Q&A with Danny Avula, candidate for Richmond mayor

Election Day is two weeks away, and this year, it’s a five-way race for Richmond’s next mayor.

Richmond voters will decide between City Councilmember Andreas Addison, physician Danny Avula, former councilmember Michelle Mosby, community advocate Maurice Neblett, and nonprofit founder Harrison Roday.

The candidates responded to questions from BizSense about their priorities for Richmond, how they’ll support business growth and economic development, and other topics that will shape the city’s future.

Each day this week, we’re presenting their responses, with candidates presented in alphabetical order.

Today’s candidate is Danny Avula, a former director of the Richmond City and Henrico County Health Departments and a former commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services. The 45-year-old UVA alum is a pediatrician with a master’s from John Hopkins University and a doctorate from the VCU School of Medicine.

Previous candidate Q&As appear at the end.

Richmond BizSense: What are your economic development priorities for Richmond? How do you plan to support business growth in the city?

Danny Avula

Danny Avula: Richmond has an incredible business community that we must leverage to fuel the city’s economic development. But it’s essential that as we bring new companies to the city, we also focus on economic mobility for families with low incomes.

Here’s the good news: We have a great infrastructure in place, thanks to entities like ChamberRVA, Greater Richmond Partnership, Richmond Region Tourism, Venture Richmond, the Metropolitan Business League and the JWC Foundation. I’ll engage these organizations, as well as the amazing businesses that operate in the city, as we move ahead with economic development priorities.

At a basic level, it’s essential we make it easier to do business in the city. To support business growth, we must:

• – reduce and remove unnecessary barriers to business development created by cumbersome City Hall processes;
• – intentionally target economic development funds received from the federal government to neighborhoods in greatest need of new public and private investment, like the Southside;

– invest in stronger public amenities – including safe roads, clean sidewalks, well-kept parks, modern transit stops, urban forestry, and more – in our most neglected neighborhoods;

– successfully complete the investments in new or refurbished community centers funded by the American Rescue Plan, as approved by City Council in 2021;

• – support the development of minority-owned and cooperative businesses that broaden the distribution of wealth, including through contracting with our local anchor institutions (healthcare systems, universities, etc.);
• – leverage the Office of Community Wealth Building to help connect residents with sector-specific job training;
• – continue to support tourism efforts, which helps introduce the city to new visitors and residents;
• – actively engage business organizations, entrepreneurs and the community to achieve economic priorities.

To ensure development leads to economic mobility, in my first 90 days as Mayor, I will establish a Community Wealth Building Commission with community leaders, neighborhood organizations and youth to work closely with officials in my administration to develop a shared, actionable plan to bring more jobs, investment and opportunities to low-income neighborhoods. The guidance community members provide will play a large role in shaping the significant investments my administration will make in this part of the city over my term of office.

RBS: What do you see as the No. 1 challenge holding back Richmond’s growth potential? How do you plan to address it?

DA: There are several pressing issues that hold back Richmond’s growth potential – including a critical lack of affordable housing – but the No. 1 challenge is our lack of a high functioning city government.

Small businesses are the backbone of our national and local economy. We can’t have businesses waiting months for a license and permitting, in addition to issues with check collection, processing and record-keeping. That’s our first fix.

Drawing on over fifteen years of experience as a leader in the public sector, I have a plan to make City Hall work on every level – from core services like tax collection and permitting, to big-picture decisions about how we invest in the future of our city. We can and must do better.

Beginning on Day One, I will:

• – assess leadership and personnel – starting at the top – and make changes where necessary: I will hire top-quality professionals to run City Hall. I will engage directly with department heads regarding key decisions and build trust by communicating openly with employees. The first step in this process will be conducting a national search for a Chief Administrative Officer;
• – demand transparent decision-making: Leaders across City Hall, myself included, will clearly define issues that need to be addressed and seek insight from experts, partners and residents. We will share potential strategies with the public before making a decision and communicate those decisions and their impacts clearly;
• – build a culture of accountability: I will require agencies to publish reader-friendly plans with specific goals and targets to help the public understand how tax dollars are spent and how decisions will impact our communities;
• – prioritize communication and collaboration: I will be a hands-on Mayor who communicates and collaborates regularly with City Hall, residents and partners. I will regularly attend City Council meetings. I will lead by listening, meeting with residents and other local leaders to share ideas and hear their concerns;
• – improve internal services: I will focus on enhancing core functions like Human Resources, Information Technology, Procurement, and Finance by modernizing systems, investing in technology and training, and learning from best practices;
• – elevate the Office of Performance Management: I will create a Chief Transformation Officer role and strengthen the Office of Performance Management. This office will lead assessments of departments, oversee audit responses, capture and share data with leadership and the public, and make recommendations to improve agency operations.

