Ed. note: This is a letter to the editor, not an endorsement from RVA Magazine. You can vote in our Richmond Elections 2024 Reader’s Poll HERE.
Friends,
I voted early in person this year, and I want to share with you why I voted for Danny Avula for Richmond Mayor.
I did not come to my decision lightly, but I did come to it with a crystalline recognition that this election gives Richmond a rare opportunity: the opportunity to break the cycle of past election mistakes. Danny Avula offers what Richmond has been missing. He offers an opportunity to correct what’s been wrong by finally—and successfully—addressing why our core city government functions are such a mess.
So why am I so certain Danny Avula should be our next mayor? He is the only one among the candidates who has experience managing large public service government systems. If there’s one thing Richmond needs, it is professional, skilled managers in leadership throughout City Hall. Danny Avula brings this himself, and he has committed to a nationwide search for a top-tier, experienced CAO—and that’s just for starters.
The last time we elected a new mayor, we were all hopeful. But we elected a real rookie, who then made the unfortunate mistake of choosing—and keeping—his inexperienced and unqualified buddy as the CAO, rather than a professional with what was best for the city: experience.
The table was set for a cascading failure across many departments in city government, which gave us the infamous meals tax debacle, an inability to correct or resolve out-of-control inaccurate utility bills, cruel and unusual mismanagement in building permits, incapacity to handle property tax records, and last but not least, failure to oversee the city’s credit card system in the hands of employees. Note: this is far from an exhaustive list of the failures and dysfunction in our current city government.
By contrast, Danny Avula can point to real successes in large-scale administration and management. Building on his success as an administrator over both the Richmond and Henrico health districts, he was tapped by a Democratic governor to lead an innovative, successful approach to ramp up Virginia’s mass COVID vaccinations (remember the racetrack vaccination site). And under a Republican governor, he was asked to take on the massive chore of modernizing another state agency, which he’s done ably and quietly. Success without mess, sour headlines, or disgruntled employees or constituents is a rare thing.
All of this bodes well for Avula—and for Richmond—if he is our next mayor. Add to this his background as a common man, ordinary citizen, and public servant, who bought his first house in a working-class neighborhood in Church Hill and stayed there, always investing back in the success of his neighbors.
It’s hard not to acknowledge that Danny Avula has a combination of talent, compassion, and commitment that’s rarely found in a public servant.
I hope you all join me in electing him as our next Mayor of Richmond.
signed,
Farid Alan Schintzuis
