By Samuel B. Parker, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Gun violence and affordable housing were the topics of Thursday’s mayoral candidate forum hosted by Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities (RISC), but “transparency” was the watchword of the evening.
The five candidates — Andreas Addison, Danny Avula, Michelle Mosby, Maurice Neblett and Harrison Roday — met at Second Baptist Church in Richmond’s South Side to discuss some of the foremost issues facing Richmond residents. In their opening remarks, each pledged to run administrations that were efficient and openly communicative with constituents.
“Since the beginning, we’ve been running a campaign on transparency, accountability and new leadership that’s needed,” said Neblett, a self-described community organizer and first-time political candidate.
Gun violence
Ralph Hodge, pastor of Second Baptist Church and host of Thursday’s forum, said Mayor Levar Stoney has not done nearly enough to reduce gun violence in Richmond.
There were 63 reported homicides in Richmond last year, up from 59 in 2022, but fewer than the 90 that occurred in 2021. In response to the violence, Hodge said that RISC had asked Stoney to introduce Group Violence Intervention (GVI) — a program that involved collaboration between community leaders, law enforcement and social service providers aimed at bringing down gun crime.
“(It) is one of the most successful gun violence reduction strategies in the community, because it doesn’t focus … on incarceration, but focuses on intervention,” Hodge said to the candidates. But despite its merits, “our mayor didn’t act on it,” he said — even though state and federal dollars were available to fund the program.
“(Stoney) had his own plan, but his own plan didn’t reduce gun violence,” Hodge said. “We’re looking for a mayor that listens.”
Addison, Avula, Mosby, Neblett and Roday all committed to implementing a GVI program in Richmond.
Mosby, former 9th District City Councilwoman, explained that, for her, the issue is personal. In 2019, her godson Jacob was killed in a shooting off Jahnke Road. She vividly remembers receiving the phone call.
“This is personal to me,” Mosby said, adding that the city needs to address substantial vacancies on its police force, which is “180 officers down.”
Roday, a nonprofit founder, went a step further than calling for GVI. He said Richmond’s mayor needs to advocate for “common sense gun control laws” at the state level.
“We’ve seen laws pass the General Assembly only to be vetoed by Governor Youngkin,” he said. “We need to get (them) passed.”
Roday also said he would lobby for “school-based intervention programs” as well as “create an office of gun violence prevention in the mayor’s office itself.”
“That elevation shows that is a priority,” he said.
Affordable housing
RISC organizers said that Richmond has “been in an affordable housing crisis for a year.”
“In 2021, we won passage of an ordinance that established a dedicated stream of funding for the Trust Fund that is projected to grow to an annual allocation of $17 million by 2033,” organizers said in a release. “However, the city administration refused to follow this ordinance — instead borrowing money through bond revenue to fund affordable housing” and incurring $35 million in debt service in the process.
Addison, 1st District City Councilman, criticized Stoney’s handling of the situation.
“As a person on Council who’s fought for the same things you asked me to, … I only approve the budget,” he said. “I can’t force (the administration) to train the money (and) give it to where it needs to go. And it’s frustrating.”
But fixing the problem will not merely involve a responsive and cooperative mayor, Addison said. It will also involve investing in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, building mixed-income developments and strengthening the workforce.
“If you look at the Richmond 300 Master Plan, we’ve identified where we want to see growth,” he said. “It’s then the city’s job to meet that growth by saying, ‘as you develop, I want to meet every income level in that housing opportunity.’”
Avula, former commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services, said incentivizing private developments and streamlining bureaucratic processes is also critical to tackling surging displacement.
“We can use policy,” he said. “We could work with … developer(s) and say, ‘hey, if you’re building a 50-unit apartment building, make 10 of those units affordable … and we’ll give you a tax abatement.”
“We also need to really work on the production,” he said. “One of the things (I’ve) heard is that getting permits — working in City Hall, getting through their process — is so challenging.
Avula said his experience improving efficiency while leading the state social services department has equipped him to oversee City Hall.
“(I am) someone who has actually done the work of leading a large organization,” he said.
Richmond residents will head to the polls to vote in local, statewide and national elections on Nov. 5. Early voting begins Sept. 20.
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