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RVA's Got Issues: Meet mayoral candidate Maurice Neblett

A heashot of Neblett
Shaban Athuman
/
VPM News
Maurice Neblett is photographed on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia.

For the next several weeks, RVA's Got Issues and VPM News are teaming up to bring you special coverage of the Richmond mayoral election.

"Who's Got Your Vote?" takes voters inside Richmond's race for mayor. Host Rich Meagher interviewed each candidate to get closer to the issues and faces that want to shape the future of Richmond.

The RVA's Got Issues series continues with community organizer Maurice Neblett, a lifelong Richmonder who says his deep community roots make him ideal for serving the city.

You can listen to or read Rich's interview with Maurice Neblett here. A longer, video version of the interview is also embedded below.

Find RVA's Got Issues wherever you listen to podcasts — or on the RGI website.

Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for style and length.


Rich Meagher: Welcome to RVA's Got Issues, a podcast about politics and public affairs in and around Richmond, Virginia. I'm your host, Rich Meagher. On this special election episode, RVA's Got Issues with the Richmond mayoral election. Five candidates are vying to be Richmond's next mayor. Each one wants to be the key decision maker that will shape the future of the city and the region. 

We'll sit down with the candidates for an in-depth conversation about who they are, what they plan to do, and why they should be the choice of Richmond's voters in November. 

We're joined now by Maurice Neblett, an entrepreneur and community organizer. Welcome, Maurice. 

Maurice Neblett: Hello, Rich. Thank you. for having me.

Thanks for being here. Now, you've been open about your upbringing and its difficulties, right? Your mom passed away when you were young. You kind of bounced around public housing, different schools.

But in the midst of these challenges, you say you gravitated toward being a protector — and that seems to have anchored you. Can you tell us a little bit about what that means to you, that term protector?

Being a protector, what it means to me is to ensure that every citizen in the city of Richmond is safe, you know, in each and every neighborhood.

This is about inclusivity. It's about making sure that everyone feels positive and everyone has opportunity for growth. You know, it's difficult to feel unsafe and expected to think positive and expect to perform well. So I believe that being a protector gives individuals opportunity, opportunity for life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness.

And so is it that that's the kind of opportunity that you weren't able to experience when you were growing up? 

Yes, sir. So coming down to when I was growing up, you know, my mother, unfortunately, sometimes I wasn't able to see her, you know; she was abused.

So that was the aspect that I vowed to myself: Once I reached 12 years old, I would be able to protect my mother. Unfortunately, you know, my mother did pass away before that. And it stayed with me, stayed with me and understanding and environment that I was living in.

There were other individuals going through the same thing that I was going through, and then also individuals like my mother.

And so, is it that this quest to become Richmond mayor is one way that you might be able to protect folks like that? 

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

So, a lot of people, I think, would have been derailed by the kinds of experiences you had as a kid — but here you are, running for mayor of Richmond. 

Can you talk more about what made the difference for you that allowed you to rise through and that might make a difference for others? 

It came through prayer. I've faced a lot of challenges a lot of disappointments as a child. You know, being in an environment where, you know, you had not much guidance.

The guidance came from above. That's where it came from. You know, live in your environment, but not becoming your environment. And I had to stay focused. I learned a lot from individuals at community centers like the Boys and Girls Club. My teachers in school that were there to comfort me through the hard times and the heartaches.

I had the opportunity to join the safety patrol in school. It was pretty good: It gave me a sense of responsibility, it gave me a sense of being able to protect. It really started there, you know, as a child and even for me to even run for mayor.

This is about inclusivity. It's about making sure that everyone feels positive and everyone has opportunity for growth.

Richmond could be considered a divided city. Not everyone has access to a word you used before — opportunities.

So you make a big emphasis in your kind of policy arguments about career preparation, job preparation. How do you see that as working to to make these opportunities happen for people in Richmond? 

It'll work by, you know, making sure that we take it to them, right? You know, we want to make sure that we have community-based vocational training. We want a place for training in schools.

Also, for our youth, we need to introduce that early on, you know — start in elementary school. We need to spark because that's where it was sparked. The spark happened with me in fourth grade. I mean, it's unbelievable that I'm actually here. But that's where we need to start.

And you need to start the vocational training in elementary school. We need to have community-based vocational training as well. While we love the Richmond Technical Center, we need to start bringing the vocational and training centers back to the schools. You know, that's what I mean by bringing it back into the neighborhood.

I like the idea, right? But as with sometimes ideas in mayoral campaigns, it sounds a little expensive, maybe a little difficult to happen. So how can you make this happen? What specifically could we do to make those opportunities available to kids in schools? 

