Do you think the city needs to make local streets safer? Or maybe you want to tell city leaders about an important neighborhood issue?
The seven-member Richmond City Council is the governing body elected by residents to make decisions about everything from traffic and road improvements to business development and public safety. The council passes resolutions, oversees the city’s budget and hires department heads, among other duties. The council, which includes the mayor, also oversees ongoing lawsuits and approves city department contracts.
The topics the council discusses during its meetings — which take place on Tuesdays three times per month — are made available on a public agenda that’s usually the Friday before the meeting. The mayor, city council members, the city manager, the city attorney and the city clerk all have the power to place items on the agenda.
How Richmond City Council meetings work
WHEN: 6 p.m. First, third and fourth Tuesdays monthly
WHERE: Richmond Civic Center, 440 Civic Center Plaza, or online via KCRT’s simulcast or Zoom.
AGENDAS: Meeting agendas are posted on the city website by the city clerk about 72 hours before each meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Members of the public can address the council for up to two minutes during the public comment portion of the meeting. If you’re at a meeting and want to address the council, complete a pink form and submit it to City Clerk Pamela Christian. Online participants can ask to speak by raising their hand on Zoom.
Residents who want to have an issue placed on the agenda should contact their district’s council member and work with them directly on an item or proposed resolution.
Richmond operates under a “council-manager” structure, meaning that council members adopt policies while City Manager Shasa Curl, who oversees the day-to-day operations of city departments and programs, ensures those policies are implemented.
Courtesy of Shannon Moore Credit: Courtesy of Shannon Moore
Richmond City Council districts and their representatives
Your home address determines which City Council district you live in and who represents your neighborhood on the council. To find your district, visit the city’s interactive districting map.
Six city councilmembers, each representing a neighborhood district, serve four-year terms and are elected separately from the mayor, who also serves a four-year term. The terms alternate with three seats up for election every two years.
Scroll through the city council photo gallery:
Eduardo Martinez is the Mayor of Richmond. Courtesy City of Richmond Credit: City of Richmond 
Soheila Bana, District 4 Credit: David Buechner 
Jamelia Brown, District 1 Credit: Courtesy Jamelia Brown 
Claudia Jimenez District 6 
Doria Robinson, District 3 Credit: David Buechner 
Sue Wilson, District 6 Credit: Courtesy Sue Wilson 
Cesar Zepeda, District 2 Credit: David Buechner
Mayor Eduardo Martinez, Richmond’s first elected Latino mayor, began his term in January 2023. His term ends in 2027.
District 1: Council member Jamelia Brown, who began her term in January of 2025, represents Belding Woods and the northern half of the Iron Triangle.
District 2: Council member Cesar Zepeda represents District 2 in the city’s western portion, including the Hilltop, Parchester Village, Shields-Reid, Point Richmond and Santa Fe neighborhoods. His term ends in 2027.
District 3: Council member Doria Robinson, whose term ends in 2027, represents Atchison Village, the southern portion of the Iron Triangle, Richmond Village, Coronado, Pullman and Park Plaza.
District 4: Council member Soheila Bana represents Hilltop Village, Fairmede-Hilltop, Hilltop Green, the Wildcat Canyon Park area, May Valley, Carriage Hills North and South, the El Sobrante Hills and Greenbriar neighborhoods. Bana’s term ends in 2027.
District 5: Council member Sue Wilson, who represents District 5, began her term in January 2025. Her district includes the Richmond Annex, Marina Bay, Cortez/Stege, Laurel Park, Eastshore, Parkview, the Panhandle Annex and the Southwest Annex neighborhoods.
District 6: Vice Mayor Claudia Jimenez represents the North and East and East Richmond neighborhoods. She was reelected in November of 2024.
I would like to get involved with you in the future — please contact me
You can email us at hello@richmondside.org.