Steven Nesmith, chief executive officer of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, apologized on Friday afternoon for suggesting that Mayor Danny Avula supported Nesmith’s proposal to transfer Gilpin Court to a private subsidiary of the RRHA.
“I apologize if I ever said anything in the press that Mayor Avula was a big fan of our plan,” Nesmith said during a news conference at the RRHA headquarters on East Broad Street. “He has never said that to me.”
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Since earlier this year, Nesmith has been attempting to oversee the execution of a master development agreement that would see the land underneath Gilpin Court — Richmond’s oldest and largest public housing project — leased to the Richmond Development Corporation, the nonprofit “development arm” of the RRHA.
The move would open the planned reconstruction of the project to private dollars, which Nesmith has said is the only way to cover the nearly half-billion-dollar price tag that will come with the full rebuild. But critics have pushed back on the plan, characterizing it as privatization that could lead to the displacement of Richmond’s most vulnerable residents.
Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority CEO Steven Nesmith is seen in this 2022 photo.
After the RRHA board voted down the transfer in April, Nesmith revised it and pitched it again. Speaking on July 8 to The Times-Dispatch about the new plan to wrangle hundreds of millions in private capital, Nesmith said, “Mayor Avula loves this.”
But on Thursday afternoon, Avula put out a statement that expressly contradicted that claim.
“I cannot endorse RRHA’s approach until the following requirements are met,” the mayor said, calling on Nesmith and the RRHA to, among other things, reconsider the role of the private subsidiary.
“RRHA should withdraw its proposal to convey Gilpin Court to the Richmond Development Corporation until major concerns about RDC’s governance structure are addressed,” Avula wrote. “It is concerning that the majority of RDC board seats are held by RRHA staff members. The majority of the board should be long-term community stakeholders.”
Avula also requested “detailed financial information” about “resources and programming” and precise information on the “condition of RRHA properties.”
On Friday, Nesmith declined to specify how, exactly, he disagrees with Avula — “I’m going to leave that for the negotiation team,” he said — but he described Avula as “a great mayor” with whom he shared many ideas and values.
“It was a sad day for Gilpin residents, it was a sad day for collaboration, (for) unity of purpose to advance what are horrible conditions that Gilpin residents are living in,” Nesmith said of Avula’s statements. He added that he remains “hopeful as a Christian and a man of faith” that their differences can be resolved.
This aerial photo taken by drone shows Gilpin Court as well as surrounding areas in Richmond.
Housing officials spent over $7,000 on ads regarding Gilpin transfer
Since April 1, RRHA officials have spent $7,466.26 on radio, social media and print advertisements related to the proposed transfer of Gilpin Court, according to records obtained by The Times-Dispatch.
The invoices, receipts and purchase orders show dozens of spots running across multiple platforms, including radio stations WBTJ, WCDX, WKJS, WPZZ and WRVA; Facebook; and Audacy streaming service.
On Facebook, housing officials ran ads that read “let’s UNPACK THE FACTS (about) the RDC and Gilpin,” “Misinformation Hurts Everyone” and “GOOD4GILPIN,” the documents show.
One of those videos states that “RRHA is not selling Gilpin to a private company.”
“RRHA is simply including the RDC in the redevelopment of Gilpin,” the video says, adding that the RDC is merely the “nonprofit version of RRHA.”
“Let’s put our opinions to the side, sort this out together, and do what’s good for Gilpin,” the ad says.
One document, labeled “lost receipt,” indicates that officials spent $20 on “an advertisement for the Gilpin meetings scheduled for August 28 and September 6,” but notes that corresponding documents have been “lost/misplaced.”
RRHA hosted two community meetings to hear residents’ feedback on the transfer proposal. The document does not specify the platform on which the meeting promotions ran.
Nesmith noncommittal on whether Sept. 17 vote will happen
Nesmith’s reworked proposal includes enhanced oversight measures, such as requiring the RRHA board to approve all RDC board decisions and placing a public housing resident on the RDC board. But many of the RDC board members also work for the RRHA, a fact that has raised questions as to whether the RRHA can functionally serve as an accountability partner.
The RRHA board’s vote on the new plan was initially scheduled for Sept. 17. Asked whether Avula’s opposition would change the timeline, Nesmith said, “We don’t know yet.”
“We may, or we may not,” he said of postponement, before adding, “We cannot delay on this. I know change is hard, but we cannot allow … all of our folks in public housing to live like that.”
“I’m in some way as a former public housing (resident) a little leery of private capital myself,” Nesmith admitted. “When has private capital in the history of this country really looked to invest in Black people?”
But with shrinking federal, state and local funding available to invest in public housing, Nesmith said he thinks there may be no other choice.
Avula is not the only official to voice concern about that. Last month, City Council passed a resolution challenging the legality of the transfer. City Attorney Laura Drewry argued in a letter to Nesmith and the RRHA board that the councilmembers have the authority under state code to hold public hearings and weigh in on the transfer.
“I really hoped we would be at the negotiation table this week,” Nesmith said Friday of Avula and City Council. “I look forward to continuing working together, building consensus in a way that moves us forward in addressing critical needs and redeveloping Gilpin.”
From the archives: 65 photos of Richmond in the 1930s | RTD 175
In November 1938, an early appearance of winter painted a striking picture at Byrd Park. The storm dropped 7.5 inches of snow on Richmond, about double the previous record for a November snowfall set in 1929.
This October 1930 image shows the view from the Southern Biscuit Co. building, looking northwest across the Boulevard in Richmond. Several of the buildings pictured are still standing today.
This January 1936 photo shows the Carillon in Byrd Park as seen from across Swan Lake. The design for a memorial to World War I’s dead was debated in the mid-1920s, with Richmond industrialist Granville Valentine leading a campaign for a carillon — despite a war memorial commission favoring an alternative. The state ultimately endorsed a carillon, and the bell tower was dedicated in October 1932.
In late April 1937, the James River crested at 27 feet in Richmond as one brave soul crossed the bridge to Belle Isle. Days of drenching rains to the north led to statewide property damage estimated at more than $2 million, with half of that concentrated in Fredericksburg.
In April 1937, several blocks of lower Hull Street, the main thoroughfare in South Richmond, were flooded so completely that it took rowboats and hip-waders to reach buildings. Three days of rains had caused the James River to crest at 27 feet. About 700 men worked around the clock for up to 36 hours to secure the dike. Total property damage in Richmond was estimate at more than $100,000.
