Candidates vying to unseat Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney in November’s general election tried to chip away at his record during a candidates forum Tuesday night sponsored by Chamber RVA.

Forum moderators Curt Autry and Diane Walker, anchors from NBC12 News, as well as Roberto Roldan from VPM News, peppered the candidates with questions about the coronavirus pandemic, schools, the eviction crisis, economic relief and policing.

Kimberly B. Gray, who represents the 2nd District on Richmond City Council, reasserted during her open- ing statement that her reason for running is to end “corruption and cronyism” at City Hall. She cited as an example the $1.8 million no-bid contract awarded to one of Mayor Stoney’s former campaign donors to remove the Confederate statues from Monument Avenue and elsewhere in the city.

Ms. Gray also criticized the mayor’s pandemic response, saying the admin- istration dragged its feet on providing grant relief to businesses.

In addressing Ms. Gray’s claims, Mayor Stoney said his response to the pandemic has been data driven. Asked if he had any regrets for not disclosing his relationship with the contractor who has removed all but one of the city-owned Confederate statues, Mayor Stoney responded, “No regrets at all.”

Mayor Stoney also said he expects the outside commonwealth’s attorney appointed to review the contract will find that everything was handled in a legal and appropriate manner.

He said Ms. Gray “has always been an impediment to change, an impediment to progress in the city of Richmond. And you see that now being championed in her campaign backed by Republicans.”

Candidate Alexsis Rodgers inter- jected, noting that during the conten- tion over the Confederate monuments, the city is still facing an eviction crisis that’s affecting working-class families. She said that as director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, she has experience advocating for working- class families and intends to do even more to help them as mayor.

“It’s important that we are putting

forward policies that help workers recover” during the COVID-19 crisis, Ms. Rodgers said, adding the need to fully fund eviction diversion programs and to create more affordable housing in the city.

Ms. Rodgers also talked about the need for access to child care and improving equity in the public school system. “I’ve been really proud to see teachers and families and students all coming together to advocate for a stronger RPS. What we have to have is a leader like me who’s used to working in coalitions, building teams to make progress for our communi- ties,” she said.

On education, candidate Justin Griffin, an attorney, said what’s needed to improve graduation rates in city schools is a student-centered approach focusing on literacy, job skills and job training.

As for the eviction crisis, he said people need to be connected with city services.

“We have to jump on this and get people connected to social services and financial planning and differ- ent programs as soon as they fall behind” in paying rent, Mr. Griffin

said. “And finally, we have to act and move forward with uplifting our people economically. And we do that through ... completely changing our school system.”

Asked if they agree with the deci- sion of Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette W. McEachin to release the names of police officers charged with crimes, Mr. Griffin, Ms. Gray and Mayor Stoney said that decision should be left to the com- monwealth’s attorney. Ms. Rodgers said police officers’ names should be made public if they are charged criminally.

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen protesters get named before they’re even convicted of a crime,” Ms. Rodgers said. “Police officers ... should be named so the public can be aware and we can hold the police department accountable.”

Asked to grade Richmond Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras’ perfor- mance leading the public school district for the past three years, Mr. Griffin gave him an “F” and Ms. Gray, a for- mer member of the Richmond School Board, gave him a “D minus” for what she called the school system’s lack of

progress under his leadership.

Ms. Rodgers gave Mr. Kamras a “B,” while Mayor Stoney gave him a “B-plus.” He pointed to the build- ing of three new schools to replace dilapidated buildings and relieve

overcrowding.

Only four mayoral candidates

participated in the forum. Candidate Tracey V. McLean said Wednesday she was told her campaign did not meet the criteria necessary to be included on the forum stage.

“They said I didn’t meet the fund- raising amount or the polling amount,” Ms. McLean told the Free Press.

According to Ms. McLean, the fundraising criteria was $15,000; she said she didn’t know what percentage of support was required through poll numbers.

Ms. McLean said she felt “disre- spected” by Chamber RVA for not being included.

“I am on the ballot to run for mayor. Because I’m on the ballot, I should meet the criteria. I feel like my voice was not heard and the people I represent, their voices were not heard. The people should decide who gets to debate.”