RICHMOND, Va. — In an interview with CBS 6 anchor Bill Fitzgerald, outgoing Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney reflected on his two terms in office as he prepares to hand the reins to incoming Mayor Danny Avula. Stoney pointed to his achievements like reducing the city's poverty rate and the passing of the ongoing $2.4 billion Diamond District project. But admitted that, with hindsight, he would have pursued the failed Navy Hill proposal differently.
Discussing the functioning of city departments, Stoney emphasized that Avula would inherit a more efficient city government compared to eight years ago, particularly in core services, while noting the need for improved customer service in Richmond.
Scroll down to read the complete interview:
Bill Fitzgerald
In just a few weeks, a new mayor of Richmond will be sworn in. Danny Avula will take the reins of the city from Levar Stoney, who has served two terms as mayor. But before he runs in next year's election for lieutenant governor, Mayor Stoney is joining me here in the studio for a chat about his tenure. Welcome, Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Levar Stoney
Thanks for having me.
Bill Fitzgerald
All right. It's been a tumultuous just action packed two terms. Tell me, what are the highlights? What are you most proud of in your time here?
Mayor Levar Stoney
When I take an accounting of what we've done over the last eight years, one stat that stands out to me, that I'm very proud of, is us being able to reduce poverty by a third, by 33% over the course of the last eight years.
We've been able to do that by breeding economic growth with economic opportunity.
There are more people with more homes, more jobs, less poverty and less crime. I'm very proud of that.
Bill Fitzgerald
Speaking of some like big projects, for example, the Diamond District project is underway, but some of the other ones didn't come to fruition, like Navy Hill, the reimagining of the area around the Coliseum, or the casino project which failed, twice.
How do you feel about taking on some of the big projects? Any regrets there and how it was managed, or what the outcome was?
Mayor Levar Stoney
I've been telling folks I work way too hard to have any regrets. However, with with the wisdom of hindsight, there are some things I would have done better.
I'm proud that we've been able to say yes to the largest economic development project in Richmond's history with a $2.4 billion Diamond District with Carmax Field.
But I do wish at times that we would have gone in the direction of Navy Hill as well. But we would not be where we are with the diamond district. We didn't have Navy Hills first. So if I had another crack at it, Navy Hill would definitely be in the top of the list.
Bill Fitzgerald
How about the way you're leaving City Hall for the next mayor, for Danny Avula. We've done a number of stories with Tyler Layne, as you know, on the city departments and their functioning, whether it's social services, DPU, public works or finance, tell me what is the status of those departments in terms of their functionality? Because even your finance director this year, at one time, said it's kind of chaotic. She said, we have not delivered for our customers the way she should, on a recording that we heard.
Tell me, what should Danny Avula and thus the taxpayers expect in terms of the functionality of these departments?
Mayor Levar Stoney
Well, Dr. Danny Avula, the next mayor of Richmond, will be inheriting a city government that's far better than the city government I inherited some eight years ago.
We made an emphasis on core services, and that means your roads. There are more roads that are paved, or more sidewalks have been repaired. Your alleys have been repaired. We've been able to pick up the bulk and brush leaves and mattresses things of that nature. The core services are strong, but what we need to continue to strengthen is customer service.
People don't want to be inconvenienced. They have busy days, and I get it being on the phone for an hour or getting your bill incorrect is problematic.
Folks don't want to be inconvenienced, and I don't want to inconvenience anyone. So if I think there's a place that we should strengthen a muscle that is the customer service muscle. We definitely can do that, but I'm very proud of all the progress we've made on core services.
Bill Fitzgerald
Let's talk about, for example, you've had four different police chiefs, one that you started with, Alfred Durham, three others since they came during a tumultuous time. For example, William Smith during that summer of 2020 with the protests following the murder of George Floyd, he made some inaccurate statements. Ultimately, he was replaced by Gerald Smith, who once suggested that the department had thwarted an alleged mass shooting incident at the Dogwood Dell which you appeared to support at the time. Tell me about your relationship with public safety, with the police chiefs that you've had.
Mayor Levar Stoney
Well, first before highlighting the police chiefs, let's highlight the fact that over the course of the last eight years, we've seen violent crime go down by 26% what a projection we're in a city that's safer than it was eight years ago. I'm very proud of that.
And it takes good personnel to get numbers like that, and Rick Edwards has been an excellent police chief. You know, I had the individuals who were police chief during those moments, they were obviously high performers. However, I think we landed in the right place with bringing in Rick Edwards as the police chief.
It's my hope that he's going to be the chief here for the long term, because he's an excellent leader of people over at RPD.
Bill Fitzgerald
One of the big issues facing every city across the country is affordable housing. And a number of the candidates before the election of the new mayor talked about affordable housing. The pandemic really skewed the market sent prices skyrocketing, and of course, with the interest rates rising, there ended up being no inventory. Is Richmond an affordable city for the people who work here, whether they're city workers, whether they're first responders, teachers, is it affordable?
Mayor Levar Stoney
Affordability has always been our competitive advantage over other metros around the country, right? We think about Washington. DC, Philadelphia, you name it, that has been our competitive advantage. However, with more and more people moving in and not having a lot of stock, not a lot of supply, we are seeing prices for rents, the sale of homes go up and go up. So what we've done is we've been pretty proactive in terms of investing in more affordable housing. We've had 7000 homes, affordable homes, either created or preserved under our watch. We've dedicated over $100 million towards affordable housing in terms of funding, that's a big deal. I think we have to continue to build, build and build. I'm a big believer that abundance is the way we get our get ourselves out of this, and that means we must add more supply.
Bill Fitzgerald
All right, finally, on your way out, is there sadness? Is there regret? You're ready for a new adventure.
Mayor Levar Stoney
I am at peace, you know, I am very proud of our body of work, you know, like I said, cutting the poverty rate by a third, our ability to remove those Confederate monuments as well, and increase in funding for Richmond Public Schools by nearly 60% these are things I ran on as a young man at 35 years old, some eight years ago, to leave here at 43 and with the record that we are leaving with, I am at peace.
Bill Fitzgerald
Forty three is still young, by the way.
Mayor Levar Stoney
Still young.
Bill Fitzgerald
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good luck in your future.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Share Share your thoughts on Mayor Stoney with the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Facebook|Instagram|X|Threads|TikTok
