The Richmond City Council’s organizational development committee spent much of the meeting reviewing a draft 2026 General Assembly legislative agenda and pressing staff for greater transparency about how items were selected.

Devin Cabot, who led preparation of the packet, described outreach over the last 60 days, including meetings with council members, the mayor's office and the delegation. She said the document is a draft and that patrons and bill numbers generally are not finalized until legislators file drafts in January: "At this point, legislators are requesting drafts of things, but until they actually, right, hit submit and put their name and gets numbered and put on the record...I would hesitate to put anyone's name next to anything," Cabot said.

Council members pressed for clearer public visibility into how items were chosen. Council Member Gibson asked for a process that lists the "requestor" on items so residents can see who on the council supported which proposals. "I would like to ensure that people know where I stand and where we all stand, you know, as we are making decisions that make significant impact on the residents that we serve," Gibson said.

Several members, including Council Member Lynch and Councilwoman Robertson, urged revisiting a 2022 resolution limiting the number of top-priority items to five. Lynch and others argued the cap can confuse the public and limit the council's flexibility to support statewide or regional bills. Robertson cautioned that a large list can dilute effort on bills the council most needs to move and said staff should help the body focus on bills with the best chance of success or the greatest city impact.

The committee agreed to continue discussion at a fuller meeting next Monday. Cabot said she will collect member feedback and circulate an updated draft in advance so members can prepare for finalization. No formal resolution to change the priority cap was adopted at the committee meeting.