Good morning, RVA! It's 59 °F, and today looks a lot like the past couple of days: cloudy, highs in the low 70s, and a chance for rain at some point. Tomorrow though! Warmer temperatures and drier skies will return tomorrow, so hurry up and finish your book or movie or whatever else has you curled up on the couch!
Water cooler
I finally got a chance to read through the Charter Reivew Commission’s “short summary of governance subcommittee proposals” document from last week, and, whoa, fascinating. First, and importantly, this document is not an official recommendation from the Charter Review Commission about how we should restructure our city’s government—think of it more as a brainstorming list of possibilities from one of the Commission’s subcommittees. Second, like I said, whoa, fascinating. To summarize: The subcommittee suggests that we reduce City Council to six seats, add the popularly-elected Mayor as a voting member (for a total of seven), and bring back the City Manager to do the actual business of running the City. Tap through to read more about the subcommittee’s reasoning for each change, plus a few other tweaks they’d like to see. It’s a short read, and I think you’ll find it interesting and worth the time. How likely are any of these changes to get implemented, though? No clue. While these major structural shifts would address a lot of the, as the document puts it, “structural conflict between City Council and the Mayor that many stakeholders have expressed as a key impediment to good governance,” I have no idea how Council, the Mayor, the people of Richmond, or the General Assembly would feel about any of them. The full Commission still has some upcoming meetings, so, if you feel any sort of way about some of these options, you’ll have an opportunity to let the Commission know (plus you can/should fill out their survey in the meantime).
Patagonia put together a 20-minute documentary featuring Monte Cosby, a kid who grew up in Fairfield Court and ended up riding bikes with the Richmond Cycling Corps. He’s now at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, tearing it up, shredding forests, and generally being a college student. You’ll definitely want to set aside the time to watch this because it’s got all the things: bikes, Richmond, and kids being awesome.
Reminder! Today is the last day to register to vote or update your existing voter registration in advance of the June 20th primaries. You can of course, thanks to Democrats, register to vote up to and through Election Day and then cast a provisional ballot. However, that sounds stressful, and, if I were you, I’d take care of any voter registration chores today!
Speaking of, Michael Martz at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a preview of the 79th House of Delegates primary, which features Rae Cousins, Ann-Frances Lambert (current councilmember for the City’s 3rd District), and Richard Walker. While you’d think a sitting councilmember would have the advantage in this race, Cousins has raised more money than her challengers and leads in “party organization,” whatever that means. Honestly, fundraising aside, Councilmember Lambert’s erratic and unserious behavior on social media over the past two years is not something I’d like to see elevated to the state level.
Style Weekly has published their 2023 Top 40 Under 40 list, which is alway an excellent list of awesome young people doing awesome young-people things. Take note! These folks and their organizations/projects are making an impact on our city (and are probably fun people to hang out with should you ever be lucky enough to get the chance).
Today’s the penultimate day of RVA Bike Month, and I hope you’ve got at least a couple more rides left in you for what remains of the month of May. Close out the month strong, and meet up at the Ginter Park Library today at 6:30 PM for an Advocate’s Bike Lane Tour. You can expect a chill, easy-pace ride through existing bike lanes, plus a chance to see a few of the places where we lack important connections and infrastructure improvements. Sounds fun and a great way to get a first-hand feel for the next items on our Bike Things to Advocate For List.
This morning's longread
How (and why) Biden should overcome the Supreme Court to end the debt showdown
I liked this fed-up take on what President Biden should do about Republicans’ insistence on holding the country hostage over the debt ceiling. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like the president will do any of these things, and has, according to the New York Times, agreed to a series of small compromises and spending cuts. Frustrating. Because if it’s not this thing, it’ll be another thing, and at some point Democrats will need to stand up to Republican brinkmanship and actually deliver on some of the promises that got them elected in the first place.
So what should Biden do? Call their bluff. First, mint the coin. If the court strikes that down, issue coupon-free bonds. If the court strikes that down, declare debt ceilings to violate the 14th Amendment. If the court strikes that down, declare it to violate the Contracts Clause. Keep doing it. Throw in every solution including the kitchen sink – but never give into the GOP's demand for Biden to violate his promise to the American people and unilaterally tear up laws establishing programs that make our lives better. This is what Lincoln did when the Supreme Court blocked his attempts to end slavery. It's what FDR did when they blocked the New Deal. The court doesn't have an army, it can't force its decisions on the American people. It doesn't have a bureaucratic workforce and it can't take over the administrative branch – hell, they don't even have the keys to the office buildings. The Supreme Court's power comes from its legitimacy, not force of arms, and while they may not act like it, the Supremes know in their bones that without legitimacy, they are nothing.
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Picture of the Day
Could fall right into one of these.
