Candidate Interview: Brandon Evans for Richmond City Council District 3

Brandon Evans is running for the District 3 seat on the Richmond City Council, an independent candidate who says his decade of hands-on experience inside city and county government sets him apart in the race.

Evans, 34, is challenging incumbent Doria Robinson. He currently serves as chief executive of Men and Women of Purpose, a reentry-focused nonprofit, and as a district representative for County Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston, a role he previously held under the late Supervisor Federal Glover.

Evans still lives in the Coronado neighborhood house where he grew up. His paternal grandmother arrived in Richmond from Arkansas in the 1940s. His maternal grandmother ran a family daycare in the neighborhood for four decades. When he talks about District 3, it sounds less like a campaign pitch than a family history.

"I'm just a kid from Richmond," Evans said. "My family has been here since the 1940s. They migrated from Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas in search of a better life. When they got here, Richmond was still deeply segregated. My paternal grandmother came here in 1940, and my mother's side of the family came later in the 1960s. My maternal grandmother ran a family daycare for four decades, so I grew up watching someone take care of kids and take care of the community."

Evans said that background shaped his sense of service and responsibility.

"A vote for me is a vote for your brother, your son, your friend, someone who's looking to represent the interests of District 3 above all," he said.

He plans to largely self-fund the race, saying he does not want his campaign to become a financial burden on a community where many residents are struggling financially. He describes himself as independent in a city where political identity is often treated as a loyalty test, and says he was excluded by the progressive coalition before a single conversation had taken place.

"I'm a fourth-generation person from this community. My family has owned businesses here," Evans said. "If I can be othered, anybody can be othered. I'm standing up for what we like to say is real Richmond, people whose families migrated here, people who came here to invest and contribute and build something, but who often feel overlooked, marginalized, and left behind."

Public Safety

Evans does not soften his position on policing. Richmond's police department is severely understaffed, he says, with as few as five to seven patrol officers on duty for the entire city at any given time. When a major incident draws those officers to one location, the rest of the city can be left without coverage.

"When someone calls 911, they want someone to answer," Evans said. "And they want a police officer to be able to respond to that incident. From what I understand, at any given time, we might have five to seven patrol officers for the entire city of Richmond. If there's a major incident that's going to draw most of those officers to one location, then you have to ask what the rest of the city does in case of an emergency."

Evans said his definition of public safety goes beyond policing, including mental health response and community participation.

"I believe public safety incorporates traditional methods like policing, but you also need additional supports in place — mental health response, rapid crisis response, and community members being partners in keeping their neighborhoods safe," he said. "Back in the day we had things like neighborhood watch. There are also programs like crime prevention that help businesses and residents be eyes on the street."

Still, he believes additional police staffing is necessary.

"I know others don't feel that way, but I do think we need additional staffing in our police department," Evans said. "It's just common sense to listen to the professionals, not just police officers but also our fire department, about what they need to keep people safe."

Evans said officers he knows personally describe morale as low, stretched by mandatory overtime and what they see as a lack of support from city leadership.

"I know from speaking with officers, friends of mine on the force, that morale is low," he said. "They're stretched with mandatory overtime, and they don't feel like they have a city council that supports them or even thinks the police are important enough to support. When you have that kind of antagonistic relationship, the community ultimately bears the brunt."

He said Richmond's new alternative crisis response program, ROCK, is still too new to judge.

"I think it's super early to determine if ROCK has been successful or even working," Evans said. "It took a long time just to get it launched, and it's really only been deployed for a couple of months responding to crises."

Evans praised newly appointed Chief Tim Simmons, who rose through the ranks at the department.

"I like that we hire locally," Evans said. "We just went through a chief search, and it made sense to hire someone who understands the nuances that exist here in Richmond, someone who went from being a street cop all the way up to leading the department."

Housing and Homelessness

Evans's planning background surfaces quickly when the conversation turns to housing. He ticks off stalled projects from memory: Nystrom Village, promised since the 1990s, only recently secured a developer for one of its four blocks; 12th and McDonald had momentum in 2016 and 2017 before collapsing after COVID and planning hurdles; Metro Walk Phase 2 still faces a funding gap.

"I think slowly isn't even the right word," Evans said. "Projects don't move slowly here; they just don't happen."

Evans said Richmond has produced relatively little housing compared with nearby cities over the past decade.

"If you look at Richmond over the last decade, we probably have had the least amount of development and housing units coming online," he said. "Projects like Nystrom Village have been promised since the 1990s, and the city couldn't get a development team together or create the incentives needed to make the deal happen."

He also pointed to the stalled 12th and McDonald project in downtown Richmond.

"There was a lot of momentum around that project around 2016 or 2017," Evans said. "It was supposed to bring new residents and investment downtown. But then you had COVID, you had resistance in planning and design review, and ultimately the project didn't pencil."

Evans attributes the pattern to a combination of market forces and local governance.

"If I can go to Berkeley, Emeryville, or Albany and there's a guaranteed return on my investment and a council that's not adversarial toward development, why would I choose Richmond?" Evans said. "Most developers wouldn't."

On homelessness, Evans emphasized his direct experience working with vulnerable populations.

"I work in direct service," he said. "I run a nonprofit that works with individuals who are unhoused and individuals who are coming home from incarceration. I would never criminalize anybody for where they find themselves in life, but I also have a responsibility to my community."

Budget and Economic Development

Evans wants to deploy the city's roughly $550 million Chevron settlement funds toward immediate quality-of-life improvements: street cleaning, parks maintenance, public works staffing, and police capacity.

He argues that the city's practice of freezing positions to balance the budget weakens basic services.

"You can't provide services if departments aren't staffed," Evans said. "And if you're not providing services, it's very hard to attract investment or economic development."

On Chevron, Evans argues the city should maintain a functional relationship with its largest employer and taxpayer.

"We want the refinery to be a good neighbor," Evans said. "We don't want them making people sick. But we should have a formal, cordial working relationship."

Evans's economic vision centers on jobs.

"The number one request I get is: 'Brandon, I need a job,'" he said. "Richmond needs jobs badly."

In the coming weeks, Grandview Independent will publish interviews with candidates running for Richmond City Council and mayor.

YOU GET MORE WITH A PAID SUBSCRIPTION

Your subscription enables Grandview Independent to deliver more:

More time devoted to in-depth reporting
Longer, more comprehensive stories
Greater coverage of what matters to our community

Quality journalism costs money. Subscriptions allow us to keep reporting the stories that matter, without paywalls getting in the way of critical community information.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE - Starting at just $10/month

FOLLOW US FOR BREAKING NEWS:
• Twitter: @GrandviewIndy
• Instagram: @GrandviewIndependent
• Facebook: @Grandview Independent