Spanberger: Trump prompting chaos in Virginia
Good morning! Also in the news today: Bruton Parish discusses slavery in its past...USAID cuts impact local nonprofit....more lane closings on I-64.
Corrected Version — updating that Spanberger is no longer representing 7th district
Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Abigail Spanberger met with Williamsburg area civic and business leaders Friday to talk policy, emphasizing how Virginia is being affected by “the chaos” from the Republican occupant of the White House.
Spanberger, who represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District but decided not to run for re-election last year in order to run for governor, said Virginians are disconcerted by the rapid pace of President Donald Trump’s changes “because it is happening haphazardly and without thought and without strategy.”
The moderate Democrat gained national attention in 2020 for chastising fellow Democrats during a private call after they lost a number of key congressional races, blaming liberal Democrats whose ideology was out of step with Americans.
She said left-wing Democrats’ support of the defund the police movement hurt her and other moderates in tight races, adding “we need to not ever use the words socialist or socialism ever again,” USA Today reported at the time.
During her breakfast meeting at the Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce Friday morning, Spanberger indicated Trump may now be guilty of the same overreach.
She said in mid-January Virginia voters were worried about the quality of their kids’ education, the high price of groceries, and skyrocketing costs for housing and health care. Political pundits said these concerns, along with illegal immigration, contributed to Trump’s victory last November.
But she said there has been “a seismic shift in the past three to six weeks.”
Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency created by his billionaire contributor Elon Musk have quickly shuttered departments, cut funding, furloughed government employees, and shaken the Western alliance of nations that have stood against Russia and China for three generations.
She said Virginians are losing government jobs, which in turn has cascaded down to the restaurants, real estate agencies and other businesses that serve them.
“The upheavals…in the economy are pretty substantial,” she said.
Hampton Roads has a large military and veteran footprint that could be impacted by everything from veterans’ benefits to military policy and federal job cuts.
Spanberger acknowledged a governor “can’t control what the White House does…can’t control Elon Musk.”
But she said she could provide consistent, data-based pushback through Virginia’s congressional delegation and try to build coalitions to support initiatives that will strengthen the state economy.
Spanberger said education would be a top priority for her, including teacher pay and providing extra support for struggling students so teachers could focus on education.
She said the state should better leverage the strengths of its strong university system to encourage new business and workforce growth. She also said the state could focus money on behavioral health, including long-term recovery efforts for substance abuse.
Spanberger said she supported efforts by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly to limit drug prices. She said the pharmacy checkout line is where most consumers feel the greatest impact of rising medical costs. A previous attempt last year was vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Youngkin has previously said such cost control measures were “noble in intent” but could limit access to medical treatment and innovation.
Spanberger alluded to Virginia’s history with slavery and segregation when asked her thoughts about next year’s 250th anniversary of the United Sates, in which the Historic Triangle played a key role.
She said all Americans should be proud of “how far we’ve come” and the strengths that drive people from around the world to want to live here. “We’ve gotten a lot wrong, but we’ve always endeavored to make things right,” she said. “There are things we can all be proud about.”
Bruton Parish Church confronts its past
Editor’s Note: The publisher of Williamsburg Watch is a parishioner at Bruton Parish.
Bruton Parish Church installed historical markers this week acknowledging the church’s relationship to slave holders in the early centuries of its more than 300 year existence.
Bruton played a central role in colonial Virginia when Williamsburg was the colonial capital: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry worshiped there when the Virginia House of Burgess was in session. All were slaveholders.
James Blair, founder of the College of William and Mary whose slave holding past has prompted calls to rename the middle school named for him, was rector of Bruton Parish for 33 years, according to the church’s official history.
Free, freed and enslaved blacks attended and were baptized in the church, according to one of the historical markers unveiled this week. Slaves who were allowed to attend church stood at the rear, and in 1852 a gallery was added to the Church’s north side for blacks to separate them from white parishioners.
Bruton also served as a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers after the Battle of Williamsburg in 1862, which prompted a controversy that led the church to this week’s actions.
Isabella Thompson Sully of Richmond nursed the wounded Confederate soldiers at the church hospital. She vowed not to let them be forgotten, installing a plaque in the church nave in honor of the Confederate soldiers proclaiming “they died for us.”
Some modern-day parishioners pushed back on the affirmation that Confederate soldiers died for blacks. Some demanded the plaque be removed, spawning a debate between parishioners who wanted to remove the plaque, and those who opposed airbrushing history.
Over two years of discussion, the church decided to keep the plaque but to add context with a marker just beneath the plaque, and a historical marker just outside the north entrance to the church.
