Charlottesville City Council will formally consider a draft ranked-choice voting ordinance at its August 19 meeting. If approved, Charlottesville would become the second locality in Virginia to adopt ranked-choice voting, and the new voting system will be used on a trial basis in the city’s 2025 election. Under a ranked-choice system, voters can rank candidates […]
Charlottesville City Council will formally consider a draft ranked-choice voting ordinance at its August 19 meeting. If approved, Charlottesville would become the second locality in Virginia to adopt ranked-choice voting, and the new voting system will be used on a trial basis in the city’s 2025 election. Under a ranked-choice system, voters can rank candidates […]
Virginia’s General Assembly session ended its regularly scheduled 60-day run on Saturday. The work of the legislature is far from over, however—the divided assembly has not yet agreed on a state budget and has left a number of bills on the table. Once the budget is complete, a special session can be held later in […]
But today I am still just a bill Virginia’s 2022 legislative session kicks off Wednesday, January 12, in Richmond. Each legislative session, lawmakers are allowed to prefile a number of proposed bills before the session starts. Legislative tracker LegiScan shows that 268 bills had been prefiled as of January 10. Republicans, who control the legislature […]
By Kristin O’Donoghue The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors met Monday morning with area House of Delegates Representatives Rob Bell, Chris Runion, Matt Fariss, and Sally Hudson, and state Senator Bryce Reeves, to discuss legislative priorities for the upcoming year. The board asked the legislators to pursue legislation that would enable the county to levy […]
If you’ve voted in more than a few elections, there’s a chance you’ve cast a ballot for a candidate you didn’t particularly like. Maybe you would have voted for someone else, but you knew that candidate didn’t have enough party support to win the race, and you didn’t want to “throw away” your vote. Under […]
By Caroline Challe For Carolyn Johnson, a Charlottesville homeowner and care worker, the financial strain of the pandemic has been exacerbated by her high energy bill—almost $300 last month. “Water bill and electric–them the highest thing I got. It’s really hard. I am struggling trying to get it done,” Johnson says. Though her household’s […]
By Geremia di Maro Amid a surging number of COVID-19 cases in the state, and political turmoil at the national level, the Democrat-controlled Virginia General Assembly will convene Wednesday (remotely in the House) for the 2021 legislative session. Charlottesville’s local lawmakers have an ambitious agenda planned for the marathon 46-day session. Delegate Sally Hudson and […]
Grinding to a halt Last week, a final warning was issued to all skaters: If more than 25 people were seen gathered at the Charlottesville Skate Park—or other city parks and recreation areas—over the weekend, the city would consider shutting down all of its outdoor facilities until the declaration of emergency is lifted. Officials stopped […]
For more than a year, the Charlottesville Police Civilian Review Board and Charlottesville City Council have been locked in a dispute over how much power the recently established law enforcement oversight board should have. But clarity is coming soon, thanks to new legislation from the Virginia General Assembly. Over the course of nearly 12 weeks […]
On March 7, Virginia’s legislature passed the Conference Substitute to House Bill No. 1537, which will allow localities to control the placement of their war memorials. In other words, our city will soon be allowed to remove the statues of Confederate generals from our parks. After the violence of Unite the Right in August […]