From the "Don't Believe Everything You Read" Department...

Apparently I have, unbeknownst to me, figured out the solution to homelessness in Charlottesville. From "The Rant" section of this week's C-Ville Weekly:

Yes. My rant is about our mayor, who is also executive director [unintelligible] is going around offering the homeless people bus tickets to anywhere they want with the condition they don't come back to Charlottesville. I feel that this is a bunch of crap that he's doing and it needs to stop. If he's so high and mighty, trying to help the homeless, he needs to put more investment into trying to get them off the street than sending them away to other places.

The sad thing is that, while there's no truth to this rumor, a high-ranking City official actually did propose this course of action just a few years ago, as I mentioned in an earlier post on this blog. If ending homelessness were only that easy....

And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to outlawing plastic bags and subverting U.S. foreign policy.

Random Thoughts on a Sunday Evening

* Where some media outlets seem to be more interested in cheeky/gotcha journalism than intelligent reporting and thoughtful analysis of the issues, Charlottesville Tomorrow consistently impresses me as the kind of information agent that every community would be blessed to have, yet few are fortunate enough to do so. Their staff are top-notch and their reporting is like chocolate for wonks. I don't know where they get their money, but whoever funds them, please keep the dollars flowing.

* Yesterday's Daily Progress piece about Charlottesville's declining African-American population came right on the heels of a very insightful article in last week's New Republic about the "demographic inversion" that many cities across the country are experiencing. The gist of the article is that as more and more people of means are choosing to put down roots in city centers (which is a good thing), more and more low-income families are finding themselves displaced to the suburbs. I've long argued, and still strongly believe, that there are ways to invest in urban revitalization that don't necessarily lead to wholesale gentrification and broad displacement of long-time residents, but it takes more time and often more money to do it "the right way" and few communities have been willing to sacrifice enough of either. I just became Chair of the Redevelopment Committee of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA), which is about to undertake an ambitious Master Planning process to guide the revitalization of our City's seven public housing neighborhoods. Redevelopment of public housing is the best opportunity we have for expanding our supply of affordable housing, improving the quality of life for our public housing residents, and changing the very dynamics of poverty in our community. But it has to be done the right way lest we continue down the wrong path. I believe we can do it right.

* On a much lighter note, I recently registered for (and started training for) the Richmond Half Marathon on Nov. 15; my ultimate goal is to do the Charlottesville Marathon next April. Now that I've actually put those words in print for the whole world to see, there's a better chance I will actually follow through on them. Or, not.

* Starting in the next week or so, I'll be kicking off a weekly "Mayor's Corner" morning gig on 106.1 The Corner. Being a big Corner fan, and eager to find new ways to engage and inform area residents on issues of the day, I'm excited about the opportunity. It won't be more than 10-15 minutes or so each week, just a chance to talk about local goings-on in a fun and creative environment. Including one feature that every Charlottesville resident is just dying to know: What's on the Mayor's iPod? Each week I'll get to choose a different artist/album to take me in and out of commercial break, which gives me a chance to put in a plug for some of my favorite musicians. I'll mostly be highlighting local acts, or folks with local connections (like Lunasa and Vieux Farka Toure, who are headlining the "Stand Up Charlottesville for Darfur" concert at the Paramount on Sept. 12).

* One of the primary reasons I started this here blog was to show off my collection of vintage Charlottesville postcards, but it's been woefully devoid of such material of late. Herewith, appropos of nothing (other than, perhaps, Gate Pratt's recent commentary on the need for a revisioning of this particular intersection), a circa-1909, pre-Lewis & Clark statue image of the intersection of Ridge and Main Streets, featuring the old Midway High School (where Midway Manor now stands):

You Know You Have Too Much Money When...

...you've lost count of how many homes you own. That doesn't seem to be a problem for most people I know. Then again, most of them are low-income (you know, the people who make less than $5 million/year).

CBS-19 Airs TV Story on New “Step Up” Program — Housing for the Homeless

CBS-19 TV aired a great story today on the new “Step Up” program that Region Ten initiated this summer, in partnership with PACEM and with financial support from the City’s Housing Fund. “Step Up” is a Housing First-type program through which 10-15 disabled, chronically homeless individuals (including several long-term PACEM guests) will be provided housing and support services in order to get them off the streets and help them climb the ladder to stability and self-sufficiency. Two former PACEM guests are featured in the CBS-19 story and it’s definitely worth a viewing:

http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/home/headlines/26862749.html

While no one expects Step Up or any Housing First initiative to have a 100% success rate, we know from many other communities that programs like this do make a big impact in the lives of the homeless and, in some cases, actually save communities money (given the significant amount of costly public services [jails, courtrooms, emergency rooms, shelters, detox facilities, etc.] that many chronically homeless individuals consume).

cross-posted to www.pacemshelter.org

Plastic Waste, Part 2

Following up on a suggestion made by former Mayor David Brown last summer, I'm pleased to report that the City of Charlottesville is taking steps as of this week to actively reduce the consumption of bottled water by City employees and by participants in City meetings. Water pitchers are being ordered for all City and school meeting rooms and staff are exploring alternatives to plastic bottles in City vending machines.

Why is this good news for our taxpayers and our environment? See www.thinkoutsidethebottle.org.

Plastic Waste

I've recently been working to reduce my use of plastic shopping bags and viewing this slideshow has motivated me to try even harder. While the City of Charlottesville does not (currently) have the authority to ban plastic bags, we can certainly do a better job of promoting alternatives. Click here to see why:

http://www.poconorecord.com/_flash/soundslides/20080505plasticbags/soundslider.swf (h/t Gary O'Connell)

And in case you missed it when the story first came out in February, check out this very disturbing article from the The Independent about all the plastic garbage that's floating in our oceans (including one "plastic soup" of waste in the Pacific that's twice the size of the continental U.S.):

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html

Somehow, "gross" just doesn't seem strong enough a word.