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Announcement for City Council Candidate Meet And Greet
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Category Archives: politics
Extinction Rebellion In Monroe Park
Legal Attempts To Force Councilperson Agelasto From Office Fail
Judge William R. Marchant declined to issue a declaratory judgment deeming Agelasto’s seat on the City Council vacant after his move last year. Seeking the judgment was former Councilman Henry “Chuck” Richardson, who is among a field of candidates vying to replace Agelasto on the nine-member council in a special election scheduled for November.
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A separate challenge by another former councilman, Sa’ad El-Amin, also encountered a procedural stumbling block earlier this summer. El-Amin resubmitted his challenge in July, but no hearing has been scheduled on his new filing to date.
In April, Agelasto announced his plan to resign at the end of November, 13 months before his term expires. He has served as the council’s 5th District representative since 2013.
Mayor Stoney Dismisses 15,000 Richmond Citizens
Remember what’s been written previously about “Richmond leadership that has been hostile to public demands”.
Yesterday, at his press conference on his proposed 1.5 (was previously 1.4) billion dollar coliseum scheme, Mayor Stoney was asked by a reporter about the ‘Put Children Before Costly Coliseum’ referendum, which over 15,000 City of Richmond voters have signed. His response was curt and dismissive:
“The project’s moving forward either way. I don’t have time to worry about political stunts.”
Its very clear that the Mayor and other leaders who ran and were elected on ‘Education’ platforms now champion the Tom Farrell/VCU coliseum plan IN SPITE OF the Put Schools First movement. They don’t care what citizens think. They don’t care about public ownership. They certainly don’t care about public schools. They just want their coliseum, period. And they are willing to skirt the law and use ‘fait accompli’ tricks to do it. This is straight from former VCU President Trani’s playbook.
Richmond’s citizens should be asking themselves and others how much public money and attention have already been wasted on just ‘the planning’ around the coliseum scheme? How many times have Richmond leaders broken promises surrounding these giant projects? Richmond citizens have heard the same sales pitch for years and years on project after project- they have all resulted over and over again in deferred maintenance for PUBLIC schools and parks while PRIVATE corporate welfare projects abscond with the taxpayers’ money. We now have the Put Schools First movement, which says enough is enough, invest in schools first, yet Richmond leaders dismiss it and continue to jam the same sales pitch down our throats.
This is the ugly, top-down, oppressive, corporatist culture of Richmond politics. It is anathema to true progress. Many Richmond residents keep hoping that new arrivals from other locales will recognize it and work to change it, instead of being indifferent and then eventually leaving. Citizens should unite in condemning this Mayor’s statement and actions.
James River Master Plan Review Tomorrow Evening
Do our voices count? I submitted my comments in a while ago. Many neighbors are suspicious given that this is partly sponsored by Venture Richmond and Dominion. Many neighbors think corporate voices may have more weight than citizens’, based on previous experiences. Still, a good time to make grassroots be heard.
Presidential Candidate Visits Tomorrow Evening
Dario Hunter, Presidential candidate and member of the Youngstown, OH Board of Education, visits Richmond, VA to talk about his plan to build a greener and fairer America as well as the strategy to grow the Green Party through the 2020 race and beyond.
He will be at the Main Richmond Public Library on Franklin Street at 6 pm tomorrow.
Disclaimer: This event is not sponsored or endorsed by the Richmond Public Library.
Last Chance To Give Voters A Voice On VCU/Farrell Coliseum Scheme
If Richmond citizens want to be able to vote on the VCU/Farrell/Stoney coliseum scheme, their last chance to do so may be decided in the next few days. Over 13,000 Richmond citizens have signed the petition for the “Choose Children over a Costly Coliseum“ Referendum, drafted by Paul Goldman, supported by the Sierra Club Falls of the James and others. Many of these signatures were done on Election Day last year, but the deadline to file the petition is coming up quickly (like in the next few days!), and more signatures are needed to ensure it getting on the ballot. If it does not make it on the ballot, citizens may be forced to live with and pay up for whatever the Mayor and City Council do with the $1.4. billion scheme, and it could effect City budgets for a decade to come. So, what’s it going to be? Schools or corporate welfare?
In the interest of informing the public, I am going to post the petition/referendum here. However, please ask yourself, why has local media not done so- again, over 13,000 Richmond citizens have already signed it. So why have Times Dispatch, Style, RVA Magazine, etc. mostly ignored this heroic grassroots effort? If you have been following along, including the latest FOIA struggle, things may be more clear. The Richmond Free Press and oregonhill.net have offered the most coverage on it.
