IT’S BETTER TO DO RIGHT THAN BE RIGHT…I’M EXCITED FOR ARTHUR ASHE BOULEVARD

Last night, Richmond City Council voted 8-0-1 to approve the renaming of the Boulevard to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. They did this despite more than a few members of the council being upset about the process in which they said they were not communicated with properly by the bill patron 2nd District Councilwoman Kim Gray.

To Gray’s credit, her finally getting this measure approved, after several attempts throughout the years, shows not only her political stature but her ability to get widespread community support from both inside and outside of her own district.

Here at The Cheats Movement, the measure was fully supported and I even had Arthur Ashe’s nephew David Harris and his associate Dontrese Brown on my WRIR podcast to talk about the proposal. In my opinion, it was clearly the right thing to do. However, the process continues to expose the lack of communication among some of our Richmond City Council members. As someone observing from outside of City Hall, it appeared that those who wanted more information could have easily found it. I was aware of the proposal before a community discussion at the VMFA back in October. I believe that meeting took place the same week as the failure of Councilman Jones’ paper on city monuments.

As I watched Council last night, I was not surprised by the final vote being nearly unanimous (8th District Councilwoman Reva Trammell abstained – I believe on principle). I was not surprised because it was the right thing to do. I was once told that it’s better to do right than be right. Those who argued for a more transparent process in government, they are not wrong. But allowing the process to embolden any councilperson to vote no (or abstain) from the right thing to do is not the leadership we need in the city.

I applaud those that ultimately voted for Gray’s paper last night. I’m not naive enough to think this will start the beginning of better communication among council members but there is, perhaps, a window. Councilman Mike Jones publicly stated that he wanted to work better with Councilwoman Kim Gray, their history has been widely publicized, and possibly overstated. Both Parker Agelasto and Andreas Addison voted for the measure after stating the concerns from their constituents. I applaud Addison’s approach and the tone he took to deliver his statement. They came following Agelasto’s obvious frustration which, I believe, set the wrong tone, that of an angry teacher lecturing students.

As we move forward to issues that will have a far bigger impact on the city like the North of Broad project (aka the Coliseum project) and the Squirrels Nest (which I believe the contract runs out either this season or the next) on, what will soon be called, Arthur Ashe Boulevard, I hope that the City Council will not let the perfect be the enemy of progress.

I heard from those opposing the renaming of the Boulevard that “there are better ways – bigger ways – to honor Ashe’s legacy,” and that may be true, but the action taken last night is an advancement to move Richmond forward. It was requested by the family and it was the right thing to do. I hope that spirit continues and Richmond moves forward. #WESEEIT