I believe my track record in service delivery improvement as the executive of large government agencies is one of the most clear distinguishing characteristics of my candidacy – I am the only candidate who has already done this successfully and in times of great challenge and chaos.

I led the state’s vaccination efforts and took Virginia from 50th in the country to the top 10th most vaccinated state in less than a year. Under my leadership, the Department of Social Services reduced the average wait time of background checks from eight weeks to five days in about six months.

RBS: Are you satisfied with the plan for the Diamond District development? Do you support the plan to redevelop the City Center area and replace the Coliseum?

DA: As Mayor, I will honor the deal that has been made by the City Council and the current administration and move the Diamond District forward as efficiently as possible. It’s good that the Richmond Flying Squirrels, a wonderful community partner, will have a permanent new home, and I see great potential for the Diamond District to bring new economic opportunity and a stronger quality-of-life to our city. I am excited about the future of this development.

At the same time, I have significant concerns about the process that shifted the funding structure to one reliant on general obligation bonds. While the economic reasons for this shift may be compelling, it is unfortunate that this shift took place rapidly with too little public discussion. When we are putting public dollars into a project it’s critically important that the public is given time to weigh in on proposals. I appreciate that the city did seek to engage many community members on the front end of the Diamond District process, which is a positive, but in our current context of low trust in city government, making significant changes to the funding source without ongoing public input is not going to rebuild that trust.

We also missed out on the opportunity for deep regional collaboration early on in the project, and I would have worked harder to re-engage our regional partners. As Mayor, I will work to improve our economic development processes to emphasize front-end community engagement and financial transparency at every step of the way – not because I want to slow down development processes unnecessarily, but because I understand that we undermine trust and community support when we skip over important steps.

That said, I’m committed to making the approved project work for Richmond. I will place special attention in making sure local residents, especially economically disadvantaged residents, benefit from employment opportunities generated by the project; that wherever feasible we utilize project labor agreements and union labor; and that we make sure local small and minority-owned businesses benefit from the project as well. I will make sure that the community benefits promised by this deal are realized in a timely way–with appropriate attention and vigilance, we can still make the Diamond District a model of inclusive economic development that benefits everyone.

City Center: I do support the City Center redevelopment and the opportunity to bring a mixed-use and mixed-income development downtown that includes small businesses and green spaces.

One important priority is to bring a 500+ room hotel to downtown. We have the state’s largest convention center on Broad St., which is a major asset. The new hotel will help us welcome larger conferences with visitors who spend money at small businesses and restaurants.

It’s essential that affordable housing remains a focus area for City Center. Throughout the entire process, transparency must be a top priority.

RBS: How will you address recent increases in real estate tax assessments in the city? Is more tax relief needed for small businesses and residents?

Avula served 13 years as director for the Richmond City and Henrico County Health Departments. (Photo courtesy MCV Foundation)

DA: While on one hand rising assessments are a sign of healthy investment in Richmond as a place to live and work, on the other hand they threaten many lower-income households, owners and renters alike, and small businesses from remaining in our city and contributing to the diverse tapestry that makes Richmond who we are.

As Mayor, I will commit to working at both the state and local level to secure and implement tax relief for our vulnerable residents and small businesses impacted by rising assessments and recent problems in the Finance Department.

The General Assembly has considered a bill (SJ247) that would allow localities to provide property tax relief and exemption for low-income residents. I would personally lobby for this bill’s passage, and upon passage, ensure that it is promptly enacted in Richmond.

We can also better leverage existing assistance programs, such as the property tax assistance program available to seniors.

Recent conversations by City Council to expand the BPOL (Business, Professional, Occupational License) tax threshold to $500,000 is a smart investment to help grow and support small businesses, while keeping us competitive with surrounding jurisdictions.

