Tag: Jon Baliles
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DPU Billing Mess: You Can’t Thrive Without Crossing the “T”
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…
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Vacationing on Sharp’s Island
by Jon Baliles Apologies for being away from the keyboard, but when dealing with and reading and writing about the City of Richmond, everyone deserves (and needs) a little R&R now and then. So while I am away, take a visit to Sharp’s Island in the middle of the James River just west of the…
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Cloudy Forecast for Richmond City Transparency
by Jon Baliles “A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.” — Dalai Lama Less than three weeks ago, we wrote about transparency’s obituary in RVA, but few would have ever guessed that City Hall was apparently not only serving as funeral director but also continued to keep throwing dirt on top…
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What Do You Want In Your Neighborhood (and City)?
by Jon Baliles For some time now, the city has been engaged in an effort to update the city’s zoning ordinance which was written in 1976. Richmond has come a loooong way in that time in many ways and in other ways…not so much. The latest zoning effort, known as Code Refresh, has generated much…
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A Delinquent Water Bill Dashboard?
by Jon Baliles The City of Richmond put out a release last week touting the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) “Back on Track” program that offers any customer with an outstanding balance to sign up for a payment plan before March 31st. Both residential and commercial customers with delinquent balances can set up an interest-free…
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Bill & Ed’s Excellent Richmond Adventure, Part 2
by Jon Baliles As mentioned in Part 1, Richmond lost two giants of history and change at the end of 2025 when Ed Slipek died after a brief illness and soon after, Bill Martin was struck by a car in the crosswalk on Broad Street, only two blocks from The Valentine Museum, which he had…
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Bill & Ed’s Excellent Richmond Adventure
by Jon Baliles The end of 2025 in Richmond was a rough and painful one as the city lost two of our dearest friends, visionaries, change agents, and just down right kind-hearted people that collectively did more to inspire change and keep it on the front burner to make this city a better place. I…
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Chicanery & Circus at the Courthouse
by Jon Baliles There have been a lot of embarrassing moments in the history of city government, but one that will soon be in the Hall of Fame is taking place before our eyes, with the latest edition occurring last Tuesday in the John Marshall Courthouse. A trial that began more than 18 months ago…
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Taxes and Teamwork, or Just More of the Same?
by Jon Baliles Today Richmond’s Mayor and City Council will debate (and probably vote) on whether or not to maintain the real estate tax rate at $1.20 per $100 of assessed value or lower it four cents to offer some relief to property owners and renters. The Mayor and some on Council (probably a majority)…
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Will Richmond Tackle Corruption or Pretend It Doesn’t Exist?
by Jon Baliles Inspector Generals are (and should be) vital cogs in any governmental or organizational machine. Many federal agencies have them, state governments use them, and local governments depend on them. They bring to light the waste, fraud, and abuse that can permeate and be hidden so well at the local level they aren’t…
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Richmond, Pay the Man His Money!
by Jon Baliles A strange story appeared this week almost out of nowhere and seems to have caught everyone by surprise, including the Mayor, who has spent the last few days fumbling the situation like a rookie running back. Graham Moomaw at The Richmonder broke the news Monday that Governor Youngkin sent the city a…
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River, What River?
by Jon Baliles The news of the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) returning to Richmond for the first time since 1997 was big news this week but quickly overshadowed by the left hook out of nowhere that the city will close off parking and vehicular access to the city’s waterfront (including easy access to Belle Isle,…
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Avoiding Transparency
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…
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Will Sunlight Fall on Stoney’s Selfish Severances?
by Jon Baliles Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water in Richmond, another scandalous legacy of Levar Stoney has been tossed in Mayor Avula’s lap, and he is just barely two weeks into his term. The cesspool of corruption and inefficiency that has returned to City Hall in recent…
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Dry January Takes on a Whole New Meaning
by Jon Baliles The start of every New Year often comes with people making resolutions to do more exercise, choose better eating habits, and make changes to improve one’s life. One of the newer traditions in recent years has been Dry January, which started in England but has spread worldwide and challenges people to spend…