RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) officials are defending their decision to pay some Gilpin Court residents $20 to attend a Richmond City Council meeting in support of a management transfer plan.
The payments were intended to encourage residents to attend a June 9 council meeting regarding a plan to transfer management of Gilpin Court to the nonprofit arm of RRHA, Richmond Development Corporation.
RRHA CEO Stephen Nesmith confirmed the housing authority worked with Venable Community Services to create advertisements encouraging residents to attend the meeting.
"Anything that we can do to reduce the barriers if it's financial, or otherwise, if it's transportation, to get our public housing residents to any location so they can get their democratic voices heard and be educated about their future, we think that's a good thing," Nesmith said.
The flyer, which was created by Venable Community Services, stated:
"RRHA wants you to show up at the city council meeting for your community on Monday, 6/9/2025. You will be picked up at the Calhoun center at 5 p.m. You will be paid for your two hours to hold up a sign."
When asked to comment on the situation, representatives at Venable declined.
Nesmith acknowledged issues with the flyer's wording but defended the payments.
"It should have said, 'Do you support the redevelopment of Gilpin? Do you support us doing through the non-profit RDC? Please come out if you want to,'" Nesmith said.
The CEO confirmed the funds came from "unrestricted non-federal funds through the RDC" and insisted the payments were legitimate.
"I can tell you on the record, it was legitimate purposes for the use for which they were used," he said.
Not all Gilpin Court residents feel incentives are necessary to encourage participation in discussions about their community's future.
Paulette Jefferson, a lifelong Gilpin Court resident, said she attends meetings without financial motivation.
"I don't ask for a cent, I'm here on behalf of me and the residents that can't get out," Jefferson said.
Jefferson, who was born in Gilpin Court and raised her children there, hopes for improvements to her community.
"I would like to see houses, something different, something that I can call my own," she said.
In response Richmond City Councilor Kenya Gibson criticized the payments in a statement, saying: “Last week I expressed concern to my colleagues that RRHA entered a master development agreement, seemingly without the approval of city council or the RRHA board of commissioners. So I was already questioning the way this process is playing out. I love to see community engagement, but the RRHA CEO’s salary is augmented by private investment. So in that context, providing financial incentives to residents of public housing to support a private development deal is just really troubling.”
While Nesmith said RRHA will not work with Venable for future meetings regarding the Gilpin Court management transfer vote, he maintained that incentives remain a possibility.
"Will we offer help? Oh yes, we will, and I stand by the fact that we should be reducing any barriers to help public housing folks get to an event," he said.
The redevelopment of Gilpin Court is expected to be a financially daunting task. Nesmith with the current projection, a complete redevelopment of Gilpin court would cost approximately $466 million; a price tag the CEO believes cannot be supported with federal and state funds alone.
Richmond has been behind," Nesmsith said. "Other housing authorities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, they use their nonprofits specifically to raise unrestricted dollars. If we don't we will go out of business."
Nesmith believes that transferring the management of Gilpin to the RDC could be the factor that allows the projected 10-phase redevelopment project a reality.
In-person meetings are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 28 5:30p - 7:30p and Saturday, Sept. 6 1:00p - 3:00p at the Greater Mount Moriah Baptist Church at 913 North1st Street, Richmond, VA to address concerns, and receive feed back from residents, stakeholders and the public.
Ahead of those meetings, Nesmith said that he will be holding a press conference to announce the next nonprofit RRHA will partner with to help get more residents get to the meetings and stay informed.
"We will hold a press conference! That's how transparent I want to be," Nesmith said. "We're going to hold a press conference and we're going to announce the group that will be eliminating those barriers and helping out the real residents of Gilpin to get to the church to make sure they can have their democratic voices heard."
The city council vote on transferring management of Gilpin Court to the Richmond Development Corporation is scheduled for September.
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