‘A slap in the face’: Richmond restaurant denied water crisis recovery grant

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A Richmond restaurant owner said she’s still waiting for answers after being denied funding from the city’s small business recovery grant — created to help small businesses rebound from the recent water crisis.

“It was literally a slap in the face, a punch in the gut," said Harlym Blue'Z Co-owner Teshia LeSane. "Very, very disappointing. Very overwhelming."

LeSane said they lost around $12,000 during the water crisis, as they had to cancel events planned for that first week of January.

"We were out of business the entire week," LeSane said. "We did not open until that Saturday."

Hoping for relief, Lesane applied for $5,000 through the "Let It Flow" grant. As a member of the Office of Minority Business Development (OMBD) board, she said she was one of the first people to hear about the opportunity.

"So I'm like, 'Okay, this is a great thing. Like, I know what I need to have. There should be no issues,'” she said.

Still, issues arose. City officials told her she needed to update her business license, then notified her that she needed to pay meals taxes.

"We're sending them all of our receipts since we've been in business," she explained. "We have every month documented -- 'This is our bank statements, this is our receipts.'"

After sending receipts, Lesane said communication stopped. Eventually, she was notified her application had been denied — with no explanation.

“So we asked, 'Could we appeal? Is there anything that we can show you? Is there anything that we can do to be reconsidered? We would have even taken less.' Nothing. No response," she said.

8News asked Mayor Danny Avula about the small business recovery grant fund, and a city worker answered, saying that most applicants had received funding and encouraged others to apply for newly available Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

A press release from the city shows that, of 139 eligible applicants, only 22 were denied.