The first Put Schools First referendum was fairly straight forward in demanding that Richmond leaders, especially the Mayor, come up with plan to modernize the schools first in the City’s budget planning. This second referendum, perhaps due to opposing nature, is a bit more convoluted, so here’s a quick explanation: it first states that citizens want schools to come before a new coliseum. It then includes a poison pill provision against using a TIFF (Tax Incremental Financing Fund) to finance the scheme by stating that a majority of the funding raised would have to go to schools first. It then ends with a measure to keep the schemers from going back to the meals tax for money.
If you are a resident of the City of Richmond and a registered voter, please take the time to sign this petition, even if you ultimately decide to not vote for it once it is on the ballot. 13,000 of your neighbors have already done so, don’t let them down! Give people a voice!
School Rezoning and Oregon Hill
Laurel Street neighbor Teresa Birchett wants to be sure that neighbors are aware of the rezoning discussion.
Richmond is currently exploring rezoning of schools. They have released two potential options. If you look at both options they would impact Oregon Hill. For elementary we are currently zoned Cary. From what I can tell for elementary schools, Option 1 would divide the neighborhood at the expressway with some kids zoned for Carver and the majority of the neighborhood Cary. For Option 2 Oregon Hill would be completely rezoned for Carver. For middle school the entire neighborhood is currently zoned Binford. Option one would divide the neighborhood again at the expressway, with the upper half of the neighborhood zoned Hill and the lower Binford. Option two would keep the neighborhood Binford. For high school we are currently zoned Thomas Jefferson. Option one and two would rezone the neighborhood to John Marshall High School. If you have concerns or support one of these changes, now is the time to let RPS know.
Here is a link to the two possible proposed zoning changes, the proposed map changes are at the bottom of the document.
More Candidates Enter 5th District Council Contest
Local media outlets are reporting that more candidates are entering into the election race to take what was Parker Agelasto’s seat on City Council.
From the Richmond Free Press:
The first candidates have begun to emerge in the race to succeed Parker C. Agelasto as the 5th District representative on Richmond City Council.
The district spans both sides of the James River and includes Carytown, Maymont, Oregon Hill and Swansboro.
A special election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 5, to replace Mr. Agelasto, who announced his resignation effective Nov. 30 after he moved out of the district last summer.
Former 5th District Councilman Henry W. “Chuck” Richardson, who is pursuing a lawsuit seeking the immediate ouster of Mr. Agelasto that is to be heard next month, announced his candidacy Tuesday night following a meeting of the Richmond Crusade for Voters.
Earlier this week, Stephanie Lynch, a lobbyist and advocate for the Good Neighbor mental health and disability services program and a civic activist from the Woodland Heights neighborhood in South Side, announced her run.
Dr. Thad Williamson, a University of Richmond professor and former aide to Mayor Levar M. Stoney, announced several weeks ago that he is seeking the office.
Five to seven more candidates are weighing runs to fill the remainder of Mr. Agelasto’s term that will end on Dec. 31, 2020.
NBC12 and Times Dispatch recently highlighted Richardson’s candidacy, while the VCU Commonwealth Times focused on a recent VCU graduate, Nicholas Da Silva, that is contending.
Tell Stoney To Release The Coliseum Scheme Documents
The biggest backstory to Richmond politics right now is the VCU/Tom Ferrell/Mayor Stoney coliseum scheme. It’s been that way for a while, due to its collision course with the Put Schools First movement. Many Richmond citizens, including Oregon Hill neighbors, still believe that this backstory also had something to do with the upheaval regarding our beloved Councilperson Parker Agelasto.
For the last few months, one aspect of this whole thing has been the public right’s to know. Local attorney Paul Goldman has had to file Freedom of Information Act requests in order to obtain documents regarding the coliseum scheme. Even now, he is trying to get to documents that Mayor Stoney’s administration gave the Times Dispatch newspaper freely, but is refusing to give Goldman. According to him, the Mayor’s ‘crew’ is planning to hold up any more righteous disclosure with frivolous motions.
This is outrageous! It’s time for citizens to stand up to the Mayor and the VCU/Farrell corporate goon squad! And if there any 5th District candidate wannabe’s out there– now is the time to let citizens know which side you are on.
Tomorrow night, the Mayor has his “5th District Community Office Hours” scheduled from 6:30 to 8pm at the Randolph Community Center.