Category Archives: politics

City And State Officials Announce New Data Center Support Program

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Photo by Zulfugar Karimov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/modern-chrome-kitchen-faucet-with-running-water-34295401/

Despite growing controversy, including a Goochland County lawsuit, City and state officials have indicated they will move ahead with an exciting, new, local utility program to support area new date center projects.

The DPU program is called ‘Richmond’s Next Step’ and it is already being touted as a ground breaking way to push area technological advancement and development through public/private partnership. ‘Richmond’s Next Step’, if successful, will be seen as a model for utilities around the state, and scale up to become ‘Virginia’s Next Step’. Corporate and government leaders are saying this is absolutely necessary to further the use of artificial intelligence in Virginia and be able to compete on an economic basis both nationally and internationally.

Although finer details are being worked out when the state’s General Assembly reconvenes later this month, these are the four major parts we know so far for ‘Richmond’s Next Step’:

1) City residents will see a new surcharge of around $11 on their monthly water utility bills, and the state government will contribute matching funds for the monies collected from the surcharge. This will in turn create a large resource to help with the following…

2) A portion of the proceeds will go towards implementing new infrastructure for needed energy and water for new data centers in state. Dominion Power will oversee this with an offshoot, subsidiary company, much of the same way it manages sewer connection insurance for City residents. This will insure smooth integration for both Virginia residents and industry.

3) A portion of the proceeds will go towards the decades-long project to ameliorate the City’s (CSO) sewer overflow problems. while CSO programs have made some progress, the City continues to beg for state and federal help with this. Many state leaders have asked for more control and oversight of money given to the City for this purpose. The new ‘Richmond’s Nest Step’ program will hopefully address these concerns and enable more state and federal funding.

4) In what is probably the most elaborate and high tech portion of ‘Richmond’s Next Step’, the City utility will roll out new toilet sensors for both private and public institutions, with commercial and residential places to follow. These sensors are based on the highway ‘EZ Pass’ toll collection service, and will be able to collect both tolls and data on toilet usage. Money collected from the tolls will be funneled back into the overall program and utility modernization efforts.

Mayor Danny Avula has enthusiastically embraced the measure, saying that this will finally address many of the outstanding matters with the Department of Public Utilities, while making sure that the City continues to support economic development for its corporate partners. He also said it would be contribute to the City’s commitment to ‘financial transparency’.

The Mayor, who has already had an extensive career in public health, including stints with both the City’s and the state’s health departments’ response to the Covid-19 epidemic, is particularly excited about the data collection from the ‘EZ-Pass’ toilet data collection. He noted how recent science has proven that studying COVID-19 through wastewater surveillance works because infected individuals shed the virus in their stool, which then enters sewage systems, often days before clinical symptoms appear. “Richmond should embrace this opportunity to learn more about its citizens and use data to create more robust emergency health responses and outcomes”, he beamed.

Longtime, reform-minded critics of the City’s water utility are not impressed.

Laurel Street neighbor Charles Pool, for example, was especially dour.
“The City’s PUBLIC water utility has been used as a cash cow with its regressive rates, it has essentially supported suburban sprawl in the counties by selling the counties water for less then it has charged it’s own poorest citizens, it has given large volume users incredible price breaks, and now they want City residents, their rank and file customers (who really own the utility), to directly subsidize the development of private data centers in other parts of the state? Intolerable!”

Another Spring Street neighbor expressed his frustration.
“All across the City, we have leaking water mains and outrageously high and erroneous bills that are stressing out working Joes like me, and the politicians tell us that we need to suck it all up for more dubious ‘economic development plans? Is AI going to help me figure out how to keep food on my family’s table? And now they want to track how much we poop!?”

Others harkened back to a public letter to former Governor Northam, prior to the January 2025 Richmond water crisis, and wondered if the City will ever address water rate reform.

Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, ‘the state’s watchdog’, has been strangely silent about the ‘Next Step’ plan, and it’s involvement in the plan’s formation. But water and energy conservation groups as well as privacy advocates are urging citizens to speak up to their elected representatives.

A Dominion representative restated that there is no evidence that residential customers are competing for energy with data centers (but did not mention water usage in his remarks).

Data center bills dominated this year’s General Assembly, but many government watchers are wondering if the full details for this ‘Next Step’ plan (and what else?) will fully emerge from the upcoming special budget session.

New Neighbors Enjoying ‘No-Kings’ Marching Events

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no kings protest Richmond Virginia Saturday March 28 2026 CC Martin Images News

Phil and Claudia, a couple that moved relatively recently to their small Cherry Street row house, are very happy with their new home and neighborhood but even happier with the area’s marching activities.

While admitting that they were a little apprehensive about moving into the decidedly liberal-leaning city at the beginning of last year, the retired pair say that activist, marching events have encouraged them to become more social and more… active.

“We even attended both ‘No-Kings’ events this past weekend- they pretty much ran on top of each other and they were so full of shared vibrancy. Not sure exactly what a ‘No-Kings’ is, but, gosh, there are a lot of people saying critical things about our President” said Claudia. “So much anger… but all the signs, music, and chanting make these happenings very festive. We met a lot of very nice people who are of the same age as us. We are all friends and neighbors now after letting off a little steam.”

When asked about the politics surrounding the marches, Phil answered,”We learned from our previous jobs in the corporate world to be agnostic about politics, but we are absolutely enthusiastic about the camaraderie, the sight-seeing, and especially the scheduled exercise.”

In conclusion, Phil added, “We have learned so much touring around downtown and Monroe Ward, we feel like real locals now. They should do these marches every weekend, especially for people like us who are relatively new to Richmond’s downtown living. Maybe combine them with the First Friday Art Walks.”

A Venture Richmond spokesperson hinted they are working up a program based on this very suggestion.

Richmond Civic League Holds ‘Code Refresh’ Meeting On March 5th

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Of course, if you follow this site, you already know that Code Refresh is a scam. But it might be useful to attend this meeting and hear for yourself what Richmond neighbors are saying.

Holton Elementary 1600 W Laburnum Avenue, March 5, 6-8pm

According to the email for the meeting, there will be “a special announcement of a new initiative to be voted on by Council, for our community to completely re-evaluate Code Refresh with details to be revealed at the March 5 meeting.”

Learn more at www.richmondcivicleague.com/blog

What Is More Important? Schools, Water Utility, Or Homeless Shelter? Welcome to Richmond’s Ranked Choice Voting Day!

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Hi everyone! January 23rd is traditionally recognized as Ranked Choice Voting Day!

Of course, here in Richmond, VA, that does not mean too much as the political establishment is still squashing Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), despite encouragement for it.

But, hey, don’t let the General Assembly, City Council, and winter doldrums get you down. For it is I, Scott Burger, the pirate king of Oregon Hill, here to entertain you and (counterintuitively to my monarchial rule) encourage grassroots democracy with yet another exciting public RCV poll.

Given yesterday’s RPS announcement, the noteworthy recent anniversary of last year’s water crisis, and ongoing struggles for the ‘unhoused’, what is more important?

1) Fully funding our public schools

2) A reliable, working, public water utility

3) larger homeless shelters

Now, I could add as choices a sustainable environment and larger rainy (sleety? snowy) day emergency fund, but let’s not get too crazy or hopeful. Let’s keep it relatively simple. This is not a mayor’s race.

After all, we are supposed to be beginning a new City budget process…

Remember, with ranked choice voting (RCV), you are allowed to vote for more than one choice, but you need to rank them.

Also remember that the political establishment (and their corporate masters) will not allow an all-of-the-above choice as it wants large corporations and tourism to get a steady stream of taxpayer dollars in the form of tax breaks and subsidies. LIVE Nation and New Market Corporation were not going to build their new riverfront amphitheater by themselves (or were they?). Co-Star was not going to incentivize itself, now was it? Otherwise VCU might not have received their money. The corporate welfare must continue, according to our current leadership, opportunity costs, public choices, and alternatives be damned.

