You may recall that a year ago in August 2024, Roshni Felonte McGee filed a complaint against Najari Smith, Doria Robinson, Charles Patterson, Urban Tilth, Rich City Rides and Rich City, alleging
that the defendants rented McGee and his family an apartment with serious and injurious defects, harassed, intimidated and retaliated against McGee and ultimately and unlawfully terminated his tenancy without paying the relocation costs required by Richmond’s
Rent Control Ordinance. See
Wrongful Eviction Suit Against Richmond Councilwoman Add to Rich City Rides Dispute,
Lawsuit: Rich City Rides, Doria Robinson “Coerced” Tenant to Leave Uninhabitable Building and
Litigation Over Rich City Rides Scandal Begins.
The “apartment” was not zoned for residential use and had never been registered with the Richmond Rent Program or the Richmond Rental Inspection Program. It was the same premise that Najari Smith
illegally and deceptively listed as his residence when running for a City Council seat in District 5 in the 2020 election. Despite complaints of voter fraud being made to the FPPC, the Secretary of State, the Richmond City Attorney and the District Attorney,
all of them declined to investigate – possibly because of the political protection that Urban Tilth and Doria Robnson enjoy.
In June of this year, McGee’s lawsuit was resolved with undisclosed conditions and the parties sworn to silence.
Interestingly, Bennett, Gelini and Gelini, the attorneys representing Smith, Robinson, Urban Tilth and the other defendants, received a third amendment to their agreement to provide legal services
for the City of Richmond not to exceed $669,990, approved by the City Council on December 3, 2024. Despite Bennett, Geline and Gelini being her attorneys, defending her in a lawsuit at the time, Councilmember Doria Robinson did not recuse herself.
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