Interim CAO introduces new interim public utilities director as council addresses recent outages

Interim Chief Administrative Officer Sabrina Joy Hogg introduced Scott Morris as Richmond’s interim Public Utilities Director. Morris, who joined the city about two weeks earlier, said he was "looking forward to working through the Department of Utilities and putting us on a path of excellence," after administrators noted his prior municipal and state environmental experience.

Council members praised the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) for recent rapid responses to a gas main issue, a water main break, and other outages in several districts. Council Member Oppenbacher thanked DPU for restoring heat and service after a water-main event and noted the department’s communications efforts. Council Member Trammell and others relayed constituent calls about higher utility bills and said they were working with interim DPU leadership to get answers.

Deputy Director Diana Moore Clark told the council the administration received notice that the federal competitive grant program the city is applying to has been renamed and that the city’s amendment to Resolution 2025 R008 was a technical correction to match the notice of funding opportunity. Clark said the project—described in meeting materials as a local replacement project—remains eligible and that the same pool of federal funds remains available.

The council was also told the Public Utilities and Services Commission will meet Jan. 30 and will discuss the citys water crisis response and the commissions role; the council previously requested a third-party analysis of the water response from the firm HNTB, which had briefed a government-operations committee.

Ending: The council continues oversight of utility issues; interim leadership and a third-party review were presented as steps to restore service and public confidence while council members urged continued transparency on data and remediation.