Remember what I said about keeping the pressure on!

Happy Ranked Choice Voting Day!

Ready? Vote:

I will try to update this post with results later, if I am not thrown into the new ICE facility in Hanover. (Remember, ICE received “only” $14 billion in funding, despite public demands to abolish it altogether. But that goes back to national priorities…)

Protest Against ICE in Monroe Park Tomorrow

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From announcement:

Emergency Rally! Today we keep our eyes out for ICE! Tomorrow, no matter what, we demand ICE Out of Virginia!

Following a noticeable increase in reports of ICE activity in the Greater Richmond area, we received a tip from a trusted source that 180 federal immigration agents have been sent to the city by the federal government, as of Jan. 16th.

In response to this violent and unwarranted escalation, Virginia Immigrants for Life, Liberation, Autonomy and Solidarity (VILLAS) and The Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality will be holding a rally this Sunday, Jan 18 at 2PM at Monroe Park in Richmond, VA.

Join us in demanding that ICE get out of our state and that local and state officials take concrete measures to protect our communities against ICE aggression!

Let’s demonstrate our love and care for our neighbors by coming together in power and solidarity to say that we are NOT afraid and will NOT allow ICE to terrorize us. ICE is already here, it is up to us to meet the moment.

We keep us safe! In that spirit, please assess your own risk before joining.

To contrast the emptiness and coldness of white supremacy, let’s make this rally colorful and bright. See you there!

Newspaper Coverage And ‘LTE’s’ Bring Strong Calls For Government Reform

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While local television stations bandied ongoing amphitheater concerns and new signs (more on those at a later time), Richmond Times Dispatch reporter Samuel Parker examined the details in regard to another City Hall threat against the neighborhood- rezoning.

Oregon Hill residents have been contemplating on this matter from the beginning- going back to the original ‘Richmond 300’ meetings on land use and calling foul on the narratives that came forth from them. City Hall brushed off the heartfelt complaints by neighbors and in what has become a horrible pattern, self-congratulated itself and celebrated dubious awards. The City government did the same thing with its water utility even as the water plant failed, something that surprised even longtime critics, exposing the real rot underneath.

Thankfully, in the last week or so, Mr. Parker, in a few in-depth newspaper articles, focused on who City’s Planning Department officials really are and brought significant light to conflicts of interest and tenures that should have ended decades ago.

Laurel Street neighbor Charles Pool wrote a well-written and complimentary Letter To The Editor (LTE) in gratitude for Parker’s work and the Times Dispatch newspaper published it this past Saturday morning. Pool’s correspondence also served to underscore the result of Planning Department problems- “an illegitimate process with a bonanza of new zoning proposals by developers, for developers”, that have more to do with profiteering than City’s well-being or affordable housing. Pool also described some of the disastrous impacts of these current proposals on this historic neighborhood and strongly called for immediate reform.

(By the way, also see the poignant LTE (“Correspondent Of The Day”) from the president of Chesterfield’s NAACP, Nicole Thompson-Martin, on Dominion’s dirty fossil fuel ambitions – “Letter: Clean energy isn’t just cheaper, it’s more equitable”)

Cherry Street neighbor and former president of the neighborhood association Todd Woodson re-posted Pool’s letter on social media and further challenged the City government.