As Mayor, I will work to make our tax system more equitable and to protect our most vulnerable residents.

RBS: Are you satisfied with the current approach to encouraging housing affordability in the city? What would you do differently to address Richmond’s declared housing crisis?

DA: As a 20-year resident of Church Hill, I’ve experienced first-hand the joy of living in a community that’s affordable to people across the socioeconomic spectrum– and I’ve walked with longtime neighbors who were displaced because they can no longer afford to live in the neighborhood they call home. One of the primary reasons I decided to run for mayor is to combat this injustice.

Affordable housing is a vexing issue with many underlying and historically oppressive causes that challenge easy solutions, and despite Richmond’s current approach, we are experiencing a deepening housing crisis. We need a comprehensive plan to ensure that Richmond’s communities are a rich tapestry knitted together with a wide diversity of people and families, and this is why one of my cornerstone policy plans is my Plan to Meet Affordable Housing Needs in the City of Richmond.

Here are just a few of my plan’s top-line initiatives to fight our housing crisis through affordable housing:

• – fight displacement of long-term residents and expand the supply of deeply affordable housing for low-income and working residents;
• – dedicate significant and ongoing resources to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust, and lead the region to create more housing options – especially long-term affordable units, for every income level;
• – break the cycle of evictions that keeps many families locked in poverty by strengthening protections and resources available for our most vulnerable residents;
• – commit to sustainable growth that addresses the financial, social, accessibility and emotional needs of our populations with strong public amenities, like parks, public transit and safe streets. Prioritize infill development, redeveloping aging commercial areas, and preserving and expanding green spaces – not only for recreation and relaxation but for community resilience.

RBS: Do you support how City Hall has been responding to issues surrounding meals tax collections, the finance department, and permitting and plan reviews? What else needs to be done?

DA: This is a big one, encompassing both the regulations by which the city operates and the functioning of the city government in general. We have much room for improvement in these areas.

I would favor immediate relief for restaurants who have been wrongly hit with late fees and penalties due to errors and miscommunications from City Hall, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

The meals tax collection has morphed into a crisis because of ineffective, opaque and non-accountable operations. One of Richmond’s best qualities is the strength of our diverse and innovative restaurant scene. To hear restaurateurs saying that they would rather operate in the surrounding counties is not only upsetting, it’s a threat at the very heart of Richmond’s emerging national reputation.

The problems with the Finance Department are just a symptom of deeper issues in City Hall functioning. We need a complete reset of attitude, stronger systems and better training and oversight of front-line workers and mid-level managers, as well as of agency heads.

My goal is to give restaurateurs and other businesses a system that works and a partner that works as hard as they do to provide a great experience and great service.

On the permitting and plan reviews front, the single biggest impediment to permitting and plan review is our outdated zoning ordinance and its over-reliance on the Special Use Permit process, which is not only expensive and time consuming, but can be weaponized to impede innovative and inclusive development. I have seen this process at work in my own neighborhood, where a developer was seeking a SUP to build a few market rate homes on land in order to help with cash flow to construct over 70 more units of affordable senior living units. The process added expensive and unnecessary delays.

While I believe it is essential to include community engagement in the design of our neighborhoods, we should be able to move more quickly through the permitting process when a project already aligns with our community-directed priorities of the Richmond 300 plan, which was devised with extensive resident input. We should use the Richmond 300 plan in the forthcoming rewrite of the city’s zoning code to vastly increase the number of projects that are eligible for expedited approval because they comply with the plan’s guidelines, including multi-family housing units, accessory dwelling units and other forms of affordable housing.

RBS: You’ve said that you would not retain the current chief administrative officer if elected. How will you keep leadership changes from disrupting city initiatives that are already underway?

DA: If elected, my team will hit the ground running on November 6 to begin the transition process. That process will include conversations with current city officials to make sure we have a full grasp of what’s in motion and where key projects stand.

Organizational change will happen, but it won’t be overnight. As an experienced public sector executive, I know how to manage change while also keeping continuity of both essential operations and crucial initiatives that have wide community support. If elected, the city will be in safe hands come January 1, and will be well-poised to undertake the kinds of changes I have outlined here and throughout my campaign.

Links to previous Q&A’s: 

Andreas Addison