Virginia Residents Left Without Water As Pro-DEI Water Manager Sits At The Helm

After a snowstorm left Richmond, Virginia without water, all eyes are on the Director of the city’s Department of Public Utilities: a diversity, equity, and inclusion proponent who has overseen the dilapidation of the city’s water infrastructure.

April Bingham was named Richmond’s utilities chief by former Democrat Mayor Levar Stoney in December 2021, after 1 year and 11 months as deputy director of the department’s customer service division. Since taking the post, Bingham has dedicated herself to advancing the DEI agenda and is a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for the Virginia branch of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), a professional organization for water management officials.

While Bingham has dedicated herself to advancing the DEI agenda, Richmond’s water facilities appear to have fallen into a state of disrepair. Under Bingham, The Environmental Protection Agency cited Richmond in 2022 for various violations, including insufficient maintenance, corroded pumps, cracked filters, and perhaps worst of all, outdated emergency response plans.

Bingham refused to say whether or not those issues contributed to the ongoing water crisis, which began Monday after a winter storm knocked out the power at a Richmond power plant. Mayor Danny Avula, who was sworn in on December 31st, was unable to say whether the Department of Public Utilities had taken all preventive measures to avoid the crisis.

But the head of the Virginia Office of Drinking Water, Dwyane Roadcap, explained that some regulations appear to have been flouted.

“I can cite some regulations where we’ve got noncompliance with the regulations. That’s part of the reason why we’re out there. It’s part of the reason we’ve got a boil water advisory. It’s part of the reason why there’s no water pressure or insufficient water pressure,” Roadcap charged. “One of the things that we’re looking into is why the fail-safe systems and the redundant systems didn’t work, because you shouldn’t have this kind of problem.”

Stoney, the mayor who selected Bingham, has decried the use of the term “DEI hire” as a so-called “racist dog whistle.” He appointed Bingham to her post despite her not having a degree or experience in engineering, setting her apart from the five public utilities managers in the surrounding areas, each of whom has a background in engineering. Bingham instead graduated from the University of Maryland with a business degree and from the University of Phoenix with a master’s in public administration.

Stoney ran cover for Democrat operatives who slashed the tires of Wisconsin Republican Party vans on Election Day 2004.

The city government has boasted that Bingham is “the first woman to serve in this critically important role.” Bingham, who earned $217,000 in 2023, is listed as one of the Virginia AWWA’s leaders for mentorship and allyship. Bingham articulated her support for the DEI agenda in one graphic produced by AWWA in which she is quoted as saying that she would like to “close the gap of skilled workers within the water industry and create a path for the next generation of female leaders.”

“This has been an amazing day discussing, describing and dialoguing about DEI-A in the water sector,” Bingham said in a LinkedIn post celebrating a DEI event hosted by the AWWA and the Virginia Water Environment Association. Bingham also took to the platform to advertise a slate of DEI-oriented scholarships for water professionals to attend a conference.

The Virginia AWWA DEI committee hosts talks on “equitable decision making,” “building an inclusive work force,” and “advancing woman leaders through mentorship/allyship” while also promoting a wide range of DEI resources.

Among the DEI resources is a guide to transgender pronoun usage, a call for employees to “callout homophobia/biphobia/transphobia happening in the workplace,” and an explanation of how M&M’s allegedly became more inclusive after the green M&M mascot ditched her heels for sneakers.

Bingham and the Richmond Virginia Department of Public Utilities did not respond to requests for comment.