Equity Agenda will center economic and social justice to help city recover “the right way”
 
Mayor sets ambitious goals for affordable housing and renewable energy; improvements to public safety, transit, public engagement
 
Watch the full speech here. Read it here.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney today delivered the first “State of the City” address of his second term, sharing a message of hope for the dawn of a new era of healing and unity in the city as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and pursues social and economic justice through action.
 
The mayor discussed components of an “Equity Agenda” as part of his plan to help the city recover from the pandemic “the right way,” outlining ambitious goals to address climate change, actions to improve transit accessibility and safety, an enhanced approach to public engagement, a means to measure equitable economic development and additional steps to improve public safety and the relationship between police and the communities they serve.
 
First and foremost, the mayor committed to working with health officials to continue Richmond’s fight against the global pandemic and promote vaccination, especially in communities of color.
 
“This struggle has tested our patience, our compassion and our strength to carry on,” the mayor said. “My fellow Richmonders, the test is not over. It’s the hard truth.  Until we ensure that every Richmonder has access to the vaccine, the test will not be over… Until we get Richmonders back to work. Until we get kids back in schools. That’s what I want to see before anything else here in 2021.”
 
To that end, the mayor laid out the following goals for 2021 and beyond as part of his Equity Agenda:
 
Economic Justice:
 
The mayor said the city will promote economic justice through economic recovery and noted that upcoming redevelopment in areas like Greater Scott’s Addition, downtown and the development of a resort casino would prioritize living wage jobs and growing city revenue to fund investments in public education, affordable housing and infrastructure.
 
To increase transparency in evaluating economic development projects and promote greater equity for Black and Brown businesses and families, Mayor Stoney said the city will develop an Equitable Economic Development Scorecard that will reflect standardized expectations of all the city’s economic development projects based on community input and industry best practices. 
  
Public Engagement:
 
Building on the successful resident input models of the Richmond 300 Master Plan, the Task Force to Reimagine Public Safety, and the Community Ambassadors Program, the mayor said the city will launch an Office of Public Engagement -- a first of its kind team dedicated to designing and executing 21st century community engagement and communications strategies that enable all Richmonders, regardless of zip code, preferred language or internet access, to get involved.
 
“This office will work across all departments to ensure that the city is implementing creative engagement techniques, both virtual and in-person, communicating effectively on city programs and policies, and sharing the city’s story for others to celebrate,” Mayor Stoney said. “You want to get engaged, and I’m dedicated to building a reliable yet flexible vehicle for you to do just that.”
  
Affordable Housing:
 
In Mayor Stoney’s first term, the city exceeded its goal to build 1,500 units of affordable housing by 2023 three years early. In his speech, the mayor said the city will take on the challenge to meet the city’s growing affordable housing needs to build 10,000 new affordable housing units by 2030.
 
Last year’s Richmond City Council passage of the administration ordinance will provide a secure annual allocation to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which have tripled since 2016. By 2025, the revenue to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund will be an unprecedented 10 million dollars.
  
Transportation Access and Safety:
 
Building on the work of the Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility and the city’s leadership role in the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, the mayor announced three exciting developments to improve public transit safety and accessibility.
  
Thanks to a grant secured from the Department of Rail and Public Transit, later this year the city will paint the Pulse Bus Rapid Transit lanes red -- a practice many cities have used to keep riders safe from vehicular traffic and keep the buses running on time.
 
Working with the Governor’s Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment, the city will explore improving accessibility measures and develop actionable steps toward removing barriers to transit use. 
 
The city will also create a low-cost, alternative transportation option for residents and visitors alike in the new Bike Share Program focused on equitable access. The program will be piloted with stations near the most populous public housing communities after robust community engagement.
  
“Regular transit users, who are overwhelmingly people of color, are some of our most hardworking residents,” said Mayor Stoney. “They shouldn’t have to suffer longer commutes or less flexible transportation options…These opportunities will allow us to explore what it really means to build a multimodal city.”
 
Climate Change:
 
Mayor Stoney said the city has a responsibility to pursue environmental justice, noting the disproportionate impact climate change has on communities of color in our city that have historically been redlined or subject to disinvestment.
 
The mayor also announced ambitious goals in renewable energy as part of its RVAGreen 2050 initiative.
 
By 2023, the city will complete purchases for 50 percent of its electricity usage to be in off-site renewable electricity. By 2025, the city will complete purchases for its electricity usage to be entirely renewable. 
  
Public Safety:
 
Finally, the mayor said everyone in our city has a role to play in reimagining a safer city. 
 
“Our goal is to help build up and strengthen our communities so that every single person can live their life to the fullest,” the mayor said, calling gun violence “a public health crisis deeply rooted in systemic racism and inequity.” 
 
The mayor cited the annual show of armed intimidation by demonstrators coming to Richmond for Lobby Day, noting that state law allows visitors to openly carry rifles through the streets of the city.
 
“Each year, Richmonders are threatened, and it’s unacceptable to me. That’s why I’m calling for the General Assembly and Governor Northam to ban the open carry of firearms in public spaces.” 
  
