‘Find it and fix it’: Avula makes progress on outstanding audit issues from before he took office

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Richmond Mayor Danny Avula has reported significant progress when it comes to repairing what was broken before he took office, per a new audit report.

Whenever a problem is discovered within any of the city's departments during an audit, the Office of the City Auditor issues a recommendation -- or a solution that auditors believe would resolve said problem.

On Friday, Nov. 21, the Office of the City Auditor released a report detailing the current state of Richmond's audit recommendations. It outlines which recommendations have been closed -- meaning they've been implemented -- and how many remain open.

In the last few months, Avula's administration has closed a total of 31 open recommendations across eight different city departments. This is the most recommendations closed in a single period in at least the last five quarters, per previous reports.

RELATED: Avula lays out his plan for a ‘thriving’ Richmond

Notably, 26 of these 31 closed recommendations were initially issued before Avula took office. Some are as old as early 2019.

“From day one, I said we would look for it, find it and fix it," Avula said in a press release issued by the city on Friday. "Every audit issue we resolve means better service for Richmonders and a more responsive, reliable government. I’m genuinely excited by this progress and we’re going to keep pushing until every item is closed. I know we can do it!”

Eight of the closed recommendations were considered high-priority fixes. Among them were key improvements to the Department of Utilities' inventory system, which was found to be in disarray during a late 2024 audit.

Two other audits that saw key findings addressed involved a mismanaged $1.2 million streetlight project and the Richmond Retirement System erroneously paying out more than half a million dollars to deceased retirees.

Richmond neighbors offer their take on second draft of ‘Code Refresh’

"The audit process is an opportunity for the administration to identify inefficiencies, reduce waste and increase effectiveness," said Odie Donald, II, Richmond's chief administrative officer, in the release. "This audit update, with the most finding closures in recent history, is an early example of the culture of performance we’ve committed to build. And we’re not stopping here — Richmond deserves a government that owns its challenges and delivers solutions, and this is another example that is exactly what we are building.”

Even so, the Avula administration faces an uphill battle when it comes to tackling the backlog of open recommendations. This period began with 137 open recommendations -- and though the city closed 31, an additional 25 new recommendations were issued.

This means that, as of the time of this report, there are 130 open recommendations still left to tackle -- and nearly all of them (124) are overdue.

"The City and the Office of the City Auditor will continue working together to drive down the remaining 130 open recommendations, most of which already have corrective actions in progress," the city said in the release.

Richmond restaurant among OpenTable’s Top 100 for 2025

When broken down by department, the agency with the most open recommendations is Richmond's Department of Finance. It's seconded by the Department of Public Utilities, with Procurement Services followingly closely behind.