Mayor Stoney Marks Successful First 100 Days

Watch the “Mayor’s Minute – First 100 Days” here.
 
Today, April 10, 2017, marks Mayor Stoney’s 100th day in office after being sworn in and pledging to work every day to build One Richmond – a city that works for everyone.

The Mayor has hit the ground running, making good on his promise to be engaged in the community and initiate much needed reform focused on the core priorities of improving public education, promoting public safety, creating economic opportunity and fixing City Hall.

Mayor Stoney has visited fire stations, police precincts and a third of city schools already, in addition to more than 100 public appearances in his first months in office. He has also joined council members in district walk-throughs or held community meetings in nearly every district.

In just the first few months into his administration, the Mayor has won consensus with the School Board and City Council on an Education Compact to address the needs of the whole child, helped attract hundreds of new jobs to the city and introduced a GRTC transit plan that will reduce commutes and waiting times without increasing fares.

He launched an independent and comprehensive performance review of every city department to make City Hall work again, and introduced a balanced budget that makes record investments in city schools while also increasing funding for public safety and community wealth building.

“It’s been a great 100 days,” said Mayor Stoney. “I want to thank the community for all of its support. The best is yet to come.”

Below is a list of some of the administration’s accomplishments over the first 100 days.

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HIGHLIGHTS OF FIRST 100 DAYS:

Fix City Hall / Departmental performance:
Initiated a 100-Day performance review by the Performance Management Group to find out what works and what needs improvement in City Hall. Took swift action to change leadership of several departments.

Education Compact:
Unanimous adoption by School Board and Council to work toward multi-agency, intergovernmental compact to address needs of the whole child.

Community Engagement:
More than 100 public appearances, including schools, police and fire stations, community walks and meetings in every district.

Public Safety:
Police Department is establishing a public housing unit. Trained more than 450 residents in use of force training. Three new fire engines were commissioned.

Public Works:
Prioritized residential streets in addition to primary roads during January snow storm and plowed 80% of streets within 24 hours. More than 4,500 potholes filled since January.

Welcoming City:
Issued Mayoral Directive reaffirming policies of inclusion. Among them: police will not inquire about immigration status and will not enter into 287(g) agreements with federal Immigrations Customs Enforcement. Joined Welcoming America and list of Welcoming Cities. Signed Mayor’s Against LGBT Discrimination national pledge.

Economic Development:
Nearly 700 new jobs brought to Richmond, including fortune 500 company Owens & Minor, Inc. to downtown Richmond, and the expansion of TemperPack in South Richmond.

Regional Leadership:
The Mayor accepted the role as co-chairman of the Capital Region Collaborative and has met multiple times with leaders in Hanover, Henrico and Chesterfield.

GRTC-Transit:
Took important steps to remaking our Transit network to connect city workers to where jobs are located - and to get residents to their jobs faster - without any fare or tax increase.

Budget:
A balanced $681 million budget that does not raise taxes, including a record $6.1 million increased investment for schools, plus $1.3 million for police, $1 million for fire and $500,000 for community wealth building. One-time surplus money dedicated to finishing emergency communications system, repairing an estimated 1,300 alleys and getting a head start on grass cutting.

Finance and Administration:
The 2016 CAFR to be completed by the end of April. City is on schedule to complete the 2017 CAFR on time. Successful visit to New York bond rating agencies to preserve current rating, which produced a positive report from Fitch Ratings to affirm City is on track for AAA rating.

Richmond Animal Care & Control:
Achieved an 89% save rate in 2016 and since January has already taken in and cared for 698 animals with a 92% save rate in 2017.

Mayor Stoney Kicks off the “LEVEL UP! Challenge” for Incoming 6th graders

Mayor Levar M. Stoney, Richmond Public Schools and the Richmond City Health District announce “Mayor Stoney’s LEVEL UP! Challenge,” a campaign aimed at helping 5th grade students “level up” to the 6th grade by getting their required Tdap vaccination.

Mayor Stoney is encouraging Richmond parents to participate in his Level Up! Challenge and return signed permission forms to allow their fifth grader to receive a free Tdap vaccination at their current school before the beginning of summer vacation. Forms will be sent home with students.

The goal of the challenge is to promote Tdap vaccination (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), which is required by state law for all children turning age 11 and entering the 6th grade. There is no grace period for students without vaccination documentation on the first day of school. Therefore, to help prevent absenteeism that occurs each year, Mayor Stoney, Richmond Public Schools and the Richmond City Health District have teamed up to proactively build awareness of this vaccination requirement and incentivize return of parental consent forms to allow their child to receive the free Tdap vaccination and be entered into the contest.

The Level Up! Challenge contest will be held at all 25 elementary schools between March 27 and April 7, with a chance for one student at each school to win a $50 gift card. There’s also a $100 gift card prize for school supplies that goes to the top four schools with the most parent permission forms returned before the contest end date of June 2.

There are 1,105 Richmond Public Schools students who will be age 11 by the time they reach 6th grade in the next school year (Fall 2017). The goal of this challenge is to have a minimum of 80% of the consent forms returned to schools.

