Richmond Mayor answers direct questions about city challenges at Q&A session

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond Mayor Danny Avula took questions directly from residents on Tuesday that addressed issues predating his first two months in office.

For roughly 40 minutes, the mayor spoke at Willow Oaks Country Club on Wednesday, March 12 about how the city plans to improve aging infrastructure, public utility issues and how decisions from the federal government have impacted the area.

“I feel like I have a skill set that actually aligns with a lot of what our city needs right now in terms of a focus on governmental improvement, on operational improvement,” Avula said.

The mayor explained that protecting citizens, specifically long-time residents, is his number one priority. This starts with producing more housing for those who live in the area.

Avula also acknowledged that the increased demand for water sources is an opportunity to sit with regional partners to build a long-term relationship, so issues like the water crisis don’t happen again. 

“The population across the region is growing and there aren't that many other water sources to tap into,” Avula said. “Increasingly we are going to be dependent on the James River.”

Avula also acknowledged confusion with decisions from the federal government -- like the funding freeze -- that could affect local organizations such as homeless services.

“There's about $10 million that goes to support something on the Continuum of Care,” Avula said. “They do, not only the call lines and coordination work for homeless services, but a big chunk of that is money for rapid rehousing. Given all of the housing pressures we’ve talked about, we are going to see more unhoused if we don't have that federally funded safety net of rapid rehousing or permanent supportive housing.”

8News asked Avula about water bill concerns previously reported from residents --specifically actual meter readings and claims of no resolution from the Department of public Utilities.

Avula said the city is aware of these issues and encourages people to continue to call 311, as well as logging and having an identification number along with their case for water bill issues.

“We are cognizant that there are mechanical failures, plumbing breaks, water breaks, leaking of a toilet or a faucet that can contribute to increased bills,” Avula said. “We want to work with you to identify what those are and adjust the bills to the degree that we can so that people can pay.”