Odie Donald: Richmond’s New CAO

Rich Meagher:

This is RVA’s Got Issues. I’m Rich Meagher. About 20 years ago, Richmond moved to what’s called a strong mayor system. Now that’s not about how much Mayor Danny Avula can deadlift. Instead, it’s about his power, his independence. He’s elected directly by the people like a mini president of Richmond. But that means Danny’s got a lot to do. He’s running around the city to ribbon cuttings, press conferences. I mean, he’s calling the shots, sure. But he doesn’t have time to actually run the city to make sure the trash is being picked up, to check up on IT answering help desk calls, whatever. He needs a guy to do that. And in Richmond, that’s the CAO, the chief administrative officer. And so Danny hired a new CAO named Odie Donald. Here’s what city council member Sarah Abubaker said when Odie was hired earlier this year.

Sarah Abubaker:

I am going to support this nomination, but know that that will come with a great deal of accountability because with a great salary, uh, and, and justifiably so he is qualified, um, comes great responsibility.

Rich Meagher:

With great salary comes great responsibility. Odie’s clearly got eyes on him and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Richmond’s had a good run lately, but it always seems like it prospers in spite of city government, not because of it. Can Mayor Avula and Odie Donald finally be the ones who turn that around? Today, we’re sitting down with Odie Donald to find out. Odie, welcome.

Odie Donald II:

Thank you for having me.

Rich Meagher:

So Odie, before you arrived, right, it seemed like the whole city was talking about this position, the CAO-

Odie Donald II:

<laugh>

Rich Meagher:

… As the key hire for the Avula administration. You know, it’s Danny’s vision that the city endorsed in the election, but making that vision happen kind of falls on you. I mean, do you feel that weight on you?

Odie Donald II:

I mean, it’s par for the course for me. This isn’t my first rodeo.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

So, uh, I mean, I think I understand the gravity of the role, but I think that’s the part of it that for me is natural.

Rich Meagher:

Right. So in other words, it’s not weight, it’s, it’s what, it’s something else? What would you call it?

Odie Donald II:

It’s opportunity.

Rich Meagher:

Alright.

Odie Donald II:

I mean, when I look at the city of Richmond, it’s interesting because so many people say, “Man, you had a good job in Atlanta.”

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

I’ve had good jobs everywhere I’ve gone.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

They didn’t always start off that way. <laugh> And I think part of the reason I’m here in Richmond and the reason that the mayor, uh, selected me and that the council approved his selection is because a lot of the experiences that are necessary for the city, I’ve actually had a track record of delivering on. And so I’m both proud of that, but also understand that, you know, you gotta keep the streak going and, uh, you know, I’m here to do so.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. So I, I, I, is this just a, a kind of, um, you know, you wanna spin this to be positive rather than negative? Like I, I do think there are stakes here, right? You know, and so-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah, there are. But, but that’s, that’s in government in general. And I, I think that’s the part. It’s not unique to Richmond. Housing affordability is one of the biggest problems that’s facing the nation. Right. Affordability in general. So it’s not only a Richmond issue. So that also means the solutions are not unique to Richmond. Those things can get done. If they get solved and improved upon in other places, we can do it here too.

Rich Meagher:

So I mean, I, let me turn that a little bit, right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

So you’re saying like, look, we can look to other places for solutions. We can bring th- those solutions here.

Odie Donald II:

Absolutely.

Rich Meagher:

I think one of the, one of the things that we’ve been hearing and we’ve been reporting on in this show, right, is that there is this kind of sense that, that Richmond’s doing well-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… but there’s a worry that it can go too well, uh, and there’s a concern that we might start looking like Nova South, right?

Odie Donald II:

Mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

That we just sort of look like, uh, mini Alexandria with all the, you know, sort of problems that come along with that and lose what’s Richmond about us.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

Do you hear that from people?

Odie Donald II:

I do. Now that’s the part that I think is where we need to focus and maybe the most important part of my early observations. Richmond is Richmond. It’s, it’s special. It’s special because it’s not Alexandria and no, you know, disrespect to those other municipalities. It’s not Henrico, it’s not Chesterfield. Richmond has its own geographic advantages, its own people advantages. Even the way we govern, you know, is an advantage that is unique to Richmond. And, you know, you can never do a thing too well, but what you can do is lose sight of who you are in the process of things like growth and modernization, expansion, or whatever else we’re looking at. You know, those experiences that go all the way back to, you know, the beginning of, of our history here and, and how complex it is, is still what makes the city great now.

