Katie Meeker, Opinions & Humor Editor
This January marked the one year anniversary of Dr. Danny Avula’s ascension to Richmond’s mayoral office. He inherited a government rife with corruption and a city teeming with issues ranging from steep housing costs to aging public infrastructure.
Restoring and reviving Richmond was never going to be an easy task. The city made that apparent when, during the first week of Avula’s term, a winter storm wiped out the city’s water treatment plant, leaving people without water for nearly a week.
The desperate scramble to not only solve the issue, but assure Richmonders of City Hall’s competency, has set the tone for Avula’s tenure as mayor, which has remained consistent.
In October 2025, Avula unveiled a 25-page strategy document called the Mayoral Action Program, or MAP. The plan outlines a few goals — which includes developing accountability within City Hall, meeting housing needs and supporting families — and set a series of metrics to measure the city’s progress.
The announcement came with much fanfare and excitement, despite still being somewhat vague, aspirational and a continued work in progress. In many ways, the MAP doubles as both an actionable item and a way for Avula to move past the long-term struggles that have thus-far defined his term as mayor.
While Avula’s promises — both within the MAP and those from his initial mayoral campaign — are big and flashy, we unfortunately have yet to see many of them come to full fruition.
The lack of obvious progress has been frustrating, especially when compared against the success of New York City’s new mayor and Democratic darling, Zohran Mamdani, who has made good on many of his campaign promises in less than two months into office. Mamdani has proven that effective and quick progress can be achieved in local government, setting the bar high for other blue city mayors across the nation, including Avula.
Not every Mayor is Mamdani — and Richmond isn’t New York. Mamdani is also working under a Democrtic governor, whereas Avula spent his first year under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
But there are certainly notes to be taken both on the swiftness of Mamdani’s actions and his ability to communicate — or show them off — to the public.
We are only a quarter of the way through Avula’s term, to be fair, and many of his major projects are still in their infancy. Most of the progress he’s made has been internal; departmental overhauls, budget reallocations and restructuring communication and collaborative practices.
Avula has had substantial backwork to do cleaning up City Hall, including leftover issues from former Mayor Levar Stoney’s administration. Stoney was notorious for his large array of incomplete, grandiose projects, such as the failed Navy Hill Development Project and his plan to build a $562 million casino-resort that was rejected by Richmond voters two years in a row.
It was Stoney’s prioritization of flashy projects over maintaining basic tasks of government — such as repairing the city’s water treatment facility — that got Richmond into trouble beyond his tenure. Avula needs to make sure he does not make the same mistakes.
Smaller-scale issues related to city services and public utilities are continuing to crop up across Richmond. Sanitation service have been inconsistent, especially after bad weather. Utility bills have been delivered incorrectly. Roads and sidewalks remained unnavigable for weeks after winter storms.
The MAP, while a good step forward in encouraging transparency and accountability within City Hall, is an example of an issue that has plagued Richmond for years: theatrics over action. Richmonders don’t want or need fanfare — we just want to be able to live in a city where we don’t have to worry about whether or not the water is running.
“Every day I am focused on building a thriving City Hall that stewards resources responsibly, meets community needs and earns the trust of residents, including VCU students,” Avula stated in an email to The CT. “Change won’t happen overnight but through steady, consistent progress, I feel confident that we will deliver smooth, reliable city services that Richmonders deserve.”
Year one of Avula’s tenure laid a foundation for him to start acting on his promises to create a better and thriving Richmond — let’s hope that year two and beyond see those promises realized.