September 18, 2024: Early voting begins on Friday, so let’s take a look at local elections
Plus: UVA had a banner year of fundraising in FY2024
Here’ is hoping that Wednesday is not too late to share the other two commemorations happening this week in the Commonwealth of Virginia per action of the General Assembly in previous years. Being on the hump day means we are halfway through Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week and Civics Education Week. Charlottesville Community Engagement often deals with one of those two things. I’m Sean Tubbs, asking for your guess on which one.
In today’s installment:
Early voting gets underway in Virginia on Friday
A look at what local races are on the ballot including the Scottsville Town Council
Fundraising at the University of Virginia had its second highest total in FY2024
That includes $20 million in scholarships for the UVA School of Data Science
A look at recent federal transportation awards in Virginia
Residential construction was up across the United States in August
First-shout: WTJU’s Offbeat Roadhouse features Avilion Shore this week
Every Friday night at 8 p.m, Offbeat Roadhouse on WTJU invites a different musical group into your home for an hour long concert live from WTJU’s performance space. Each week there will be Blues, Folk, Jazz, and Roots acts from around the globe.
This Friday, Avilion Shore will pull into Offbeat Roadhouse for a concert which will also be broadcast on WTJU. Transporting listeners to their own personal paradise where your wildest dreams come true, by way of this jazz group’s interpretations of their new and expressive music – perhaps even a little magic. Visit WTJU’s website to learn more and to read John D’earth’s review of Avilion Shore’s latest album Externality of Reality.
Want to see the live event and plan to see more? Check out more on WTJU’s Events Calendar!
Early voting for the 2024 election begins on Friday
There are 48 days until Election Day which for many years was the only way available for most people to cast a ballot. Due to a series of reforms including the lingering effects of the pandemic, there are two days until anyone can begin voting early and in-person.
“To vote early in-person, registered voters should go to the general registrar’s office for the jurisdiction in which they are registered, present their ID and cast a ballot,” reads an announcement sent out by the Virginia Department of Elections this morning.
To find out where the registrar is located in your community, the Department of Elections has a website where you can look up that information. Early voting takes place through November 2 and Charlottesville Community Engagement will provide updates on how many people have taken advantage. (visit the website)
All eligible voters can also request an absentee ballot, a change from previous years when access to this form of voting was restricted to certain categories. If you’ve requested one already, mailings will go out on September 20. The deadline to request a ballot is October 25, and you can find out information about how to do so on the Department of Elections’ website. (visit the website)
The deadline to register to vote is October 15, but after that date people can register to vote on the same day but their ballot will be considered provisional.
“Curbside voting is also available for those with disabilities and those over 65 who wish to vote in person,” the announcement continues. “Contact your general registrar’s office for more information regarding voting hours, additional locations and ballot drop boxes.”
All of Virginia’s eleven Congressional seats are up for election as is the Senate seat held by Senator Mark Warner Tim Kaine. There is also a proposed amendment to the Virginia Constitution.
“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended so that the tax exemption that is currently available to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action is also available to the surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty?”
You can learn more about that question at the Virginia Department of Election’s website.
Three seats up for election on Scottsville Town Council but only one person on ballot
There are no local referendums in any of the localities in the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission in the November 5 election. Albemarle County has one School Board race in the Rio District.
There are elections in the Town of Scottsville as Scottsville District Supervisor Michael Pruitt told the Board of Supervisors in late August.
“There is one race for the Mayor’s office,” Pruitt said. “The two candidates who have registered and will appear on the ballot are the incumbent Ron Smith as well as current Council member Eddie Payne.”
There are also three seats on Town Council set to expire, but only one of the incumbents is officially running for another term.
“Only Alex Bessette has actually fully registered his candidacy so only he will appear on the ballot and voters will have to write in other responses,” Pruitt said.
There are also races for the elected bodies in the incorporated towns of Louisa and Mineral.
Three candidates are seeking two seats in a special election for the six-member Mineral Town Council. On the ballot are C Blair Nipper, David E. Hempstead, and Rebecca T. "Becky" McGehee. Hempstead is an incumbent.
There are four candidates seeking three seats in an election for the five-member Louisa Town Council. Daniel R. Crawford, Jessi J. Lassiter, Roger W. Henry, and Sylvia L. Rigsby are on the ballot. Rigsby and Lassiter are incumbents.
The Mayor is elected separately in both towns, but not this year.
There is also an election for the Board of Supervisors for the Stanardsville District. Incumbent Steve Catalano is the only candidate.