You know, that, that history that we don’t necessarily always want to talk about, but is at our core and, and is, for me, that is valuable in, in something that, you know, I harp on with my unique experiences working in Savannah where folks came and, and, you know, started, you know, unfortunately the slave trade. I mean, those things originate right there in South Georgia to Augusta where another river city where things happen and then the cradle of the civil rights movement to the cradle of slavery.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

That unique experience I think gives me a perspective to where I do understand the challenges, but also the opportunities for Richmond and, and what the city has desired to be when it completely grows up.

Rich Meagher:

Is, is that part of why you wanted to, to take this job? Is it because of Richmond’s history as, as opposed to just the challenges of the technical side of things?

Odie Donald II:

No, I think it’s both. Uh, the thing that I, I hope and endeavor to do best is identify where the challenges are kind of like a mechanic and then tinker with them to make them a little bit better because you said it, you know, first and probably better than I could that we do things really well.

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

But not losing sight of that unique piece that we’re trying to maintain is the part I hope to be able to do.

Rich Meagher:

So speaking of jobs, right?

Odie Donald II:

Mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

I, I, I watched this TEDx talk you gave in Atlanta a few years ago.

Odie Donald II:

<laugh>

Rich Meagher:

Yeah, the internet lives forever, right?

Odie Donald II:

<laugh>

Rich Meagher:

Uh, you were talking about work there, uh, some of your background is in workforce development-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah. Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… getting people jobs. You talk about hustling in a really good way, right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah, yeah.

Rich Meagher:

Like, like how you’ve had to hustle in your life, like you originally thought you were gonna hoop for a living, right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

You were gonna be a pro basketball guy.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

Um, you are, you are a, a tall person.

Odie Donald II:

I am.

Rich Meagher:

You’re not, you’re not small. Uh, but, but injuries, life got in the way and since then, you know, marketing, workforce development, government work, you’ve kind of had to reinvent yourself a few times.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah. I think so.

Rich Meagher:

Like were you looking for something as you’re doing that or was it just sort of responding to opportunities that presented themselves to you?

Odie Donald II:

I think it’s just evolution. Same thing for our government here and, you know, just our lives in general. You start in one place and as you grow and learn a little bit more, you kind of find your specialty. You know, I think for me, my specialty has always been in service and, in people. And so, you know, it started off, you know, basketball, I was a, a, the team captain all the time and, you know, one of the leaders who helped to bring folks together to a goal, which was hopefully winning.

Rich Meagher:

Right, right.

Odie Donald II:

And I think we did a little bit. Uh, left school early to go and kind of pursue my dreams and leaving a team that went to the tournament and all of those great things. Uh, I was the first one, even though I was injured at the end of the year, I was the first one to actually get a job playing internationally. And so at the height of those things, you know, you think that lasts forever-

Rich Meagher:

Yeah, yeah.

Odie Donald II:

… put a couple of dollars away and just a couple. It wasn’t, wasn’t many.

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

But I put them away and didn’t have access to any other resources. You know, I had a daughter on the way and, uh, just had to figure things out. And, uh, I tried everything from entrepreneurship to, you know, going back to school, getting my education, falling into government and serving and kind of finding my way, you know, that way. Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. Um, so in, in the, the TEDx video-

Odie Donald II:

mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

… you talked about growing up with a dad who’s like a Fortune 500 CEO and-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah, man, big time that, that’s my hero and the person I lean on most when I need advice.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. And he was also friends with like all the politicos in Atlantic, right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah. Everybody.

Rich Meagher:

Like I, I heard Maynard Jackson, the mayor of Atlanta is the first black mayor of, uh, a major southern city.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

Does that mean that even though you didn’t know it at the time, you’re sort of attending politics school as growing up?

Odie Donald II:

Man, you know, that, I’ve never thought of it that way, but that’s, that’s quite possible. I definitely, uh, through summer jobs program, which I’m committed to. I think, you know, my, my history and experiences will tell you that. I had my first summer job in Capitol View Apartments, a reformed, uh, project in Atlanta, I guess we call it a downtown area and, uh, you know, got fired from my first job-

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

… Which taught me some great lessons, but it was a government funded program-

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

… uh, there. And then I think some of my internships and, and, uh, even graduating history and political science, uh, undergrad, always kinda had the bug to serve, probably just didn’t know it until, you know, first, first real job.

