Category Archives: politics

Councilperson Agelasto Announces That He Will Not Run For 2020 Re-Election

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From announcement:

Dear Neighbor,

Since 2012 when I was first elected to represent the 5th District on Richmond City Council, I have had the greatest privilege to bring voice to the most diverse constituency in the city. It has truly been my honor to serve. We have celebrated our uniqueness and found common causes to fight for and against. In the six years that I have served, spanning two different administrations, I have helped craft major improvements to our neighborhoods and positively impacted the lives of many individuals that call them home. We have seen crime and the number of blighted properties go down and funding for schools and enhanced public infrastructure go up.

I think about the highs and lows of this time. My first weekend after being sworn into office there was a homicide off Lawson Street. I remember the sadness I felt for the family as we stood at a candlelight vigil reflecting on the life that was gone. I remember the personal failure I felt in 2014 when learning that Traymont Burton had killed his 2-year old son, Keytrell Kelly, the mother of his son Michelle Kelly, and Michelle’s friend Adreena Gary in a triple murder / suicide. I had met Traymont on his block of E. Roanoke Street and talked at length about his future and exchanged emails following up on his job prospects. Sadly domestic violence remains a silent killer that cannot be easily apprehended. Fortunately, we have the Carol Adams Foundation partnering with Riverview Baptist Church to help victims and work to combat this issue.

To address the most murderous place in the 5th District, I have been part of a team that has met monthly for the past 6 years to go over crime reports from Midlothian Village, now known as The Belt Atlantic, and strategize on ways to improve safety and bring needed resources and opportunities to residents. I am proud that it appears the new owner is making good on their commitments to provide quality housing for some of the region’s lowest income earners and make it safer for them.

I remember the night that I also comforted residents as they were evacuated from the burning Stonewall Place senior apartments operated by Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority. I remember the marches with Senator Henry Marsh and then Lt. Governor Ralph Northam in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. I remember advancing legislation to provide benefits to city employees of same-sax marriages and to establish the Human Rights Commission. I remember our monthly community clean-ups that rotated to every neighborhood in the 5th District. We’ve evolved from bulk and brush collection in alleys and general litter pick up to now planting trees and covering graffiti. I remember scraping weeds out of the street gutters in Randolph and some of the elder residents stopping in the rain to thank me for working so hard at their doorstep.

I remember of the hard votes on Richmond City Council, particularly related to budgets for schools and capital projects. Since 2012 when the City contributed $124 million to Richmond Public Schools annual operating budget, City Council has increased appropriations every year to now $169 million. That’s a growth of nearly $45 million. And while my proposed cigarette tax failed to be adopted and generate nearly $5 million annually in cash funding for school maintenance, I voted to increase the meals tax to invest in school construction. I have also been a faithful participant of the Education Compact.

I remember tightening the City’s tax abatement program to prevent abuse from developers. I remember working with communities on every Special Use Permit that came to City Council to ensure that the residents had a say at the beginning of the discussion. Even on by-right development, I convened meetings and presentations to inform the public. We have welcomed substantial development in the 5th District including the largest housing project in the City – the Gladdings Residence Hall with 1,500 beds. We have honored our past by creating five historic districts including the Carillon neighborhood to celebrate its role in the Civil Rights Movement in resisting redlining and fighting blockbusting. I remember working to establish the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust to help ensure housing affordability in perpetuity and working to have more than a dozen of the vacant RRHA scattered site properties in Randolph and Maymont rehabilitated and placed with the Trust. From Hull Street to Cary Street, our work to make the 5th District a desirable place to live and grow a business has attracted more than $250 million in investment over the past few years. What was once blighted, vacant properties are now alive with activity.

“A Worker Not Just a Talker” was my first campaign slogan. I have committed myself 100% to serving the 5th District on Richmond City Council and continue to demonstrate the same determination and persistence that drove my ambition to collect 170 signatures from registered voters in the district with less than 48 hours before the initial filing deadline. With 14 civic associations, service on many Council committees and boards, such as Maymont, Richmond Region Tourism, Richmond Regional Planning District Commission, and Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization, it is easy to see my day filled with meetings and criss-crossing the city to reach stakeholders and to find solutions. My collaborative approach and efforts to reach “yes” and not simply respond “no” often have obtained better results for the City.

In the past six years, I have also married and have begun to raise a family. My wife, Katherine, and I have a daughter Kate who will be 2 years old in December and we are expecting a son in March of next year. As someone said to me recently, we are going to be playing man-to-man coverage and can no longer rely on zone defense with two children. It is only right that I be more present to provide for my children in these formative early years. Every elected official or public servant knows that they sacrifice greatly and personally to fulfill their duties. I and my family are no different. I thank Katherine for her support while I serve the 5th District on City Council. In order to be the best husband and father, however, we have decided that I will not seek reelection in 2020.

