INTERVIEW: Nicole Jones is running for 9th District City Council
Nicole Jones is a candidate for the 9th District City Council seat.
The 9th District (“South Central”) hugs the county line at Chippenham Parkway to the west, and stretches from Jahnke Road to Walmsley. The district includes the Midlothian corridor west of German School Road, Hull Street from Southwood Apartments, and the north side of much of Broad Rock Boulevard.
“Richmond and I chose each other,” says Nicole Jones, a New York native. At a time in the city when she was looking for what was next, a friend fortuitously invited Jones to visit Richmond. In 1998, Jones secured a job here and moved to the West End out by Gaskins Road with her son. She later lived in Bellevue in Northside, and when it came time to buy a house, well, she and Southside chose each other.
In her over two-and-a-half decades since moving to Richmond, Jones worked at DMV and then served as the Procurement Manager at the Library of Virginia and Procurement Officer at the Virginia Community College System. She has been with community-centered arts organization ART 180 since 2017, and has been the Deputy Director for the last 4 years.
Jones was elected to School Board in 2020, and was appointed to the 9th District City Council seat in December 2023 to replace Michael Jones (no relation), who was elected that November to represent the House of Delegates 77th District.
She has been endorsed by 7th District School Board representative Cheryl Burke, Home Building Association of Richmond, SEIU, Richmond Association of Realtors, New Virginia Majority, Dr. Ram Bhagat, 8th District School Board representative Dawn Page, Delegate Mike Jones, and 1st District School Board representative Liz Doerr.
Jones describes herself as focused on social and community justice, and approaching problem solving as looking after both the individual and the larger issues at play. “I use a systems approach to my work. But within that systems approach, it’s more person-centered. It’s person first and then the system.”
Her person-centered approach is on full display at her monthly 9th District Meetings held at Pop’s Bingo just off of Midlothian Turnpike. She frames the gatherings as a call to action and as “a meeting about the information that we’re not getting”, bringing together residents and government and organization representatives to share information about housing, upcoming development, available services and more. The different City Council representatives each have their own kind of meeting – Jone’s meetings are essentially a dialogue with everyone in the room invited to participate.
We met with Nicole Jones at Eat 66 on Tuesday, August 13th. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: How did you first get engaged on a civic level?
“[When I moved into the 9th District] immediately my community radar was going off. I was like, I don’t see no community. I don’t see people. I see nothing going on. What’s happening? There’s no stores.
So I called Mike Jones’s office and I’m like ‘hey I’m new to the neighborhood, I’d love to connect with you to get an understanding of what your vision is for the district, what you’re doing’ and he pointed me in the direction of starting a civic association.
So I started the first civic association over there in my area.”
Q: How did you end up running for School Board, what as your experience with that?
“Both of my kids are RPS graduates by the way.
I was approached about joining school board. At that point, Linda Owens who was [9th District School Board representative], she was amazing but she was kind of ready to move on.
So she interviewed me on umpteen times, [she dropped out and supported me]. And so that’s how School Board came.
I’m a champion for community and restorative justice. I was integral in a lot of the changes that are coming up now in the school systems – not the book bags and all that – I’m talking about in terms of decreasing suspension and really working to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. So finding creative ways to not necessarily use punitive responses to our children but ways that are restorative and ways that deal with conflict resolution.
Also helping to elevate their consciousness around the fact that behavior is a symptom of something else that’s going on. I supported increasing more social workers and getting more access to all the things that young people need.
I did a lot of work with what is now the Wellness Office and also the Office of Engagement. I also led the charge to rezone River City Middle School because it was overcrowded.
And I don’t believe that rezoning is the answer, but it was what we needed at that time because it was like safety issues and all the things that we faced with so many kids and not enough resources. Schools in the South Side do not have the resources that are needed. They’re overcrowded.
That sparked the Commission for Latino Students and English Learners, which I co-chaired. And that was an amazing process, to really just really learn and see how students, the Latino community, how they’re treated, how they’re not prioritized in their education because we don’t have the resources.
We also created a multicultural festival [at River City Middle School] with the principal.
That was a way to engage the community and just be a bridge builder. Living in a multicultural city like New York, I’ve never ever experienced the separation that I see here. I have family members that are Puerto Rican, that speak Spanish and so it’s just like wait a minute – what do you mean us versus them? You know so I tried to use all that I had within my powers and duties of a school board member to support that community but then also support the African American community.”
