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Nov. 18 Newsletter: Spend the city's money

Weather: A pleasant fall continues; high of 70.

On this date in 1903, the remains of President James Monroe’s wife and daughter were reinterred at Hollywood Cemetery from their original resting place in Loudoun County. President Teddy Roosevelt sent flowers to mark the occasion.

The Richmond People’s Budget is seeking ideas on how to spend $3 million

For the first time, Richmond residents will decide how a portion of the city’s budget is spent.

The Richmond People's Budget will allow a group of citizens to spend $3 million improving the community. Ideas will be accepted through the end of the month, then committees made up of citizens will make the final decisions.

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The money can go towards any physical project on city property, like new bus stops and bus shelters, sidewalks, murals and monuments.

The city has received nearly 800 ideas so far. The group wants to get the first projects built by next summer. Read more here.

Richmond is buying the former Southside casino site for $5.5M. The plan for it is TBD.

Monday's City Council meeting included a vote to purchase the South Richmond site where a casino would have been built. The vote passed, but there's no plan for what comes next.

The administration said they didn't want to run the risk of the land going to a buyer in the private sector, citing "other interested parties" who were pursuing it.

“There’s a high likelihood that if we don’t get to purchase this, it might be developed as a warehouse,” Deputy CAO Sharon Ebert said. “And that is not what we think is the highest and best use.”

  • Because about half the site consists of unbuildable wetlands, the city intends to use some of it for the park that was previously tied to the casino plan.

Read more here, including Mayor-elect Danny Avula's thoughts from a recent 8th District meeting.

RPS asks School Board to expand study of how employees are being compensated

Superintendent Jason Kamras has asked the school board to sign off on a compensation and classification study for employees, which would be the district's first since 2017.

  • The classification study would cost $68,000, and would be paired with an existing salary study for an overall price tag of $122,500.

"For folks who have been in their roles for a few years, their job descriptions also likely don't capture everything that they've taken on," RPS Chief Talent Officer Maggie Clemmons said. "We want to make sure that is documented and folks are compensated for it as well."

Read more about the proposed study here.

Cruffins, cronuts and croffles - it's a golden era of croissant remixes

It's a great time to be a croissant lover in the River City.

Read more about the trend, including the origin of the cruffin, here.

In other news...

The editor's desk:

The news last week that Dwight Yoakam would play the first show at Richmond's new riverfront amphitheater was a missed opportunity for local pride.

The amphitheater, which will seat 7,500, will be a welcome addition to the Richmond skyline and should find an immediate following among music lovers.

So why wasn't a local artist tapped to play the opener? There's no lack of talent in the area. I'm sure VCU's Peppas would pack the house.

It's nothing against Dwight Yoakam. He can play here anytime. But there's only one first show.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

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