Good morning, RVA! It’s 69 °F, and another beautiful day awaits us with highs in the mid 80s. If you’re already making weekend plans, keep an eye on Saturday evening / Sunday morning’s possible chance of rain.
Water cooler
Yeah we’re pretty much done with budget season, but there’s still a few loose ends to tie up and a couple interesting bits of information floating around. First, and most importantly, if you, at any point during this year’s budget process, dashed off an angry/hopeful/kind/critical/less-than-constructive email to City Council about some of the investments in the Mayor’s proposed budget please similarly dash off a thank you email to them for funding those investments. If it were me, I’d also include a bit about how we’re not done raising new revenue to fund critical city services and to get excited for next year. Speaking of next year, what will the Mayor include in that budget? Will we face a Groundhog Day of real estate tax chats until we unstick the rate from pre-Recession levels? Personally, I hope so. But, 2020 is an election year, so that probably means some things. Roberto Roldan at WCVE did a quick interview with Mayor Stoney in which the Mayor says “the funding that will be in this upcoming budget should be the floor, not the ceiling.” I think he was speaking specifically to schools funding, but it gives me hope for schools, streets, transit, and housing, too—whether that new funding comes from a real estate tax increase, the State, rising assessments, abatement reform, or some other smart policy change.
Remember the Richard Meagher piece I linked to a couple of days ago about the racist narrative of Black incompetence at City Hill that the region has built over the last several decades? The flip side of that—deflecting and minimizing stories of suburban incompetence—is part of the same game. Take this story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (which is behind the paywall 🤔): “GOP committee votes to scrap convention in Peace-Wyatt House race, but issue isn’t resolved.“ This story is actually about how the process for Republicans to nominate a 97th District candidate has devolved into an absolute, embarrassing, chaotic mess. You wouldn’t know that from the headline, though! For example: A member of the 97th Legislative District Committee, which decides the nomination process, “told people in the room to quiet down. ‘There’s a sheriff’s deputy outside that’ll have your ass thrown out.’” Then, at one point that same member told the committee chair “You are obstructing this meeting,” to which the chair “loudly banged his gavel twice and exclaimed, ‘Adjourned!’” Not a great or democratic process, yet the headline would have you believe it’s biz as usual over in the 97th (which is made up of suburban counties Hanover, King William, and New Kent). Preserving both of these narratives—Black incompetence in the City and White competence in the Counties—is deeply baked into how we operate as a region. Even when you’re aware of the game, it’s incredibly hard to shift your perspective and see what’s really going on.
