by Jon Baliles

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula ran on a platform to clean up City Hall and be a transparent mayor, but so far he has done little to differentiate his administration from that of his predecessor, who wrote the book on how to master obfuscation and ignoring the public’s right to know. Avula could easily have announced demonstrated a new attitude and instituted a new policy towards transparency that would have matched his lofty rhetoric from the campaign trail that would bring a new day and let the sun shine down on City Hall.

He had the perfect chance to take a huge first step and demonstrate the need for sunscreen by settling and ending an ongoing lawsuit filed last year by the city’s former Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officer who was fired by Mayor Stoney in January 2024 after about six months on the job. That drama occurred just as the meals tax fiasco was heating up and the media was making numerous inquiries about the mess that is the city’s Finance Department. Leading up to that drama, other local reporters and government watchdogs have also had their FOIA requests ignored and had to take legal action against the city just to even get a reply. Then, Connie Clay was fired as the city’s FOIA officer and claims she was canned by the higher ups over information the city was providing (or not providing) under FOIA law. After her firing, she filed a $250,000 wrongful termination lawsuit.

The city has stood firm in denying wrongdoing and say Clay’s allegations are without merit. The city delayed answering its own motion for dismissal for months and has dragged out the process. Two months ago, the judge overseeing the case had to order a play date meeting in May to work out the disagreements between the two sides to resolve document issues about what is confidential and what is not.

Meanwhile, the bills for the city keep escalating. Josh Stanfield reported in Virginia Politics Revealed that the city has already racked up more than $234,000 in third-party legal fees to the firm handling the case and still has to prepare for trial and go to court in September. The firm billed the city more than $36,000 for legal work in March alone. It is entirely possible that after the legal fees for trial prep and the actual trial, the city could end up paying 2x to 3x the amount they are being sued for.

While the city claims no wrongdoing (a reflex action over the last eight years), it is not uncommon knowledge that the Stoney Administration obfuscated and blocked access to public records again and again (and again). The Times-Dispatch has a story of documented numerous FOIA issues under Stoney. And yet, Avula is choosing to go to court and spend zillions of dollars of public money on a lawsuit that was the result of the Stoney administration’s intransigence. He could simply drop the case and promise a new era of transparency and openness, but he has instead chosen the Stoney way.

Samuel Parker at the Times-Dispatch did report this week that “compliance with rules set by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act has increased with Avula with respect to requests submitted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch,” (compared to the low bar set by the Stoney administration), but replying or sending redacted records within the required time allowed by the FOIA laws does not always mean the public gets to see records of value. Parker also pointed out that city officials continue to charge large, discretionary fees for disclosing public records.

This has been brought up by Graham Moomaw at the Richmonder who said the city would charge $1,000 for key officials’ communication records during the second boil water advisory in late May. He pointed out, Virginia law allows governments to charge for FOIA requests, but officials can choose to release records for free. Though city officials have identified the water problems as a top priority for the city, they have chosen not to waive FOIA fees for water-related records requests. Tyler Layne at CBS6 was given a $4,000 estimate in January after the water plant meltdown. It seems the Avula administration favors charging exorbitant amounts rather than let their communications be made public. Sounds all too familiar.

Avula’s promised “transparency” included a “Reading Room” with documents that opened in April related to the water plant failure, but most of those documents were so heavily redacted as to be almost useless. And details about the dozens of severance packages that Stoney gave out on his way out the door that came to light earlier this year are still deliberately being withheld.

The water plant and the expensive FOIA case are not the only areas where Avula is choosing shade instead of sunlight. Parker also published a story that Avula is stonewalling on another issue just like Stoney did. The city’s check register is supposed to be published on the city web site every month and show every payment the city makes, including vendor names, dollar amounts, dates and payment types, etc. It’s the ultimate accountability tool because it shows all those things and open government watchdogs can inquire about payments and spot or prevent fraud and abuse.

It should come as no surprise then, that Mayor Stoney took the payment register offline in 2019. It’s entirely possible that fraud like the $2 million by a city employee using fake businesses could have been spotted before the Times-Dispatch discovered it years later. It’s also possible some of the $5 million in credit card abuse could have been spotted or prevented since there were things like a $19,600 payment for one departmental lunch.

Parker first broke the news in August 2024 that the register had been shut off for five years and Stoney’s incompetent team complained it was too tedious and time-consuming a task. They even blamed the difficulty in maintaining the payment register because of the pandemic, which began in March 2020 even though the register had been turned off eight months earlier. The day after the story broke last year, the city turned off public access to even the outdated database that was still online.

Fast forward to today and a new mayor and new promises; instead of charting a new course of transparency, Avula has doubled down using the same Stoney excuses. Parker wrote: Asked whether he would resume the mandated practice of disclosing city spending, Avula said he was open to the idea, but that officials simply don’t have the resources or the manpower at the moment.

“Over time, I’d love to explore a realistic and sustainable path to relaunching an online spending portal,” he said. “We just aren’t there yet.”

Avula ignored the fact that the publication of the payment register is required by city code and not just a friendly suggestion (I know because I was the patron of the legislation that created the payment register in 2015 and it was approved unanimously by City Council). He attempted deflection by saying he is complying with other ordinances like providing the monthly financial report of the city’s financial position to City Council (which has been a requirement for over a decade).

It’s not as if you have to reinvent the wheel, learn how to code software, or construct a jet. Henrico and Chesterfield publish their payments online without the excuses or the drama. Avula even reached out to Henrico to borrow a top Henrico official to help get the city’s budgeting and finance office in shape, so it stands to reason they might help us with a payment register, too.

If Mayor Avula was really invested and committed to transparency like he campaigned on, all he has to do is quit making excuses and call his friends at Richmond Public Schools. They created their own check register in 2014 — every check is online and it has been posted online every month ever since. They don’t bitch about it or complain about manpower or technology or blame the pandemic or anything else. There is absolutely no excuse for Avula not requiring the city do the same. Unless, like Stoney, he doesn’t want people to know where the money is really going…..

Jon Baliles is a former Richmond city councilman. This column has been republished with permission from his blog RVA 5X5.