Candidates in a competitive race for Mayor of Virginia’s capital city met for a forum Tuesday night. They sparred over police accountability and management of City Hall.
Alongside Roanoke, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, Richmond is one of only a handful of cities with competitive mayoral elections this fall. The race has five candidates, although only four were at the forum hosted by VPM and NBC12.
Attorney Justin Griffin positioned himself as an outsider who would lower business taxes, not provide more money to city schools under current circumstances, and use his accounting background to streamline city hall.
“And so what we need to do is have a Mayor who sets a standard and that Mayor provides solid oversight of our city government,” Griffin said.
He said addressing public safety was his number one priority and that he does not support a civilian review board of police or defunding the police.
That’s one point that he and council member Kim Gray agree on. She stood by her vote against an ordinance that would have required the police re-evaluate their budget. She also spent much of the evening accusing the current Mayor Levar Stoney of mismanaging the city, and she stood by her vote against a proposed property tax increase that Richmond Public Schools superintendent Jason Kamras supported for additional funding for schools.
“We need to right size the budget and really show where our money is being spent and be more transparent about our spending,” Gray said. “Before we entertain any increases.”
Mayor Levar Stoney, whose running for re-election, defended his record. He pointed to three new schools built under his term in predominantly minority communities. He also pointed to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including providing grants to small businesses and his decision to initially slow down re-opening.
“Now you see in the city of Richmond 30 plus days of declining case counts of COVID-19. And on top of that we have a 3-percent positivity rate,” Stoney said. “It’s because of being data driven and listening to medical experts and scientists.”
Alexsis Rodgers is a long time political organizer and policy expert involved in state government. She consistently brought up the need to address racial equity and better support the city’s working families.
“What we have to have is a leader like me that’s used to working in coalitions, building teams to make progress for our communities,” Rodgers said.
She added that some of her top priorities would be addressing physical infrastructure like sidewalk repairs and tackling the eviction crisis.
Candidate Tracey McLean wasn't part of the forum. She owns a boutique in the city and according to her campaign website she is "constantly looking for tools and information to share with the community to promote self-sufficiency and personal growth."
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
