Back to School, Snow Leopards, and Ranked Choice Voting?
Cheers RVA!
Today will be cloudy with a potential for localized severe weather throughout the day, with a high of 84. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop in the afternoon. Wind gusts could be strong, so stay safe. The rest of the week is looking mostly sunny.
the juice:
The new school year starts today for all Richmond and Henrico students. Only 6th and 9th graders begin class today in Chesterfield and Hanover, allowing the new middle-schoolers and high-schoolers a day to adjust before all students arrive tomorrow.
From 1986 to 2019, Schools in Virginia were not allowed to start before Labor Day without a waiver. The “Kings Dominion Law”, as it was known, was passed at the behest of the tourism industry.
The new law states schools that begin before Labor Day must be closed the Friday before and Monday after the holiday weekend.
the pulp:
A man in Henrico was killed when a tree fell on his truck during a severe thunderstorm Sunday afternoon. Dozens of trees and power lines were reported down in the West End area with wind gusts exceeding 60 mph.
The Richmond Kickers have extended the contract of Coach Sawatsky, whose been with the club since 2020, via rvahub. Also, City Stadium is installing a jumbotron.
the dive:
Michael Paul Williams from the RTD wrote a recent commentary asking if Richmond’s changing demographics make our current “win 5 of 9 districts” system of mayoral election now obsolete.
Background
The column begins noting the City’s 1970 annexation of part of Chesterfield to dilute Black voter strength, and the subsequent lawsuit and court-ordered switch to the current 9 district City Council setup.
For decades the mayor was selected by the City Council, and a measure for at-large selection of the mayor failed in the General Assembly in 1995.
Williams continues:
Finally, following a 2003 referendum pushed by Wilder and former Richmond mayor and U.S. Congressman Tom Bliley, city voters finally got what they wanted: the chance to pick their own mayor. The new system included a safeguard to protect Black voter influence: a requirement that the popular-vote leader also win at least five of the city’s nine voting districts.
What has changed?
The demographics of Richmond have changed over the last two decades, with the Black voting-age population decreasing from 51.5% to 38%, and the white non-Latino voting-age population increasing from 43% to 45%.
While in 2000, just 5% of Richmonders were of other races and ethnicities, in 2020 16.5% of the voting-age population identified as multi-cultural.
Charter Review Commission - Ranked Choice Voting?
The Charter Review Commission has not recommended any changes for the upcoming elections, but looks ahead to future elections:
But it advises that if the current mayor-council system is maintained, that the city assess, starting next year and perhaps after the 2030 census, whether a ranked-choice voting system — which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference — better protects minority voting interests than the five-of-nine system.
The commission also notes:
“The effectiveness of any specific mechanism for protecting minority voting interests is highly contingent on the underlying facts and demographics,” the commission report stated. “Changing demographics may make tools that once were effective in protecting minority voting interests ineffective, or even damaging, to those same interests.”
Stoney’s Opinion
Mayor Stoney offered his continued support for the “5 of 9” system, and identified potential flaws in switching to an at-large vote.
I still believe that Black residents’ voices matter,” he said. “That’s why the system was set up: So you can’t just pitch a tent in the West End and Windsor Farms and the Fan and the Museum District and just drive out the vote tallies there. You have to create a broad-based coalition across the city to win this election.”
William’s Point
The column concludes with a valid point:
We like to think we’ve left behind the racial polarization that defined city politics in the latter part of the 20th century, but the aftertaste of two recent failed referendums for a casino in South Richmond suggests otherwise. Proponents of the casino — fair or not — viewed this outcome as Richmond’s white electorate imposing its will on marginalized Black and Latino communities.
Read the full column here.
the vibe:
Two snow leopard cubs were born back in April, and after spending 3 months with Mom in the den, they are out and about at the Metro Zoo. Check out a video here.
Have a cheerful day RVA!
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