Mayor's Office
900 E. Broad St., Suite 201
Richmond, VA
23219 USA
Phone: 804-646-7970
Fax: 804-646-7987
Email: [email protected]
Get in touch
To get in touch with Mayor Danny Avula, email [email protected]. Mayor’s Office staff reads every email, but, given the volume, cannot reply to each email. You can also call the Mayor’s Office at (804) 646-7970, and someone will direct your call to the appropriate person.
- For emergencies, call 9-1-1. If you’d like to submit a service request, you can do so by calling 3-1-1 or visiting rva311.com.
- If you’d like to submit a FOIA request, please email [email protected]
- Contact information for every department can be found at rva.gov/common/services
See below for instructions on how to request that the Mayor attend your event, issue a proclamation, write a letter, or light City Hall for a good cause.
Thank you for your interest in having Mayor Avula attend your event. While we make every effort to attend as many events as possible, please understand that not all requests can be fulfilled due to the large numbers of invitations his office receives. When submitting your request please keep in mind the following:
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Invitations should be submitted at least eight (8) weeks prior to your event. One of our staff will get back to you as soon as possible.
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An event confirmation does not guarantee every aspect of your request can be accommodated. We look forward to engaging in a collaborative effort to determine what is possible given the needs of your event and what works with the Mayor’s schedule.
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Please be as detailed as possible in your responses.
Mayor Avula looks forward to the opportunity to engage with our community and support your initiatives when possible.
Proclamations can be made for a group, event, or greater cause impacting the Richmond community. A proclamation is an official declaration that designates a specific day, week, or month to raise public awareness of a cause or event.
The Mayor's Office reserves the right to modify or deny any proclamation request. An organization does not have exclusive rights to one day, week, or month of their proclamation. Please allow 2-3 weeks for a response.
Requirements
- A City of Richmond resident or a City Employee must make the request.
- Requests should be submitted at least six weeks in advance of the date you need the proclamation. You do not need to submit duplicate requests, but you are always welcome to email [email protected] to check on the status of your request.
- Requests must be completed via the form below. If you are emailing or calling to request a proclamation, please note that you will be directed to complete the referenced form.
- Please note that at this time, we cannot accommodate requests for mailed, faxed, or hand-delivered proclamations. Once completed, proclamations can be picked up at 900 E Broad St, Monday through Friday, 8 AM-5 PM, or emailed directly to the requestor.
- Proclamations can be issued for a group, event, or greater cause. At this time, we are taking proclamation requests for individuals who are making or have made an impact in Richmond on a case-by-case basis.
- Proclamations issued in previous years will not be automatically re-issued but may be established in perpetuity once and not subsequently re/re-proclaimed. At this time, the City of Richmond cannot re-proclaim already established state or national events/days.
Items to include
- Requestor’s contact information -- first and last name, address, and phone number
- The date that proclamation is needed by
- A brief summary or background of the event or organization -- must be Richmond organization/chapter
- The name and date(s) of the day, week, month, or event to be proclaimed
- Proposed text for the proclamation, including 4-6 “Whereas” clauses (must be Richmond specific)
- Sources for information included in proposed language
All requests must be submitted 30 days prior to the date of the event or publication deadline. Emergency or short deadline requests must be submitted with draft language and will be accommodated as the workload permits. Please submit all requests using the form below.
What can letters be written for?
- Congratulatory Letters | For a group, event, or greater cause impacting the Richmond community. A congratulatory letter should celebrate ceremonial or commemorative events such as birthday milestones, wedding anniversaries, graduations, etc.
- Birthday (milestone birthdays)
- Appreciation (a thank you to individuals or organizations that have performed a public service or contributed to the success of an event for the Mayor, the government, or the city)
- Greeting message (individual or organization hosting a conference, convention, family reunion, or an event in the Richmond region)
- Welcome message (individuals or organizations that are visiting the City of Richmond or hosting an event in City of Richmond)
- Wedding anniversary (milestone anniversaries)
- Organizational anniversary (increments of five or 10 years)
- Congratulations (given for significant accomplishments to individuals or organizations including retirement from a federal, state, or local government or private sector organization that serves the City of Richmond)
- Graduation
- Honorary Letters | For a group, event, or greater cause impacting the Richmond community. An honorary letter should recognize and honor individuals for significant achievements, distinguished service, awards, or high-levels of community engagement.
- In lieu of a proclamation (see proclamation details above)
- Award
- Significant contribution to the City of Richmond
Lighting City Hall is done to highlight non-denominational, non-profit, and charitable events or causes. Priority in choosing colors for illuminations will be given to promoting events that celebrate the city, its civic institutions, local universities, city-recognized holidays, public events, and festivals.
Requests must be submitted at least 30 days in advance of the lighting date. Commercial entities, personal occasions, and religious observances will not be considered. Special themed lighting is at sole discretion of the City of Richmond. Please email [email protected] to submit your lighting request using the criteria below.
Evaluation
- Requests will be evaluated on factors including: nature of cause/event; history and background of organization, cause/event; how the lighting will benefit the cause/event; the relationship of the lighting to the cause/event; and relevance to the City of Richmond.
- The City of Richmond may override any existing and confirmed illuminations in support of citywide, national or world emergency observances, and will work with requestors to best accommodate or reschedule the original request.
- No organization may have the light configurations for more than four (4) consecutive days. The length of time for each approved request is entirely at the discretion of the City of Richmond.
- Requests to change the color or pattern of the decorative lights may be accommodated when feasible.
- If multiple requests are made for different colors on the same dates, preference will be given to events that are locally organized and that affect the largest number of City of Richmond residents.
- The City of Richmond retains the right to refuse any request for any reasons whatsoever.
