RICHMOND, Va. -- Former Richmond City Council President Michelle Mosby announced her intention to run for Richmond Mayor.
Below is a transcript of her remarks:
Neighbors, friends, distinguished guests, my mommy. Good morning.
Today I would like to tell you the story about a great place to live.
It's a place I imagined when I was a little girl. Yep, I'm a dreamer.
I believe in a place where each of us have an opportunity to thrive and accomplish great things.
It's a place where every community and neighborhood can be safe.
Our children can enjoy the blue of the skies and the green of the grass.
It's a place where the air we breathe and the water we drink is free of chemicals.
It's a place where housing is affordable. And we can call where we lay our hands at night, home.
It's a place where our kids can learn and our businesses can grow and succeed.
That place is Richmond, Virginia.
Richmond is home to a diverse population. We are young. We are seniors. We are Black, white, yellow and brown.
Some of us have wealth, and many of us struggle every single day.
We come from different histories and backgrounds. But we all call Richmond home, and we embrace its promises of a great future.
Richmond is a great place to live. And together, we can make it better.
And this is the reason why I am formally announcing my candidacy for the Mayor of the City of Richmond.
My friends look around Richmond and see all we have to celebrate.
Look at the river and its contribution to our history and all the amenities it will provide for our future.
Look at this park. It's beautiful. Even on this cloudy day.
Look at the construction cranes dotting the skylines reflecting the economic growth that is possible. There you are beautiful every month of the year.
I know we're all here today because we love Richmond. We believe in her promise. We're here because we are ready to unite and move this city to the next level.
I also know that everyone that is here has something else that you could be doing, somewhere else that you could be. However, I'm so glad you took the time to be with me and vision for Greater Richmond.
I know that you're here because you love this city just as much as I do.
As I've traveled around the city leading up to this day, the people of Richmond have been voicing their concerns. They want a government that works for them.
I stand today to let the people of Richmond know, I have proved to you and I will execute a plan of action if given the opportunity.
As we begin to have dialogue about the basics that matter most of the everyday Richmonder, I want to provide a little context that I hope will gain support so that we can grow our local economy as well.
Cities have to grow to survive. Growth means more energy and more ability to deliver the services that people expect.
If we look around the country we see lots of other cities are growing faster than Richmond. Big ones like Atlanta and Minneapolis, medium sized ones like Raleigh and Durham. Even small cities are growing faster than Richmond.
So we must ask ourselves, why are other cities around the country growing faster than Richmond?
As your mayor I am committed to providing excellence in our day to day services so that we can get out of our own way.
I am committed to focus on each and every Richmonder regardless of your zip code.
I will be focused on small business and big business. I will be focused on seniors, and our RPS residents, the housed the unsheltered, and those who have been justice-involced.
My commitment will be proven by the policies we create, the systems we put in place to make things easier, and the excellence and services that we will provide.
Our city has maintained a system of segregated housing for over 75 years, some of the largest public housing courts in the country.
There are single mothers raising their children and most of them are living in poverty. While political games are played all around them.
Richmond has displayed persistent political fighting, needless political trouble, administrative dysfunction, and the communication breakdowns that come in such a toxic environment.
My friends, we have to do better. And we will.
As Mayor I'm committed to working with our schools, as I did as president of council, who will strategize a plan to educate our young people.
We will provide opportunities for CTE to elevate our young people in their career paths.
We will compensate our teachers and staff for their great work and we will continue to renovate and or build new 21st century buildings.
Our public schools are tightly connected to another real problem that we have in Richmond: housing affordability.
I can't tell you how many calls I've received in reference to families facing homelessness while they are working. A Mom who's working, a Dad who's working, yet facing homelessness. There has to be a change. And as mayor I will exhaust every tool in the toolbox to bring affordability relief.
I will continue to partner with local developers, but we will strategize a plan to strengthen the partnerships so that we can keep housing affordable for decades. We will look at how we can expand the Maggie Walker Land Trust but we will also explore other land trust models. We will also explore tiny home developments. It is a priority for me as mayor to change our housing narratives.
My friends, these are real issues. And some will say they're really difficult, but other cities have tackled them. And we can too.
But the only way we can take them on is if we get the easy stuff right.
We all know what I'm talking about.
It's just too hard to get things done in Richmond.
If a small business, asks for help. They say what taxes do I owe? They ought to get a straight answer.
They ought to get the truth, not a bill, loaded with penalties and interest.
If an investor wants to build a house in Richmond, or renovate an old one, we should make it easy for that thing to happen. Not make it harder.
If a company wants to invest in Richmond, we should welcome them and make it easier for them to put down their roots, hire local Richmonders, and help create wealth.
And if Richmond says “I want to help take on these tough problems,” then we should say “Come join us. Let's get to work, because it's better together.”
My friends, I'm confident we can take on all of these challenges. Other cities are doing it. Our neighbors are doing it and I know we can too.
I'm running because yes, I am proud to have been the first African American woman to lead the City Council in Richmond.
But we all can be proud of what Richmond accomplished during those four years. We posted budget surpluses every year. We boosted Richmond's bond rating to double A-plus, just one tick away from the top rating. We built new schools. We invested in the riverfront and launched the most significant public transportation upgrade in a generation.
Richmond's population grew and the city began the difficult work of confronting entrenched poverty. We built 40 two-to-three bedroom townhomes on the southside of Richmond. We turned around the port of Richmond transforming it from a mostly forgotten storage dock into a gateway to global trade. That's the experience I will bring to Richmond.
I also bring the experience of being a 23-year business owner and today it employs nearly a dozen professionals.
I have worked in real estate for more than two decades helping people put down their roots and live the dream of owning a home. I know it's the path to building wealth in this country.
I started a nonprofit that serves those who have been justice-involved so that they can successfully reintegrate back into society and transition into employment. We have helped more than 600 people shape their own path to long-term stability.
We made great strides in the city while I served as president of Council. I'm proud to have been honored by business leaders of the Greater Richmond partnership.
This is the record of someone who understands all parts of our city, and it's the experience that I will bring the city home with.
Along with it, friends, I’ll bring humility.
I know that I do not have the answers. So I ask for your help.
I know what it's like to win. And I know what it's like to lose. And because of that, I've gotten pretty good at knowing when to fight doesn't even matter.
Trust me, that's most of the time. Because usually the best course of action is just for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
I bring high expectations. And sometimes I can be a little impatient.
But most of all, I bring a little for our hometown, just as you do.
We have a lot to celebrate in Richmond, and a lot of work to do.
Over the next 10 months. We're going to talk about what that looks like. I'm grateful to everyone for being here. Folks that I've served with in local government, folks that I've worked with along the way. Folks who work for me, who believe in me, my family, my mom, my daughter, and my sister and just family from church. I am grateful to each and every one of you and I'm proud of the team that has decided to volunteer to help.
Let's get to work and bring new hopes, new opportunities, and new reasons to celebrate Richmond. Together my friend next year can change Richmond's narratives.
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