Rich Meagher:

Why’d you get fired from that job?

Odie Donald II:

Man, I was late, uh, out of uniform.

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

Uh, you know, look, 14 or 15, you know, not knowing how to ride the bus and not having those lessons that you, you learn on your first job. I actually, as I try to, you know, put summer programs and, you know, work programs for youth together, you know, one of the main lessons that I teach them is that every experience you’re gonna get is gonna shape the rest of your life. And what you do with those lessons you learn, you know, determines who and what you turn out to be.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. So I mean, do you feel like that was then, you, you’re seeing like osmosis or some kind of like absorbing lessons? I mean, if you were in politics school, did you, do you know what classes you were taking from like-

Odie Donald II:

No. Well-

Rich Meagher:

Mayor Jackson or these other folks?

Odie Donald II:

Well, I’ll tell you, I mean, I think it’s more so from my father and I don’t, I don’t see politics and business as different things, especially not now. I mean, even our president, no matter what you think about him, it’s a businessman in the White House in the highest government office. You know, business and government are always intertwined and I think, you know, for government to be successful, you have to be engaged in business. So that’s really how I had my front row seats and the partnership between the two.

Rich Meagher:

While you were in Georgia, you helped set up a new city, right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

So South Fulton.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

And so as I understand it, basically a lot of parts of Fulton County where Atlanta is, they wanted their own cities, they voted to create a city-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… where there wasn’t one before. Well, you didn’t have to build new houses like people lived there.

Odie Donald II:

No, no, no people lived there, yeah.

Rich Meagher:

And, and you joined up as city manager, right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

You had to create all the departments, you had to hire the staff.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

I mean, who does this? Who takes a job that doesn’t exist for a city that’s not real? You know what I mean?

Odie Donald II:

<laugh>

Rich Meagher:

Like who does that?

Odie Donald II:

Well, it’s, it’s a little different.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

The city was real.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

So they had a special services district is what it was called where the taxes that they paid in were basically went into a, a pot for say and, you know, our special fund and it was utilized to deliver municipal services.

Rich Meagher:

So it’s almost like they were sort of like, not a real city, but they had the structure of it a little bit to begin with.

Odie Donald II:

A little bit of a structure. That’s right.

Rich Meagher:

Okay.

Odie Donald II:

Because in Georgia, it’s a little different than here where we have the independent cities and counties.

Rich Meagher:

You still though had to build a lot out for this new city, right?

Odie Donald II:

Oh man, from scratch.

Rich Meagher:

So what do you learn about city government when you have to build one from scratch?

Odie Donald II:

Every single thing about it.

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

Whether it be labor and employment issues, uh, really how to build a city, how, how a city works from start to finish. You know, we had to put every piece of legislation on the books because it didn’t exist before. And so even if you were recreating it, you had to. We put together the city’s first strategic plan, I mean, you name it, we basically put together the, what I would call the activities of the city-

Rich Meagher:

mm-hmm.

Odie Donald II:

… for the future based off the vision of those, you know, folks who had the, the vision to create it.

Rich Meagher:

So from, you know, South Fulton, Atlanta, Richmond, seems like lately, uh, local government, uh, is the kind of latest step in, in your reinvention. Um, what are you looking to get out of this phase of your, of your life here?

Odie Donald II:

Uh, helping people, man.

Rich Meagher:

Mm-hmm.

Odie Donald II:

Pretty much the last 20 years, I have in some way or another had the opportunity to lead governments and help elected officials deliver for their communities. You know, it, the way I look at it is no matter when we start, there’s a blank slate. All of this stuff gets created and you can change it as you see appropriate for your communities. And so we created a government from scratch with the input of our residents, but we actually put all of those things in place. And the same way we created laws, ordinances, policies, rules, regulations, framework, whatever it is, you can do that in any place-

Rich Meagher:

mm-hmm.

Odie Donald II:

… in this system. You just have to spend the time to understand what your system does and know exactly what you wanna be.

Rich Meagher:

We’ll hear more from Richmond’s CAO, Odie Donald, when we come back on RVA’s Got Issues.

This is RVA’s Got Issues. We’re talking with Odie Donald, the Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Richmond. Mayor Avula recently released his mayoral action plan, right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

This is a document supposed to guide the city going forward. Um, how much did you actually have any input on this or was this sort of the instruction manual handed to you like, here, here’s how to do this?

