January 3, 2025: Cooper announces bid for Charlottesville School Board
Plus: Albemarle County Public Schools seek applications for Rio District Seat
The Roman deity Janus looks backwards and forwards and from this legend we derive the name of the first month of the year. Charlottesville Community Engagement is in the midst of a look back at the suddenly unfashionable 2024, but it’s important to stretch a little to reach into the future. This is the first edition of 2025 and I continue to be Sean Tubbs.
In the first actual edition of 2025:
Dashad Cooper has announced a campaign to run for the Charlottesville School Board
Albemarle County Public Schools are seeking applications for people to serve on the Rio District School Board seat left open by the passing of Chuck Pace last month
Albemarle County police are seeking information about a shooting early on New Year’s Day
Winter weather is in the forecast and Albemarle County is
Another look at pending legislation in the Virginia General Assembly
First-shout: Several things ReLeaf Cville Did in 2024
In the first subscriber-supported shout-out of 2025: ReLeaf Cville seeks to help restore the amount of the city that’s covered by trees. In the year that just passed on, they accomplished five things they want people to know about:
Worked in partnership with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance on the third cycle of the Green Team, which teaches young people about the value of trees and the importance of their role in area water quality
Clean Virginia awarded the group $15,000 to enhance education programs to expand the Cville Green Team
That Cville Green Team planted 24 trees in the Woolen Mills earlier this month as part of a goal to plant 135 in the neighborhood
The Virginia Department of Forestry awarded the group $21,410 through the Virginia Trees for Clean Water Program to plant trees in the Woolen Mills neighborhood
ReLeaf was featured on VPM in late June to discuss their work to date (read the report)
ReLeaf is also seeking a new executive director. Contact me for a copy of the job posting!
Cooper announces bid for Charlottesville School Board
A candidate who ran for both Charlottesville City Council and the Charlottesville School Board in 2023 will try again this year for the elected body that oversees the city’s schools.
“Charlottesville City Public Schools play a vital role in the community, serving as both a cornerstone and a source of pride for its residents,” Cooper said in an announcement sent out this morning.
Cooper said he will base his campaign on three primary goals: Building Strong Readers, Boosting Attendance, and Supporting the Union.
“Together, we can create a more equitable, inclusive, and successful school system that reflects the best of what Charlottesville has to offer,” Cooper continued.
Cooper is the vice chair of the Charlottesville Democratic Committee.
This year the terms of Emily Dooley, Dom Morse, and Lisa Torres are up for election.
Albemarle County Public Schools taking applications for Rio District
The untimely death of Charles Pace in December has opened a vacancy on the Rio District seat on the Albemarle County Public School. Applications are being taken through January 9 for a term that will run through the end of the year.
“The appointment process will ensure that the seat is filled by someone committed to upholding our schools' values, supporting educational excellence, and advocating for the needs of our community,” reads a notice on the ACPS website.
If you would like to try, send an email to Christine Thompson, the clerk of the Albemarle School Board. The email is cthompson@k12albemarle.org. To be eligible, you must be a registered voter in the Rio District. Here is a link to the application.
There will be an election for the seat this fall for a full four-year term. Pace had been appointed to fill a vacancy created when Katrina Callsen was elected to the House of Delegates. Pace defeated Jim E. Dillenbeck with 52.63 percent of ballots cast, or 4,435 votes, but died in December.
Also on the ballot this year are the Jack Jouett and the Samuel Miller magisterial districts. Kate Acuff has represented Jack Jouett since 2013 and Graham Paige has represented the Samuel Miller District since 2015 when he won a special election.
ACPD seeking information on New Year’s shooting
Shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, Albemarle police and EMS personnel were on the scene of a reported shooting in the 900 block of Upper Brook Court south of I-64 in the Brookdale Apartments.
“Upon arrival, first responders located a 19-year-old male suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg,” reads an information release sent out on Thursday afternoon. “The victim was transported to UVA Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.”
Anyone with any information is asked to contact a Detective Leitch in the Criminal Investigations Division at 434-267-5807. There’s also the anonymous crime stoppers line at 434-977-4000.
