Governmental Operations Standing Committee
Council Chamber, 2nd Floor - City Hall
Agenda — 43 items
- 1 Chamber Emergency Evacuation Plan Announcement and Public Speaker Guidelines
- 1 Committee and Other Council Members in Attendance
- 2 Public Comment Period
- 2 The Honorable Katherine Jordan - Chair The Honorable Sarah Abubaker - Vice Chair The Honorable Kenya Gibson - Member (late arrival)
- 3 Approval of Minutes
- 3 Staff in Attendance
- 4 Presentation(s)
- 4 Laura Drewry, City Attorney Kiley Kesecker, Deputy City Clerk Susan McKenney, Senior Assistant City Attorney Kimberly Morris, Assistant City Clerk William Perkins, Council Senior Legislative Services Manager Candice Reid, City Clerk RJ Warren, Council Chief of Staff
- 5 Department of Public Utilities Customer Information System and Billing
- 5 Call to Order
- 6 Department of Public Utilities Customer Information System and Billing
- 6 Chair Katherine Jordan called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m., and presided.
- 7 Office of Elections Updates
- 8 Office of Elections Updates
- 8 Upon the Chair’s request, Assistant City Clerk Kimberly Morris provided information on the appropriate way to evacuate the Council Chamber in an emergency along with public speaker guidelines.
- 9 Paper(s) for Consideration
- 1. To adopt a new Code of the City of Richmond, Virginia; to repeal the Code of the City of Richmond, Virginia, 2020; to prescribe the effect of such repeal; and to provide for the manner of amending the new City Code.
- 10 There were no public comment speakers.
- 11 page break
- 12 Board Vacancies
- 12 There were no minutes to be approved.
- 13 There were no board vacancies.
- 14 Discussion Item(s)
- 14 The following ordinance was considered:
- 15 Governmental Operations Scheduling
- 16 Staff Report
- 16 RJ Warren, Council Chief of Staff, introduced the ordinance and explained that per the city charter and state code, the city code must be updated and adopted every five years, and that the newest version which could be found on the city’s legislative website.
- 17 Government Operations Standing Committee June 24, 2026 Staff Report
- 17 Public Hearing
- 18 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 19 Member Kenya Gibson arrived at 1:03, and was seated.
- 20 Chair Katherine Jordan moved to forward ORD. 2026-160 to Council with a recommendation to approve, which was seconded and approved: Ayes 3, Gibson, Jordan, Abubaker. Noes 0.
- 23 Scott Morris, Director of the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), provided an update on the rollout of a new billing system, which replaced the city’s 40 year old system with a new cloud based platform that went live on May 26, 2026. He stated that the new system was designed to improve billing accuracy, customer service, and operational efficiency, while reducing system outages and manual processes. He added that it also lays the groundwork for a future customer self-service portal and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), which would provide near real time usage data and faster leak detection.
- 25 A copy of the material provided has been filed.
- 26 Committee members commended Director Morris and DPU staff for reducing audit findings from approximately 45 to near zero, describing it as a major accomplishment. Members raised concerns about customer impacts following the rollout of the new billing system, citing complaints about delayed payment posting and account number confusion, as well as duplicate charges or incorrect delinquency flags. Director Morris attributed the issues primarily to a vendor server migration during system integration, which delayed roughly 15,000 payments and caused some incorrect delinquency notices. He confirmed that DPU was correcting affected accounts, no utility disconnections were occurring, and flow restriction actions had been temporarily paused during the resolution process.
- 28 David Levine, General Registrar, outlined significant operational updates ahead of the August 4, 2026 primary election, emphasizing adjustments driven by the election date shift from June to August, and recent state law changes which include: •Revised voter registration deadlines •Expanded Sunday early voting requirements •New restrictions related to electioneering and firearms near voting sites •Additional time for post-election vote canvassing •Hickory Hill Community Center temporary unavailability due to scheduling conflicts •Use of absentee ballot drop boxes including an early-deployed City Hall drop box to support ballot returns Registrar Levine highlighted multiple operational improvements that were made since taking office, including filling key leadership vacancies, hiring specialized staff in operations, and strengthening coordination with state and local partners. He stated the office had also expanded outreach through school voter registration drives, engagement with new residents, and improve public access via hybrid electoral board meetings.
- 30 A copy of the material provided has been filed.
- 31 Committee members inquired about the Hickory Hill site closure, and security measures and potential impacts on wait times, and they discussed the role of Richmond Public Schools as polling places. Questions were also raised about early voting outreach, particularly regarding newly mandated Sunday voting.
- 32 Registrar Levine reiterated that the Hickory Hill facility was unavailable due to pre-existing programming commitments, but the facility was expected to be used in future elections. He explained that voters assigned to that location would be directed to alternative early voting locations, absentee voting options, and election day precincts, with signage and outreach planned to support awareness. He also stated that while initial implementation required adjustments, the system had generally functioned smoothly with limited issues, and voters have adapted to the procedures. He emphasized the importance of schools as accessible and established voting locations, and he described outreach efforts including website updates, social media posts, community engagement, coordination with political committees, and communication through Council and city channels.
- 37 Committee members discussed potentially moving future Governmental Operations Standing Committee meetings to start at 1:30 p.m., to provide greater scheduling flexibility for attendees.
- 39 Council staff provided the committee with the June Governmental Operations Standing Committee staff report.
- 41 Adjournment
- 42 There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:34 p.m.