Newsletter — May 2022

May felt like it passed in a blink. In just a few days now, we will be kicking off another Williamsburg summer by welcoming in June! With luck, it will be as productive a month as the past was. Here are a few highlights from May:

• Budget Passage — At our Council meeting, we passed a historic FY2023 Budget. This upcoming year’s plan includes both a tax reduction and increase in general salaries for our hard-working municipal employees, while also funding major capital expenditures. This budget is the product of many dedicated civic servants long hours over the months-long budgetary process. We owe a debt of gratitude to our Finance Department and all those that provided such a forward-thinking budget to the Council.
• Strangeways — For those neighbors of ours that live in High Street, and all residents of Williamsburg, we will be welcoming an exciting brewery to the area soon. Also in our Council meeting, we approved a special-use permit to allow Strangeway’s practices as a microbrewery in the “ED-2” district. This is a unique Virginia-based brewery with locations in Fredericksburg and Richmond that we’re excited to welcome to the City!
• Dedication of W&M’s Hearth Memorial — On May 7th, I had the privilege of attending William & Mary’s ribbon cutting ceremony for the Hearth Memorial. It is as every bit striking as it looks in the design pictured above. This Memorial will be a constant source of reflection and remembrance for all who see it. Most poignant to me was how some of the readers characterized those we remembered. As they read their names, they did not say “unnamed woman”, “unnamed woodcutter”, and so on, but instead said “a person whose name Is unknown” or “a human being whose name Is unknown, but was once known”.
• Climate change to Patriot’s Colony — Finally, and just last week, I was lucky to visit the curious and engaging residents of Patriot’s Colony as their monthly speaker. The topic was a broad one generally addressing climate change. Their speaker committee kindly reached out during my 2021 cycling fundraiser and asked me to speak on the subject. The recording is linked above, if you’d like to listen!

A very happy beginning of summer to you. Thank you, as always, for reading through this newsletter. I always love getting to talk about City ideas with neighbors like you, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you would like to discuss a topic or just catch up.

With gratitude,

Caleb

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