Albemarle urges residents to prepare for winter weather
There’s a winter storm in the forecast for Sunday and Monday, and Albemarle County is reminding people to be prepared.
“Now is a great time to take stock of your household’s preparedness for snow, ice, and power outages,” reads an information release sent out this morning. “Prepare a checklist of things to do when you hear that a winter storm is possible.”
As of publication time, the National Weather Service lists a chance of snow fifty percent of in the afternoon turning into freezing rain, snow and sleet overnight. Chances of precipitation are near 100 percent for Monday. Stay updated at the source.
The release points to a page on the Virginia Department of Emergency Management that has an emergency checklist that’s relevant at any time.
For instance, you should have three days of food and water as well as pet food and supplies. If you have a small human, infant formula and diapers should be procured.
You should also have enough medication for a week and whatever medical equipment you need. A first-aid kit is also advised.
Second shout out: Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library
The rolling topography of the Charlottesville area keeps some people away from choosing cycling as an option to get around. Perhaps an e-bike is in order?
That’s where Charlottesville’s eBike Lending Library comes in! E-bikes are a great way to get around the community but there are many brands and styles to choose from. Because many e-bikes are sold online, it can be a challenge to try an e-bike before buying one.
The Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library is a free, not-for-profit service working to expand access to e-bikes in the area. They have a small collection of e-bikes that they lend out to community members for up to a week, for free. You can experience your daily commute, go grocery shopping, or even bike your kids to school, and decide whether e-bikes are right for you. Check out this service at https://www.ebikelibrarycville.org.
The 2025 General Assembly begins on January 8: A look at the make-up and some pending legislation
American democracy happens at multiple levels and one way to secure this system of government is simply to know more about how it works. Virginia’s system of government is very similar to the federal government. There’s a legislature that considers new laws and amendments old ones as well as an executive branch which runs agencies.
Governor Glenn Youngkin has one year left on a four-year term and cannot run for re-election. All 100 seats in the House of Delegates are up in November, but the Senate isn’t up for election until 2027. There are three special elections on Monday for three vacancies across the General Assembly.
In Senate District 10, Republican Luther Cifers III faces Democrat Jack Trammell in a race to replace John McGuire in the position. McGuire was elected to represent Virginia’s Fifth District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The boundaries for District 10 drawn in late 2021 cover a lot of the Fifth District including all of Fluvanna County and a portion of Louisa County. The district leans Republican.
The other Senate race is in District 32 which covers part of Loudoun County. Democrat Kannan Srinivasan resigned from the House of Delegates to run for the seat and faces Republican Tumay Deniz Harding. This district leans Democratic, according to VPAP.
Since the election of 2023, Democrats have a slight majority over the Republicans with 21 seats to 19.
With Srinivasan’s resignation in House District 26, Democrats have a 50 to 49 majority in the House of Delegates. Democrat Jas Singh faces Republican Ram Venkatachalam. This district also covers part of Loudoun County and is considered to be strong Democratic.
Take a look at the reading material below for more on the races.
Now, what about the legislation that’s actually being considered?
The General Assembly only meets for 45 days this time around and legislation will move fast. One aspect of this newsletter is to point out some of the bills that people may be interested in, but with the flow of legislation moving faster there will only be a few bills in this edition. I don’t know the backstory for all of these, but these are the ones that jump out at me this week.
HB1568 from Delegate Bill Wiley (R-32) would allow law-enforcement officers from Frederick County to have jurisdiction one-mile across the border into the city of Winchester.
Delegate Wiley also filed HB1569 that would reduce the fee to process an application for a concealed handgun permit from $50 to $25. Technically this would reduce the amount a locality could charge from a maximum of $35 to a maximum of $10.
HB1570, also from Wiley, would eliminate language in the Virginia Public Procurement Act that would allows public bodies to require labor agreements to be adhered to for public works projects.
SB772 from Senator Glen Sturtevant Jr. (R-12) would require local social service departments to inquire about an applicants’ immigration status.
SB773 from Senator Barbara Favola (D-40) would require local social service departments to develop a plan for providing housing to individuals in foster care as they age out of the system.
