At a meeting at Richmond’s Main Library Thursday, members of the city’s Public Utilities and Services Commission sought to get some clarity on what caused the failure of Richmond’s water treatment plant earlier this month and who might have been aware of a scathing 2022 audit of the facility by federal regulators. 

“Do you know approximately how frequently emergency operating plans require revision to remain in compliance with regulations and laws?” Commission Chair Kevin Cianfarini asked Department of Public Utilities Deputy Director Eric Whitehurst. 

Told they were updated every five years, Cianfarini tried to ask whether the plans had to be updated if senior personnel changed but was blocked from getting a reply by assistant city attorney Emily Messer.

“I just want to remind the chair that Mr. Whitehurst is here on behalf of DPU as a courtesy, but that no formal request for an interview was made and that this is a courtesy discussion until a formal interview is requested,” Messer said. “And until the two ongoing investigations are complete, I would advise the commission to ask more high-level questions.” 

It was one of several times Messer interjected during the commission’s question-and-answer session with Whitehurst Thursday to forestall detailed questions and urge members to wait until the completion of two investigations into the crisis that left hundreds of thousands of people in the region without drinkable water for nearly a week. 

The interruptions caused some evident frustrations among commission members, with Secretary Andrew Grigsby at one point telling Whitehurst, “I hope this isn’t a waste of your time, because apparently we can’t ask any meaty questions.” 

But they also highlighted uncertainty about what role the still-new public body, which was created by a City Council ordinance in late 2023, is supposed to play — especially in times of crisis. 

According to that ordinance, the utilities commission is intended “to provide the Council and the Mayor with information and advice concerning the management and operations of the utilities operated by the City,” as well as “to provide opportunities for education and outreach to city of Richmond residents and ratepayers.” 

Councilwoman Kenya Gibson (3rd District) earlier this month floated the idea of the commission conducting an investigation into what went wrong. That proposal was never taken up; instead, the city has hired consultants HNTB and Hagerty for two separate examinations of what occurred and how officials responded to it, and the Virginia Department of Health has launched its own. 

Former City Councilor Andreas Addison, who proposed the commission in 2023 and was present at Thursday’s meeting, said he originally envisioned the body as an oversight commission with “teeth” but couldn’t get enough political backing to push it through. Instead, the final ordinance limited the commission to an advisory role. 

“That is what is defined, because it was easy,” he said. 

But those limitations, coupled with the newness of the body, its composition of 13 volunteers and constrained staff and budget support have left the commission in an in-between state. It’s an official body that by ordinance has the ear of the mayor and the council, but it cannot compel DPU to answer its questions or order the department to do anything. Sometimes it can’t even convene a formal meeting: Last year, a lack of mayoral appointments to fill its seats on several occasions left the commission unable to meet a quorum, although Cianfarini said that issue has now been resolved.

“We are literally just getting our feet under us as a body,” said Grigsby. 

In comments to a City Council committee last week, Cianfarini sought to more clearly articulate what the commission is intended to do. 

The body, he said, “is well positioned to serve as a channel that provides structured and actionable feedback to Council and the mayor, to identify and remedy gaps between the public’s perception and reality of the city’s services, and finally to advocate on behalf of the public for better functioning, more reasonably priced, and healthier utilities.” 

However, he warned, resource constraints “hinder its ability to meaningfully fulfill its duty.”

Many of the commissioners on Thursday appeared sympathetic toward the situation DPU is now in — “You inherited a mess,” member Jackie Johnson told Whitehurst at one point — and eager to collaborate with the department to ensure it gets resources to address chronic infrastructure issues. 

But some also expressed dismay at a perceived lack of responsiveness from city officials. Cianfarini said repeatedly that he was looking forward to working with the mayor and City Council to find out what caused the crisis and what can be done next, but said it was “frustrating to not get answers to what appear to be fairly straightforward questions.” 

Grigsby said in his view, the commission should be able to get enough relevant information to conduct in-depth research that will let it provide good advice to city officials, adding, “I think there’s a general expectation that a city commission is set up to be more than Joe Schmoe on the street.” 

“I’m sure staff are doing their job as they understand it, but we as a body need to have clarity on what we’re able to do so we don’t waste anybody’s time,” he said.