Mayor Stoney also highlighted the work of the Task Force to Reimagine Public Safety in recommending improvements in policing, including the “Marcus Alert.” He said the Richmond Police Department’s newly formed Office of Professional Accountability will also work with officers to address accountability concerns raised by the community independent of its Internal Affairs Division. 
 
Police will now carry and distribute business cards with their names, precinct information, space for filling in the report number, and contact information for filing complaints or offering compliments.
  
The mayor also encouraged city council to complete its work on establishing a Civilian Review Board this year, calling it a “vital element of our re-imagination of community safety. Public safety means something different for everyone, but I guarantee you, we are listening and learning to make Richmond a safer city for all,” he said.
 
In conclusion, Mayor Stoney said that every city employee is committed to the helping city and its residents emerge from the dark year that was 2020, so we can recover “the right way,” and “welcome the dawn of a city newly dedicated to justice for all.”

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The City of Richmond has selected its first poet laureate, Douglas Powell, known in the community by his stage name, Roscoe Burnems. Burnems is a poet, published author, spoken-word artist, comedian and teacher. 

Burnems has donated his time to the St. Joseph’s Villa Alternative Education Program, University of Richmond’s Partners in the Arts and ART 180, in addition to regularly leading poetry workshops at multiple middle and high schools in the City of Richmond.  He is a National Poetry Slam Champion, a former TEDx speaker and the founder of the Writer’s Den Art Collective.

“It is the diversity of the city and the adversities that we are able to overcome as a community that cultivate our resilience as people,” said Burnems. “This is the soil for change and progression to sprout and expand into a tree that blooms the fruit of our tenacity. We decide if that fruit is sweetened with peace or embittered with division.”

Evidence of an interest in and capacity for community engagement was part of the poet laureate selection criteria and a top priority of the mayor’s.

“The Richmond Poet Laureate should relish showing kids, teens and adults the healing, restorative power of the written word,” said Mayor Stoney. “Roscoe has exhibited time and again his interest in bringing poetry to the people, and his list of ideas for engagement projects tells me he’s the Richmonder for the job.”

The first ever Richmond Poet Laureate has proposed interweaving poetry into public visual art projects, hosting spoken-word competitions and showcases for youth, and partnering with Richmond Public Library system to organize a series of accessible workshops.

Said Burnems of his new post: “I can’t wait to get started.”

The Richmond Poet Laureate will make his public debut at the Poe Museum’s Birthday Bash, a virtual celebration of Edgar Allan Poe’s 212th birthday. Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services Reggie Gordon and Burnems will discuss the role of the poet laureate, how Richmond shaped his poetry and upcoming ways the laureate will engage with the community. Click here to learn more about the free festivities.

To learn more about Roscoe Burnems, click here.

To learn more about the Richmond Poet Laureate program, click here.

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The City of Richmond Office of Financial Empowerment, led by City Treasurer Nichole R. Armstead, has launched Richmond’s Financial Navigators program to help residents navigate personal financial challenges, especially those related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Financial Navigators provide over the phone guidance to residents to triage personal financial issues, identify immediate action steps to manage expenses and maximize income and make referrals to other services such as eviction relief, food scarcity and employment. The City of Richmond will offer these Financial Navigator services in partnership with HumanKind nonprofit agency.
 
The official kickoff will be held outdoors on Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 1:30 p.m. at the Financial Navigator’s site 908 N. Thompson Street. The launch is made possible in part by support from the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, a national nonprofit organization that provided grant funding along with significant technical assistance and training to city staff. The Financial Navigators initiative is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Citi Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the Wells Fargo Foundation.
 
“The Financial Navigators public service brings a human element in connecting residents to resources and solutions,” said City Treasurer Nichole Armstead. “They will provide guidance to individuals facing financial challenges and other crises who may be unfamiliar with what resources and options are available.”
 
“This program helps remove the barriers to economic stability and generational wealth building that hold Richmonders back from fulfilling their true potential,” said Mayor Stoney. “The Office of Financial Empowerment is putting the right tools in the hands of residents, providing the support and education they need to thrive.”
 
“HumanKind is pleased to partner with the City of Richmond Treasurer’s Office to support families needing access to financial resources.  Thanks to this collaboration, we are able to provide individuals and working families guidance and direction regarding area providers and services at no cost,” said Bob Dendy, President and CEO of HumanKind.
 
Richmond residents interested in being connected to a Financial Navigator can visit this online registration portal or call the City Treasurer’s Office of Financial Empowerment at 804-646-MORE (6673). Organizations that provide client services can also refer clients directly to a financial navigator. 
 
Quotes from Partners:

“Financial distress is a primary part of the COVID-19 crisis, and we’re pleased City Treasurer Nichole R. Armstead and her team are making this a priority for Richmond residents,” said Jonathan Mintz, President and CEO of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. “The Financial Navigators program will help Richmond residents assess and prioritize their financial concerns and get connected with the right resources.”
 
