Mayor Levar Stoney billed taxpayers for 5-star hotel stays

But unlike other Virginia mayors, Stoney didn’t stay at the four-star Capital Hilton on 16th Street Northwest, the host venue for the conference and where the speaking events took place. 

Instead, Stoney booked a room a block north, at The St. Regis Washington, D.C., a five-star hotel. His four-night stay cost a total of $2,148, charges that were paid for by the city, according to credit card receipts. 

Gianni Snidle, a spokesperson for Stoney, said that the mayor was one among others to stay at the St. Regis.

“Traditionally, mayors from across the country either stay at the Capitol Hilton or the St. Regis hotel to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington, D.C. Alongside other mayors, Mayor Stoney stayed at the hotel across the street from the conference location,” said Snidle.

Staff said that the St. Regis is sometimes booked as an overflow location for the conference, held this year Jan. 17-20.

More than 200 mayors — among them Karen Bass, of Los Angeles; Andre Dickens, of Atlanta; and Eric Adams, of New York — traveled to Washington for the 2023 event, the 91st time that the gathering has occurred.

The nonpartisan organization, founded in the 1930s, is for top officials in municipalities with populations of more than 30,000 to discuss policies, network and learn about initiatives. 

The group holds two conferences each year — one in the summer at a host city and one in the winter in Washington “to engage with the White House, the current administration, and Congress.” The winter meeting featured discussions about mental health, public safety, technology, infrastructure, homelessness and jobs.

Stoney has served in leadership positions for the organization, including a position on the advisory board and as chairman of the Children, Health, and Human Services Committee. He is also president of the Democratic Mayors Association. 

Also attending the events in January were the mayors of three other Virginia cities — Petersburg, Norfolk News and Portsmouth. Each stayed at the Capital Hilton, according to documents The Times-Dispatch obtained through Freedom of Information Act.

Staff in Petersburg Mayor Samuel Parham’s office said his stay at the Capital Hilton cost less than $800.

Receipts from Norfolk News showed that Mayor Phillip Jones’ room at the same hotel cost $1,350, excluding a fee for valeting his car.

After tax, rooms at the Capital Hilton start at about $200 a night. Rooms at the St. Regis start at about $460.

Stoney paid on average $522 each night, excluding a bill at Alhambra, the hotel’s Mediterranean restaurant. It did not include room charges for other staffers.

Stoney also stayed at the St. Regis in 2022. That stay, which was one night shorter, cost the city $1,325.

Stoney is one of numerous city employees to have a city credit card, or a purchasing card, which draw money from the city account like a debit card. 

P-Cards are managed by Richmond’s Office of Procurement Services. The office did not immediately respond to questions on whether it had reviewed and approved the charges.

In 2019, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on Stoney’s use of his city credit card to extend a work trip to Hawaii, where the summer Conference of Mayors was being held, so that he could vacation for an additional three days.

Stoney charged $1,000 total on his city-issued card and reimbursed the city a month later. City officials said this was the result of a mistake by hotel staff, who used his P-Card instead of his personal card.

Using the card for personal charges is explicitly forbidden under city procurement rules. At the time, city spokesperson Jim Nolan called the charges “an erroneous mistake that caused some confusion but was corrected in good faith.”

Nolan also said in the story that participation in the conference helped Richmond secure $150,000 in grants from affiliates in 2019.