Odie Donald II:

Well, a little bit of both.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

Uh, luckily I came on as the mayor and, uh, the mayor’s office was developing it in lockstep with our department. So, you know, I was a big part of really framing what the deliverables will be, you know, how we’re going to measure success, or failure, you know, and, and be able to, uh, provide adjustments along the way. So kind of helping to finalize the framework of the plan.

And I think my role is operationally, this is how we’re gonna get it done.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah, so how does that work exactly?

Odie Donald II:

Mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

So how does what’s in the plan, right? I get it. There’s pillars and there’s like pr- commitments, but how does that actually translate into working with city employees and offices?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah, so first pillar is a thriving city hall, right? That’s the big vision. I want city hall to be a place that is accessible, where people can come to the people’s house and get the people service. And for me, that means ensuring that when you come in, you can pay your water bill. If it’s late, you know how to resolve it. If you get poor customer service, you know how to report it and measure it. You know, it’s the nuts and bolts of what does quality service look like and how do you measure us and hold us accountable to that?

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. And, and so I wonder about that, right, because you have this kind of like big picture idea.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

Right, that we want city hall to be great. Right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

And, but then also there’s the specifics of it, like when I go and pay my power bill, I don’t wanna feel like I’m going to visit a prison-

Odie Donald II:

<laugh>

Rich Meagher:

… And then nobody responds to me-

Odie Donald II:

That’s right.

Rich Meagher:

… when I can’t solve the problem, right? And so that kind of specific thing-

Odie Donald II:

mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

… is also what it’s about. So how do you make the specific thing happen, right? If I have a bad experience and you’re hearing about those bad experiences-

Odie Donald II:

I’m so glad you asked that because that’s, that’s the part that we often miss. There’s not a standard set right now, and that’s what the mayoral action plan really does for us. This is what we want, now let’s spend a little bit of time kind of measuring what’s happening.

Rich Meagher:

Mm-hmm.

Odie Donald II:

What’s the baseline? And so that’s what we’re doing now. We’re looking at it and we’re saying, “Okay, how many customers are we serving through our walk up kiosk?” Great. We’re doing 2,000 a year. All right, how do we push more people either into city hall to make it more accessible or put those things online and make it even more accessible and we get more people, uh, having access that means they pay their bills more, that mean they receive information more, et cetera, et cetera. So that, that first year and that first, we’ll say timeframe, because I, I don’t think it’s gonna take us a year, but is also focused on gathering information and setting those baselines for which we can measure.

Rich Meagher:

So the metrics is good, right?

Odie Donald II:

Mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

We always want, you, you don’t want just vibes, right?

Odie Donald II:

That’s right.

Rich Meagher:

You want actual data to say, “All right, we did this last year and now we’re doing this this, this year and that’s how it’s better.” I, I mean, is there any concern here, uh, you hear this sometimes in city government or, or really any kind of job-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… where there’s benchmarks is that you end up kind of teaching to the test or, you know, people start getting obsessed with hitting their numbers and they forget what they were actually there for.

Odie Donald II:

I like you. You ask great questions.

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

No, that, I mean, because that is a concern.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

Because you started with the question of “What makes Richmond special?”

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

And some of that is the, the ability to adjust to what’s important here. So if you’re only looking at measuring affordable housing and you look at, “Hey, we’ve got to raise the District of Columbia has raised 100 million dollars.” Well, that’s a 10 by 10 area, you know? Yeah. Yeah. With tons of money, you know, the, and resources, I think their budget is larger than 15, uh, you know, if it was a state, it’s larger than 15 states, completely different situation. And so 100 million here versus 100 million there is quite different. But the way they deliver services, how they frame their affordable housing trust fund, the various tools that they have that can be utilized is something that we can measure against and also figure out if any of those tools and resources can be replicated here locally.

Rich Meagher:

Let’s talk about what changed already, right? So, so five years ago, if I wanted to know who worked for the city-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… um, I don’t know, I’d, I’d ask around, right? There was no org chart, there was no directory of employees-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… if a comms person or a finance rep didn’t return my calls, I didn’t know who his or her boss was. I mean, it was really hard for any city resident to get accountability.

