Richmond city spokeswoman resigns; was subject of purchasing card questions, FOIA whistleblower lawsuit (2024)

Richmond city spokesperson Petula Burks abruptly resigned Monday evening, 30 months after being hired to lead a communications and community engagement office created by Mayor Levar Stoney.

In an email to the city’s executive team provided to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders said Burks had “decided to pursue other opportunities.”

Burks started with the Office of Public Information and Engagement in January 2022 after serving in communications positions with the Washington State Department of Health and Greater Sacramento Economic Council. She was also chief of staff to the mayors of Miami Gardens, Florida, and Augusta, Georgia.

Stoney announced the creation of the Richmond office in 2021.

“The office’s founding mission is to connect communities with city government through accessible public information, meaningful engagement and compelling storytelling. The hiring of Ms. Burks is a significant step toward ensuring PIE is a lasting, useful, and change-making force within the City of Richmond government,” the city said in a statement about Burks being hired.

The resignation announcement came as The Times-Dispatch raised questions regarding the use of Burks’ purchasing card to obtain nearly $100,000 worth of services from consulting and advertising firms operated by her former business partner.

Attempts to reach Burks for comment throughout the day Monday were unsuccessful.

A transaction log obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by The Times-Dispatch shows that Burks used her purchasing card to spend $43,930 at LC Studios LLC, a production company, and $55,050 at Play 4 Production, a public relations agency. Public records list Cameus Chicoye as the manager of LC Studios LLC and as the registered agent of Play 4 Production.

A registered agent is a person who serves as a liaison between an LLC and local, state and federal governments.

Burks and Chicoye in 2015 partnered to form the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, corporation In the Name of Grace — Grace’s Love Corporation, where Burks was president and Chicoye served as vice president, public records show. The company was intended to “strategically impact the lives of underserved girls” through mentoring and teaching, according to its articles of incorporation.

Nearly a decade later, Burks engaged the services of companies connected to her ex-business partner 15 times at a total cost of $98,980 in 2023.

‘The appearance of a conflict’

Public records show LC Studios LLC is headquartered in Pembroke Pines, Florida, about 20 miles southwest of Fort Lauderdale. Play 4 Production was registered to a Richmond address in Willow Lawn on Dec. 5, 2022 — about a year after Burks was appointed as head of Richmond’s Office of Strategic Communications.

The public relations agency is defunct as of March, public records show.

Burks previously told The Times-Dispatch that Play 4 Production assisted the city in producing 23 projects, including “police commercials, aggressive driving campaign (media) and the end of year compilation.” The company also “assist(ed) with large-scale events,” she said.

Burks did not immediately respond to inquiries as to the services provided by LC Studios LLC.

Her relationships with that company and with Chicoye were called into question in 2021, when she was serving as chief of staff to former Augusta, Georgia, Mayor Hardie Davis. The Augusta Chronicle reported that a probe of Mayor Davis’ credit card expenditures revealed $24,000 worth of charges at LC Studios LLC, which “had the appearance of a conflict.”

Burks, who had pledged to work for the Augusta mayor for a year, left the role in January 2022 and was hired by the city of Richmond later that month.

“Petula Burks has been and remains a trusted advisor. Her leadership and professionalism guided my team through a global pandemic and into an incredible year of economic growth and opportunity for Augusta. I am excited to see what her future holds,” Davis said in a statement announcing her departure.

City officials’ responses

Asked why she had not engaged a local business to perform the services offered by the Florida-based LC Studios LLC, Burks did not respond. She also did not reply when asked about the potential for conflict in her hiring of firms affiliated with Chicoye.

Rene Almaraz, the director of Richmond’s Department of Procurement Services, previously told The Times-Dispatch that individual purchases worth less than $80,000 are not subject to the city’s procurement process, which requires contracts be approved by both Almaraz and the city attorney. Purchases beneath that threshold are governed by the city’s small purchase procedures, Almaraz said.

The maximum single-transaction amount Burks spent at LC Studios LLC in 2023 was $9,780, according to her transaction log. At Play 4 Production, that figure was $9,750.

Almaraz also stressed a distinction between contracts and purchasing card purchases.

“For smaller purchases ... (Petula) can use a p-card for that,” he said. “If a contract becomes involved ... the Department of Procurement Services will step in, we’ll review the agreement, the city attorney’s office will review the agreement to make sure it’s to form.”

Asked whether purchasing cards could be used to skirt the city’s contract process and rules, Almaraz said, “I’m not finding instances where we’re getting into that.”

“I’ve never seen it done,” he said.

3 city credit cards suspended

Last week, The Times-Dispatch reported that Burks’ purchasing card has been suspended since July 2023 after she failed to clear a backlog of charges and mistakenly used it for a personal expense.

Burks used the card to make 130 purchases worth a total of $277,151.99 between Jan. 5 and July 20, 2023, including over $71,000 on consulting and public relations services and roughly $50,000 on photo and video studios, according to the transaction log.

Her card is among at least three to be suspended by the city. In May, officials revoked the purchasing cards of Registrar Keith Balmer and Deputy Registrar Jerry Richardson as the Inspector General’s office investigated allegations of financial improprieties at the elections office.

Burks is also named in a $250,000 whistleblower lawsuit by Connie Clay, who was dismissed in January as the city’s Freedom of Information Act officer. Clay said in her court filing that the city’s “process for handling FOIA requests was chaotic and mismanaged” when she was hired and that Burks told her to “withhold information” when responding to filings.

City Attorney Lisa Drewry called Clay’s claims “baseless.”

Saunders in the staff email Monday said a search for Burks’ replacement will begin immediately.

“We are grateful for all the incredible work she has done, from standing up a new Office of Strategic Communication and Civic Engagement from the ground up to helping our city embrace and celebrate its diverse culture,” he said. “We wish her the best in her future endeavors.”