iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 2h

I’m planning to vote tomorrow. I tried to vote a couple Saturdays ago (and ran into @andyorban.bsky.social,who had similar plans), only to discover weekend voting hadn’t started yet.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 3h

I’ll mention that they did this about a decade ago at the middle school in Lynchburg where my father-in-law taught. It went so poorly that they switched back to a normal schedule after just a year or two.

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Reposted by Matthew Gillikin

Nathan Alderman @nathanalderman.com · 3h

“Within VA-5, Nelson, Amherst, Buckingham, Cumberland, Powhatan, Fluvanna, Louisa, Goochland, Appomattox, Charlotte, Amelia, Nottoway, Campbell, Pittsylvania, and Lunenburg counties were classified as maternal care deserts as of 2022... No hospitals in those counties provide OB-GYN care.”

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 3h

I think the big picture negatives are 1) major inconvenience for many families and 2) opportunity cost of spending millions of dollars on a change that research indicates isn’t significantly beneficial when that money could be spent elsewhere on effective interventions

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 6h

Definitely not the ideal. That big of a real estate tax isn’t politically viable right now in the county from all I can tell. So it’s this or the schools keep seeping worse and worse.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 12h

Don’t forget throwing the union under the bus and never apologizing

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 12h

Did it work for them? No. But maybe just maybe it will work for us.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 17/10/2026

People seem to think a calendar shuffle will be this one easy fix. A nudge style change that at the end of the day doesn’t amount to much.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 17/10/2026

It will still add up to around 180 days of school in most places

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 17/10/2026

“It is often claimed that year-round calendars are better for disadvantaged students, but rigorous studies have found no benefit for Black students, Hispanic students, or students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.” www.educationnext.org/busting-the-...

educationnext.org

Busting the Myths About Year-Round School Calendars

“Balanced” calendars have no academic benefit

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

I love it when elected officials understand how to use their power and then actually do it

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

Between the city school division deciding to reconsider year round school (a bad idea!) and the CAT 9 bus plan/delay (a poorly conceived idea!), it feels like city and city school leaders really don’t mind wasting people’s time.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

I got my bike tuned up at Endeavor. Turns out that’s something I should do more than once every 4 years, but wow it rides much more smoothly now.

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Reposted by Matthew Gillikin

Andrew @tjsleakyroof.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

grateful to the supes for this, particularly the DOE request. please for the love of god will the school board just do the right thing and resign already

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

Ideally for sure. But they expedited the opening of the shelter, which appears to have resulted in the transportation plan lagging.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

Holiday Dr certainly isn’t the ideal location, but since there wasn’t a better option available, it’s way better than no shelter

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

Yeah I’m not sure why they feel the need to make the changes asap. Maybe the feeling is that getting a bus stop to Holiday Dr is the priority

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

I’m aware. That area would be so much over without 240

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

I’m not defending the route - just explaining some of what seems to be the justification. Obviously they had to make some changes with the bridge going out. Not sure what all the alternatives are. But definitely very poor communication by the city.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

They might be getting of at the Y, which apparently is much busier than the Grove stop

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Apparently barely anyone uses the Grove stop by CHS and students usually get off at YMCA

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

I’m waiting for some more details, but I’m hearing that the Kroger loop is tied to creating a bus stop for the Holiday Dr shelter on 29

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Montford is so cool! I just hate that the interstate cuts it off from downtown

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Some would say we live in a society. But those who play video on their phones with the volume on full blast while in public beg to differ.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

We saw way fewer police in the subway stations over the last few days, a big (and welcomed) change from the Eric Adams days.

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Reposted by Matthew Gillikin

Charlotte Drummond @charlotte0810.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

It takes a few minutes and I got a little punchy with my comments after the first few existing scenarios ("holy hell") but clearly VDOT is finally trying to improve some horrifying intersections out there, so grab a beverage and go for it.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Not everyone pays attention to things…yet that doesn’t stop people from having opinions

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Messi and Yamal wreaking havoc on the challenge league

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Lamal is so fun to watch. I’ve watched this replay many times

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Thank you for your thoughts and keep up the good work!

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Reposted by Matthew Gillikin

Nathan Alderman @nathanalderman.com · 14/10/2026

We always appreciate thoughtful critiques like this one at @cvilleweekly.bsky.social. I personally believe that the shelter's the least worst option in a scenario with no really good ones, and all involved are doing their best with what they have.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

But here we are and I don’t think throwing shade at the shelter is a great use of anyone’s time. The staff there are very aware of the need to improve! Undermining public trust isn’t a great move here and I’d like to see better from Cville Weekly and other local journalists.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I agree that the city should have let the shelter be open a few weeks before closing the Rivanna encampments. And I think those cameras at the encampments were awful. And it’s certainly not awesome that people at the shelter have to go outside to go the bathroom.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

This dynamic applies to many things but is seen clearly in how the city addresses homelessness and in the politics/discourse around homelessness. Ultimately the solution is housing. But there are a lot of steps along the way. And the imperfection of those steps has paralyzed the city for years.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

There’s a progressive pathology of not being able to support big changes because, despite a clear understanding that the status quo sucks, the change might not help everyone and might even harm some although the current state harms many. “Is perfect really the enemy of the good?” they ask.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Is the Holiday Dr shelter better than the prior state and literally saving lives if the research on the topic is accurate? Yes. Is it a temporary and emergency phase of the project if a work in progress? Yes. Is it obviously not going to work well for everyone? Yes c-ville.com/opinions-abo...

c-ville.com

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I don’t think a lot of local leaders realize how much their public credibility will go up solely by being out and about in town. For good reason, people in cville love feeling connected to those in high up positions

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

One of my beliefs about how the Charlottesville area works, is that if two people are having trouble meeting, it’s because meeting isn’t a priority for one of them. We are all like 2 miles from each other at all times and have zoom as well. Proximity isn’t the issue.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I’d love to know if Davis’s claim here is actually true. Jim Ryan basically never met with city leadership and when he did it was a whole production. I’d be (pleasantly) surprised if Beardsley or Davis has met with Sanders or Richardson more than twice since Beardsley became president.

"None of us talk to the president of U.Va." Pruitt said. "If we do, it's incidental. None of us talk with the Board of Visitors of U.Va. ... We rarely talk with senior vice presidents ... it's a special treat. I think it is a natural posture of the way we are separately organized, but I think that is kind of the source of the tension... By extension, I feel like my constituents don't have that level of access to decision making power at U.Va."
In response, Davis said that Sanders, Richardson and herself meet with Beardsley on a regular basis. She said that if the elected officials themselves have "questions or comments or concerns," University leadership is always willing to meet. Finally, she asserted that the University itself works in a fundamentally different way from the City and County.

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Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Face to face with my enemy (the BQE)

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