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Town Hall Meeting (Thursday 3/23) on Gun Violence

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Flyer with two yellow-background text boxes at top announcing "Townhall Meeting" and "Empowering Families: Keeping Our Community Safe from Gun Violence" and giving location, date, and time. Pictured are 5 event guest speakers: Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis, Carl Murray, Sen. Creigh Deeds, Kim Powell, and BUCK Squad's Herb Dickerson.The Charlottesville Coalition for Gun Violence Prevention (CCGVP) has organized a Town Hall to be held at Buford Middle School on Thursday March 23 from 6:00-7:30pm.
Speakers will include Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis, State Sen. Creigh Deeds, and representatives from the BUCK Squad and Charlottesville and Albemarle County Public Schools.
If you have ideas to share, or want to know what you can do to help stop the violence, please attend or show your support in other ways!

Candidate Forum + (maybe) a Zoning Forum

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Horizontally-oriented graphic reading "Community Forums" in a yellow handwriting-looking script and "Long-Range Planning" in a standard print font surrounded by a white background and an abstract geometric designThe Cville Dems will definitely be sponsoring one or more candidate forums, probably in coordination with the Albemarle Dems; we’ll announce details as soon as they’re worked out.
We’re also wondering if people (you!?) would find it helpful for us to sponsor an informational forum about the upcoming Draft Zoning Plan (Module 1 of 3 available here) that City Council will be voting on in June. The party hasn’t taken a position, but it’s an important issue and we’re wondering if a panel representing a wide variety of stakeholders would be valuable in sharing the many perspectives held within the community.
So:
  1. Would you like to see some kind of panel/forum on Zoning?
  2. If so, what groups/people would you be most interested in hearing from?
  3. Any other thoughts about this that you’d like to share with us?
Please send your thoughts to cvilledemschair@gmail.com

Getting Ready for UVA/Bert Ellis Shenanigans

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photo of Bert Ellis Jr. wearing a pale yellow shirt and dark sport jacketBert Ellis, long-time reactionary and new UVA Board of Visitors member, has already telegraphed his intention to shake things up at UVA even if he’s restrained from cutting down First Amendment-protected student political speech he doesn’t like on Grounds.
The Washington Post profiled him as “controversial board newcomer who has voiced skepticism of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, been protective of the legacy of Jefferson and advocated for a new course for the flagship university. They also underscore mounting political tensions throughout public higher education as Republican governors and their appointees challenge university culture, norms and operations.”
We’re thinking it might be good to identify some Dems in advance as a quick reaction group that would be ready if/when Ellis and others in his Gov. Youngkin-appointed cohort try to push through changes that threaten academic and/or personal freedom at UVA. We’d coordinate with the UVA Dems on this. Note that there may be pressure from the UVA Administration on faculty and students not to speak publicly about Ellis or other Board of Visitor actions.
If anyone’s interested in being part of such a group, please contact cvilledemschair@gmail.com

Charlottesville’s (DRAFT) Zoning Plan Revision

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Colorful map showing various areas of new DRAFT Charlottesville zoning map“It’s finally here! Charlottesville has released its draft zoning map. As dry as that sounds, this small document has the potential to dramatically change the look, feel — and livability — of this city for decades to come.”
That quote is from a Charlottesville Tomorrow overview of where this long process stands (prior background articles here and here and here) and notes how to share your input on the draft, either in writing (via this Google Form or to engage@cvilleplanstogether.com) and/or at these upcoming community open houses:
  • Wed. Feb. 22, 6:00-8:30pm — Charlottesville High School cafeteria, 1400 Melbourne
  • Thurs. Feb. 23, 6:00-8:30pm — Buford Middle School cafeteria, 1000 Cherry Ave.
  • Sat. Feb. 25, 11am to 1:30pm — CitySpace, 100 5th St. NW (Downtown Mall)
Other information sources to check out: Cville Plans Together(including an interactive map), the City of Charlottesville website, and some of these groups that have been working on housing issues for years: Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition (CLIHC), the Charlottesville-Albemarle Affordable Housing Coalition (CHAAHC), the Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA), and Habitat for Humanity.

Jefferson School Annual “Reparations Run” Fundraiser

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Graphic with a purple background for 2023 Liberation and freedom Day Reparations Run-Walk showing time and date and listing the organizations being supported - The graphic shows a Civil War-era black family including an adolescent and a babyThe Jefferson School African American Heritage Center is sponsoring its annual 8k Reparations Run fundraiser to benefit Black-led organizations on Saturday March 4 in celebration of the 2023 Liberation and Freedom Day being commemorated March 3-5.
Last year they allowed local organizations to form teams, and the Cville Dems participated that way (raising a little over $1000); let us know if you’d like to join a similar effort this year.
Or… you can sign up here to participate in the 8K run as an individual.
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