Good morning, RVA! It's 36 °F, and, while sunny and bright, today looks a bit chilly with highs hanging out somewhere in the 50s. If I planned on leaving my house today, I'd probably be excited to wear my boots for the first time.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 3,242↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 4↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 216↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 81, Henrico: 82, and Richmond: 53). Since this pandemic began, 449 people have died in the Richmond region. VDH has posted this warning atop its data dashboard: "The 3,242 case count reported on Monday, November 23 is in part due to a catch-up from the VDH data system being down for upgrades for a few hours over the weekend." This is, of course, the first time we've ever seen new case counts over 3,000, and we'll have to wait until this afternoon to see if those kind of number continue or not. I had to change the x-axis on my New COVID-19 Cases in Virginia graph (again) to accommodate. I imagine data entry over the rest of the week will be...weird...as the state moves into its long, holiday weekend starting tomorrow. Keep that in mind regardless of which way the numbers trend! I'm sure this data entry backlog also impacts the local case count numbers, which have posted over 200 for six of the last eight days—I had to change the x-axis on that graph, too. Due to the holiday and the weekend, the COVID Tracking Project expects "the numbers will probably remain wobbly into December." We'll see!
The Mayor's Task Force to Reimagine Public Safety has released their final report (PDF), which feels like the first new PDF I've linked to in a while. Stoney says, "Building the long-term, innovative, equitable public safety infrastructure envisioned in this report will take sustained effort, community engagement and education, but I have full faith that this community will come to the table to realize this vision." and DCAO for Human Services Reggie Gordon says, "Over the past several months, I have heard many community members, and members of RPD, state that the best solutions for a way forward require an expansion of the role of human services in public safety. This report aligns with that perspective. I look forward to putting these ideas into action." RPD Chief Smith takes a less-supportive, wait-and-see approach to his quote in the press release, saying, "the input of the task force, the voice of the community, is vital to ensure that our work is implemented in the way our community needs and expects. We look forward to thoroughly evaluating these recommendations to enhance current practices and reimagine public safety with the community.” You'll recognize some of the report's recommendations from our ongoing conversations about policing in Richmond, but check out recommendation #1 under the Use of Force subgroup: "As such, it is recommended that going into the FY22 budget year that the city administration review, analyze, and find opportunities to reallocate some of the Richmond Police Department budget and other department budgets and functions that could contribute to greater investment into the community." While "find opportunities to reallocate some of the police's budget!" is not quite as catchy as "defund the police!," it's the same thing, and I'm glad to see it in this report. I also really like the recommendations to create business cards with information on how to file a complaint for each officer, the recommendation to standardize the language used by officers when approaching Richmonders, and the goal of creating an Office of Restorative Justice and Community Safety. Unfortunately, the Next Steps section of the report (p. 36), is pretty disappointing with literally no next steps. Here's as close as it gets: "Now that the Stoney administration is in receipt of this report, it is time to thoroughly evaluate each recommendation, discuss programmatic details, establish an implementation plan, and seek additional community input." Personally, I'd like to see some movement on these recommendations as soon as New Council gets seated.
The City has opened up the application process for their non-departmental grants, and applications are due on December 18th. This is the portion of the City's budget that funds things that are...not departments. You've got stuff in there like the Affordable Housing Trust Fund contribution ($3.5 million), and the City's commitment to GRTC ($8 million), but also things like Groundwork RVA ($60,000), the Richmond Symphony ($50,000), Daily Planet ($35,000), and Art 180 ($7,500). A ton of orgs get funded, and the whole entire non-departmental bucket tops out at $89 million. You can usually expect some fun conversations from Council during budget season as they debate this portion of the budget and try to get district-specific groups funding. It's a weird process, and I wonder how it works elsewhere! Anyway, if you'd like a piece of this pie, you can fill out the aforelinked application as long as your organization focuses on: children, youth, and education; housing, human services, and health; or the arts and culture.
Wyatt Gordon at the Virginia Mercury has the details on, what sounds like, a completely unnecessary highway widening out in Martinsville. Martinsville is far away from Richmond, but I think it's useful to remember that DOTs still love expanding highways which never, never, never results in a reduction in traffic—and you'd really have to do some work to convince me that a bigger highway would stave off population loss in Southside Virginia. Locally, we should keep our eyes open for similar projects stemming from that new bucket of regional transportation money. Stay vigilant!
Logistical note! I'll be taking an extra long holiday weekend starting tomorrow, so you won't hear from me again until Monday. I hope each of you finds the time over the next couple of days to get some rest and eat some good food—all while making good public health decisions to keep you and yours safe. I know, that's boring and not very fun, but it is important! Also stay hydrated, that's super important, too.
This morning's patron longread
Car Culture and Systemic Racism Collide
Submitted by Patron David. Richmond, of course, didn't "close traffic lanes to accommodate," well, anything. But, with coronahistory starting to repeat itself, we've got a chance to get it right this time around.
The idea of de-policing transportation is an inspiration that could perhaps only have come out of the current confluence of events: a disastrously managed pandemic, growing climate chaos, the largest social movement in US history demanding wholesale changes in policing and respect for Black lives, and the blazing dumpster fire of the Trump administration. The scene was set at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when the nation's initial lockdown forced people to take a hard break from their transportation habits. With fewer people commuting and others sheltering at home, automobile traffic largely disappeared. Slowly, bicyclists reclaimed empty streets that were suddenly safe for even the youngest riders. When cafes and restaurants opened up for curbside delivery and outdoor dining, they added distanced tables in what used to be parking places. Some cities closed traffic lanes to accommodate the new alfresco food service.
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