Thanks to the City for giving our historic gazebo a fresh coat of paint.
Gazebo Gets Freshly Painted
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Category Archives: government
City Press Release: Mayor Jones to Launch Sustainability Planning Process for City
From the press release:
Mayor Jones to Launch Sustainability Planning Process for City
~ Community forum scheduled for June 9 ~WHO: Mayor Dwight C. Jones
Alicia Zatcoff, Sustainability Manager
Advisory Committee MembersWHAT: Press Conference to launch the City’s sustainability planning process and announce Mayor’s Green Government Order
WHEN: Thursday, April 21, 2011
1:00 p.m.WHERE: Brown’s Island Vehicular Access Bridge
BACKGROUND:
The city of Richmond released the results of its first greenhouse gas emissions inventory last year. Mayor Jones announced at that time that the next step would be to mobilize and engage the community to help the City develop a comprehensive Sustainability Plan. As Earth Day approaches, Mayor Jones will launch the City’s comprehensive sustainability planning process and announce his Green Government Order.
A couple of quick notes:
The location for tomorrow’s press conference is right in front of the Tredegar Civil War Visitors Center. Parking is there for those who need it.
You may want to re-familiarize yourself with the City’s Sustainability department website:
http://www.richmondgov.com/sustainability/index.aspx
Without a doubt, there have been some impressive steps taken already.
Earlier this week, I attended the first meeting of the City of Richmond Green City Commission, which has its own mandate for ‘greening’ Richmond.
Next meeting for the Commission is scheduled for June 6 at 1 pm, place TBA. I think this Commission will be more publicly involved than the previous Green Building Advisory Commission.
Last week I attended a Green Events Meeting that included Zatcoff and other City employees, as well as folks from Sports Backers and Venture Richmond. Hopefully, I will have more information to share from that group over time.
Hoopstown Celebration Downtown
Here’s a photo from the “Hoopstown Celebration” Downtown at the James Center this afternoon. Mayor Jones spoke and once again congratulated the Spiders and Rams for their March Madness.
Mayor’s Walk-Through Tomorrow Afternoon
Mayor Jones’ office has confirmed that he and other City staff, including members of Public Works, Richmond Police Department, and Community Development, will be conducting a ‘walk-through’ of the Oregon Hill neighborhood tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday).
One of the main purposes of this event is to give residents a chance to meet first-hand with the Mayor and provide valuable feedback on City services and neighborhood needs.
The walk though will start at 4:30 pm at the William Byrd Community House on Cherry Street. Weather permitting, the group will then walk to different parts of the neighborhood.
(Personally, I encourage residents to attend and to bring written or printed documents to share with City staff in order to have an effective meeting.)
High Speed Rail Dreams Fade, So What Is The Future of Transportation In Richmond?
Despite citizen hopes, the dream for high speed rail or even improved passenger rail service is faltering. It’s too bad, given the fact that before the devastation of the Civil War, Richmond was competing with New York City as a passenger rail center, and is famous for early light rail innovation.
The Times Dispatch feigns surprise, but CSX executives are quite blunt about being against passenger rail. From the linked Jacksonville Business Journal article:
“I’m a corporation. I exist to make money, OK?” Ward said. “You can’t make money hauling passengers, so why would I want to do that? That wouldn’t be fair to my shareholders.”
His comments come as CSX, the nation’s third-largest railroad, protests the State of New York’s plan to provide up to 110 mph passenger rail service between Albany and Buffalo. The Jacksonville-based railroads said the passenger trains will damage the track and cause service disruption to its freight trains.
So what is the future of transportation in Richmond?
On Wednesday, the Richmond First Club will host a panel discussion about this subject.
What can we expect?
More begging for the Richmond airport and ‘low-cost’ carriers?
Maybe more news on the BRT concept from GRTC?
At the same time, remember that Richmond is considered a test market for all sorts of advertising and new product launches. To that end, right now we see a new campaign for energy conservation sponsored by Shell Oil (perhaps part of a larger efforts, including the oxymoronic ‘clean coal’. Perhaps we will learn more about this on April 30 at the Science Museum. Green or greenwashing?
Richmond may also see more electric vehicles in the near future. In addition to the latest from STIR and Richmond Segway tours, I keep hearing rumors of electric car chargers in Broad Street garages with giant solar canopy arrays. While I share questions about the overall economic sustainability of electric cars, others are already cheering possible environmental advantages.
Personally, I am less critical and more celebratory about more electric bicycles in Richmond. They are much less expensive than cars and with pedal assist, are easily more energy efficient. Rumor is that Virginia Commonwealth University will be introducing Sanyo eneLoops for its police in order to enforce parking regulations. This, plus Richmond Bike Week, immediately improves the mood.