One thing I, as a community organizer, I work with nonprofit organizations and I know they're nonprofit organizations that are in the mud, they're doing the work — and they are willing to partner with the city.

Partner with, you know, the Neblett administration when it comes to that, so that rolls over into the administration helping to help. We need to help the help so they can continue to work. It doesn't take much.

So with that, we have to look at the procurement process and we have to cut the red tape.

So it's easier to get funds and grants, I guess, to these like community organizations. 

Yes, sir. Access and resource: I run into it a lot when individuals that have nonprofits or businesses come to me asking for help. And it just is going to just take someone to meet them at the table and give them access. So the tape.

Speaking of red tape, of government bureaucracy, you know, I think trust is a key ingredient for any mayor. 

I think there's a little bit of distrust of city government right now, especially here in Richmond, some high-profile stories about meals, taxes, the finance department that may have weakened people's trust in city government.

Now, this will be your first experience working in government. So how would you rebuild trust in government as someone coming from outside? 

And that's the thing, you know, I'm coming from the inside, I'm coming from inside of the community. So I'm familiar with the meals tax issue because a company came to me, you know, seeking help and I provided them that help. I laid out the evidence and errors, you know, that they laid upon the city. So with understanding the inner workings and the outer workings, because I believe that the mass population is the people and that's the most important aspect.

So coming, coming in through that aspect of understanding the inner workings, I think that's going to be the most effective, you know: When will it be a time that we have someone of the people represent the people? That's the key.

Sure. So I kind of get this argument, right? It's that, I like this idea, right? Outer workings, inner workings. But still, there is a sense that sometimes reformers are like, "It's easy. I will go in and fire everyone and we'll just change everything." Um, and it may not be that simple, right?

What would you say to voters who would be worried about, let's say your lack of experience with, with city government or, or the fact that you haven't worked in city government in order to fix it? 

How do you know about these inner workings? 

Right. So. We have five of us that's running. None of us have the experience, right? None of us. You know, none of us have been mayor. So while we have attributes of leadership, you know, and characteristics, the key thing is for me, what I'm here to offer is transparency, accountability.

That's what, from the beginning, my platform has been about. Right? It's about character and integrity, and that's what I bring. The city needs character and integrity ,and the experience aspect of it? I have it. You know, I'm a compliance agent. Right? So that's a that's a key component. I know the inner workings. Like I say, it's inside out, you know, and that's important with developing policy.

When it comes to experience, we can draw up you know, line by line, what does it take to be a leader, right? You know, I'm a born leader. I'm a proven leader, you know, in the community. And I believe that I'm the most effective and the most important aspect to what this mayoral race needs.

I'm the candidate of the people, for the people and by the people.

When will it be a time that we have someone of the people represent the people? That's the key.

Now, Maurice, I wanted to ask about a brutal encounter that you had with the Richmond police back in your college days. So, officers mistakenly entered the wrong apartment. They arrested you. I know there's been a settlement, so you can't really comment on it specifically. 

But it was reported extensively at the time, and it is a harrowing story, right?

Without getting into details. Is there anything you'd like voters to know about how this experience impacted your views of police and public safety? 

So, you know, I had an aspiration always to protect, right? And with that, I wanted to be a law enforcement officer, right?

That was my aspiration. So my view on, uh, "law and order" is well-appreciated. The views on police and the community have been striking, you know, over the past years. Unfortunately, you have some bad actors in the nation that are in police departments. And they make it an eyesore for other officers who, on a day-to-day basis, buttoned up and tied their shoes to serve and protect and place their life on the line.

And that's what I want to make sure I bring back to Richmond. I want to make sure we have strong community policing. And we want to make sure we have a community formation because, you know, that has to be a balance. The community has to be accountable as well.

What do you mean by that? That the community needs to be accountable as well.

When it comes to the accountability side of it, we have a duty as citizens, you know, to be a Good Samaritan, to be a good neighbor. And that's the key component to the community accountability.

We have to build that trust back, you know, but it's just going to take also another step for community members to step to the table and have an opportunity at the table. And that's what I want to make sure I have for them.

I mean, this sounds like a fairly optimistic approach to public safety. I mean, so some folks who have had negative encounters with police in the past, uh, might be more inclined to kind of write off the police or write off public safety.

It sounds to me like you're trying to be a little more literally constructive: 'Let's construct a relationship between the community and the police.'

But how do you do it? Is it training? Are there other things that you would do to try to make that connection happen? 

Yeah. So it's, it's other parts to, you know, really pulling everything together. First of all, we need to promote the police department with grace, right? We want to give opportunity for individuals that are in the community to give them opportunity to join the police force.

