I was told that at the very beginning of the program, which attracted a full and prestigious audience, the current mayor, Levar Stoney, said, in welcome remarks, that he wanted to put first things first, lest he be subsequently scolded. He had to acknowledge the presence of his “boss,” Terry McAuliffe.
Many questions may have been answered by Stoney, indirectly, that have lingered in the minds of his real bosses, the citizens of Richmond.
A majority of the Richmond City Council members have posed many questions to the mayor relative to the expenditure of tax dollars and land concerning his coliseum proposal.
He has rendered their concerns, and the concerns of questioners, “laughable”.
The years it took to get a single person of color to, again, serve on the city council, then as mayor, were contemplated to show independence of mind, spirit, and body from any “Bosses”.
Who really “calls the shots” is a question that’s always troubled the people.
One of the worst blows suffered by the people in recent years is the Citizens United case allowing unlimited funds to be poured into politics by the wealthy, including corporations.
It was revealing to learn in an article written by Mark Robinson, published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, that Stoney stated that the only limitation on receiving money from donors, implying conflicts or not, would be payday lenders.
That is not “laughable”.