The new MegaBuses offer a glimmer of hope as well, increasing routes and perhaps doing what government could not by supplying a transfer station in Shockoe Bottom.
Still, at the very least, hopefully the members of the Richmond First Club will recognize that coal, and specifically CSX coal trains, are holding back passenger rail transportation. Mitigate the coal trade, clean up Acca train yard, and let passenger rail work. As I have expressed before, Richmond sits on a Gordian knot that includes strands of energy and transportation policies and must be loosened at all ends before real progress can be made. Sadly, locally as well as nationally, corporations and their demand for short-term profits seem to have a lock hold on those policies and any long term thinking that would benefit country or citizens.
Richmond Hosts Police Biking Conference
Fan of the Fan has a post on RIchmond Bike Week. Don’t forget about the upcoming Capital to Capital Trail Ride.
Also, here’s an announcement by Richmond Police Department:
Over the next week, April 9-16, up to 250 police bicycle officers and administrators from around the country and the world will report for assignment in Richmond.
The International Police Mountain Bike Association conference starts tomorrow at the Greater Richmond Convention Center and at other locations throughout the city.
The IPMBA conference is the only national event where professionals learn about every aspect of public safety bicycle use. Officers and administrators from police departments, parks, universities and EMS units will receive the highest level of training.
A welcome to the attendees from Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood is offered in a video that shows the department’s bike units on patrol and highlights the city’s many bike trails. It may be viewed on the city’s website at www.richmondgov.com/police.
This is Richmond’s first time hosting the event and the first time in years it’s being held in an east coast city. The Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau spearheaded the effort to attract IPMBA by using the unique collaboration of the Richmond Police and Fire Departments, Richmond Ambulance Authority, VCU Police and Virginia Capitol Police in what proved to be the successful pitch.
Other factors were Chief Norwood’s strong commitment to an active and outstanding police bike officer program, and the excellent conference spaces and amenities the city offers. The beauty of Richmond and the challenge of the trails in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities’ James River Park System were also a major draw.
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Councilman Asks For Sledding Fee Study
Following an earlier call for a study of City Stadium’s value, Fifth District Councilperson Marty Jewell has asked for a new study of the value of various sledding hills in the City’s property portfolio.
While no particular properties were singled out, it is reasonable to expect the spectacular Oregon Hill sled runs to be among the subjects of the proposed studies. However, no one in Community Development was willing to speculate on what would happen. “Frankly, we are already missing Rachel Flynn’s, uh…leadership, when it comes to responding to some of these Council requests,” said one anonymous staff member.
Editor’s Note: This, and other stories today are satire- NOT factual news but fake, humorous stories for April Fool’s Day- and should be read with that understanding!
Friends of the Richmond Public Library Book Sale Starts Friday
Right along with First Friday art walk!….
From RichmondBargains.com:
It’s that time of year again – the big Friends of the Richmond Public Library Book Sale starts Friday!
Give in to your book buying addiction and attend the Friends’ Spring Book Sale. The sale will offer thousands of great hardbacks and paperbacks at bargain prices with most priced at $2 or 50 cents for paperbacks, CDs and DVDs at $1, and children’s books at 50 cents.
The sale is open to the public:
Friday, April 1 from 12 noon – 5 p.m. and 7 – 9 p.m.
Saturday, April 2 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Monday, April 4 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
A preview sale for Friends members only will be held on Friday from 10 a.m. – 12 noon before the sale opens to the public. If you are not a member and would like to join the Friends, memberships may be purchased at the door.
For more information, call the Friends office at 646-3411.
Councilman Marty Jewell to hold meeting Thursday
From press release:
WHAT The Honorable E. Martin “Marty” Jewell, Councilman, Richmond City Council, Central 5th District, will hold a meeting in the Central 5th District. Councilman Jewell holds individual meetings in Richmond’s Central 5th District throughout the year that include information on his goals and accomplishments; a topical agenda of current interest; and, special guests. These meetings are free and all Central 5th District citizens are invited and encouraged to attend. Light refreshments are served. Parking is Free. The planned agenda for this meeting will include:
Check Your Drains/SeeClickFix
With wet weather coming in the two or three days, it makes sense to take a moment to check your residence’s and street storm drains to make sure they are in operating order.
For example, it looks like dirt and debris from recent storms and street cleaning have blocked this one at the northwest corner of S.Laurel and China streets.
I know there has been some frustration and cynicism with the City’s online Citizen Request process in the past, but I did use the revamped one to report this drain, so let’s see how well it works. It’s worth noting that you can also use the mobile phone app SeeClickFix to report issues to the City now.