Viola Baskerville, a former Richmond City Council member and state delegate, endorsed Jack Berry’s campaign for Richmond mayor on Thursday.
In an email sent by Berry’s campaign, Baskerville praised Berry’s professional contributions to the city over the last 35 years and said the former Venture Richmond executive was the candidate with the skill set best suited to assume the role of the city’s “next CEO.”
“[Berry] has the experience, passion and vision to unite our community and get things done,” Baskerville said. “He is a true public servant.”
Baskerville wrote a column published Thursday in the Richmond Times-Dispatch detailing the qualities she believes the city needs in its next mayor. She did not explicitly express her support for Berry in the newspaper, but she did direct an explicit jab at one Berry’s opponents: Of Joe Morrissey, a former commonwealth’s attorney and state delegate, she wrote, “A mayor who is a 'fighter' will not necessarily get us solutions to the challenges we face.” She also wrote that the city “does not need a novice at the helm” who had “little or no executive experience,” statements presumably directed at Levar Stoney, former secretary of the commonwealth.
Baskerville’s endorsement is the third of the week. Stoney received backing from the arm of an international labor union on Monday and a regional trade association representing developers and real estate professionals on Wednesday.
