PRIMER: Richmond’s unique Council-Mayor system and how to get in touch with leaders

Richmond residents elected to serve as members of the 2017-2020 Richmond City Council were sworn-in last night in Richmond City Council Chambers. Following the swearing-in, Council elected The Honorable Chris A. Hilbert, Councilman, Richmond City Council, Richmond Northside 3rd Voter District, as Council President and The Honorable Cynthia I. Newbille, Councilwoman, Richmond City Council, Richmond East End 7th Voter District, as Council Vice President. Councilmembers serve four year terms and elect a Council President and Council Vice President to serve two-year terms.

How our unique form of city government works

Richmond has a unique Council-Mayor form of government in which powers of the city are vested in Richmond City Council, as per the Richmond City Charter, and a separately elected Mayor oversees (through a Chief Administrative Officer) the day-to-day administration of city government departments.

Council is comprised of nine individually-elected Councilmembers and the offices/staff that support it. Council Offices include the Council Chief of Staff, Office of the City Clerk, Office of the City Assessor of Real Estate, Office of the City Attorney, and the Office of the City Auditor. A part-time position, each Councilmember hires an individual Liaison to assist them.

Richmond City Council holds an average of eight to ten official meetings each month to discuss, deliberate, and act on laws and policy on behalf of Richmond residents.

For the purposes of elections, Richmond is divided into nine geo-demographic Richmond Voter Districts, which are used to elect individual members of Richmond City Council, Richmond City Public Schools Board of Trustees (an entity separate from city government); and, a Mayor, who must receive a majority of votes in five of the nine Voter Districts. Each elected official serves a four-year term.

You can always show up at public meetings to make your voice heard during public comment periods, but if you want to get in touch with your councilmember directly to solve issues on a neighborhood level, we wanted to make that easy for you! Check it out below.

Richmond West End 1st Voter District

• The Honorable Andreas D. Addison
• Councilman, Richmond City Council
• Richmond West End 1st Voter District
• 804.646.5935
• [email protected]

Richmond North Central 2nd Voter District

• The Honorable Kimberly B. Gray
• Councilwoman, Richmond City Council
• Richmond North Central 2nd Voter District
• 804.646.6532
• kimberly.gray@richmondgov.com

Richmond Northside 3rd Voter District

• The Honorable Chris A. Hilbert
• Councilman, Richmond City Council
• Richmond Northside 3rd Voter District
• 804.646.6055
• [email protected]

Richmond Southwest 4th Voter District      

The Honorable Kristen Nye Larson 

• Councilwoman, Richmond City Council
• Richmond Southwest 4th Voter District
• 804.646.5646
• [email protected]

Richmond Central 5th Voter District     

• The Honorable Parker C. Agelasto
• Councilman, Richmond City Council
• Richmond Central 5th Voter District
• 804.646.5724
• [email protected]

Richmond Gateway 6th Voter District

• The Honorable Ellen F. Robertson
• Councilwoman, Richmond City Council
• Richmond Gateway 6th Voter District
• 804.646.7964
• [email protected]

Richmond East End 7th Voter District

• The Honorable Cynthia I. Newbille
• Councilwoman, Richmond City Council
• Richmond East End 7th Voter District
• 804.646.3012
• [email protected]

Richmond Southside 8th Voter District

• The Honorable Reva M. Trammell
• Councilwoman, Richmond City Council
• Richmond Southside 8th Voter District
• 804.646.6591
• [email protected]

Richmond South Central 9th Voter District

• The Honorable Michael J. Jones
• Councilman, Richmond City Council
• Richmond South Central 9th Voter District
• 804.646.2779
• [email protected]