Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney looked toward the city's future in his third State of the City address by focusing on four pillars: housing and neighborhoods, public transportation, youth and education, and economic empowerment. (Photo by Rodrigo Arriaza)
In his third annual State of the City address, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney took stock of recent accomplishments and discussed ways he'll seek to improve access to housing, education and economic opportunities for Richmonders as he enters the final year of his first term in office.
Here are five takeaways from Stoney's address Tuesday night at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture:
1. 'One lost life is one too many.'
After highlighting strides taken by various city departments and recent accolades earned by the city — such as being ranked among the top 52 places to visit in the world by The New York Times — Stoney turned his attention to gun violence in Richmond. He looked back on the shooting death of 9-year-old Markiya Dickson in Richmond’s Carter Jones Park last May, which he called "the hardest day of my term as your mayor."
"One lost life is one too many, and one lost child is not just a crime against her family, it is a crime against our city," he said. "The bottom line is we must do better. We owe it to Markiya, and we owe it to her family."
Stoney then reflected on the passage of legislation he introduced to require that lost or stolen firearms be reported to the Richmond Police Department within 24 hours, and stated his intent to ban all guns in city parks and buildings if given the authority to do so by the General Assembly. He also thanked local and state law enforcement agencies for their response to a massive gun-rights rally at the Virginia State Capitol that brought an estimated 22,000 demonstrators to the city last Monday.
"Thousands of gun-toting demonstrators descended on the streets of our capital in an attempt to intimidate our lawmakers, and [Richmond Police] Chief [William] Smith and our partners kept our city safe that day without incident," he said.
2. Acknowledging Richmond's Diverse History
The mayor discussed strides taken by the city in 2019 to break away from its reputation as the former capital of the Confederacy and instead serve as a model for diversity and inclusion. Chiefly, he focused on the dedication of Arthur Ashe Boulevard and the unveiling of the “Rumors of War” statue in front of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, artist Kehinde Wiley's response to the Confederate iconography that lines Monument Avenue.
"This is a monument that speaks volumes about where this city is today and where it is going," Stoney said.
3. Addressing Housing Challenges
The mayor also focused on steps the city has taken over the past year to respond to its overwhelming eviction crisis, revealed by a Princeton University study which found that Richmond has the second-highest eviction rate among all major cities in the United States.
Those have included the formation of a one-time financial assistance program for Richmonders called the eviction diversion program, along with an eviction task force charged with developing solutions to the issue of housing instability. Stoney also referenced the recently released findings of a report on housing challenges in the Richmond region by the Partnership for Housing Affordability, which found that the city will need to build 280 affordable homes every year for the next 20 years to keep up with projected demand.
To continue working toward equitable housing opportunities in the city, Stoney announced that the city will unveil its Affordable and Equitable Housing Strategy in coming weeks, and said that he intends to increase housing opportunities for seniors, people returning to the city, low-income residents, youth aging out of the foster care system and those in need of mental health resources. He also mentioned that, through the program, the city will seek to help residents avoid losing their neighborhoods to gentrification through policies "such as tax-deferral programs for very low and low-income homeowners and housing rehab programs.
"We are taking a holistic approach to address our housing challenges, working with various housing and community stakeholders, because we know that housing is foundational — it is a vaccine for poverty — and we must work collectively every day towards its cure," he said.
4. Improving Livability
Stoney also said he'll seek to enact quality-of-life improvements for Richmonders by increasing the city's stock of public parks and developing "a clear, cohesive vision for children and families," something he said Richmond currently lacks.
In 2020, Stoney will work with the city's Parks and Recreation Department to turn up to 10 parcels of unoccupied, city-owned land into green space, he announced. The first phase of the effort will "prioritize the design of five parcels of new green space for the enjoyment of our residents and all who visit," he said. The project is a response to data showing that 51,000 city residents live more than a 10-minute walk to a park, and that Richmond uses just 6% of its land for parks and recreation, as compared to 15% nationally.
Stoney also announced the creation of a city Office of Children and Families this year in an effort to "ensure that Richmond is the best place to grow up and to raise a family, from child health to adequate income, community learning and promoting healthy environments," he said.
5. 'We have to have faith that we can do something great for our city.'
The final point of Stoney's address, focused on economic development, was perhaps the most timely, as he appears to stand at an impasse with City Council over the $1.5 billion Navy Hill project championed by members of his administration.
On Monday night, five of the nine council members introduced a proposed resolution petitioning Stoney to withdraw plans for Navy Hill and restart the request for proposals process for the project. In response, Stoney said he wouldn't withdraw the 10 ordinances key to the downtown redevelopment from City Council's Feb. 24 docket, a point he reiterated during his remarks Tuesday, to resounding applause from the audience.
Stoney drew a line between maintaining the status quo in the 10 downtown blocks slated for development and going "boldly into this new decade."
"Yes, we’ve taken some swings in the past and missed," he conceded, "but if we truly want the change we need, if we truly want to move on from the mistakes of our past, we can't be afraid to embrace opportunity when it stares us in the face. We have to believe in ourselves. And we have to have faith that we can do something great for our city."
He went on to say that his administration and project developer NH District Corp have listened to negative feedback that the proposal has garnered since its unveiling last August and have responded to criticism by expanding affordable housing options in the development, committing to holding school funding harmless from the bond repayment plan, working with commercial real estate analytics firm CoStar to commit to bringing 2,000 jobs to the development and by shrinking the tax increment financing (TIF) district that would be used to repay arena construction debts from 80 city blocks to 11, pending the passage of legislation sponsored by Del. Jeff Bourne (D-Richmond).
The project also will generate an estimated $1 billion earmarked for schools, housing and roads after the bond debt is repaid, Stoney has said.
“It is time that we have faith, not fear, and move our city forward in a way that benefits all Richmonders," Stoney told the audience Tuesday night. “That is why I believe in Navy Hill. Bottom line: I believe in Richmond. I'm so proud of where we are, after where we were. And I'm so excited about where we're going.”
