Electoral board chair feels ‘stonewalled’ on request for inspector general report on Richmond’s election office
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – The Richmond Electoral Board chairwoman believes she’s being “stonewalled” by the city’s inspector general on his office’s investigation into the city’s elections office. Richmond Inspector General James Osuna and his office investigated the city’s elections office for months following claims of improper spending and nepotism against General Registrar Keith Balmer. “It was my understanding that the report was finished in the late summer and being reviewed by the legal department,” Richmond Electoral Board Chairwoman Starlet Stevens wrote in a Nov. 14 email. Stevens, one of two Republicans on the three-person electoral board, added that Osuna told her then that “they didn’t want to release the report until after the November election.” Osuna did not respond to an email when asked whether this was true. He also did not answer multiple follow-ups. Top Richmond election officials broke city rules, investigation finds On Monday, Stevens said she had called and emailed Osuna about the status of the final investigative report but she’s “had no response.” “It’s safe to say I’m being ‘stonewalled,’” Stevens wrote in a Nov. 18 email. 8News sent emails to Osuna on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 asking if his office’s report was finished and, if so, whether he could share a copy of it. On Nov. 14, Osuna responded: “Are you requesting this information through FOIA?” 8News replied: “Yeah, if that is what I have to do to get the report if it's complete.” Osuna then said the report on the investigation “has not been issued at this time,” to which 8News asked whether it was complete. Osuna did not respond to that email or two follow-ups. Candidate’s dispute with Richmond’s elections office exposes error in city’s training video Stevens told 8News she still intends to seek Balmer’s removal, something she previously told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, after being briefed on the IG’s findings. “I have been briefed on some of the findings and all I can tell you now is that it’s really bad,” she told 8News in September. “The Inspector General interviewed every single employee in the Registrar’s office and uncovered issues that I was not aware of in regard to HR violations.” Balmer declined to comment for this story. The full scope of the inspector general’s investigation is not fully clear as the city IG’s office has declined to comment on specifics. In June, the Richmond Electoral Board Chairman at the time before taking medical leave, John Ambrose, told 8News the probe concerned “procurement and purchasing.” City records – first reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Virginia Mercury – show city procurement violations, high-cost purchases on city-issued credit cards and the nepotism claims against Balmer and his deputy, Jerry Richardson. Richmond’s elections office to stop hiring family after HR probe found officials broke city rules Purchases on credit cards from the city’s procurement office by Balmer and Richardson, per records from April 15, 2021, to May 1, 2024, include spending on art, hotel stays, furniture, food and stores selling guns, ammunition, shoes and clothes. In 2023, records show that Balmer and Richardson spent more than $11,000 collectively on hotel stays, primarily at The Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center in August of that year. Under the city’s purchase card program, agencies are given “cards to use for the payment of qualifying small purchases.” The cards, per the city, allow payments to be prompt, eliminate issues with payments and reduce “processing requirements for transactions under $10,000.00.” The city suspended Balmer and Richardson’s purchasing cards on May 15, city officials told 8News. An internal investigation from the city found Balmer and Richardson broke nepotism and ethics policies and the city’s elections office should undergo “an immediate departmental restructuring.” This led Balmer to publicly say that his office would stop hiring and awarding contracts to family members, and "implement more rigorous hiring practices to ensure fairness and equal opportunity for all employees."
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – The Richmond Electoral Board chairwoman believes she’s being “stonewalled” by the city’s inspector general on his office’s investigation into the city’s elections office.
Richmond Inspector General James Osuna and his office investigated the city’s elections office for months following claims of improper spending and nepotism against General Registrar Keith Balmer.
“It was my understanding that the report was finished in the late summer and being reviewed by the legal department,” Richmond Electoral Board Chairwoman Starlet Stevens wrote in a Nov. 14 email.
Stevens, one of two Republicans on the three-person electoral board, added that Osuna told her then that “they didn’t want to release the report until after the November election.” Osuna did not respond to an email when asked whether this was true. He also did not answer multiple follow-ups.
Top Richmond election officials broke city rules, investigation finds
On Monday, Stevens said she had called and emailed Osuna about the status of the final investigative report but she’s “had no response.”
“It’s safe to say I’m being ‘stonewalled,’” Stevens wrote in a Nov. 18 email.
8News sent emails to Osuna on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 asking if his office’s report was finished and, if so, whether he could share a copy of it.
On Nov. 14, Osuna responded: “Are you requesting this information through FOIA?” 8News replied: “Yeah, if that is what I have to do to get the report if it's complete.”
Osuna then said the report on the investigation “has not been issued at this time,” to which 8News asked whether it was complete. Osuna did not respond to that email or two follow-ups.
Candidate’s dispute with Richmond’s elections office exposes error in city’s training video
Stevens told 8News she still intends to seek Balmer’s removal, something she previously told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, after being briefed on the IG’s findings.
“I have been briefed on some of the findings and all I can tell you now is that it’s really bad,” she told 8News in September. “The Inspector General interviewed every single employee in the Registrar’s office and uncovered issues that I was not aware of in regard to HR violations.”
Balmer declined to comment for this story.
The full scope of the inspector general’s investigation is not fully clear as the city IG’s office has declined to comment on specifics. In June, the Richmond Electoral Board Chairman at the time before taking medical leave, John Ambrose, told 8News the probe concerned “procurement and purchasing.”
City records – first reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Virginia Mercury – show city procurement violations, high-cost purchases on city-issued credit cards and the nepotism claims against Balmer and his deputy, Jerry Richardson.
Richmond’s elections office to stop hiring family after HR probe found officials broke city rules
Purchases on credit cards from the city’s procurement office by Balmer and Richardson, per records from April 15, 2021, to May 1, 2024, include spending on art, hotel stays, furniture, food and stores selling guns, ammunition, shoes and clothes.
In 2023, records show that Balmer and Richardson spent more than $11,000 collectively on hotel stays, primarily at The Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center in August of that year.
Under the city’s purchase card program, agencies are given “cards to use for the payment of qualifying small purchases.” The cards, per the city, allow payments to be prompt, eliminate issues with payments and reduce “processing requirements for transactions under $10,000.00.”
The city suspended Balmer and Richardson’s purchasing cards on May 15, city officials told 8News.
An internal investigation from the city found Balmer and Richardson broke nepotism and ethics policies and the city’s elections office should undergo “an immediate departmental restructuring.”
This led Balmer to publicly say that his office would stop hiring and awarding contracts to family members, and "implement more rigorous hiring practices to ensure fairness and equal opportunity for all employees."
