Scrolling With Sally Vol 1. No. 2

In a world of constant content, the amount of information can be overwhelming. And yet. We still want to be informed. We want to be connected. One of the best parts of social media is that it is social; we get to know each other and learn from each other. In my case, I often “like, share, and subscribe” as if it’s second nature. And so it only seems natural to continue that habit with you. Here are some of the happenings in our community, the things I am doing, reading, and learning, both online and off. 

The Jouett Journey - what your Supervisor has been up to lately 

On Jan 12th, our CAC meeting was a larger community meeting about changes coming to the Charlotte Y. Humphris park, which is down the road from Albemarle High School. County staff had a presentation and then provided space for people to give their preferences on what items they would like to see in the park. In their presentation, I was so surprised by the statistic that there are 600 kids under the age of 10 within a 1/2 mile walkshed of the park. (I also like how they did the walkshed as 1/2 mile of walking as the sidewalks go, instead of a 1/2 mile radius on the map.)

On Jan 14th I went to my first meeting of the Charlottesville Chamber Public Policy Committee. The discussion was mostly about the State of the Community event coming up on Jan 30th, which you can still register for!

See your Neighbors! - events and activities around town 

Last week I took my daughter with me and we went to the Nonprofit Community Night held at Eastwood Winery and it was so cool. There were a lot of organizations with tables, wine tastings, and live music. There was a variety of organizations represented there, but I was really struck by how many of them were related to disability access, whether that was adaptive programs at the Y, summer camp experiences, or specialized and adaptive housing. It was another reminder that when we improve our transportation and make room for more housing, we are making life more accessible for people.

Coming up this week, a handful of events that caught my eye:

The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society's Annual Program - Hamilton & Jefferson: Their Future & Our Past, with Joanne Freeman (I have a ticket but I think I have to give it away and I am so bummed!)

Did you know there's been a rugby football club here since 1961? I had no idea, but they have sessions on Tues and Thurs where you can learn how to play rugby. I will not be doing this, but what a great opportunity for some people!

The Botanical Garden has a monthly teen photography contest and Monday, January 26th is the final day to submit your photo taken at the botanical garden!

If you are between the ages of 7-12, the library is having a K-Pop Demon Hunters Party on Saturday, and honestly, they should also have a party where all fans can come 😂.

On the Agenda - things I found interesting from the Board of Supervisors meeting

Last week the big issue was the Woolen Mills light industrial proposal – I explained some of the reasons for my vote in this video.

Coming up this week on the agenda, one thing I’m looking forward to is an afternoon work session for a “2025 Buildout Analysis Update and AC44 Analysis Tool.” This should be interesting and helpful because it will include a review of “the results of the 2025 Land Use Buildout Analysis using a market-based lens. The analytical model…provides different approaches to projecting future demand than the approach used to complete the 2022 and 2025 Buildout Analyses.” I'm really curious what information will be added via a market-based lens, and it will be good to talk more about our critical need for housing and the realities we are facing.

The Receipts - learning about the county budget 

Since the county is working on improvements to Humphris Park as well as a new pocket park at Hillsdale, I thought we could take a look at the Park section of funding in the budget.

These specific park improvements are funded through Albemarle County’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The CIP "supports long-term investments in community facilities. In FY26, the County budgeted $1.5 million for urban pocket park projects, with a portion dedicated to upgrades at Charlotte Humphris Urban Park."

The budget is so well organized, which I really appreciate. After the list of items in the CIP (shown in the image), they break each section out where they give more details about it. So if you wanted to know what the CIP for Biscuit Run was about, or Central Library, etc - it's just a couple of pages down!

This section is not the total funding given to Parks & Rec; this is just for the Capital Improvements to Parks. Elsewhere in the budget, Parks, Recreation, & Culture as a whole has its own section. The main sections of the overall PRC budget are the Parks and Recreation Department, the Jefferson Madison Regional Library, the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau, and "other agency contributions."

This last year, the PRC budget had almost $13 million allocated. Where does the money go? Some of the money goes to salaries, including a 3% increase (which is great!), as well as covering rising health insurance costs (including a projected 24.0% increase.) It also includes funding for things like the Adaptive Programs for Parks and Rec activities that Charlottesville manages, which is so cool (and here is their latest newsletter with February dates for summer camp registration.)

The organized and easy-to-follow budget continues in that after the general information about Parks & Rec, each of those main funded sections also have their own page. So there is a page about the library, the CACVB, and the wide variety of Recreation and Cultural Community Agencies that get funded. And, if you were curious, those various agencies "are recommended based on the framework for the Cultural, Arts, and Festivals Review Process.”

So, when we're funding "Parks and Rec," we're funding the actual Parks department, plus the library, the tourism board, and things like Live Arts, MRC, and the opera.

The Weekly Brainrot - pop culture I’ve been consuming lately 

This week I watched the movie The People We Meet On Vacation, because I had heard it was a great new rom-com, and the people who said that were right! It was so enjoyable. The opening is sort of a reverse opening to When Harry Met Sally which was fun, and there were so many scenes that were genuinely funny. Hopefully this continues and Hollywood gets back to making good rom-coms!

As always, these newsletters are solely my opinions, my experiences, and my personal take on the issues as we all work together to continue making Albemarle County an even better, more affordable place to call home.