Avula lays out his plan for a ‘thriving’ Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Mayor Danny Avula is spelling out how he wants to improve Richmond with his newly-released 25-page "Mayoral Action Plan."

Avula, who has been Richmond's mayor for less than a year, has already had to tackle some significant challenges in that short period of time. Arguably, the most daunting of them all was January's widespread water crisis, which fell into Avula's lap just days after he stepped into office.

In the months that followed, Avula has emphasized that making Richmond a better place is his top priority -- but what actionable steps does he believe are needed to achieve that vision?

During a press event on Wednesday, Oct. 15, Avula answered that question.

"Real progress happens when we're clear about what we're trying to achieve, and how we'll know if we're getting there," Avula said.

He unveiled 36 goals he has for improving the city, also called "the MAP," each with their own metrics the city will use to know if they're making progress. For example, one metric for the goal 'Grow Richmond's economy,' is an measurable increase in the number of jobs added or retained.

"What we were really trying to accomplish with the MAP was giving residents some clarity about how we're investing taxpayer dollars," Avula said. "And holding ourselves accountable."

"Each department plays a role in making sure the mayor's vision comes to fruition," Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald said.

Avula said a dashboard with the data collected on the metrics will be available online in early 2026.

"It allows residents to see the progress we expect to make in improving our retention rates, for example, or increasing the number of lane miles paved," Avula said.

The 25-page "Mayoral Action Plan" is broken down into seven parts, which Avula describes as a "set of seven pillars to build a thriving Richmond."

1. "A Thriving City Hall (that gets things done)"

The first pillar, "A Thriving City Hall," is focused on ensuring that Richmond's government "meets community needs and builds trust with residents and partners."

Examples of actions Avula believes will help city hall thrive include reducing employee vacancy and turnover rates, upgrading outdated systems and processes, making things like RVA 311 and RVA Pay easier to use, improving billing accuracy and overall building public trust.

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Here's the full breakdown of the goals included within this pillar:

• Do the basics better: Improve core operations of city government.
  • Decrease the employee vacancy rate.
  • Better comply with both contracts and procurement policies.
  • Pay vendors in a timely manner more often.
  • Upgrade more of the city's IT systems.
• Lead well: Practice accountability, implement meaningful performance review.
  • Decrease employee turnover rate.
  • Give more employees constructive annual performance reviews.
  • Train more supervisors within 90 days of hiring and ensure they're retrained annually.
• Keep standards high: Promote continuous improvement, professional development.
  • Communicate more proactively with residents and businesses.
  • Address more audit findings within a year of their release.
  • Improve outdated processes.
  • Use AI and related tools responsibly.
  • Get more city agencies fully accredited.
• Build pride: Champion a strong shared vision and mission.
  • Complete a finalized Mission, Vision and Values Statement.
  • Complete and annually update the Mayoral Action Plan, key performance indicator dashboard and all-agency strategic plan.
  • Align more of the city's work with the Mission, Vision and Pillars.
• Provide white glove service for all constituents.
  • Make tax and utility bills more accurate.
  • Resolve tax bill discrepancies faster.
  • Complete standard operating procedures and service level agreements for all RVA 311 request types.
  • Process and review development permit applications faster.
  • Issue business licenses faster.
  • Train more employees in customer response.
• Improve resident satisfaction and trust in city government.
  • Make RVA 311, RVA Pay and other services easier to use.
  • Demonstrate that the city is responsive to problems and takes steps to address needs.
• Steward public resources through strong financial management.
  • Increase collection rates for real estate, delinquent, personal property and meals taxes.
  • Resolve tax disputes and discrepancies faster.
  • Complete required annual financial reporting on time.
  • Maintain and comply with the city's established financial policies, as well as its bond rating designation.

2. "Thriving Neighborhoods (that meet our housing needs)"

The second pillar, "Thriving Neighborhoods," aims to not only meet Richmond's housing needs, but also to make neighborhoods safer and to add more public amenities.

Examples of actions Avula believes will help the city's neighborhoods thrive include increasing available housing, making housing more affordable to more people and decreasing 911 response times.

