Bring on the bat houses

At the beginning of this week, the world was without a Pope, and Richmond was without a People’s Budget. Five days later, a White Sox fan from Chicago has been elevated to the pinnacle of the Catholic Church, and $3 million in taxpayer funds have been allocated to capital projects around the city via direct democratic participation. And get this—the People’s Budget is fully funded (for this year, at least.) Miracles abound, man.

On Tuesday, the Richmond People’s Budget (RVAPB) announced the results of its election in April, in which citizens in each of the city’s nine districts voted on which public works they wanted to see funded in their communities. Some $2,880,000 of the funds are designated for specific projects across the city; the remaining $220,000 will be held back to cover auxiliary costs. “We are incredibly proud that over 5,000 community members participated in Richmond’s first-ever People’s Budget—a level of engagement that surpasses participation rates in many major U.S. cities conducting similar work,” the organization, which operates with the support² of Richmond’s City Council, declared in a press release.

This appears to be true: a 2022 study from the Brennan Center noted that Greensboro, North Carolina, needed three participatory budget cycles to crack 4,000 participants—in a city of 280,000 people. Richmond’s population in the 2020 US Census was 226,610, so even with tons of people moving here during the pandemic¹ , it’s probably still smaller than that. And we beat their result on the first go. Suck it, Greensboro! (Respectfully.)

You’re reading a Church Hill-focused newsletter, so you probably want to know what got funded here in the 7th District. Very reasonable. We’ll get four projects overall, as determined by ranked-choice voting last month:

1. 255 people top-ranked “Plant trees to increase urban canopy & shade,” the overall leader with 563 total rankings.

2. 198 people top-ranked “Upgrade bus stops with seating & shelters,” which came in second with 476 total rankings.

3. 88 people top-ranked “Improve public lighting around parks for safety and visibility,” which landed in third with 304 total rankings.

4. 29 people top-ranked “Install bat houses at community gardens & parks,” which came in eighth with 169 total rankings (the scoring was weighted, and this project was cheap enough—$20,000—to sneak in with the top three).

Overall, 860 people cast votes for 7th District projects, helping to allocate our chunk of the cheddar. Good work, neighbors.

Like I said above, this year’s RVAPB projects are fully funded. That wasn’t a guarantee last time I wrote about it: Mayor Danny Avula had recently rolled out his budget, and it didn’t include cash earmarked for this initiative, though he did tell The Richmonder that he was “committed to the concept, and to identifying dollars” to make it happen. And for this year’s cycle, he did. But as Victoria A. Ifatusin reported for The Richmonder just yesterday, proponents of the RVAPB shouldn’t get comfortable:

So if you think participatory budgeting is good for the 7th District, and you’d like to see Richmond do it again, be ready to make some noise next year.

📜 Possum Poetry

Possum Poetry is original verse written exclusively for The Lookout by Penelope Poubelle, the Lookout’s litter critter-at-large. If you spot roadside trash you’d like her to immortalize in doggerel, email a photo to [email protected]. All submissions anonymous!

🌳 Big tree down in Libby Hill

On a walk through Libby Hill Park yesterday, I came across the remaining trunk and stump of the huge tree near the park’s northeast entrance that’s been recently cut down. Paige Hairston, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Works (DPW) told The Lookout via email that the Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) had looped in the former’s Urban Forestry Division after receiving a neighborhood request to have the tree’s dead limbs removed prior to the Church Hill Spring Fest (which goes off tomorrow, see below.) Two city arborists—one from each department—inspected the tree and “determined that removal would be the most prudent course of action to take.” The tree came down on Wednesday. “The stump will be removed in the near future,” Hairston added. That will be quite a project—it’s huge. Anybody know how old this tree was, or what kind?

Of course, Libby Hill Park was the site of the September 2023 death of Derrick Christian, a Richmond Department of Public Works employee who was tragically crushed beneath a fallen tree on the southerly edge of the park’s uppermost tier. That tree had been previously flagged for removal going back to 2015, but never was; the Department of Labor and Industry's Virginia Occupational Safety and Health later found the city had violated a handful of safety requirements leading to the tragedy, issuing a $15,000 fine. So while I’m bummed to see one of Libby Hill’s grand old trees headed for the chipper, I’m also glad to see the city doing more proactive maintenance to keep the park safe.

📢 Happenings on The Hill

• Spotted: Former mayor Levar Stoney, recording an ad for his lieutenant governor campaign in Libby Hill Park Thursday morning. Not spotted: meaningful accountability for the water crisis, the meals tax fiasco, the city p-card scandal… More on the other Democratic primary candidates.

• Round the maypole: Alright I’m not sure the Church Hill Association actually has one of those, but it is hosting Spring Fest at Libby Hill Park this Saturday (5/10) from 12-5pm. Big list o’ vendors and stuff, right here.

• Tune in: The Bellwether Sessions return for a third summer of live music on the 3100 block of E. Clay St. tomorrow (5/10) at 7pm. It’s BYOB and BYOC[hair]. See you there?

Happenings on The Hill is a digital bulletin board for events, causes, and other items of interest to East Enders that don’t necessarily merit full editorial treatment. Got something for a future edition? Email the relevant details, links, etc. to [email protected] for consideration!

📸 A Very CHill Photo

Want to share your Very CHill Photo from the neighborhood? Email it to [email protected] with your name as you’d like it to appear for publication, and the camera you shot it on.

1  Including your humble Lookout editor; glad to be here!

2  I honestly don’t quite understand how this is structured, so if you do, please let me know in the comments or via email: [email protected].