Avula calls Bingham departure an ‘amicable separation’: ‘We need a different skill set moving forward’

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said former Department of Public Utilities Director April Bingham’s resignation a week after the failure of the city’s water treatment plant was “an amicable separation.” 

“The conversation has been evolving over several days, over the last week, and ultimately we decided to part ways,” said Avula. “We need a different skill set moving forward.”

Former Mayor Levar Stoney appointed Bingham head of DPU in 2021, emphasizing that she came in with expertise in customer service rather than a more technical, engineering background.

Asked if Bingham, who made $236,818 in 2024, would receive severance pay, Avula said it was “our customary approach.”

“I can’t talk too much about our personnel situation, but when people do amicably separate, there’s typically severance involved,” he said. 

Replacing Bingham in an interim capacity will be Anthony “Scott” Morris, an engineer and U.S. Navy veteran who had been working as director of water at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

DEQ spokesperson Irina Calos said Morris had permanently stepped down from his state agency role to take the interim position.

"He has been an incredible asset to DEQ, and although we hate to see him leave, we are ecstatic that he will be working with the City of Richmond to address their longstanding infrastructure needs," she said.

In a city news release, Morris noted his background in local utilities roles, including as chief operator of the city’s wastewater plant. 

“As the city continues to recover from the recent water service outage at the plant, I look forward to working with the team to support the delivery of essential utility services to Richmonders,” he said. 

The Jan. 6 water plant failure, which was initially triggered by a snowstorm-related power outage, left hundreds of thousands of people in the region without drinkable water last week. Officials have described a cascade of events that led to catastrophic flooding in the facility off Douglasdale Road, crippling the city’s water supply and eventually that of Henrico and Hanover counties, which source water from Richmond’s system. 

Avula has pledged to commission an independent review of what went wrong and what should be done going forward, and has indicated he would like that process to move quickly. On Monday, he told City Council he wants to select a contractor to produce the report by the end of the week and is aiming for it to be produced over a 30-day time period.

Asked if Bingham’s resignation should be seen as an acknowledgement that human error contributed to the water crisis, Avula said he “wouldn’t connect those two necessarily” but didn’t rule out the possibility.  

The mayor said he expects the after-action report will likely outline “elements of machinery that went down and process that wasn’t great and probably some human decisions that could have prevented this.” 

“I don’t know that, but I think that’s what we need to get to the bottom of,” he said. 

The water failure came at an awkward time for city governance, just as a new mayor and his team were getting settled and right after some high-ranking officials had stepped down amid the transition of power.

Robert Steidel, a longtime city official who formerly headed DPU and oversaw utilities as deputy chief administrative officer for operations, retired as of Dec. 31, according to city officials. He had led DPU from 2010 to 2017 before moving higher in the ranks to a DCAO position.

The administrative position Steidel left is vacant, and the departments that reported to him are now reporting directly to interim Chief Administrative Officer Sabrina Joy-Hogg, who took over that role when former CAO Lincoln Saunders left Dec. 31. 

A city spokesman said Joy-Hogg is “in the process of reestablishing the position and appointing an interim DCAO of operations.”

Council reaction 

On Wednesday afternoon, several members of the Richmond City Council applauded the news of a staffing change.

“It has only been a few hours since the announcement was made and I’ve already heard from constituents who feel assured by Mr. Morris’ credentials,” said Councilor Kenya Gibson (3rd District) who just took office at the start of the year. “As we move forward, it’s critical that we complete a comprehensive assessment of the job requirements for city leadership at every level and I hope to see our auditor conduct this type of investigation.”

In a newsletter to his constituents, Councilor Andrew “Gumby” Breton (1st District) said the move shows a “promising commitment to making difficult decisions to improve our city services.”

“Many advocates for good governance did not need this wake-up call, but perhaps this event will at least shake everyone else out of their complacency,” Breton wrote. “The timing gives the mayor and council an especially good opportunity to address these issues without defensiveness. It is also important that we seek out similar vulnerabilities across other services and departments.” 

Councilor Reva Trammell (8th District), said Bingham shouldn’t shoulder all the blame for the water crisis, because she reported to Steidel and was put in charge of DPU by Saunders and Stoney. 

“She didn’t hire herself. She was hired by the administration,” Trammell said of Bingham. “She was always good to me. Always answered me even if it was 10 o’clock at night.”

Councilor Katherine Jordan (2nd District) — who leads the council’s Governmental Operations Committee that will be digging further into the water situation at a meeting next Wednesday — praised Avula and Joy-Hogg for “acting swiftly on all aspects of the water response, including finding an interim director so quickly.”

“From what I’ve heard and read, Scott Morris is well equipped to step into the role, and address the very critical needs of this moment,” Jordan said, adding that she hopes Morris can attend the committee meeting next week.