No algorithms. No content filters. No A.I. — Honest and insightful analysis from Richmond, VA.
A string of events took place this week at City Hall somewhat resembling a roller coaster you are riding for the first time and are not sure where it is going to go; you just hope it doesn’t jump the track and lead to disaster. Keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times while reading….
At the City Audit committee meeting on Tuesday, interim-Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Sabrina Joy-Hogg told the committee that the city would no longer be administering grant funding of non-profits though the Non-Departmental budget but move to funding them as “gifts,” which do not require contracts. You might recall last month the City Auditor released a report that revealed a lack of standards, criteria and transparency in the FY2023 Non-Departmental budget and many organizations that received money that applied late or did not meet the minimum criteria received funding nonetheless.
The names of those organizations from FY2023 were not revealed until the Mayor released the partially redacted forms on Tuesday night and told the Times-Dispatch, “I’m working to push our organization to more transparency.”
For weeks prior, however, the city refused to release the information despite a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by Samuel Parker at the Times-Dispatch the day the report was issued for the same spreadsheet the city provided to the Auditor for his report. The spreadsheet was provided because the city told the Auditor the other requested individual applications and forms were “discarded in a warehouse cleanup.” Seriously — see page 10 of the audit.
The city said the FOIA request was denied because they were “mayor’s working papers” which are “prepared by or for a public official … for his personal or deliberative use” and thus exempt from FOIA. The Times-Dispatch and other media organizations and transparency advocates had to file lawsuits during the Stoney Administration just to get answers and information for FOIA requests that were just ignored altogether until legal action was threatened. This time, however, City Council got involved to ask the Mayor to be transparent instead of continuing the more recent tradition of Stoney’s stonewalling.
The Times-Dispatch contacted 8th District Councilwoman Reva Trammell on Monday to request copies of the documents. City Auditor Riad Ali, who reports to City Council, had the spreadsheets in his possession.
Her request was denied however, which is surprising since the Auditor is an appointee of City Council and not the Mayor. Trammell was “furious” after being told by the Auditor that the Mayor provided his office the spreadsheet but was told it was confidential.
A request from 3rd District Councilwoman Kenya Gibson was similarly denied. She told the RTD, “It is universally understood that when an organization receives public funding, records about the transaction become public as well,” she said. “In this era where residents are facing another year of escalating property taxes and inaccurate utility bills, and are demanding more transparency, I’d argue we need to overcompensate to win back trust.”
After the calls from Trammell and Gibson, Avula overruled his staff and released a redacted version of the spreadsheet and notified the full Council via email on
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