by Jon Baliles

The city’s Department of Public Utilities had perhaps their worst week since the January 2025 water crisis this past week (the May boil water advisory is close) and, like the big crisis, it may last a while and require an after action report to figure out just what happened to keep it from happening again. We have commended Mayor Avula and DPU Director Scott Morris for righting the ship when it comes to the reliability of the water plant to function as intended and the city’s ability to keep the water flowing since the crisis. They took a deserved victory lap in January about how much progress had been made and the water plant endured through one the nastiest ice storms we have seen in decades (unlike the two inch snowstorm that brought the water plant down when less competent people were in charge).

But just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, the city suffered another self-inflicted wound in the last month. They tried to get their error past the goalie without anyone getting wise, but the people of Richmond were watching and paying attention, as they usually are. Instead realizing the mistake and proactively dealing with the mess they created and get out ahead of it, the city tried to keep the problem silent. It began on May 21 when the city issued a press release about DPU transitioning to new back office systems “to improve customer service operations and streamline field service management for utility customers across the city.”

You may recall back in November 2025 DPU was dealing with billing issues related to about 5,000 customers in Southside with faulty meter readings after new and updated meters had been installed. Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald said issues and problems can always arise, but also pledged:

“Our goal is to deliver best in class service to our customers. Service rises to elite status, when we proactively correct issues and our customers can have confidence that we will do what it takes to get it right. This small adjustment is the first step in building that transparency and trust with our customers.”

Transparency and trust go hand in hand, but this administration has not been doing a bang up job of delivering either. In the May 21 release, Director Morris said: “As we continue modernizing our operations, these systems will help position DPU to better serve our customers both now and in the future. CCS and OFS will provide our teams with better tools, more efficient workflows and improved access to information, ultimately creating easier work flows and a better experience that our customers deserve.”

The transition supports Mayor Danny Avula’s vision of “Richmond: A city where all people and places thrive” by investing in modern systems that strengthen customer service and improve operational reliability for residents.

This celebration of DPU’s switch is the exact reasoning Mayor Avula opposed the recent tax deferral program approved by Council 9-0 because it would require new software and “more efficient workflows,” etc., but I digress.

The release also noted customers could still pay their bills using their preferred method and that they would also be receiving new 10 digit account numbers but the old ones would still be accessible by Call311 agents. They also noted there could be temporary impacts such as delays in processing service requests, limited access to customer information by Call311 agents, and other impacts.

The May 26 release announced the systems upgrades marked “a major milestone” and were complete and successful that would “improve customer service, operational efficiency and service delivery across the department.” It promised better billing and customer service process, better account management, faster and more efficient service, ad infinitum. It also pointed out the city had “committed significant resources to ensure the new systems were designed and developed with the customer in mind. There was an abundance of testing, training, dress rehearsals and validations to get the system ready.” It reiterated that there were new account numbers beginning in June (but the old ones would also be attached to the account) and that those who use an autopay or bank payment system should update those processes.

However, within just a few days, on June 1 the city released another statement that said there was a “system glitch” in the upgrade process “that has impacted payments for some accounts” and that some payments that were received were not properly applied to the correct account. They expected the problem to be resolved “within one to two business days, no action is required by customers as the payments will be processed as soon as the system error is corrected.”

So, after all that talk about transparency and trust and first-class service and upgrades and testing, the city ended up sending out 15,000+ new water bills with late fees and penalties because the “glitch” they acknowledged on June 1 was not fixed in their promised one- to two-day timeline. As a matter of fact, the city didn’t even acknowledge it was a problem at all until Graham Moomaw called the city on June 15 trying to get answers about why a lot of residents were getting bills with late fees and had checks cashed from the previous month but not applied to their accounts.

Moomaw also reported that some customers got text messages sent on a Saturday morning notifying them they had an overdue balance and could sign up for a payment plan if needed (who sends a legitimate business text on a Saturday morning?!). A reddit/rva thread covered this confusion (and anger) because what made it more confusing is that the text messages looked like spam/scam because they included the new account numbers many people were not familiar with because the city did a TERRIBLE job of outreach on this change.

The May 21 and May 26 releases noted people were getting new account numbers, but nowhere else was this announced. DPU did not include a mailer insert in bills (as they often do for other issues) for those receiving paper bills; there were no emails sent to those who use DPU online BillPay; the mayor did not announce it in his newsletter (just like him failing with bike lane buffer mess in May); and as you can see below, one customer who receives paper bills noted that neither April’s bill nor May’s had any announcement about the new account number even in the “Important Messages” section of the bill. Neither did the bills with the new account number have the old account number anywhere on it.

Besides the inexcusable lack of transparency about changing account numbers, there is one other major baffling aspect of this “improved” change. We have talked to six people who received bills, and all of the new account numbers end with: 0000. If you have ever used a saved credit card or filled out a Social Security Number on a form, the first six or so digits are hidden for privacy and the last four digits are your identifier so you know which card it is or to make sure your SSN is correct, etc. The city upgraded the new account system and now has possibly tens of thousands of accounts that all end in 0000 with no differentiation when dealing with issues.

