Richmond mayor slashes city credit card use after scandals

Driving the news: In a release, Avula said the number of city-issued credit cards (known as p-cards) will drop from 320 to about 60 by next Friday.

• The only allowable purchases, per Avula, are those needed for public health and safety reasons.
• That means no food, Amazon or travel-related purchases while the city figures out how to "reset" the p-card program.

Flashback: A city watchdog report last fall found Richmond's elections office wasted nearly $500,000 in taxpayer money through p-card purchases that included remodeling the office, buying lingerie and helping pay for two workers' college tuition.

• And just this week, the RTD reported that a former employee is under investigation for allegations that he racked up nearly $40,000 on his p-card for his own company.

What's next: Avula says the city plans to redesign the program over the next two to three months "in an effective way that really serves Richmonders" before relaunching it.

• Officials have also hired the National Institute for Public Procurement to do an outside assessment of Richmond's p-cards.