Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations

Advocates call on Avula, Richmond City Council to seek evictions pause

Mayor Avula walks past a pallet with water bottles
Shaban Athuman
/
VPM News
Mayor Danny Avula visits a water distribution site on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025 at the Richmond Social Services Department.

They said it would allow Richmonders to make up lost income post–water outages.

A coalition of local advocacy groups is demanding that Mayor Danny Avula and the Richmond City Council seek a suspension of all Richmond evictions until April and direct emergency funds for rent relief following last week’s citywide water outage.

In a rally outside City Hall before the Monday meeting, demonstrators shared frustrations with the water system failure’s widespread impact and the city’s initial response to the emergency. They also shared their struggles of affording rent and fears of being evicted.

Daijah Eames, a city resident who joined Monday’s rally, told VPM News that she got an eviction notice from the city after not paying rent on time. She said she’s been “playing catch-up” since losing her health care coverage and days of work after getting bronchitis.

“We need support. We need help,” Eames said. “And the shelters, there’s no way that they can evict as many people as they want to right now because we don’t even have spaces in the shelters to handle that. So, something’s got to be done.”

During the public comment period, a representative from the New Virginia Majority spoke on behalf of the Richmond Housing Justice Collective and asked Avula and councilors to call on the Richmond City General District Court’s chief judge to declare a state of emergency and temporarily suspend all “eviction related cases past the first quarter of 2025.”

The collective — made up of the Richmond chapter of Virginia Organizing, New Virginia Majority, Richmond chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Richmond Tenants Union, the Legal Aid Justice Center and Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia Inc. — said a suspension would give residents time to make up lost income due to the water issues.

The last pause on evictions in Richmond occurred in June, when the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority paused court proceedings for public housing residents to address a rent backlog of $3 million.

Read more: Water outage hits Richmond’s small businesses

Daijah Eames in a Richmond Customer Service sweatshirt with a sign: "STOP EVICTIONS NOW. I deserve a place to live."
Dean Mirshahi
/
VPM News
Daijah Eames, who has lived in Richmond for 10 years, is one of several city residents calling on Mayor Danny Avula and the City Council to seek a pause on evictions.

The failures at Richmond’s main water treatment facility led to outages and a boil water notice for Richmonders — and then boil advisories in Hanover, Henrico and Goochland counties — closed state offices and forced the Virginia General Assembly into a day one recess. It also shuttered schools and disrupted emergency health care services, free clinics and businesses regionally.

On Monday night, Avula laid out a tentative timeline of the water outage and boil water advisory during a briefing, reiterating that the city plans to hire a third-party firm to conduct an independent investigation into what happened. Once a firm is picked, Avula said the city anticipates the analysis to be completed within 30 days.

Over the weekend, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water will conduct a state investigation.

During his presentation to the council, Avula said the city would work to find relief funding and eviction diversion for businesses and qualifying residents. After canceling his inaugural events due to the water outage, Avula said his PAC will donate $25,000 to an emergency regional response fund for Richmonders.

Afterward, council rescheduled and then approved several ordinances on its consent agenda Monday, including a memo of understanding between Richmond and the Greater Richmond Transit Company on the anticipated downtown bus transfer station.

The non-binding agreement reflects the city and GRTC’s intent to continue discussions on developing the permanent bus transfer hub and mixed-use development.

GRTC will be project manager for the transfer hub and plans to “establish and convene a working group” to oversee the development’s implementation, according to the ordinance.

Currently, the temporary transfer plaza is located at 808 E. Clay St., but the preferred location is at 500 N. 10th St. — the site of Richmond’s old Public Safety Building.


Contact Richmond City Council

1st District: Andrew "Gumby" Breton

2nd District: Katherine Jordan (Vice President)

3rd District: Kenya J. Gibson

4th District: Sarah M. A. Abubaker

5th District: Stephanie A. Lynch

6th District: Ellen F. Robertson

7th District: Cynthia I. Newbille (President)

8th District: Reva M. Trammell

9th District: Nicole Jones

Dean Mirshahi is a general assignment reporter at VPM News.