Odie Donald II:

Mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

We didn’t know where to go next. So now I go to the CAO website-

Odie Donald II:

Mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

… and every city agency is organized into four or five portfolios, right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah, four. Mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

Is this starting the work of organizing the city, just even listing who’s here and, and, and what they’re doing?

Odie Donald II:

Is somebody helping you?

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

No, seriously, because you’re paying attention to, uh, this is great because-

Rich Meagher:

This is what I do, this is what I do.

Odie Donald II:

People, well people, people don’t notice those type of things, but, but I think they’re important.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

And that’s why we’re making those small adjustments that really matter and make it easier, you know. That is one piece is kind of separating the portfolio so one, you know, who does what and why, but also how to escalate things-

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

… just naturally. If you know the, the deputy that is signed over a portfolio, you know their scope of work, you also know which services are connected though. And so I think that’s one of the things that I’m looking at is, are we appropriately aligned? You know, are fire and, uh, police services connected in a way that they’re reporting to the same person?

Sometimes in instances, fire is the first on the scene for certain activities, but then as you could imagine in some type of police activity, if there’s violence or some other thing involved, fire’s right on the scene to help stabilize until the ambulance authority gets there.

Rich Meagher:

Right.

Odie Donald II:

And so making sure that all of our services are aligned appropriately is not a small thing. I’m really surprised that, you know, you caught that adjustment because it’s one that’s really important.

Rich Meagher:

It, it is a, a quick fix, right? But an important one, like you’re saying. Um, a- another fix that’s maybe not quite so quick is the Department of Finance, right? We’ve had years of problems, litigation, with that recent audit report that’s kind of, here’s the backlog of everything-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… and, and finance was the top of the list. I mean, we already know this.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

In the city here, a lot of outstanding problems. This seems a little more, you know, deep rooted than just setting up a, a website. So what’s the approach there?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah, so, uh, and I’m, uh, probably a little uncomfortable just plugging it like this, but I came into the government and did a full assessment, uh, which is just one of the things I picked up along the way of where we are. What’s broken, and I think the way I, I phrase it is, uh, was not our fault, but it’s surely our problem? Billing was an issue last year. Bills went out late, they were inaccurate, et cetera. While it’s quiet and nobody’s talked about it, 70,000 plus bills just went out, uh, without error or flaw or delay, you know, on time, actually ahead of schedule.

Rich Meagher:

Mm-hmm.

Odie Donald II:

I think, you know, there’s a very broad array of challenges, but there’s also some things that are already in the process of being fixed in finance, and it’s not something that is going to be corrected overnight. There’s some structural changes, there’s a little bit of assessment that needs to be done about some of our challenges, and then we’ve got to kind of figure out, you know, where we align things sometimes and make sure we’re better connected with our council so we can also, you know, help them help us.

Rich Meagher:

You’re talking about some process changes.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

You’re talking about, uh, bureaucracy-

Odie Donald II:

Absolutely.

Rich Meagher:

… working closer with the mayor and even city council, right?

Odie Donald II:

Absolutely.

Rich Meagher:

More connection, communication. So the one thing we’re not talking about, right-

Odie Donald II:

mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

… is personnel changes probably the most painful thing for a new person who comes in to a big organization to think about.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

Right? So, uh, that’s gonna be a touchy subject. Like, how do you manage that kind of change if it’s necessary?

Odie Donald II:

Sometimes, I mean, change is necessary. It’s just the reality of it. But I’d also say when you correct those other issues, you’ll find that some of the talent that you already have is actually more than capable, but they don’t have the tools and resources to deliver. So, you know, if, if you’re supposed to get a nail into your desk and I give you a pair of scissors-

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

… Can I really be mad at you?

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

You know, it, I don’t, I don’t go by that. And so that’s why I’ve done a full assessment of the government, just to understand what’s working and what’s not and why. And some changes in personnel will have to be made, but, you know, I don’t believe in drastic overhauls.

Rich Meagher:

I will say I’m a big fan of the wrong tool for the right job.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

So maybe I try to hammer that nail in with the scissors and see how I get.

Odie Donald II:

<laugh> And you can get it done, but when you get it done in a way that is-

Rich Meagher:

Without bleeding. …

Odie Donald II:

Cost effective-

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

… for, for our residents.

Rich Meagher:

Yes.

Odie Donald II:

You know?

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. Now, there was an interesting little dust up, I guess, with city council recently, they asked for an alternative budget from you-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… and you said, “Nope, I can’t do that. ” They got a little bent out of shape.

