special protections against We the People.”

The Move to Amend coalition was formed in 2009 in preparation for the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision. Today, the coalition of nearly 260,000 people and hundreds of organizations has helped to pass nearly 500 resolutions in municipalities and local governments across the country calling on the state and federal governments to adopt this amendment.

The Move to Amend coalition makes a point of differentiating themselves from the other proposals that have come forward in response to Citizens United. “In every single community where Americans have had the opportunity to call for a Constitutional amendment to outlaw corporate personhood, they have seized it and voted yes overwhelmingly, stated George Friday, Move to Amend spokesperson. “The Citizens Uniteddecision is not the cause, it is a symptom. We must remove big money and special interests from the legal and political process entirely.”

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Read the text of the We the People Amendment by clicking here.

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

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From press release:

In Virginia, 12.1% of high school students have been hit, slapped or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend during the past 12 months (10.7% male and 13.4% female). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey reports “1 in 5 women and nearly 1 in 7 men who ever experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, first experienced some form of intimate partner violence between 11 and 17 years of age.” Beside physical injury, teen dating violence can lead to adverse health outcomes and increase unhealthy behaviors.

Visit the Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month website to learn what youth and concerned adults can do to address this issue – http://www.teendvmonth.org/

The Virginia Department of Health’s Teen Dating Violence Prevention program provides information, training, and resources on dating violence prevention to professionals working with youth, teens, and college students.

Click here for a list of available national resources on Teen Dating Violence.