Welcome, Readers!

For the past eight years, the five busy-bodies at RVA Dirt have volunteered our time at Richmond’s city council and school board meetings. We've been live-tweeting and blogging meeting summaries with the hopes of connecting Richmond residents to the local politics that affect their daily lives.

Our biggest takeaway during this time is that who this city elects into office matters. Really matters.

This November, Richmond will elect a whole new cast of characters – a new mayor, new city council members, and new school board members – who will shape our city for the next four years and beyond.

To help you get to know the candidates on your ballot this fall, we’re launching a new series to introduce you to these aspiring local leaders. Who are these candidates? What do they each stand for? And who best reflects your values?

The format of this series may evolve over time, but here’s where we are right now:

Every week, we’ll ask the candidates to answer a different survey question. They’ll have 280 characters to respond (the length of a tweet). Then we’ll share this question with our followers on X (formerly known as Twitter) and release the candidates' responses so you can see how they measure up.

We’ll try to stick to a Monday (ask candidates), Wednesday (ask the community), Friday (share candidate responses) schedule. This first week was a bit off schedule because we had two mayoral forums and polls to compete with, so we’re getting a late start sharing candidate responses. Better late than never!

Answers will be listed below in the following order:

Community Poll Results
Mayoral Candidates (in the order in which they responded)
City Council (districts 1-9, alphabetical order)
School Board (ditto)

Each candidate has been invited to participate, though some have opted not to. To avoid advantaging anyone with more name recognition than their competitors, we’ll list each candidate who opted not to participate at the end of each category.

Thank you for joining us for this series – and please do tell a friend or five! Together we’ll make sure the most representative representatives take power in January.

***Note to all candidates: if you did not receive our email, please contact us as we may not have the most updated email for your campaign***

Week 1 Question:

“What is your top funding priority?”

Community Responses

The community poll was split up at the city level (for mayor and city council) and school level (for school board) and broadcast on X (formerly known as Twitter) for 24 hours. Here are the results:

City budget Priority

Affordable Housing: 45%
Infrastructure & Safety: 27%
Education: 23%
Other: 5%

Richmond Public Schools Budget PRiority

Teacher/Staff Pay: 46%
School Facilities: 25%
Student Services: 21%
Other: 8%

MAYORAL CANDIDATE RESPONSES

Andreas Addison

Southside residents have asked for decades for meaningful investment. As mayor, I will repurpose city-owned land at Maury St and Richmond Hwy into a modern Workforce Development Center to provide training & apprenticeship programs to elevate new career pathways for RPS students.

Harrison Roday

Maximizing city, state, and federal dollars for education is a top priority (and is our largest budget line item). Ensuring that every child in Richmond, from pre-k through 12, has access to great public education will build towards a better future for our whole community.

Michelle Mosby

I will prioritize filling police and fire vacancies with those who are committed to a community policing model that will ensure trust from our neighbors. I will work to get illegal guns off our streets and make investment in life-saving CVI programs.

Dr Danny Avula

Investments in people are always the best investments we can make. RPS will remain our biggest priority, and we will also invest in the wraparound services families count on—early childhood education, after-school programs, and more—so they’re effective, reliable, and accessible..

Maurice Neblett

Resolving the housing crisis in Richmond, VA is our top priority because affordable, stable housing is crucial for economic stability, community health, and social equity. Addressing it will reduce homelessness, enhance quality of life, and create a thriving, inclusive city.

City Council Candidate Responses

Andrew “Gumby” Breton - 1st District

The city needs to fund a new DOT with a mandate to prioritize pedestrian lives over vehicle speed. The current DPW system treats safety as an afterthought, resulting in pedestrian deaths across the city. Our children need safe routes to walk and bike to school. Fund a DOT.

Paul Goldman - 1st District

A new fiscal policy that will stop underfunding schools, stop overtaxing citizens and businesses, improve neighbor services, and better fund key environmental programs.