I also believe in term limits and allowing new voices to be heard and opportunities for new leaders to emerge. I look forward to working with this next generation, whomever that may be, to advance the principles of the 5th District and to continue making our City great. I thank all of the many wonderful people at City Hall who have assisted us over these past six years in responding to constituent concerns and addressing them timely. I also thank Ida Jones and Amy Robins for their unwavering commitment to our office and all of the constituents of the 5th District. Much of the credit is shared with these women.

I will continue to faithfully serve the 5th District and interests of our many stakeholders in making the City in the vision that we have for its future. I look forward to what’s to come over the next 2 years in completing my second term.

Sincerely,

Parker C. Agelasto
5th District Councilmember

‘Single-Family’ To Be Removed?

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From a concerned Richmond citizen:

The Richmond 300 group is meeting this Wednesday, and I was told by Ms. Pechin that they planned on voting at this meeting on the new future land use categories that will next year be assigned to neighborhoods throughout the city. According to the Ms. Pechin, they will be removing the “Single-family” designations and replacing them with a blanket “Residential” designation.

“Residential” would include high-rises and the terribly inappropriate development underway on the 800 block of W. Cary. It appears that the City government is making a concerted effort to foist higher density on the historic districts, including Oregon Hill.

In a recent vote, the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association voted that the future land use of Oregon Hill in the Richmond 300 plan should be designated as “Single-family” (medium density) with “Community/Commercial” on Cary Street. I am alarmed that the Richmond 300 group is removing the “Single-family” future land use designation for all of the neighborhoods. The Single-family designation is descriptive of the appropriate and desired future land use of Oregon Hill and is consistent with our R-7 zoning.

Coliseum Vs. Schools: Time For A New Referendum

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Well, this one has been bubbling for a while…but the Coliseum vs. Schools debate is about to rise to a new level. What? You say you don’t know what I am writing about? Click here for a quick refresher course.

Yesterday’s headlines made it pretty clear that Tom Farrell and VCU are going to play hard ball to make sure that their coliseum scheme comes first-

VCU Cancels University-wide Spring Commencement Ceremony

I was going to write a whole bit explaining this, but let’s allow Paul Goldman to do it:

Earth to RVA citizens: Why do think VCU is being denied use of the current Coliseum in May/2019 despite having used it for commencements since 1970’s? HINT: The Stoney/Farrell plan to use $500 million in PUBLIC RVA CITY money to build and finance a new Coliseum that will NOT be to owned by the city calls for demolishing the current Coliseum in March/2019! FACT: Farrell’s team is going around Richmond promising no-bid contracts to politically connected individuals if they will lobby the Council to ram thru this fiscally irresponsible Coliseum without giving RVA taxpayers a fair chance to weigh in. That’s why my citizen group is circulating the “Choose Children over Costly Coliseum” petition so you can sign it and put to Special Election vote as called for in the City Charter. Sign the petition! It’s your only way to truly be heard.

In other words, this is the ol’ fait accompli thing -“citizens can’t stop this new plan, it’s already been decided and in the works“…………. WRONG!

We can still make sure that the City of Richmond PUTS SCHOOLS FIRST! Before the coliseum. Before any other giant corporate welfare project.

What Goldman is referring to is his new City referendum effort to establish by law that the City has to put money from certain types of financing towards SCHOOLS FIRST. It will not be on the ballot this Election Day, but referendum supporters will be collecting signatures for a petition to get the new referendum on the ballot in 2019. It’s going to be interesting to see if a good coalition of grassroots can come together like the last time. Goldman is looking for more poll volunteers and donations for this new campaign.

And by the way, speaking of last time, that original PUT SCHOOLS FIRST referendum became law this year. Tick tock, Mayor Stoney, City Council, School Board. Citizens want to see a real school modernization plan come together before the end of the year- if the Education Compact can’t do it, then figure it on your own. Relying on increasing state funding only goes so far, when there is plenty of corporate welfare that should be cut anyway. Don’t be scared this Halloween, it’s time to lead and PUT SCHOOLS FIRST.

Ranked Choice Voting Meeting Thursday

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From FaceBook event page:

Looking for a concrete way to restore some sanity to politics?

Turns out there’s a better way to vote. It’s called ranked choice voting, and it’s spreading nationwide. In ranked choice elections, you don’t just vote for one candidate. You get to rank the candidates from most to least favorite: your 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, and so on. These “instant runoff” ballots let voters back their favorite candidates while ensuring that winners still earn majority support.

