New leader of Richmond Crusade for Voters

Jerome Legions Jr. is now the former president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters.

Elected last year to a two-year term, Mr. Legions abruptly resigned Tuesday following a confrontation with members of the executive committee over his leadership style, the Free Press has learned

Former City Councilman E. Martin “Marty” Jewell, who was serving as first vice president, will take over the top post.

Mr. Jewell will serve as interim president until the city’s oldest AfricanAmerican political group holds elections for officers.

The Crusade was founded in 1956 to promote voting in the Black community.

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Second District City Councilwoman Katherine Jordan remains the only opponent of giving Richmond voters a second chance to decide whether the city should be allowed to host a proposed $560 million casino-resort project in the South Side. She was the lone dissenter on Monday as the City Council moved casino-support legislation to the Monday, June 12, meeting for quick passage.

The three pieces of legislation that will be on the agenda would once again allow Baltimore-based Urban One to develop the gambling center, hotel, park and other amenities on 100 acres of property located at the Bells Road interchange on Interstate 95.

Once those items are passed, which is assured, city officials and Urban One and its partner, racing and gambling giant Churchill Downs, will head to the Virginia Lottery, the casino regulator, to seek authority for a new referendum.

State law requires the Virginia Lottery and its board to review the paperwork and approve the city seeking to put the issue on the ballot. Officials are hoping the review will go smoothly, given that the Lottery’s staff and board approved the first referendum in 2021 after reviewing essentially the same paperwork.

Voters rejected the casino proposal that year by a 1,500-vote margin. The Lottery’s action would allow the city to apply to Richmond Circuit Court for an order to again put the casino on the November ballot in hopes of securing a vote that would allow the project to proceed.

The process for holding the Richmond referendum could grind to a halt, though, if the General Assembly intervenes. The majority-Republican House and majority-Democratic Senate have not approved an amended budget for 2023-24.

Negotiators for both houses have said talks on a budget deal would resume after the primary elections set for Tuesday, June 20. If a deal is struck and voted on before the June 30 deadline, language could be inserted to bar Richmond from holding another casino referendum this year. If the deadline passes, the original two-year budget passed in 2022 would remain in force.

Both sides have not come up with a consensus amended budget, leaving several issues unresolved, including whether Richmond will be able to proceed with a second vote.