SB775 from Senator Scott Surovell (D-34) would require disclaimers on election advertisements that use artificial intelligence programs to create false depictions of candidates.
SB776, also from Surovell, would allow local and state law enforcement officers in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia) to enforce federal traffic violations, including the placement of speed cameras on federal parkways.
SB777 from Senator Mamie Locke (D-23) would direct the Department of Housing and Community Development to work with other state agencies to create a Low-Income Energy Efficiency and Weatherization Task Force “to evaluate ways to coordinate government and utility services and resources to more effectively deliver energy efficient housing.”
SB778, also from Locke, would set the age of 11 when a child could be considered delinquent.
SB779 from Senator Jennifer Carroll Foy would require railroad companies to comply with federal requirements for minimum train crews.
SB780, also from Foy, would require health insurance carriers to provide coverage for contraceptives.
SB782 from Senator David Suetterlein (R-4) would end the sunset date on the standard income tax deduction. This is a key plank of Governor Youngkin’s budget proposal. Read some of the others here.
SB784, also from Suetterlein, would direct the Department of Education to revise the Three “E” Readiness Framework to “to include as an indicator of postsecondary readiness and incentivize participation in and completion of work-based learning experiences.”
Another Suetterlein bill, SB785, would prohibit the Real Estate Board from charging a fee to transfer a license between offices.
SB792 from Senator Christoper Head (R-3) would require the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to publish a lot of information on their website about public and private institutions of higher education. This includes the cost of tuition and fees, student retention rate, the graduation rate, and wages of former students three years after graduation.
Another bill from Head, SB795, would establish the Virginia Museum of Transportation as a public entity.
More in the next edition of the newsletter.
Reading material for #787:
Charlottesville would like UVa to pay at least some property tax. UVa isn't so sure., Jason Armesto, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), January 2, 2025
Rental fee for Fluvanna Commercial Kitchen reduced, CBS19 News, January 2, 2025
Virginia’s minimum wage increases in 2025, CBS19 News, January 2, 2025
'Wind phone' a lifeline for the grieving in Central Virginia, Jane Sathe, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), January 2, 2025
Huzzah and good tidings for 2025 at the end of #787
Immediately following this edition I will post the Look Back #5. Well. I say immediately but at the moment I’m closely watching my father to make sure he listens to the medical advice to not stand up and walk. Somehow I’ve put out several stories today anyway because there’s information I want to get out and over the past four and a half years, I’ve done my best to get this newsletter out on as regular a basis as possible.
Recently I had someone write this:
“You are a great community resource and yes, I do support you (a piddling $5/month) but if you have time, can you lay out for me/us what your plan is for the future of your reporting in some detail?”
I referred this person to this space at the end of each newsletter. I do not have a staff who has the sole job of bringing in revenue. I don’t have other reporters at the moment. I don’t have a graphics team. But I do have close to 3,500 people on this list and I reckon at 35 of them get to this point each time!
What I do have is a passion for bringing information in the style I was taught 30 years ago. I have a passion for building up a community by putting out stories that seek to tell people on what’s happening in local and regional government. I’m not here to add sensation or to tell anyone what to think.
And I will never resort to scaring you into paying me money. If you want to, do so. If you don’t, don’t. I think many people are tired of being of being bombarded with requests for money.
I’ve managed to keep this going for four and a half years now, and I do have plans to solidify the business. I’ve not been able to do some of the work I wanted to do over the holiday, but I’ve kept the reporting up and am so happy to be back in the routine.
So the future in brief is pretty simple. I’m going to keep reporting and expanding my capacity. I’m going to work on the plans to introduce advertising to Information Charlottesville. I’m going to shore up the Shout Out system. I’m going to find a way for people to make tax deductible contributions.
I do this because this is what I am called to do. That may sound bombastic and I admit it is, but something inside of me drives me to work as much as I can. That’s what my father taught me and that’s why I’m here to keep an eye on him.
Happy New Year! And until the sponsors roll-in, let’s boost one of the above shout-outs with this story from WVIR 29NBC.