One year in, Mayor Avula says City Hall must prove it works
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A year into his first term, Mayor Avula says Richmonders should grade him on whether City Hall can do the basics.
Why it matters: His tenure started out with residents not having drinkable water for nearly five days, a catastrophe he acknowledges has anchored public perception of his administration.
The big picture: The crisis quickly became a referendum on City Hall's competence, hardening public mistrust in city government as report after report pointed to deferred maintenance and internal dysfunction.
- In a sit-down interview with Axios, Avula says those failures forced his first year to be spent on rebuilding how City Hall operates.
- That's included major leadership changes, beefed-up communication, infrastructure investment and strengthened emergency preparedness.
Here's where the administration is at as Year 2 begins:
🚰 Water crisis
Over the past year, the city has:
- Spent about $7 million replacing pumps, filters and the dreaded switchgear that failed last year.
- Automated and updated the power systems, and ran through emergency response scenarios (like testing that the backup systems work).
Between the lines: City officials say 93% of review recommendations, including those from the EPA and VDH, have been completed.
- The remainder is tied to "planned capital projects."
- And state health officials said the "dramatic change" in water plant leadership has helped the plant function better, The Richmonder reports.
Yes, but: The plant is still over a century old, and without outside funding for long-term water projects, water bills could go up.
🏛️ City Hall reset
Avula replaced multiple key officials and hired a new DPU director, chief administrative officer, finance director, housing development director and multiple other department heads. The administration also:
- Piloted annual performance reviews and begun replacing decades-old technology that can make basic services — like billing — harder to deliver.
Yes, but: The payoff won't be immediate, though Avula says some residents have already reported better experiences with utilities and finance departments.
🗣️ Communication
Avula says about 80% of his job has been rebuilding trust through communications.
- The administration launched a mayor-written "Hey Richmond" newsletter, and expanded the city's social media presence to explain routine government actions.
- They also send out releases for when it accomplishes even mundane tasks like sending tax bills on time (which they hadn't been doing).
- And the city launched "DannyCam," where Avula gives on-camera city updates.
Yes, but: He also told Axios that the administration may have unintentionally fueled distrust during budget discussions, when City Council members felt they lacked information about the city's surplus.
What we're watching: Whether the groundwork laid in Year 1 translates into fewer government failures in the years ahead.