Richmond 3rd District City Council Race - 2024

I grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, an affluent community outside of Boston.

My family was able to live there because of a subsidized mixed income housing development. I was able to attend one of the highest rated public school systems in the country. The reality is, I had access to resources because of subsidies and regulations, not despite them.

But let's talk a little bit about Richmond. People are getting displaced. There are 6,000 fewer African Americans living in Richmond today than the last census. people are getting pushed out. So I think it's demonstrably true that the approach that council has taken to housing hasn't worked. If the goal is to make sure that people who live here can stay now, Richmond is limited by the Dillon Rule in terms of being able to grow the stock of affordable housing.

But the affordable housing crisis is as much about ensuring that stability for the people who are here, who are currently living in low cost housing, as it is about growing the stock of affordable housing. And so there are some things that we can do.

One, public housing matters, right? It's our most affordable housing stock, and when people are pushed out, it raises the price of apartments for everyone. So we need to be able to commit to one-to-one replacement.

Two, we need to ensure that there is housing stability, because right now, when they are complaining about their working conditions, they're being pushed out.

At the end of the day, we need to make sure that we are no longer calling two-bedroom apartments that cost $3,000 a month affordable. It's not surprising because City Council campaigns are largely funded by developers.

We are in a housing crisis here in the city of Richmond and being on City Council currently, I would prioritize housing availability. Also, I would also incentivize developers to actually include affordable housing units in their new projects.

For example, in the Diamond District project that we just passed, $2.4 billion dollars, the biggest development in the city of Richmond, it was passed unanimously by City Council - and that's a council that actually works together. We have conversations. We actually make sure that we are informed to make decisions for the city.

Having affordable housing here in the city is very important. Other things that we must consider is making this a holistic approach. The inclement weather shelter and homeless shelter in the 3rd District also included with that is a housing resource center. So we need to make sure that we have wraparound services included with all of our housing needs, and that is one thing that is occuring right now is making sure that the developers are working with our community providers that help with affordable housing.

So all in all, it's an all-hands approach to this situation. We're doing things that are going to be able to be profitable for the city. But at the end of the day, housing goes hand-in-hand with public safety, education, and so forth. So we have to work together and we have to work with our community partners that are in the communities actually dealing with our traumatic situations.

I will prioritize affordable housing. Our district is unique in that we're a microcosm of the city, and I believe that we learn from our neighbors to help solve for the current housing affordability crisis and homelessness, which can be related.

We need to greatly increase affordable housing, which is necessary for Richmonders to thrive, to be able to build wealth and settle here, contributing to our community and diversity in our city. We need to create creative and flexible zoning, similar to the work that is happening now with the code refresh.

Making changes to our outdated zoning has allowed accessible dwelling units that allow seniors and young people just starting out to be independent and yet have access to nearby help. We need to continue to infill our development and be mindful and creative with the zoning while preserving Richmond's uniqueness and history.

I look at housing as a ladder that can be climbed in both directions, each rung being a step along that journey. It's not static. There's temporary and supportive housing with wraparound services, public housing, apartments, rentals, home ownership - all are valuable and viable means of shelter.

I will ensure that I'm working with our county neighbors as well as advocating for funding with the people in the General Assembly, like delegate Rae Cousins, delegate Mike Jones and delegate Betsy Carr.

Our transportation infrastructure needs to be safe, affordable, accessible, and reliable. We're not quite there yet.

We're on our way, but we need to address transportation because we're in the middle of a climate crisis and we want a healthy community for everyone to thrive in. I'm proud to have the endorsement and confidence of the Sierra Club to do this work. I'm going to prioritize the safety of us and our children.

We need to ensure that the GRTC stays fare-free beyond 2025. We need to ensure that multimodal transportation is a top priority. That pedestrians, bikes, cars, buses, scooters - everyone feels safe and confident navigating our city. We should also potentially look into creating a Department of Transportation for the city; I think that that would be helpful.

We all interact with public roads every day. It costs us time, it costs us money, and safety is key.

First, I think any conversation about safer streets requires that we talk about buses. In the school district, I have pushed for safer transportation rights and more equitable ones as well.

We actually added more bus drivers because many districts in the city, or many neighborhoods, don't have sidewalks. So equity is important

So when we think about the fact that the U.S. Department of Transportation determined that the GRTC didn't use accurate data when determining the racial impact of routes.

From The Richmonder: (A review was requested by a local activist. The DOT has not taken action. View the original GRTC analysis here.)

That matters, right? And so we've got working Richmonders who rely on, uh, public transportation that are having to walk further in order to be able to get to work. And that's not safe.

Second, I mean, I think when it comes to public transportation or transportation in general, or safety, really, public engagement is key. I still remember very keenly the first time I went to the intersection at Laburnum and Hermitage, and it was like an expanse, like a dance floor of pavement.

Thank goodness I did not need to make a turn, because I would not have known what to do, you know? I have to believe that there was a way we could have planned for that ahead of time, so that we could avoid any accidents in an intersection that frankly, I find quite scary.

I've appreciated the public discussions that we've had about it. I was here just a few weeks ago talking about it, but I personally think that more of a town hall structure would be good. I want to hear from everybody. I want to hear what everybody has to say. I want to hear people whose opinions differ from mine.

Traffic here in the city of Richmond: Let's be honest, it's a behavior that needs to be changed. When I first got elected in 2020, one of the things that the community asked is to get rid of the statue in the middle of Laburnum and Hermitage.

What has been done? It's been removed. That was the most dangerous intersection in the city of Richmond and that was one thing that we did to make sure that it's much safer for the citizens.

As a member of the Land Use Committee, I just came from a committee meeting earlier today. ... This past budget, I put $700,000 into the intersection of Laburnum and Hermitage, so that way we can start on the design work.

I saw a lot of you a couple weeks ago that were right in this room, looking at the different designs for that intersection. Again, it's going to be a lot more conversations about that intersection, because we're not sold on the roundabout just yet. I heard that from a lot of you, keep it simple so that we can turn safely.

So yes, we are listening. Another thing is that I have a lot of pedestrians, I have a lot of walkers in the 3rd District. I have a lot of seniors that walk, and that concerns me. And so one of the things is also put more funding into crosswalks and side streets That is something that has occurred, so I'm proud of that.

At the end of the day, it's going to take an all-hands-on-deck effort to really address this issue. And more funding needs to be in for infrastructure. We have very old infrastructure here in the city of Richmond, so I appreciate our departments now who have found the funding and grants to help us fund that.

But also it's going to take partnership with the state and federal government to do so.