The following is an extended version of the candidate interview that appears in the October issue of Richmond magazine and has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo by Jay Paul
Richmond magazine: Why did you decide to run for mayor?
Tracey McLean: I decided to run for mayor because, growing up in the city, I expected to see change and I’ve seen nothing happen for a lot of people like me, and I decided that it was time for a change, it was time for the community's voice to finally be heard. I always felt like we needed candidates who understand what the problem is and make policies that [cater] to the actual needs instead of [helping] a very small amount of people.
RM: How has the pandemic impacted your ability to campaign and meet Richmonders?
McLean: It has impacted me a lot. I had to petition the court to allow me to have less signatures because of that reason. I wasn’t willing to compromise any part of any resident if they didn’t feel comfortable, but I wanted to make sure that I actually stand for what I believe in, and that is basically just to keep everyone safe.
RM: How would you lead Richmond out of COVID-19 relief and into recovery over the next four years?
McLean: I think that the pandemic showed us the holes in our foundation as a community. We should’ve been proactive and we should already have solutions. Starting with education, I’d make sure that we have working laptops for the students because it’s going to be really hard to work online, a network of teachers and volunteers to assist the students with their homework, and going forward, making sure that all the laptops have working internet and that parents and the students understand how to work both. That’s just one part of the solution, but understanding that as we go on, this recovery will last a few years. We’ll be rebuilding a whole new foundation, so now we get a chance to right the wrongs and go out into the community and help one another.
For the businesses, I would like to set up a barter system because we won’t be able to have a lot of employees [or] pay them right away, so we’d have a barter system so that we all can get on our feet. We have to use everyone’s talent in the community so that we can launch RVA back to where we need to go and further. Say a restaurant might need help and I can offer my services as far as sales. My store closes at a certain time while their store or their restaurant might still be open, and [I can assist with] any services that the restaurant might need help with.
RM: Do you have any concerns about how the ongoing pandemic will affect voter turnout on election day?
McLean: A lot of voters are asking for absentee ballots and [with] what’s going on with the mail, I encourage them, if possible, to drop it off to the voter registration office. I know they’re looking into other ways to be able to handle that, but I just want everything to be fair. If you can go out to the polls, then of course, have your mask on, separate with social distancing, vote and leave, but have your voice. I definitely think that we should have a better plan, but as far as getting out the absentee ballots, we should get them out a little sooner so that a lot of the voters can bring them [without] worrying about it getting lost in the mail.
RM: How would you help small and minority-owned businesses recover from the pandemic?
McLean: I’m not sure what’ll be left when I get in office as far as money left to offer to the businesses, but I definitely feel that we should offer some more relief grants to businesses where it’s needed. [Struggling businesses would] be the first to be offered a job and first to apply, and that would also offer some relief. As I said, it’s a lot when you’re speaking about going forward, because right now, it’s sort of like, let’s survive where we are. I know I’ve spoken with a lot of business owners and they’re just surviving. It’s very important that we’re hands-on [and] to have a certain task force [that can] go out and to assess what the need is for that business and how can we help, because everyone doesn’t need everything.
RM: Alongside the pandemic, this summer’s protests have brought disparities related to race and policing to the forefront. What would you do to reshape policing in the city?
McLean: That has been a huge subject, and it’s very important that we bring the police back into the community [and] the officers coming from the community. Having that relationship will ease a lot of the tension, and I mean a true relationship, not a relationship of power. If we build that relationship and that foundation, I feel that this would make the police officers and the community cohesive. Also, I would like to assess [police] training and testing, and everybody would have to go back through it. I understand that some officers would say ‘we already did this,' but there’s a reason for that because we need to have officers on the beat with the mindset that they actually work for the community that they’re in and policing the community to make everything safe. Also, I feel that a mental health unit should be added to the force.
RM: What are your thoughts on demands raised by protesters to defund the police?
McLean: Unfortunately, the way the world is today, we cannot dismantle the police. I feel that taking money out of the [police] budget will be necessary to allocate money into different services that will be needed. I think my idea of offering reparations in the city will also help lower the crime rate.
I would like to offer reparations as an apology to all the African American people in Richmond and to start the healing process. What reparations looks like on the city level, I'm sure, would be totally different than what it would look like coming from the president of the United States, but I would like to offer health insurance credit, life insurance credit and things that would actually bring about true equity. Of course, I have a few ideas, but [through] speaking with city council and the community, we would get details that are ready to go and just start making it happen. We have to heal the pain now that we recognize what it is. We recognize the racial unrest, we recognize inequity, we now have to start to heal from it. We have to take responsibility for what was done.
RM: Although it was overshadowed by COVID-19, the Navy Hill redevelopment plan was one of the biggest local stories of 2019 and early 2020. What lessons did you learn from that process, and how would you improve the Navy Hill area in a more equitable way?