Odie Donald II:

<laugh>

Rich Meagher:

The mayor issued a letter that used the word, “This is wholly inappropriate.” I mean, if, as, as far as these things go, it was kind of a clapback, I guess.

Odie Donald II:

Okay.

Rich Meagher:

Did, did it feel like at least they had your back there?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah, I think absolutely. And I, but I think what it showed me more is that there is an opportunity to really provide some additional support to the council-

Rich Meagher:

mm-hmm.

Odie Donald II:

… if the council member desires those two budgets while the decision is ultimately the mayor’s, there is a way that we can work together and communicate to get there. And I think that’s the part that I now see, you know, is that, hey, the answer remains the same, right?

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

Because it is not my decision to make. Neither in that instance is it theirs, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it. It just means we have to go through the proper channels and protocols.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. I mean, it did seem a little jarring for city council. Is this a kind of like, you understand things a little bit better and more cl- because you seem to have very clear understanding of who you’re working for-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… and what you’re supposed to do. Is this the kind of, here’s the new sheriff in town that’s gonna lay down the law a little bit?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah, not necessarily that, but I abide by the rules fully. I think accountability works both ways. I think I heard some things about, “Hey, in the past, they didn’t abide by the rules.” I think we were talking about, uh, for the Grimm legislation I proposed-

Rich Meagher:

Suddenly out of nowhere you all had to come up with a couple million dollars to pay someone who was wrongly-

Odie Donald II:

That’s right. It was about 6.2. It’s been a little while so I don’t remember, but-

Rich Meagher:

Someone wrongly in prison, yeah.

Odie Donald II:

But yeah, and so, you know, you’ve gotta pay, you know, that’s what the law on the books, you know, is. And so we had to do that.

Rich Meagher:

Mm-hmm.

Odie Donald II:

But the council rightfully pointed out that in the past, you know, past administrations may not have fully complied with the law. And so that is correct. They are correct. But in the budget example that you just mentioned, we also have to comply with the law-

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Odie Donald II:

… and give the mayor the ability to present his budget because that’s the law that’s on the books currently.

Rich Meagher:

So all of this that we’ve been talking about, right? The mayor action plan, Danny’s vision-

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

… the running of the city, this is a very big job, right?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

Um, you haven’t spent more than two or three years in a job lately, which isn’t unusual for any, or anything for the kind of-

Odie Donald II:

mm-hmm.

Rich Meagher:

… career track you’ve been on, but the mayor says that he wants to be here not for another three years, but another seven.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

He’s gonna be here for two terms, at least he says he’s running.

Odie Donald II:

Yeah.

Rich Meagher:

How about you?

Odie Donald II:

Yeah. Listen, I’ll tell you, I’m pretty clear. I love Richmond. I, I left a extraordinary role and an extraordinary leader to come to a place that I plan to grow with, with not only, you know, myself and my future, but also with my family. Before 30 days, you saw me holding up my Virginia license plate-

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Odie Donald II:

… And, you know, moving into my place and all of that kind of stuff. I’m, I’m committed and I enjoy it. And, you know, unless something changes or, you know, if the relationship is not great or, you know, or if I’m not able to help, then that’s, Different, but I, I don’t foresee that in the city of Richmond because for the first time that I’ve seen in just about any government, everyone is rowing in the same direction. We all agree on the way. We only disagree on the how.

And so this place is poised for something special.

Rich Meagher:

Odie Donald is the chief administrative officer for the city of Richmond. Thank you, Odie.

Odie Donald II:

I appreciate you having me.

Rich Meagher:

That’s our show. Thanks to our guest, Odie Donald. Tell us about your issues by visiting our website, rvasgotissues.vpm.org, or send us an email at [email protected]. Be sure to leave a review on your favorite podcasting platform. And keep your eyes on that platform. We’re taking a little break for the holidays, but we’ll be back with new episodes early in the new year. RVA’s Got Issues is produced by Max Wasserman and Rachel Dwyer. Script editing on this episode by Nicki Stein. Audio mixed by Steve Lack. Our theme music was composed by Alexander Hitchens. Shawn Freude is our executive producer. Steve Humble is VPM’s Chief Content Officer. Rebekah Sausmikat is our video failure avoidance technician. I’m your host, Rich Meagher. Thanks for listening!