What Richmond mayoral candidates will do to ensure government transparency

RICHMOND, Va. – All five mayoral candidates took the civic debate stage on Tuesday.

The debate took place at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC) and was co-sponsored by Richmond First, VMHC’s John Marshall Center, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and WTVR CBS 6.

Moderator Greg McQuade and panelists Bob Holsworth, Chris Coates and Reba Hollingsworth 11 questions for the candidates – Andreas Addison, Danny Avula, Michelle Mosby, Maurice Neblett and Harrison Roday.

The third question of the debate was: What steps will you take to improve transparency in local government and ensure citizens have access to public information?

Maurice Neblett
When it comes to transparency and accountability, that has been my platform since the beginning. So I want to make sure that we have outlets that utilize the public network stations that we communicate to residents in the community, but I want to make sure that we have policies that explicitly state the response time to the requester, and then provide Also sure that our employees adhere to it within the framework of critical methods, right?

So I want to make sure that we have the transparency and accountability measures that come from the core of the mayor’s office, because everything is interconnected. Once we establish someone of good character and integrity, I believe that will radiate throughout City Hall.

Harrison Roday

Transparency is part of the equation of a strong administration that gets things done and serves the people of Richmond. And FOIA is clearly within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act. If we can’t be transparent with our residents about what’s happening at City Hall, that means there’s a broader problem. And we know that processes need to change. Changing things is hard. It takes time. It’s very easy to make a list of things that are wrong and create truly lasting change driven by the people who come to work every day. This is the type of leadership that will support the change we need at City Hall. And that goes far beyond requests for information on important projects like replacing the Mayo Bridge. We need a city hall that is as responsive as our residents deserve.

Michelle Mosby
First of all, we must come back to our vision, our mission and our values. If you look up today, it’s about accountability, it’s about transparency. So it’s about making sure we follow through on what we say and do.

And again: We are not a city that has no politics. What you heard from the Freedom of Information Act was that I was trying to implement the policy and so we need to have employees who know that we as leaders want them to follow the policy. And if the policy isn’t working for our city, we need to go back and revisit those policies so that we can implement the process and the policies and our employees can feel comfortable enough to know that leadership has their back, like that how they do it. Revision of the guidelines.

I believe that leadership has prevented our people from being straightforward and using the processes and policies that have been put in place, and they need leadership to support them.

Andrew Addison

In 2015, I won a City of Richmond award from then-Governor McAuliffe. It was about open innovation data. I published the first check register in the state of Virginia and opened transparent assets of an Excel spreadsheet.

That means every payment made by a city employee was public knowledge.

Then when I was elected in 2017, I strengthened this legislation to ensure we have the right tools in modern terms. The challenge we had was an organization and administration that did not fully implement this result.

As a councilor I can create the best policy in the world, but if it doesn’t come together with the government to implement it, it will fail. And what have I done to make this possible in my administration will be a thing? I want you to see how your tax dollars work today, right now, and tomorrow morning. If I were mayor, you would see a dashboard that would show all of this, all the paving projects we are doing, all the utility projects where the building has been constructed. There are currently active permits where your tax dollars are being spent and used for 911 services .

Danny Avula

Restoring trust in local government must be based on transparency, and getting FOIA right is part of that. So you know that’s what we did in my leadership years at the health department. We have identified clear contacts for FOIA requests, from the public, the media and anyone requesting information.

We conducted annual training, not just for these individuals but for everyone in the agency, so that they understood how to forward information to our clear FOIA points of contact.

And the final part of it is accountability. If the CEO isn’t responsible for making sure people are trained and implementing policies, everything falls apart. This must be the commitment of the next city leader.

Find out more about the candidates

Watch the full debate here or on our YouTube channel.

CBS 6 interviewed each candidate before the debate, which you can find here:

For more information about this year’s election – and how to vote in the city of Richmond or surrounding areas – check out WTVR’s Virginia Voter’s Guide.

You can check your voter registration here. The last day to register to vote is October 15th.

What are your hopes for Richmond’s next mayor? Email the CBS 6 Newsroom and let us know.

Note: WTVR used AI software to transcribe the debate, and newsroom staff provided editing for clarity.