1. The maximum time allotted to persons speaking to any matter under consideration by the Council shall not exceed 30 minutes for the proponents and 30 for the opposition.
2. Speakers should state their full legal name, any organization(s) they represent and any economic or professional relationship(s) that would benefit by the adoption of the paper(s) they are addressing.
3. Speakers will not be permitted to address or question the Chief Administrative Officer, the City Attorney, the City Clerk, or any staff member directly.
4. Questions should be directed to the President, who may at their discretion, solicit a response.
5. Applause is permitted during the Awards and Presentations Period only.

Persons speaking to Agenda items shall be limited to three minutes. However, no individual from the public may speak for more than 10 minutes total during the business meeting.

Citizens may express their views in writing in lieu of an oral presentation by emailing the Office of the City Clerk at CityClerksOffice@richmondgov.com.

* The full text of the Council's Rules of Procedure is also available in the Office of the City Clerk located in City Hall, 900 E. Broad St., Suite 200.

Due to COVID-19 many of the Richmond City Council meetings are being held virtually via Microsoft Teams, meetings are livestreamed and archived on Legistar.

Effective June 2014, Richmond City Council’s informal work sessions are held at 4:00 p.m. and formal sessions at 6:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays during the months of:

January
February
March
April
May
October

Richmond City Council’s informal work sessions are held at 4:00 p.m. and formal sessions at 6:00 p.m. on the second Mondays during the months of:

June
July
August
September
November
December

Items listed on the Consent Agenda are considered routine and non-controversial. The consent agenda provides a method for the expeditious handling of items that do not require discussion and will be approved unanimously by a single roll-call vote of Council. The public may speak to any item on the Consent Agenda when the public comment period is announced by the president. Any person speaking to one or more items on the Consent Agenda will be allotted a total of three minutes.

 The regular agenda consists of those items on the agenda that the council will hold a public hearing on and then discuss, consider and vote on individually.

Due to COVID-19 most Richmond City Council meetings are being held virtually via Microsoft Teams and are livestreamed on Legistar.

Citizen Comment Period

The Citizen Comment Period is an opportunity for citizens to address Council concerning the services, policies, and affairs of the city and to discuss issues not on the agenda for the business meeting. However, you must schedule your appearance with the Office of the City Clerk no later than *12:00 a.m. on the date of the meeting. Each speaker is generally allotted three minutes to make their comments.

An individual may appear before Council during the Citizen Comment Period no more than four times per year and no more than once within a three-month period.

*Time has changed to 10:00 a.m. due to COVID-19

Public Hearings

A public hearing is the general public's opportunity to comment in favor of or against or even to voice questions concerning an item on the agenda. Any person may speak on an ordinance or resolution within the time constraints imposed by the Council's Rules of Procedure. Public hearings are required for ordinances and resolutions. The public hearing for an ordinance must be held at least seven days after the ordinance's introduction.

To request to speak during the Public Comment Period or during the Public Hearing regarding legislation considered by a committee or Council participants must sign up prior to the meeting by either:

1. Calling the City Clerk's office at (804) 646-7955 and selecting option 3. If staff is not available to take your call, please leave a voicemail with your request to speak, your name, and your contact number, and the City Clerk's staff will call you to sign you up; or
2. Sending an email to CityClerksOffice@richmondgov.com with your request to speak along with your name.

Public speakers must make contact with the City Clerk's office no later than 10:00 a.m. to participate during the meeting. Participation guidelines and instructions will be provided to individuals before the meeting.

Citizens are encouraged to provide comments in writing to CityClerksOffice@richmondgov.com in lieu of speaking through audio or video means during the meeting.

When submitting comments by email, be sure to include in your email:

• Your full legal name
• Any organizations you represent
• Any economic or professional relationships that would be affected by the adoption of the legislation on which you are commenting

All written comments must be received prior to 10:00 a.m. on the date of the meeting.