Q: On being appointed to City Council
“I felt like what separated me from the other two candidates was my experience. I was bringing a level of intel from schools that they didn’t have, knowledge and a plan of how we can work together because I still have solid relationships over there.
I like City Council. Being on City Council allows me to see every part of the city. So like what’s missing in transportation? What’s missing in housing? What’s missing in homelessness? What’s missing in schools? What’s missing in infrastructure? And then work from a holistic framework. Not just necessarily from my district, but then what’s working in other areas that we can bring over here? How do I find out? Who do I call? Who do I work with outside of the city? And are there nonprofits and other people that can help maneuver?
I can work on those and make sure that I’m constantly elevating that conversation and making sure that money is being allocated to support the district. But I also am also building and investing with the people. Because when it’s all said and done, it can’t just be complaints – we have to find a way to ensure that the money is going to the people.”
Q: The People’s Evolution Music Festival
“When I first came in, the first conversation that I had in the district meetings was, ‘this is not about me, this is about you. Y’all tell me what you want in this district.’
When we had our first meeting, I went through a list of questions about the district. Like I’m interviewing them. I’m like, tell me about the Ninth District. What are your thoughts? A lot of them were like ‘we don’t have anything over here.’
Other than Southside Community Center, which is offline right now, there’s no real place in the district for folks to go to socialize. And so I was like, well, what are some things that you would want to see happen and they said ‘every time we look up, there’s concerts downtown. We can’t get there, the buses don’t go there, we don’t have it.’
I got to thinking about what if we put together this block party or an event?
A lot of times we focus on tangibles, but the lack of investment, we talk about it all the time with our young people, but we don’t talk about it with our seniors, with our adults. The lack of social and emotional investment is just as critical in adults and in aging adults as it is in young people.”
Q: What’s your goal for the next four years? What would be success?
“A mark of success for me is going to be increased engagement. I think right now the 9th District does not have a lot of engagement because of it being a district that has not been funded and invested in, right?
If you look back to the days of 2016 and before we had over 10 civic associations in this district. Right now we may have one or two. And so a marker of success is activating the community in a way where people want to create these civic associations to literally continue to build. Really trying to rebuild the community.
Everybody says we need to fix the South Side. Okay, well we can fix it – but what about the people? I want to fix it right.
I also want to celebrate the wins and there have been some wins.
Success to me is the things that were promised to the district.”
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I want to make sure I remember this: The councilwoman Nicole Jones is responsible for organizing an expensive block party and concert that cost $174,000. City of Richmond, councileoman Nicole Jones and Petula Burks organized this concert, which did not help improve the morale of the community. Reading this, I’ve decided to support her opponent, Starling. I didn’t know much about her, but she mentioned that the whole city needs an enema. I think she meant that the city leaders need to be cleaned out and replaced with new, fresh leadership. This change is needed in the Ninth District.
Hi Gabby,
Your assessment of my comment is spot on. Our city requires a comprehensive overhaul from the top down. The Southside has long been a prime example of what happens when progress is neglected. It has become a place where individuals enter the political arena with little to no challenge. Having lived in South Richmond my entire life, I am frustrated by the broken promises and lack of transparency.
Regarding your concerns about the concert, I share your distress. I’ve also seen the same documents circulating on social media. This event appeared to be a way to campaign without formally campaigning, essentially promoting an appointee who abandoned her position on the school board, leaving four out of six schools under her leadership unaccredited and the district in worse shape than when she arrived. Michael Jones, as council president, facilitated this situation. He permitted a long-held tradition to be overlooked, which typically prevents appointees from running, as it creates an unfair advantage.
If our esteemed Senator Tim Kaine finds this troubling, it should raise concerns for everyone in the Democratic Party and the broader political community. The public should scrutinize the motivations behind placing her in the council seat. This seems like an attempt to maintain the status quo and continue the trend of selling off Richmond, prioritizing the interests of the establishment over the community.
With $173K, there were countless ways we could have positively impacted the lives of South Richmond residents. We could have provided 8,000 families with $20 each or invested in repairing our deteriorating infrastructure. I am outraged by the lack of oversight on council spending. If elected, I promise to be fiscally responsible with your tax dollars and prioritize the best interests of our district’s residents. Please feel free to contact me. 804.372.3999