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Here's the full breakdown of the goals included within this pillar:

• Build more homes for more people.
  • Make more new housing units available each year.
  • Make more city-supported middle-income and affordable housing units available each year.
• Develop a new model of affordable housing and strengthen housing stability.
  • Decrease the number of residents who are "cost-burdened," or who have to spend over 30% of their income on housing.
  • Decrease Richmond's unhoused population.
  • Make evidence-related services more accessible.
  • Further progress redevelopment of large public housing communities that commit to 1:1 replacement of the region's subsidized housing units.
• Connect neighborhoods across the city to high-quality amenities like parks, public pools and libraries.
  • Conduct more annual visits to Richmond Public Library branches and Human Services community-based locations.
  • Conduct more annual visits to Parks and Recs facilities, both overall and by race, ethnicity and council district.
  • Increase the live release rate for animals taken in by Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC).
  • Complete an annual update to Richmond 300.
• Keep our neighborhoods safe and prepared.
  • Decreasing annual homicides, shootings and other violent crimes, property crimes, fire-related deaths and traffic-related deaths.
  • Decrease response times for 911 calls.
  • Make sure communities are having positive interactions with law enforcement.

3. "Thriving Families (where every child succeeds)"

The third pillar, "Thriving Families," is designed to support the education, health and development of Richmond Public Schools' (RPS) children and families both inside and outside of the classroom.

Examples of actions Avula believes will help city families thrive include ensuring RPS is fully funded, strengthening pre-kindergarten programs, getting kids involved in more activities out of school and helping high schoolers chart their path after graduation.

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Here's the full breakdown of the goals included within this pillar:

• Support the academic success of Richmond Public Schools.
  • Increase annual graduation rate.
  • Increase SOL performance.
  • Increase number of schools designated as "on track" or "distinguished."
• Partner with Richmond Public Schools to build a strong future for every child.
  • Create a formula to appropriately fund RPS.
  • Create a shared legislative advocacy plan to get more state funding for RPS.
  • Create a shared road map to support kids and families inside and outside the classroom.
  • Create a shared plan to address long-term facilities needs at RPS.
• Send our children off to kindergarten ready to succeed.
  • Make more annual home visits to low-income parents.
  • Increase annual enrollment in RPS and partner pre-K programs.
• Connect school-age kids to high-quality activities beyond the classroom.
  • Offer on-site after-care at more RPS pre-K centers and elementary schools.
  • Get more middle and high schoolers to participate in high-quality athletics programs or other programs outside of school.
  • Get more kids involved in violence prevention activities.
• Give every student an opportunity to thrive after their K-12 education.
  • Increase rate of RPS graduates entering higher education, national service or the workforce at a living wage.
  • Decrease unemployment rate of those between 16 and 19 years old who are not in school.
• Respond to the needs of children and families in crisis.
  • Process TANF and Refugee Assistance applications faster.
  • Process new clients in Homeless Services and the Office of Aging and Disabilities faster.
  • Increase satisfaction with Human Services' service delivery.

4. "A Thriving Economy (that leaves no one behind)"

The fourth pillar, "A Thriving Economy," aims to improve Richmond's economy by supporting small and minority-owned businesses, lowering poverty rates, building wealth and investing in historically neglected neighborhoods.

Examples of actions Avula believes will help the city's economy thrive include creating more job opportunities, making jobs more accessible and investing more in disadvantaged communities.

Here's the full breakdown of the goals included within this pillar:

• Grow Richmond's economy.
  • Increase in the number of jobs added or retained.
  • Generate more tax revenue from businesses and business activity.
  • Make more capital investments in economic development projects.
• Connect people to jobs.
  • Increase the number of jobs that are reachable by public transit.
  • Help more residents find work or progress in their careers through city initiatives.
• Reduce poverty and build wealth.
  • Decrease the poverty level, both overall and by race and ethnicity.
  • Decrease the number of households living below the Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained Employed (ALICE) Threshold.
  • Increase homeownership and resident educational level by race and ethnicity.
• Support Small, Minority-Owned, Woman-Owned and Social Enterprise businesses.
  • Offer technical and financial support to more small, minority-owned, woman-owned and social enterprise businesses.
  • Increase total city procurement spending on minority-owned businesses.
• Build a vibrant downtown where people love to live, work and play.
  • Create more new, preserved or rehabilitated housing units in the City Center.
  • Complete an annual update on redevelopment and revitalization efforts.
• Invest in the Southside.
  • Create more new, preserved or rehabilitated housing units in the Southside.
  • Increase per capita public investment in Southside's neighborhood amenities.