In Nelson County there is an election for Treasurer and Neely T. Hull is the only candidate. Hull is serving in the position on an interim basis after the retirement of Angela Hicks.
UVA fundraising continues to set new records
Members of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors got an update last week on fundraising for the public research institution.
“Fiscal Year 2024 was a very, very strong year across grounds as we look at the philanthropic impact that we’ve seen,” said Mark Luellen, UVA’s vice president for advancement. “We’ve documented $620 million in total commitments last year which is the second highest in the history of the University.”
Luellen told members of the BOV’s Advancement Committee on September 12 that FY24 was the seventh year in a row that total giving was above $500 million.
Cindy Frederick, the senior associate vice president in the Office of Engagement, described more of what FY24 a banner year for UVA fundraising.
“This past year as Mark said, we had record numbers and the most donors ever,” Frederick said, “Eighty-one thousand alumni, parents, and friends made a gift, setting this record, and 60 percent were alumni.”
He said he believes the current fiscal year is also tracking to be another year in which donors surpass that amount.
“When I look at the total number of gift conversations that are going on at all of the foundations at the University right now, I think the pipeline is probably the strongest I’ve seen it in the past ten years,” Luellen said.
Toward the end of the meeting, President Jim Ryan announced a major donation to support scholarships for one of UVA’s newest schools.
“I’m thrilled to announce a $10 million gift from Scott and Beth Stephenson to create the Stephenson’s Scholars program at the School of Data Science,” Ryan said, “Their commitment will be matched with an additional $10 million from the University’s bicentennial scholarship fund for a total of $20 million.”
Ryan said the goal of the scholarship is to attract people from a diverse number of backgrounds to pursue a career in data science.
Scott Stephenson is a 1979 graduate of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He said his first job was designing parts for missiles and his experience at UVA helped him consider some of the ethical considerations that led him on a different pathway.
“If I’d gone to MIT or Cal-Tech or a very technical university, maybe I would have something in the educational experience that would help but I know for certain that I was given a broader education here and it was so helpful to me as a 22-year old to work through some of these questions that went well beyond the technical,” Stephenson said.
For more information on this donation, take a look at the announcement on UVA Today.
Stephenson said the field of data science is understand as one that has the power to reshape the way research is conducted. For centuries, scientists seeking to prove a theory would have to identify what they needed to measure and set up experiments to observe.
“The new thing that’s in the world actually is that increasingly we can instrument the world and observe the world so that the world just actually kind of speaks to us,” Stephenson said. “The volume of data and the amount of data which is being generated and its being generated not for any particular reason but just because data moves around in a way that it didn’t. The volume of that, the frequency of that, the granularity of all that data, there is an additional way to pursue knowledge and insight and that is to let the data tell you what the data mean.”
Second shout out: Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library
In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: 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!
Federal government funds several transportation projects in Virginia
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed in 2021 has opened the door to federal investment in thousands of transportation projects across the United States.
This week, U.S. Secretary of Transportation announced $300 million in 18 grant awards to modernize ferry systems across the nation. That includes one in Virginia.
“The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation will receive funding to modernize the passenger ferry slips at its Jamestown Scotland Ferry Facility to maintain passenger safety and ensure a state of good repair,” reads the grant announcement.
The Jamestown to Scotland ferry connects James City County with Surry County and takes about 20 minutes to cross the James River. The fare for the ferry is free and you can learn more information on the Virginia Department of Transportation website. The service carries about 900,000 passengers a year. The grant award is for $5,048,650.
The Federal Transit Administration oversees the ferry system and reviewed 43 eligible projects.
Last week the Biden-Harris administration released $802 million in grants to repair bridges and roads that have been damaged by extreme weather events.
“The effects of climate change are dramatically impacting the lives of so many communities across our country,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Kristin White in a press release. “Since December 2021, FHWA has distributed nearly $4.2 billion in Emergency Relief funding, which helps states repair and recover from climate events and natural disasters.
Virginia received $6.3 million for two incidents with the bulk of that going to make repairs in the George Washington National Forest and the Jefferson National Forest for flooding from May 21, 2020 as well as $26,930 for damage from heavy rains from April 12, 2020. Take a look at the FHWA website to see what else got funded across the United States.
U.S. Census Bureau: New Residential Construction figures up in August
To get a full perspective on any subject, one should try to understand the macroeconomic as well as the microeconomic. By the end of this week I hope to have the July 2024 property transactions in Charlottesville, an example of a microeconomic view of the real estate market.