McLean: I definitely feel that the community was not a big part of it. Whenever you do a lot of construction, you do destruction to families and their livelihood of knowing where they are going to go and how they are going to survive. We have this thing that we tend to say all the time about affordable housing, and I need people to understand that it needs to be true affordable housing. When they say affordable housing, I don’t know what they're talking about, but it's not a lot of the community. That's why we're here now, set in a situation where there will be a lot of evictions, not just because of job loss.
We have had a lot of failed projects and I've been here to watch them, [from] Sixth Street Marketplace to the [Washington football] training camp, so with that being said, we need to know [that we’re building] things that will last. We need to offer things that our community can be a part of, jobs need to be available to them. If we’re doing anything as far as building structures [where] small businesses can open their business, they should be... the [first] ones [that] we contact or [allow to apply] for a tax credit. That way, we can ensure the longevity of that business and we are putting funds back into the community and growing our economy. You’ve got to think it all the way through. A lot of people do things just so that they can lift their career to a different level and they’re not thinking about the result on the community, and I’m here for the community. If it doesn’t have the benefit of the community, it doesn’t have me.
RM: Kids across the city are returning to remote learning this fall, but parents have raised concerns around widening learning gaps in the virtual setting. How would you address those concerns?
McLean: It's very important that we gather a task force to take calls and to answer any questions to help any student or any parent. I know this is new for a lot of parents because [many] are single parents trying to make life work, let alone becoming a teacher. If possible, [it would be beneficial] to have a learning session at the park with social distancing. If it’s just a handful of students or maybe a one-on-one session, that would be a great option to get one-on-one training, but still socially distanced. I know for a lot of kids, it’s different being in the classroom than virtual.
RM: Richmond schools face a bevy of challenges that existed well before the pandemic like racially segregated student bases and low graduation and accreditation rates. How would you work to improve the city’s schools during your next four years as mayor?
McLean: I can honestly say that the reparations will help some of the situation because it would offer one-on-one tutoring for African American kids and an assessment for understanding where they are or what’s needed. I also would like to offer bilingual counselors in all schools. From my observations, a lot of the Spanish-speaking kids are suffering because they have no one to communicate [with them]. When you’re in school, [the counselors, principal and teachers need] to be a family and you need to be there to understand the children and help them grow so they can be productive adults. When you lose any part of that, a child falls through the cracks, so we must build a relationship within our schools. We must [hire] people who have this mindset of helping the kids, not just receiving a paycheck.
RM: How would you work to curb evictions and expand safe and affordable rental housing in the city?
McLean: As I said, a lot of the problem goes [back] to what we call affordable housing, so as far as that is concerned, I think we need to revisit that and actually make that work for the community. As far as the evictions... that landlord and tenant relationship is needed. We all know that we are going through a lot right now, especially with COVID, and not only are the tenants suffering, landlords are suffering [too]. How can we come to a great [compromise]? [Tenants] don't have to be best friends with their landlord, but the landlords need to know that ‘I get paid on the 15th and I understand that my rent is due on this day, but I can pay you all on this day,’ to be able to have that conversation without being scared and without being charged a late fee, which will sometimes put you way behind, especially when you [live] check to check. It’s very important that we build these relationships, and we understand true affordable housing.
RM: After years of debate, city-owned Confederate statues are now gone from Monument Avenue. What do you think the city should do to replace them and tell the story more fully?
McLean: Where the Robert E. Lee statue is, if that gets removed, I would like to have a huge fountain [with] little pictures of different people who might have lost their life unjustly, and the fountain would be illuminated and [have] beautiful green grass. It [would] just be a nice, friendly area where people could come and gather. As you go down to where the other statues [were], I definitely think that we should not at all have statues anymore. We should have things that represent Richmond as a community, Virginia as a state. I would like suggestions from the community on everything else, actually making the community a part of the decision on what we need to put [there]. It should be a whole lot of suggestions and then we can work together to make them happen, but definitely a huge fountain where the [Robert E. Lee] statue once stood. I feel that, yes, the Confederacy is a part of the history of Virginia but with that being said, with the fountain, [I want to] have a place where conversation might happen to start some healing.
RM: What makes you the right person for the job?
McLean: I’m the right person because I’m actually speaking for the community. I’m listening to what the community has to say, and I will push for what they ask for, and it’s very important to work together. I have solutions because I went through some things in life, and I’ve achieved things in life even though I’ve had adversity. I have some answers [and] some solutions that will help change Richmond for the better so that we can be the No. 1 place to move to, to bring a family, to build a school, all of that. I just implore everyone to vote for a candidate who would represent their voice, it’s very important that every voice is heard.