Beam me up, Scotty.

As Moomaw pressed for answers on June 15, the city finally issued a vaguely worded release at 5:40pm that had little detail of the issues DPU was working through or how the screw up would affect customers. The following day, the city issued another release that said they were “aware” of the problem and was working to resolve it as quickly as possible. They also stated they would temporarily suspend service disconnections or flow restrictors, and that any late fees would be removed and anyone who had already paid would be credited on their next bill.

Now, that is quite a lot for the city to promise and deliver after doing all that bragging about how great the new system was and that it was complete and working and wonderful. The issues continued for weeks after the June 1 “glitch “ was acknowledged but nothing was done about it because thousands of bills still went out with self-inflicted late fees and creating tons of confusion. The following day on June 17, the city suddenly announced a “People’s Day: We’re Here to Help” series of several dates and locations where residents can get “direct, in person access to City leadership, customer service teams, and resource support across multiple departments.” The first such event on June 23rd is focused on, you guessed it, utilities!

The release noted that this series was launching now (after the entire herd got out of the barn) because the city was “implementing several major technology upgrades across departments to improve service long term. While these improvements are important, nothing replaces in person customer service. People’s Day exists to ensure residents always have a direct line to help when they need it.” They also claimed they had “quickly identified the [billing] issue” and of course failed to mention that it took two weeks to even acknowledge it, which was only done because of media inquiries, not outreach.

A series of meetings for access and explanations is a good idea in any locality, but if Avula and his team were truly focused on building transparency and trust, SOMEONE would have thought to do the proper saturation notification and this People’s Day stunt BEFORE the software change and not weeks later after they got busted by the media because people were getting hit with bogus fees, spam texts, and new account numbers they knew nothing about (and the city had already cashed their check). It takes more than two press releases and social media posts to let 75,000+ water customers that they are getting a new account number and they’re could be issues with it when the switch over. It would have been proactive and helpful (not to mention build trust that the changes were for the better) had they done all that beforehand because, as CAO Donald mentioned, there is always the chance for something to go wrong, and it sure did here. Instead, the reality of what actually happened tells us Avula was fine with press releases celebrating the change itself and how it would be great and impactful and then trying to pretend it wasn’t an issue when clearly it was a serous one. That’s a lesson that should have learned after he was left a self-destructing water plant five days after being sworn in as Mayor.

As Michael Philips reported at The Richmonder on June 18, the city said the total number of accounts affected by this mishap were in the 15,000+ range. Yet the city still maintain the fault was that of the 3rd-party billing vendor they hired. They said the software switch in May was successful, but the execution by someone else was not:

“In these cases, payment files from one of DPU’s payment processors were not received as expected,” the city wrote.

“While the launch was successful and key milestones were achieved — including accurate account data conversion and system functionality — some issues have occurred with third-party billing and payment processing vendors,” it said.

The dog ate it.

You can’t go from a release on May 26 saying every aspect of the change was done wonderfully and successfully to a few weeks later saying tens of thousands of screw ups because of someone else. Own it. Own it before you announce it and publicize the hell out of a major change, own it when you deliver it, and own it when/if something goes wrong and fix it. That’s what Avula says his administration is all about, but when the s*it hits the fan, he tends to quickly deflect responsibility to someone else, just like his predecessor.

The city’s June 18 release continued: “During the conversion, DPU’s bill print vendor did not properly reference customer email addresses and the bills defaulted to mail delivery. The vendor has corrected this issue and has resumed email delivery for those customers signed up for paperless billing.”

The city should be responsible for any vendor to make sure they are providing that promised “first class service” they talk about but have yet to deliver. Just like on June 1 when the city said the “glitch” would be fixed within a day or two (but were not), they also said in the release that any late fees will be waived and the delayed processing of payments would be finished by yesterday [Thursday]. So if you are one of the residents who received and/or paid your bill, got charged late fees and penalties, and also have the city promising to make things right on the next bill, then remember to triple check when next month’s bill arrives and make sure the credits are there, late fees are waived, and you aren’t double charged for the month they messed up.

This is a definitive chance to put all hands on deck and fix it, and maybe [hopefully] that will be the case, but they said the same thing last month and failed. Mayor Avula promises over and over to deliver a “thriving” City Hall, “thriving” neighborhoods, and a “thriving” everything else. But this latest failure is yet another example of him repeating the mistakes of his predecessor; he can’t keep simply try to sell talking points over and over and hope the people buy them instead of focusing on the basics and the details and getting them right from the outset. That’s how real change happens because it does not come from just trying to explain away failures again and again in press releases. It would be wise for Avula to remember that you can’t spell “thriving” unless you learn how to cross the “t” and dot the “i’s”.

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