“Communities across the country continue to face significant economic challenges as a result of COVID-19,” said Brandee McHale, Head of Citi Community Investing and Development and President of the Citi Foundation. “To provide residents in the City of Richmond with the vital financial tools and support necessary to navigate the financial impacts of the pandemic, the Citi Foundation is proud to partner once again with the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund to launch the Financial Navigators program.”
 
“The pandemic has clearly heightened awareness around the financial hardships that so many people were already facing here in Richmond and deep disparities that exist in society,” said Darlene Goins, head of financial health philanthropy with the Wells Fargo Foundation.  “We applaud the CFE Fund for bringing together the City of Richmond, philanthropists, and financial services and other industries to reimagine solutions that can help improve financial stability and resiliency for individuals and families, particularly during this economic crisis.”

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Following four years of significant accomplishments and improvements in education, neighborhoods, infrastructure and equity, Levar M. Stoney today was sworn in for a second term as mayor of the City of Richmond.
 
Reflecting on a year of racial reckoning in the midst of a global health pandemic, Mayor Stoney pledged to lead by engaging the community in the hard work of reconciliation and breaking down barriers to put the city on a path toward social and economic justice.
 
“Richmonders want, moreover they deserve, more than the status quo,” the mayor said this afternoon, in remarks following his swearing in at Henry Marsh Elementary School – one of three new schools built in communities of color during his first term in office.
 
“We have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to build a city that meaningfully reflects the lessons learned not only in 2020, but also throughout centuries of our unique, tumultuous history,” he continued. “We must fill the potholes, pave the streets, pick up the trash and issue the permits on time. But my priority will always be serving as a champion of Richmonders burdened by generational poverty.”
 
The mayor said that despite the challenges of the last year and facing the city in 2021, he is confident of the city’s path forward, having witnessed the strength, resilience and hope embedded in its residents.
 
“Over the last four years, I have witnessed that same hope with my own eyes,” he said. “I’ve talked to the mother, bone-tired after working multiple jobs, still concerned about the quality of education her children will receive. That’s hope.
 
“I’ve spoken to the returning citizen, crippled by a felony conviction, shedding tears of joy and gratitude for an opportunity to work again,” he continued. “That’s hope.”
 
“On my visits to each and every school in our city, I have met beautiful boys and girls who proudly share their big dreams with me. That’s hope.”
 
Professing his love for the city and gratitude for the opportunity to serve, the mayor said he would fight for families, listen to communities, double down on unity and gear city hall even more toward service in the next four years, completing the transformation of Richmond from the former capital of the confederacy into a “capital of compassion.”
 
The mayor concluded his remarks with a call for residents to unify and meet the challenges of 2021 by working together.
 
“Richmond, we must meet our moment,” the mayor said. “It won’t come easy. It will require a Herculean effort from each and every one of us. But I know we will get there. Yes, 2020 may have been a dark year, but dawn is on the horizon.”
 
The swearing in was conducted by Judge Kevin Duffan, a friend of the mayor’s and the first African American judge appointed to the Circuit Court in the City of Virginia Beach.
 
It was attended by 7th District City Councilmember Dr. Cynthia I. Newbille and witnessed by Richmond Electoral Board Chairman James Nachman. 
 
Pastor Yvonne Jones Bibbs of the Sixth Baptist Church of Richmond provided the invocation. Acting Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders was also in attendance.

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La ciudad de Richmond anunció el lanzamiento del programa de subvenciones “Richmond Recovers II” para los pequeños empresarios. El programa es financiado con $2 millones de los fondos del Acta CARES otorgados a la ciudad y será administrado por la Agencia de Desarrollo Económico de la Ciudad de Richmond. Este nuevo programa de subvenciones expandirá el esfuerzo hecho por el programa de subvenciones “Richmond Recovers”, el cual en su primera etapa aprobó 260 subvenciones por un total de $2.79 millones.

“Los pequeños negocios son el pilar de nuestra economía local, y el COVID-19 sigue afectándolos desproporcionadamente”, dijo el alcalde Stoney. “Estos fondos no son ni remotamente suficientes para resolver el problema en su totalidad, pero ayudarán. Continuaremos trabajando para obtener más apoyo del gobierno federal hasta que Richmond se haya recuperado completamente”, añadió.

Los pequeños negocios podrán recibir subvenciones de hasta $15 000. Estos fondos pueden ser utilizados para reembolsar los costos del pago de nómina a los empleados, incluyendo los beneficios laborales; para el pago del alquiler y los servicios públicos de los locales comerciales; para cubrir los costos de equipos de protección personal (PPE) y artículos de limpieza; para gastos de comercio electrónico; y como capital de trabajo.

Las instrucciones completas y los requisitos de elegibilidad están disponibles en Las solicitudes se pueden enviar por Internet a partir de las 12:00pm (hora del Este) del 7 de diciembre de 2020 y hasta las 11:59pm (hora del Este) del 16 de diciembre de 2020.

En su totalidad, incluyendo los fondos del programa de subvenciones “Richmond Recovers II”, la ciudad ha destinado más de $6.3 millones para apoyar a los empresarios durante la pandemia de COVID-19.

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