Newsletter — July 2023

Virginia weather this time of year means it is both in the mid-90s and there is a Severe Thunderstorm Watch. We are monitoring the heat with Dominion’s State and Local Affairs team. Please stay safe and stay cool as you can!

The month of July was a busy one in Williamsburg, with the completion of a multi-year effort for racial equity projects and our annual celebration of the community. Those items and more are profiled below.

• Surry Nuclear Power Plant Tour — First off, pictured above is an energy enthusiast nerding out. I had the pleasure of touring Dominion’s Surry Nuclear Plant just a week ago. This plant is the only in the US to have a NRC-approved lifespan of 80 years, which was just extended in 2021. More recently, Surry celebrated its 50-year anniversary of supplying ~1.6GW of base load power to the Commonwealth. Thanks to the Surry team showing me your important work!
• Ride Along with WPD — I encourage anyone curious about the Williamsburg Police Department’s work to participate in a Ride Along, linked above. This was my ~6th time riding around Williamsburg with the Department. This time, Officer Jake Jones took me around his designated route. The WPD has a “community policing” program where every officer is assigned a residential and/or commercial district of the City. It’s then required for them to get to know the home owners, rentors, and businesses in their district to see how they can best be of service.
• Truth and Reconciliation Committee — On July 11th, the City Council received the final recommendations from the TRC group convened in 2021. Thank you, immensely, to these 7 members for your work of critically considering how Williamsburg can best atone for past instances of racial injustice. Checkout the link above for a history of the group and for their final report.
• Community Appreciation Day — After postponing our original CAD for a heat advisory, we finally got to hold this annual celebration. On the DeWitt Wallace Art Museum Lawn, we had Good Shot Judy performing with Sno-to-Go and a final show from the U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band. The link below is to a Youtube video of the fun day. Thank you to our community for braving the still-quite-hot day and for choosing Williamsburg as your place to live.

I hope you will have a lovely month of August. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments.

Yours in service,

Caleb

*This newsletter is mine alone and does not represent the full input of Council