More information can be obtained by calling RPS elementary schools, or by visiting the websites of Richmond Public Schools and the Richmond City Health District.

To see the Mayor's promotional message in English, click here.

To see the the message with Spanish translation, click here.

Mayor Stoney Participates in Cities' Day of Immigration Action

Mayor Levar M. Stoney issued an official proclamation today adding his name to the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) initiative in support of new Americans. The March 21, 2017 Cities’ Day of Immigration Action was organized by the USCM and is being led by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Chair of the USCM Latino Alliance, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Chair of the USCM Mayors and Police Chiefs Task Force and other mayors calling on the federal government to enact comprehensive immigration reform and to enforce national immigration laws in a humane manner that does not disrupt the lives of cities’ residents.

Please find a PDF copy of Mayor Stoney’s proclamation here.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney's Budget Proposal Speech for FY 2018.

Click here to read Mayor Levar M. Stoney's Budget Proposal Speech for FY 2018.

Click here to watch the video.

City Partnering with VCU’s Wilder School for Performance Review

Mayor Levar M. Stoney today announced VCU’s Wilder School will be assisting with the comprehensive performance review of all agencies in City Hall, which the mayor cited as his top priority among the initiatives of his first 100 days.

Mayor Stoney said, “The City is partnering with the results-inducing Performance Management Group (PMG) and Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to help us fulfill the promise I made during my campaign to bring accountability to our local government.”

Dr. James M. Burke, the director of PMG who specializes in organizational development and improving effectiveness in the workplace, will now lead the performance review with PMG and CURA. The review will continue in three phases, which include a review of previous audit reports, extensive interviews with City personnel and delivery of important recommendations that will be implemented to achieve the mayor’s objective of building a City Hall that works, and works together. “We are excited by the commitment of the City’s leadership to improving City operations and services to the public; and we are delighted to be engaged in this process,” said Dr. Burke.

Both PMG and CURA are part of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU, and each have a wide range of consultation successes in assisting governmental organizations in transforming workflows and work cultures, implementing best practices and bringing about a renewed dedication and commitment among public employees to customer and public service.

The Stoney administration and VCU have also secured additional assistance with this review from numerous Richmond stakeholders, including Dr. John Accordino and Greg Wingfield from VCU's Wilder School; Robert Dortch from Robins Foundation; Dr. Bill Murray from Dominion; former Dominion Director of Corporate Philanthropy and Community Partnerships, Iris Holliday; Jim Kresge and George Ruzek from Capital One; Andrea Archer, Teri Miles, Charlie Agee and Michael Walton from Altria; Casey Lucier from McGuireWoods; former Brink’s CFO, Joe Dziedzic; local business woman Teresa Caviness; and Brian Jackson from Hirschler Fleischer and Chair of Venture Richmond, among others.

Altria Group and Dominion Resources are also contributing financially, by providing $50,000 each to match the City’s cost to fund this initiative. “We can’t do it all alone,” added the mayor, “I am grateful for the support we’re receiving to help get this completed.”

Mayor Stoney Announces Interim Human Resources Director

Korita Jones, Interim Director, Department of Human Resources:  Korita Jones will serve as Interim Director, Department of Human Resources.

A Petersburg native and 2005 graduate of Virginia State University, Jones most recently served as HR Division Chief of the Compensation and Benefits Division of Human Resources.  Jones joined the City in 2009 as a HR Consultant and has been promoted to various City positions to include Policy Analyst and HR Liaison for City Council Offices. 

Mayor Stoney Announces Administration Appointments

Mayor Levar M. Stoney is pleased to announce the following appointments:
 
Bobby Vincent Jr., Interim Director, Department of Public Works:  Bobby Vincent Jr. assumes the role of DPW Interim Director with nearly 25 years of experience working for the City of Richmond. Vincent, a graduate of Virginia State University who holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology, began his public service career with the city in 1992 as an engineer, and most recently served as DPW’s Deputy Director.

Debbie Patricia Jackson, Interim Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Human Services:  Debbie Jackson will serve as Interim Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Human Services. Jackson, a graduate of Dartmouth College who holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, brings more than 20 years of training management experience to the job. Jackson has served as the Training Manager in the City of Richmond since 2009. Prior to joining the city, Jackson worked as Training Manager for the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice and held various supervisory positions in training for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

David Daniels, Interim Fire Chief:  David Daniels will serve as Interim Fire Chief. Daniels assumes the role after serving as Chief Safety Officer and Deputy Fire Chief for the City of Richmond since 2015. Prior to joining the City of Richmond, Daniels, served as Executive Director of Workforce Safety in the City of Atlanta, part of a 35-year career in fire safety and emergency services. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Services from Easter Oregon University and a Master of Human Resources Management from the Keller Graduate School of Management in Atlanta.

In addition to the appointments, the mayor announced management of the Department of Human Resources will transition from the Human Services portfolio to being under the direction of the Finance and Administration portfolio overseen by Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Lenora Reid.
 
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of these dedicated professionals to their roles as interim directors for their respective departments,” Mayor Stoney said. “The City of Richmond is moving in a new direction. I am thankful to have these experienced professionals as part of our management team and excited to see what they can do to improve our government and move our city forward.”