Last year’s revisions in Richmond’s city charter that strengthened the position of mayor has left some people debating the benefits of an at-large elected mayor, which put former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder in the driver’s seat of the city’s government.
Wilder is the first popularly elected mayor of Richmond in about 60 years.
Herbert Hirsch, a VCU professor in the School of Government and Public Affairs, said Wilder represents a needed change and will clean up local government.
“I think it’s better (the new mayoral system) if you have a person like Wilder as mayor,” Hirsch said. “It’s hard to see what could have been worse than the way Richmond has been run. I think it has been a mess. I think you have a person with the kind of goals and vigorous personality who’s not going to be corrupt.”
Before the charter revision, Richmond’s government had been run by a nine-person city council that oversaw basic day-to-day city maintenance in their respective districts. In the previous system, city council members would elect one member to represent Richmond as its mayor, but some citizens saw the office as that of a figurehead and council leader, because all decisions were by the council.
To cut down on the chance of corruption in city government, Hirsch said, the revision, approved Nov. 2, gave the mayor strong executive powers.
He said the council now will be more of a legislative body, where the mayor and the council will work together to pass laws and make changes for the city. Unlike previous mayors, Hirsch said, Wilder is a popularly elected official who will push and encourage the council to help get things done.
“I think (Wilder’s) doing exactly what the city of Richmond needs. He needs to shake things up,” Hirsch said. “The city’s a mess. They (council members) need a breath of fresh air, someone coming in and saying there are a lot of issues here you people haven’t dealt with, and it needs to be dealt with. Now whether you deal with it or not, we’re going to deal with it.”
Njeri Jackson, the director of African-American studies at VCU said she sees Wilder’s attitude as mayor as one who will fix and legitimize city government.
“Wilder has come in as sort of a house cleaner,” she said. “Some people like a take-charge leader.”
Nonetheless, Jackson said potential problems also can result from strengthening the power of the mayor.
If an elected official uses his power in a beneficial way, she said, the people are going to be happy. On the other hand, she said, it becomes a problem if an elected official has a lot of power and becomes tyrannical.
“People know that, historically, strong mayors can take over,” Jackson said.
Hirsch pointed out a potential downside to giving more power to an executive official such as the mayor.
Most cities, he said, had powerful executive mayors that ran cities at one point or another, and many changed to more professional city managers or such oligarchies as city councils because the mayors became too strong and corrupt.
There’s another factor in the empowering of Richmond’s mayor that Hirsch said could lead to tension in city government.
“I think there will be people on the city council who will resent his power and his popularity and the fact that he is in essence showing them up,” he said.
Because Wilder is an African-American, Jackson said his mayoral presence will galvanize the black electorate, because when an African-American holds a high position or a position of significance many African-American citizens hope the official will address certain problems they feel white officials have not touched on. That credibility and trust gives more leverage to black leaders and gives them more of an ability to accomplish their goals.
Moreover, Hirsch predicts that Wilder’s credibility and previous experience will aid him as he tries to push new city policy.
“He has two things going for him,” he said. “One – reputation. Two – connections he has made as governor. So I think he has a better chance at overcoming the obstacles than somebody without those.”