5. "Thriving and Inclusive Communities (where everyone’s rights are protected)"

The fifth pillar, "Thriving and Inclusive Communities," involves ensuring that all Richmond residents' rights are protected, especially those of minority groups.

Examples of actions Avula believes will support such equality include supporting Richmond's immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, ensuring access to abortions and addressing health inequities that exist along racial lines.

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Here's the full breakdown of the goals included within this pillar:

• Support Richmond's immigrant communities.
  • Get more non-English speaking households participating in Human Services programming and support.
  • Conduct Language Access Plan training with more city employees.
• Support Richmond's LGBTQ+ communities.
  • Maintain the city's perfect score on the Municipal Equality Index for LGBTQ+ Inclusion by continuing to defend LGBTQ+ rights.
  • Ensure LGBTQ+ residents feel safe and supported in Richmond.
• Support reproductive freedom and maternal health.
  • Maintain access to clinics that provide abortion and other reproductive care services.
  • Create more city resources that support maternal health and address the racial inequities of maternal health outcomes.
• Address racial inequities in health, wealth and well-being.
  • Increase the life expectancies of the city's Black and Latino residents.
  • Increase economic security for the city's Black and Latino residents.
  • Increase Richmond's Virginia County Health Rankings.

6. "A Thriving and Sustainable Built Environment (planned for future generations)"

The sixth pillar, "A Thriving and Sustainable Built Environment," is focused on making Richmond a cleaner, "greener" community.

Examples of actions Avula believes will help create a more environmentally sustainable Richmond include lowering carbon emissions, using more renewable energy, investing in city infrastructure and expanding public transit.

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Here's the full breakdown of the goals included within this pillar:

• Reduce carbon emissions and work towards net-zero emissions.
  • Decrease the city's estimated carbon emissions annually.
• Advance the goals of RVAgreen 2050.
  • Use more renewable energy to power city buildings.
  • Increase the number of residents who live within a 10-minute walk of a quality green space.
  • Have more city departments implement sustainability goals and actions in their workplans and performance measures.
  • Decrease reports of standing water and flooding and the need for flooding-related emergency services.
  • Decrease the total waste going into landfills from single-family residences.
• Partner with residents in our environmental justice work.
  • Train and educate more residents on climate action and resilience.
  • Share information on climate change impacts with more residents.
• Build, maintain and repair city infrastructure that will serve residents for generations to come.
  • Decrease the number of unplanned service interruptions.
  • Decrease the number of open requests for sidewalk maintenance.
  • Improve the Citywide Facility Condition Index.
  • Improve the Paement Condition Index.
  • Complete grounds facilities maintenance at a higher rate.
• Make it easier for residents to get around by walking, rolling, riding or taking the bus.
  • Increase total usage of the Greater Richmond Transit Company's (GRTC) transit system.
  • Increase total usage of bike lanes.
  • Keep GRTC fare-free.
  • Expand the regional BRT system by adding a North-South line.

7. "A City that Tells its Stories (and tells the truth about its past)"

The seventh and final pillar, "A City that Tells its Stories," aims to tell the truth about Richmond's history, including its history of slavery, racism and struggles for Black empowerment.

This is a vital pillar, according to the Mayoral Action Plan, as "the issues and inequalities addressed by every previous pillar stem from [Richmond's] history."

"The city of Richmond has witnessed both unthinkable inhumanity and courageous and visionary resistance to racism and oppression," the action plan states. "In recent decades, the City has tackled the challenge of meeting high aspirations for shared prosperity, social justice and racial inclusion in a context of limited resources, limited legal powers and often unfavorable policy contexts."

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The four goals listed underneath this pillar are as follows:

• Share Shockoe with the world as a place for reckoning and repair.
• Champion our arts and culture communities in their efforts to tell Richmond's stories.
• Share and document Richmond's rich cultural history.
• Help residents know how (and why) Richmond city government works for them.

Per the action plan, these goals will be achieved by sharing oral histories and multimedia conversations with veteran and retired Richmond public servants, creating visitor-friendly historical guides to studying Black empowerment and the battle for Civil Rights in Richmond and participating in the Virginia 250 commemorations.

"A thriving Richmond must acknowledge its complex history and make space for creative dialogue and expression of the many stories, told and untold, that have shaped and continue to shape our city," the action plan states. "By telling and listening to stories, we share our humanity and make the sharing of power through democratic means possible."