Now let’s zoom out. Today the U.S. Census Bureau released estimates for new residential construction in August. These figures are extrapolated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the numbers you see are based on an estimate of what the annual production rate will be, and are not monthly figures at all.
The rate for building permits issued in August 2024 stands at 1.475 million across the nation. That’s an increase of 4.9 percent above the number issued in July 2024, but 6.5 percent below the figure for August 2023. About two-thirds of permits issued in August were for single-family homes.
Housing starts refer to when a project gets underway and the seasonally-adjusted rate for August 2024 is 1.356 million, 9.6 percent above the July 2024 figure and 3.9 percent above the August 2023 figure. Around three quarters of housing starts in the latest period are for single family homes.
The rate of houses completed for August 2024 is estimated at 1.788 million, 9.2 percent above the July 2024 estimate and 30.2 percent above the August 2023 rate. Just over 57 percent of completed homes are single-family units.
Confession about a correction: I am still learning what these numbers represent and why they might be significant to the average person. What do these numbers mean when we discuss local land use policy at a lower level? One of the reasons I put these reports in this newsletter is because I’m trying to understand them myself. I mistakenly reported these incorrectly originally and was notified by a realtor. So, now I challenge myself to speak to some economists before the next time this comes around!
Reading material for #731
The YIMBY push for multifamily housing hits a ‘nope’ from homeowners, Robbie Sequeira, Stateline, September 16, 2024
UVA Launches Institute at Darden School of Business to Focus on Artificial Intelligence, McGregor McCance, Darden Report, September 16, 2024
New skill game machines don’t violate the state’s ban, two former Virginia attorneys general say, Markus Schmidt, Mercury News, September 16, 2024
Plaintiffs argue case in RGGI lawsuit, Roxy Todd, WVTF-Radio IQ, September 17, 2024
Albemarle County will consider building a $154 million new middle school to address overcrowding, Tamica Jean-Charles, Charlottesville Tomorrow, September 17, 2024
Railroads and regulators must address the dangers of long trains, report says, Josh Funk, Associated Press, September 17, 2024
State commission considers Arrington annexation, Tate Hewitt, Fauqier Times, September 17, 2024
Albemarle County to seek federal funding to jump-start initiatives, Sean Tubbs, C-Ville Weekly, September 18, 2024
Albemarle teachers vote 'overwhelmingly' in favor of union representation, Jason Armesto, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), September 18, 2024
Whistle past the graveyard, #731
Every edition of this newsletter is an experiment. My entire career as a journalist has been spent trying out lots of things to try to bring people information. When I began my first professional gig as an intern in January 1995, I knew I wanted to do what I could to bring people information.
That has meant I’ve had to learn things. I was a terrible student who did not like being told what to do, and I always appreciated instructors who could motivate me to want to know more.
That’s what every single edition of this newsletter seeks to do. Each of us finds ourselves in a life where we can’t control as much as we would like, but by being in a posture of being willing to learn it is possible to see new ways forward.
Since the trip to Chicago, I’m taking this space to explain where the shout-outs currently come from in the hopes of putting in a system that can bring in more revenue so I can find a way to teach people who want to learn to be a general assignment reporter.
WTJU pays through a $25 a month contribution through Charlottesville. I have no sense of the metrics, but I like it when the shout-outs can send people to musical events in the community. WTJU also takes this opportunity to remind people about festivals, puzzle hunts, and their quarterly fundraising marathons.
The E-Bike loan program comes from an individual who both has a $200 a year Substack payment as well as a monthly Patreon amount in excess of $42 a month. This person has also used this to promote other events in the community.
After four years, I am hopeful to mature this system into something that can work for those who pay to get their message out to people and avoid advertising that is overly commercial. This is a system I need to create and to be fully transparent as I begin to plan out the change.
Thanks to the new Patreon subscriber today who joined to ask about this topic. I will be in touch later today! And thanks to Ting for matching the initial payment for Substack subscribers. They’ve been doing that for three years and I am grateful.
This is an incredibly generous sponsorship, and if you sign up for service and you are within Ting’s service area, enter the promo code COMMUNITY you’re going to get:
Free installation
A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
Two corrections for one newsletter!
I did not quite understand what I reported regarding the residential construction numbers and have adjusted the language and issued a correction and confession in the body of the text. I want to understand things so I write about them and occasionally get them wrong. That's why corrections and clarifications are so important.
Thanks for your patience and hopefully your understanding.
Senator Tim Kaine is up for re-election and not Senator Mark Warner. I regret the error and thank the person who let me know.