Mayor's Office
900 E. Broad St., Suite 201
Richmond, VA
23219 USA
Phone: 804-646-7970
Fax: 804-646-7987
Email: RVAMayor@rva.gov
Mayoral Accomplishments
“When I took office in 2017, I wanted to do far more than just leave Richmond better than we found it. I wanted to leave Richmond ready to seize the future. I wanted to leave Richmond a place where young people want to move to raise their families. A place where businesses want to relocate, a place where a young person can dream, and have their dreams come true. I wanted to leave Richmond the best place in Virginia to live.
Together, we’ve done just that.” – Mayor Levar Stoney
Under Mayor Levar Stoney’s administration the City of Richmond’s poverty rate decreased by 22% and the City’s population increased by 11% between 2010 and 2020.
Just look at all we’ve accomplished since 2017.
Children and Families
Established the city’s first Office of Children and Families in 2021
Provided access to after-school programs for every elementary and middle school student
Invested over $600,000 in ARPA funds to expand child care and early education in Richmond – opening 4 new child care centers and creating over 250 slots for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers
Launched Richmond’s first Guaranteed Income Pilot, known locally as the Richmond Resilience Initiative
Created the Family Crisis Fund during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and allocated over $4 million since its creation to continue to help families in need
Invested $2.5 million (public and private dollars) to establish the Pathways Program– providing a traditional scholarship, monthly cash allowance, mentorship, and additional supports to RPS graduates propelling them to postsecondary success
Dedicated $78 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to rehab and build new community centers, including Calhoun, Southside, T.B. Smith and Luck’s Field
Public Education
Made historic investments in schools, increasing funding to Richmond Public Schools by almost 60% - providing almost three times the state funding requirement
Built three new schools in neighborhoods of color – Cardinal Elementary, Henry Marsh Elementary, and River City Middle
Allocated over $350 million for new school construction since 2017
Housing
Created Virginia’s first Eviction Diversion Program – diverted over 1,600 evictions since October 2019
Increased funding for affordable housing by over 1,200 percent by investing $50 million over the next five years out of the city’s CIP budget to affordable housing projects and partnering with LISC to match our $50 million, for a total of $100 million towards affordable housing projects over the next five years
Created almost 5,000 new affordable housing units since 2017
Allocated $1.4 million for a down-payment assistance program for city employees who are first-time homebuyers
Added 200 new shelter beds for the unhoused and dedicated over $6 million to serve our unsheltered population
Formed a new Office of Homeless Services
City Transportation and Infrastructure
Launched the PULSE
Invested in ensuring GRTC remains fare-free
Added 50 miles of bike lanes
Invested $112 million into the City’s Complete Streets program – improving paving, sidewalks, alleys, bike lanes, and traffic calming measures
Paved over 1,200 lane miles and improved city road conditions from 70% rated in “poor” condition to 70% rated in “good” condition or better
Increased funding for Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities by 57% since 2017
Climate Resilience and Sustainability
Added 54 acres of park land since 2017, improving the 10-minute walk to a park from 74 to 80% for Richmonders
Established the RVAgreen 2050 Plan, achieving 50% of city municipal electricity sourced from clean energy, and placing Richmond at #1 on the USA Today list of Most Climate Resilient Cities
Invested over $851,000 in to the first ever Neighborhood Climate Resilience Grant Program
Won a $6 million grant from the USDA to invest in urban agriculture
Established Richmond’s first C-PACE program
Public Safety
Overall violent crime decreased by 22%
Invested millions to increase pay to public safety employees
Invested $35 million for fire apparatus, police vehicles, refuse trucks, and replace Fire Station 21 and Richmond’s First Police Precinct
Created the first ever Gun Violence Prevention and Intervention Framework, which takes a whole-government and whole-community approach to addressing gun violence.
- 75% decrease in youth victims of homicide in 2023
- 9% decrease in overall crime and 29% decrease in overall nonfatal shootings in 2023
- Partnered with NextUp RVA to establish the Positive Youth Development Fund, funding over 40 programs and impacting over 400 youth
- Established the Trauma Healing Network to promote healing and resilience in communities effected by trauma, serving 37 families impacted by trauma and more than 600 community members
- Created the We Matter RVA program, which creates partnership with Richmond Public Schools, Communities In Schools, the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities and mental health providers to support middle school students directly impacted by gun violence.
Established Richmond’s first Real Time Crime Center
Implemented the Marcus Alert to improve response to mental and behavioral health crises in the City Of Richmond
Selected to join the National Public Safety Partnership to support safer communities
City Culture
Removed all Confederate monuments from the City of Richmond
Improved the city’s Municipal Equality Index score from 42 to 100 (perfect score)
Revamped the History and Culture Commission
Raised both the Progress flag and Juneteenth flag at City Hall for the first time ever
Celebrated cultural heritage months as a city, including Hispanic Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Muslim American Heritage Month, ect.
Named Indigenous Peoples’ Day a local holiday
Economic Development
Created an award-winning master plan, Richmond 300, and established the Strategic Plan for Equitable Economic Development (SPEED)
Streamlined the city permitting process, improving turn-around time for applications to less than five days
Provided over 500 new business licenses and over 650 commercial business licenses
Brought over 6,500 new jobs to the city
Created more that $3.8 billion in announced capital investment from economic development projects
Saw small and large businesses choose Richmond, including CoStar, VPM, Phlow, Carmax, and Haleon just to name a few.
Increased our tax base by 99% increase over the last decade
Named top three in the nation for concentration of Black-owned businesses
Ranked the eighth city in the country that CEOs should consider for corporate headquarters
City Employees
Became the Southernmost locality to commit to a collective bargaining agreement for City employees
Increased minimum wage to $20.00 per hour for all city employees
Transitioned the city to the Virginia Retirement System
Increased parental leave from four to eight weeks
Partnered with Marathon Health to add employee health clinics
Dedicated $1.4 million to first time homebuyer’s assistance program for employees who want to live within city limits