Cities across the country — from San Francisco to St. Paul to Santa Fe — use RCV, and in 2018 Maine became the first state to use ranked choice ballots statewide.

Virginia saw its first ranked choice legislation nearly clear the House of Delegates last spring, and FairVote Virginia is hard at work to see it through in 2019. Join us at Union Market in Richmond to debrief on our latest legislative efforts and learn how you can help bring RCV to VA.

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM,
Union Market
2306 Jefferson Ave, Richmond, Virginia 23223

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FairVote Virginia is VA’s chapter of the national FairVote movement to advance ranked choice voting. Visit our website at fairvoteva.org to learn more.

This community news site has proudly editorialized in favor of ranked choice voting for years now.

Question For Wilder Symposium (Wednesday)

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From VCU press release:

The 2018 Wilder Symposium at Virginia Commonwealth University will explore the challenges and opportunities facing urban communities as they seek to improve in the areas of housing, education and public policy.

The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs will host the symposium, “By the People: The Role of Urban Communities in Improving Housing, Education and Public Policy,” from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts, 922 Park Ave. The event will be free and open to the public.

Submitted question to symposium:

Is it not strange that VCU has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the distant country of Cuba, but VCU has refused to have a MOU with its next door neighbors in Oregon Hill?

VCU’s ‘Free Ride’

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This past week Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) announced that it had signed an agreement with the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) that will give their students and employees unlimited access to the new $65 million Pulse system and all other GRTC bus routes. In other words, as much local media trumpeted, VCU students and workers will get to ride ‘for free’.

Of course, this is welcome news. If nothing else, it may alleviate parking pressures and reduce carbon emissions. However, Richmond citizens should look past the headlines and consider the big picture of VCU’s ‘free ride’.

The conversation about the need to grow GRTC and mass transit in general has increased measurably as VCU has grown in both population and physical plant. All along, this community news site has advocated for more commitment from counties and universities to GRTC and mass transit. This call has only increased as ‘The Pulse’ BRT project has spent federal and state funds for implementation.

The problem is that with federal and state monies now spent, more and more of the cost burden will be shifted back to City taxpayers. And VCU, despite the announcement this week, is still falling very short in its commitment. $1.2 million is a drop in the bucket. Heck, VCU probably spent close to $1.2 million on all of the PR for their new ICA building. One year is not that long. Consider that VCU has made more of a commitment to its basketball coach than Richmond’s mass transit.

So what, the neoliberals say, college basketball brings in more money and GRTC can’t even support itself. VCU spends so much on transportation per student, university administrators say (if I was a student, I would be looking at where that money is going exactly). Yet, despite supposed sports profits and rising tuition, more poor and longterm Richmond residents are getting forced out of the City with rising tax bills. The City of Richmond continues to pay the overwhelming majority of GRTC’s budget and now it has increased its operational costs. Remember when ‘The Pulse’ backers said that it was designed to help Richmond’s poor? Now the largest entity by far on ‘The Pulse’ route is hedging its bets and waiting to see how the chips fall.

The local media and elected officials should be questioning this ‘deal’ more, but the majority of them won’t for fear of falling out of VCU’s favor (and advertising budget). If VCU alumni want to arrogantly claim that ‘they built this city’, they should be required to put their money where their mouth is. Other urban universities do more than brag.

Parking Permit Debates Go Public

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THere’s been a lot of discussion among neighbors both recently and over the years about parking permits. Style Magazine has an article that bares some of the frustrations involved.

Excerpt:

Egger emphasizes he’s not anti-permit but believes the proposal could be better thought out. He says nonenforced blocks will likely be flooded with student cars from Virginia Commonwealth University. Hancock acknowledges that this critique also applies to Oregon Hill’s short streets, which would allow longer parking. She says the issue will be discussed at a meeting, and that she’s also observing how other neighborhoods suggest employee parking solutions.

“We have been discussing this for a number of years now,” Woodson says. “But the petitioning is a fairly recent thing where we’re actually determined to do this. Should Randolph get parking permits this fall, Oregon Hill will be the only neighborhood that abuts VCU that does not have permits. And we’re already getting killed.”

Letter From State Senator Stanley To Mayor Stoney

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VA Senator Bill Stanley, the Chairman of the new State Senate Subcommittee on School Facilities, wrote a letter to Mayor Stoney. It was emailed to the Mayor’s office this morning. In keeping with the Subcommittee’s mandate to keep abreast of the implementation efforts required under S.B. 750 in RVA (effective yesterday as the new School Facilities mandate in the Richmond City Charter), Senator Stanley has written the letter requesting an answer to a matter of vital importance to RVA. It is hoped the answer will prove helpful in drafting new legislation for the 2019 GA Session that can benefit RPS school students.