Cville Dems

The Charlottesville Democratic Committee

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2023 General Assembly Spring Session Ends

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Interior photo of Virginia state legislature

The spring Virginia legislative session is over, with plenty of sturm und drang but no budget thanks to Gov. Youngkin’s political posturing around tax cuts. One sample headline: “Va. General Assembly ends session with no budget deal, leaving money unspent“). Nathan Alderman and the Albemarle Dems do a great job covering the nuts and bolts of what’s going on in Richmond, we’re waiting to see his latest recap here.

Jennifer McClellan Rolls in 2/21 Special Election

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Jennifer_McClellan 2023 campaign photo

Congratulations to Jennifer for winning the special election (with 75% of the vote!) to serve the unfinished US House of Representatives term of the late Rep. Donald McEachin, thus becoming the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress. Next up: a 3/28 special election to replace her!

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.

From the Primary Campaign Trail

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Round graphic saying "Virginia is for Voters" put out by Virginia Department of ElectionsHere are the candidates we know about in 2023 Charlottesville election races (partisan races only, we won’t be disseminating information about the non-partisan but important races for City of Charlottesville School Board and Jefferson District Soil and Water Board):
Virginia Senate District 11
Delegate Sally Hudson (https://sallyforvirginia.com)
Sen. Creigh Deeds (https://www.senatordeeds.com/)
Virginia House of Delegates District 54
David Brown (dbrowndc@gmail.com)
Charlottesville City Council
(3 seats, but we’ve not seen any candidacies announced yet)
As a matter of policy, the Cville Dems don’t take sides in primaries. We’ll cover these races through June in an even-handed way in this newsletter, on our website, and on social media.

Report: “Repairing the World” Documentary Screening 2/11/23

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Photo of the attendees at Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church watching "Repairing the World" screening from the pewsOver 170 people came out for the Charlottesville Clergy Collective Saturday screening of the “Repairing the World” documentary about the mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue on Saturday February 11; the event was important in continuing the community dialogue around how we can work together to combat antisemitism, racism, and other forms of hate in our area.

New Year Brings New VA Laws

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Here are a few highlights Del. Sally Hudson flagged last week:

Photo of statue of blindfolded Lady Justice holding the scales of justice

  • Thousands of Virginia workers got a raise as our minimum wage went up to $12/hr. Just two years ago, Virginia ranked dead last among Oxfam America’s worst states for workers. We’ve since climbed to the middle of the pack, as we’ve modernized the laws protecting workers’ wages and basic bargaining rights. There’s an awful lot of work still left to do, but this step is something to celebrate.
  • With wages going up, Virginia also cut taxes on the things we all buy most. The state’s grocery tax has ended, another step long overdue. Virginia was one of just 13 states left in the country that still taxed grocery sales, and those days are finally done. We still have local governments that rely on grocery taxes for revenue, so there’s more we can do to ease taxes on working families.
  • If you’re shopping in either Charlottesville or Albemarle County, be sure to bring a bag; there’s now a five cent tax on plastic bags.

[We got an update on this last one from the Sierra Club: you can donate your extra reusable grocery bags at Refill Renew, 171-B Allied Lane (off of McIntire Road) —or— at Dogwood Refillery, 190 Zan Road (off of Hillsdale Drive). More sites are being lined up. For info about the tax see the City of Charlottesville website.]

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