“They will serve as important reminders of the difficult and challenging parts of our complex history and reaffirm our mission to seek truth, justice, and reconciliation in our world today,” Rector Chris Epperson told parishioners in an email Thursday night.
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U.S.A.I.D. freeze slams Williamsburg nonprofit
The Trump Administration’s freeze on spending by the U.S. Agency for International Development (U.S.A.I.D.) has hit a Williamsburg-based nonprofit group working with groups that coordinate responses to crises around the globe.
Data Friendly Space is a virtual organization whose staff are scattered around the globe. Chief of Staff Doug Smith moved the headquarters from Richmond to Williamsburg after the former CEO resigned.
The organization, born after the 2015 Nepal earthquake, works primarily with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations.
It leverages artificial intelligence verified by human analysts to quickly get responders information to help victims of either natural disasters like hurricanes, or man-made disasters like the conflict in Sudan. Their tools help responders understand how many people have been affected in what region, Smith said.
“When there’s conflict people move away from the conflict….(but) they still need to eat, they still need to find wood (for heating),” he said.
The company’s Gannet situation hub tool can be used by both journalists and rescue groups to gather information on crises around the world. https://www.datafriendlyspace.org/our-work/gannet-situationhub
Smith said the group’s tools are used by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which coordinates disaster relief efforts across the globe.
While Data Friendly Space has a diversified revenue base, 40% of the nonprofit’s budget was tied to U.S.A.I.D. grants, which the Trump administration froze after it folded the once independent agency under the U.S. Department of State. The administration placed most of the agency’s 13,000 employees on leave. Those moves are currently being
challenged in court.
“We’ve had several projects that went on hold, and now we’re being told that they are being cancelled,” Smith said.
Data Friendly’s budget was $3 million last year. Its people work virtually across the world – its current CEO is based in Estonia – on contracts that last four to 12 months.
“At one point last year we had about 40 people” working on projects, Smith said. “Today it’s probably around 17”.
Smith is a Hampton native who has lived in Virginia most of his life. He and his brother founded Sly Clyde, which produces craft cider, in Hampton eight years ago.
He moved to Williamsburg four years ago with his family.
Schools budgets and other government meetings next week:
Williamsburg-James City County School Board members will vote on the schools’ $197 million budget at a special call meeting Tuesday, March 25. The meeting will be held only to consider the budget. It starts at 4 p.m. in the Annex of the School Board and Central Office, 117 Ironbound Road.
Other meetings coming next week:
James City County
Board of Supervisors business meeting. March 25, 1 p.m. County Government Center Board Room, 101 Mounts Bay Road.
Williamsburg
Architectural Review Board meeting. March 25. 6:30 p.m. Stryker Center, 412 N. Boundary St.
Road Closings:
The Virginia Department of Transportation has announced lane closures in our area as follows:
I-64, Gap Widening Segment C, James City County:
· Alternating, single-lane closures on I-64 west from Route 199/Lightfoot (exit 234) to Ropers Church Road March 23-29 from as early as 7 p.m. to as late as 9 a.m.
· Alternating single-lane closures on I-64 east from Route 199/Lightfoot (exit 234) to Ropers Church Road March 23-29 from as early as 7 p.m. to as late as 9 a.m.
· Full closure of on-ramp from Croaker Road to I-64 east March 24-27 from as early as 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
· Full closure I-64 west on ramps at Old Stage Road (exit 227) March 23-27 from as early as 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
· Long-term, temporary traffic shift on I-64 east between the New Kent/James City County line to Route 199/Lightfoot (exit 234). Full details here.
George P. Coleman Bridge, Route 17:
· Mobile, alternating, single-lane closures in both directions March 24 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Passings
Marie (Walker) Meekins, 92. March 16.
Patricia “Patty” Seftas, 60. March 20.
Marlene Gagarin McKenzie, 67, March 19.
Clarence Ashton Thumm III, 81, March 19.
Marian Elizabeth Belangia, 87, March 20.
Anthony Thomas Marasciullo, 97, March 21.
I wouldn't trust her with a penny of my money. She should be asking WHY there are too many people working for the federal government? I know the answer, it's because only by sucking off the productive earning less than $60,000.00 a year can the moocher class of federal employees take home over $125,000.00 a year doing little work.
I must disagree with representative Spanberger. Democrats with socialist hopes were betrayed by Bernie being pushed to the side in 2016. Many of these people were driven to populism. If no safety net is perceived than breaking it won't seem to matter much.