I’ve been civically active in Richmond, Virginia for 25 years because I love our historic City and recognize the amazing progress we can and must make to ensure equity and prosperity in all corners. That said, I have seen it so damn corrupt here in the past that the FBI has had to intervene, sending lawless developers and City Councilors to jail.
If you care about our community, please read this LTE in today’s Times Dispatch. We are on a precipice of destroying much of what’s good and beautiful in Richmond because the developer “foxes are in the henhouse”. Our Department of Planning and Review has acknowledged paying for and using compromised data to implement terrible zoning changes in our historic neighborhood. Oregon Hill was appropriately rezoned to R7 in 2002. R7 maintains the character of this family oriented enclave (which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places) while at the same time promoting a dense fabric of reasonably affordable housing.
I call on Mayor Avula and City Council to DO THE RIGHT THING! Remove the bad leadership from our Planning Commission and Department , scrap the current Code Refresh abomination and start from scratch with the added voices of environmentalists , social activists, historians and other grassroots community members. If it aint broke dont fix it. The current Code Refresh is simply Urban Renewal 2.0 and only benefits the greedy that are currently wielding power.

Mr. Parker does deserve gratitude and laurels for bringing more attention to longstanding problems with Richmond’s Planning Department, and citizens and residents are both cheering and adamant. Will Mayor Avula and City Council represent the citizens and residents of this city, or will they continue to cowardly adhere to developer money? (And yes, this does include issues with the new corporate amphitheater as well as debate over the future of public housing).

Open High Students Demonstrate For Gun Control

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Earlier today at noon, Open High School students walked out in protest of gun violence and advocated for gun control.

NBC Channel 12 covered the protest. From their report:

This was part of a nationwide movement organized by Students Demand Action. Three 11th graders: Lucy James Howlett, Kai James and Rose Woodward organized the 30-minute protest at the school.

They said while district has taken steps to make campus safer, like metal detectors and clear backpacks, it’s those very measures that remind students just how unsafe the world can be.
…
There have been 44 school shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, Education Week and Everytown for Gun Safety. A recent report from the CDC shows that firearms were the leading cause of death for children and teens in 2020 and 2021.

“The student body is very aware of the nation’s issues, political issues,” James said.

RCV Prize for a Richmond University SGA Increases

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With students coming back to Richmond universities, and with student government associations meeting again, it is worth noting that no Richmond university student government association (SGA) has claimed the previously announced $1,000 prize.

Just to refresh memories, in 2022, I, Scott Burger, pledged to reward whichever Richmond university student government is the first among Richmond university student governments to conduct a campus wide election of student government officers using ranked choice voting and incorporate ranked choice voting into its constitution/bylaws with a $1,000 prize.
(Please refer to the notes on the original post-
https://www.oregonhill.net/2022/11/16/1000-rcv-prize-for-a-richmond-university/)

In the last three years, this city, state, and country has seen some remarkably close elections, a few vote recounts, and much concern about voting and elections in general. Sadly, despite RCV progress elsewhere, and so much overall local change in general, Richmond politics is still languishing on its hotbed of apathy. It does not help that local media, including the college newspapers and media, have ignored this contest altogether, refusing to even mention it.

Some have suggested that I should just endow money directly to a university administration or department (as if I trust them to spend the money well!) or, completely ignoring the simple, grassroots approach to this promotion of RCV, should use the money instead to fund research or ‘a study’. As if there has not already been enough studies! Over 100 colleges and universities in the United States use ranked-choice voting (RCV) for student government elections. RCV is used at George Mason University, James Madison University, University of Virginia, and Washington and Lee.

I will state again that while I don’t think money should equal speech (I support www.MoveToAmend.org), for this contest, I am willing to make an exception.

I thought about doubling the prize amount, but between Trump’s tariffs and job threats from AI threatening the economy, I am not going to do that. I have decided to split the difference. I will increase my prize pool by $500. So, among the eligible Richmond university student governments, University of Richmond SGA, Virginia Commonwealth University SGA, or Virginia Union University SGA, the first SGA who satisfies the contest to my satisfaction will get $1,000. And now, the second one to do so will get $500. If there is not a second one within a year, the first winner will be rewarded the $500 in addition to the $1,000. Again, pay attention to the original caveats.

Remember, this city, state, and country need young people to lead. With emboldened fascism growing, we need to keep pushing for true democratic reforms that empower voters.