Because when you have individuals that are from the community, interactions will be different. Then we also want to incentivize first responders to come back into the city. It's unfortunate, you know, due to the unaffordable housing that we have first responders and other officials that live outside of the city.

And then also when it comes to community, you know, giving them a seat at the table: Let's have a conversation, let's talk about the issues, let's address the issues and not having any bias, you know, in regards to everyone's point of view. Because there's a perspective and you know, that's the divide that you mentioned earlier.

Yeah. You mentioned housing, too. I've heard less, I think, from you on that than some of the other candidates, at least on your website there's not a lot about housing.

Is there any particular message about that from you? Are you feeling like housing is less of a priority than some of the other issues that you want to focus on? Or what do you think about housing and what Richmond needs to do about it? 

You know, I even asked you this question, you know, today: Are we better off than we were four, eight or 12 years ago? You know, if the answer is no, you know, the answer is clear to vote Neblett. You know, the reason being that we've had an increase of housing over the four, eight and 12 years without resolution to individuals that were being displaced.

And we're not just talking about displacement of gentrification. We're talking about taxes, you know, we have individuals or grandparents that have lost their home. They own their home, but they lost their home due to taxes. I mean, we have a program where, you know, they are able to have tax relief, but it was so many loops and hoops they have to go through — it kind of became a deterrence.

So do you think we should cut the property tax or are you arguing more for strengthening the tax rebate program? 

We definitely look to strengthen the tax rebate program. I believe that no one should have to pay over 35% of their income, no matter what pay or wage that you have throughout the city.

The cost of living wages, it doesn't equate the economy.

So how do you fix that? Right? I mean, I, I agree too, right: 35% is a lot, but how do you do that? I mean, is it about reducing housing costs? Is it about the taxes? Like what can you as mayor do to change that ratio? 

So it's about our partners. You know, we have to bring in partners that understand what Richmond is going through, the dynamic of Richmond.

What we do need to do is look at the Maggie L. Walker Land Trust. We need to utilize that. We need to bring in developers that understand and we don't need just 10 units, you know, per building.

We need over 5,000 units to save people that's on the streets. I mean, I've helped feed individuals that have their children that doesn't walk their babies. You know, I've seen teenagers that are homeless with their parents.

I mean, we're sending them on an expectation that they still should be happy and they still should meet the guides of our society expectations — and it's not fair. It's not fair when we have affordable housing, but who is it affordable to?

I believe that no one should have to pay over 35% of their income, no matter what pay or wage that you have throughout the city.

So what do you think, and this is kind of a broader question here, what do you think people get wrong about you as a candidate? 

I think what they have wrong is, you know, the understanding why I'm in the race. You know, I'm in the race because I want to make sure that people have opportunity. Again, I'm a community organizer: I came up organizing and pulling people together and networking.

That's what it comes down to: There's so many individuals that's in our community and that are in our government that's smart, that's talented. And we need to allow them to, you know express that, express that in a way that is going to be beneficial to everyone in the city, making sure that we have inclusivity. That's been my focus since the beginning.

Some that may suspect that I don't have any experience. Now, if I don't have that much experience, why is it that we have candidates going the same route or taking the same approach that I've mentioned, you know. And then we also have what we have now in the media is being, the attention has been drawn. And I believe that is important and that's showing the aspect of leadership, that's showing the aspect of skill without even being in the seat.

So there are five candidates in this race, right? What's specifically makes you best prepared for the challenges that Richmond's going to face over the next four years? 

All right. So. It makes me the best because I'm community-bound, right? I can connect with the community, I'm of the community. I'm all about transparency and accountability.

We need that for our city so that we'll be able to move forward. We have the new way forward, you know, and also the character and integrity, right? I have that, you know, even with the circumstances you mentioned earlier with RPD, you know, when people face challenges, it show you who they really are, right?

I've faced a lot of adversities and I was still able to be the great person that I am, because I just know that you just hold on to a little bit of joy, even if it's a mustard seed. And it can, it can grow, it can grow, you know, and I'm appreciative of that.

So though, I haven't been in the political scene, I am not a part of the establishment, right? The city has been ran for so long by individuals a part of the establishment that have corporate interests that are basically influencing in our city.

I haven't accepted funds from those, because I'm putting the people first.

Maurice Neblett is running for mayor of Richmond. Thanks so much, Maurice.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Rich.

That's our show. Thanks to our guest, Maurice Neblett. Next week, our special election coverage continues. Join us for our interview with Michelle Mosby.


Read and listen to more 2024 elections coverage.