Mayor and Councilmembers:

This is the weekly report for the week ending October 5^th, 2007.

1.         Meeting Notes

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 16^th.

2.         City Offices and City Manager Schedule

Please be advised that the City offices will be closed for the holiday on Monday, October 8^th.  Please also be advised that I will be out of the office on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 9^th and 10^th, attending the International City Management Association (ICMA) Conference.  The very capable Leslie Knight will be the Acting City Manager during my absence.

3.         Update on the Bay Trail Gap Closure from Point Molate to Point Richmond

As you may recall, City Engineer Rich Davidson is participating on a multi-agency committee that is working to close the Bay Trail gap from Point Molate to Point Richmond.  This past week, a site meeting was held to visit three of the gap closure options outlined in the Point Molate to Point Richmond Bay Trail report prepared by Questa Engineering.  Those in attendance were representatives from Chevron, Caltrans, ABAG and the City.  The main focus of this meeting was to come up with a trail location that addressed everyone’s concerns related to safety, security, trail continuity, and providing an enjoyable trail experience.  The committee agreed that a modified version of “Option 2” would work the best. This option would take the trail user, starting in Point Richmond at the end of Tewksbury Avenue near Marine Street, through Chevron’s undeveloped area known as “office hill” and then along a proposed cantilevered bike path section off of the I-580 overpass over Chevron’s Long Wharf to the existing trail that takes users under the freeway to Western Drive.

The next step in this process is to meet with Questa Engineering to review their ideas on the construction of the cantilevered bike path section.  This would be followed by a meeting with Caltrans’ structural engineering department, which is anticipated to take place within the next two weeks.  We will continue to keep you informed.

4.         Follow-Up Meeting Concerning San Jose Graffiti Abatement Programs

This past Wednesday, members of the Beautification Committee, chaired by Councilmember Thurmond, and the Crime Prevention Committee, together with interested members of City staff and the community, had a follow-up to the meeting that was held several weeks ago which was a presentation by individuals who designed and implemented programs that helped to virtually eradicate graffiti in the City of San Jose.  As you may recall, general elements of the successful graffiti eradication program in San Jose involved:

·         Training volunteers to paint over graffiti;

·         Educating people about not doing graffiti;

·         Working with the District Attorney to assign those who vandalize with graffiti to clean it up, and connect them to other re-entry services;

·         Changing city ordinances and working with labor groups as needed to implement the above programs;

·         Partnering with the school district and adjacent cities;

·         Partnering with business, particularly having to do with procurement of supplies; and

·         Identifying revenue sources to implement such programs.

The City requested and received a consulting proposal from Boyles & Associates, the San Jose anti-graffiti consultants, to assist in the design and training of staff and volunteers to implement these programs.  The proposal is currently being reviewed by a subcommittee of the two citizen groups to evaluate whether or not these consultants might provide assistance to the Richmond community.  We will keep you informed as this project moves forward.

5.         Reception for Devone Boggan, New Director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety

The Neighborhood House of North Richmond’s West County Human Development Center, located at 820 23^rd Street in Richmond, will be hosting a get acquainted reception for DeVone Boggan, the City’s recently appointed Director of Neighborhood Safety.  The reception is Friday, October 12^th from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.  The Host Committee sponsors for this event include:

·         African-American Roundtable of Richmond,

·         Concolio Latino,

·         National Brotherhood Alliance,

·         Neighborhood House of North Richmond,

·         Promocion Latino, Richmond/Contra Costa Chapter of Black Women Organized for Political Action,

·         Richmond Main Street,

·         Straight Talk on Prisons,

·         and others.

I greatly appreciate the efforts by these groups to welcome Mr. Boggan into the community.  As a reminder, Mr. Boggan’s first official day with the City is October 23^rd.

6.         Recreation – Youth Sports Program Update

The following activities are now occurring in the Youth Programs Section of the Recreation Department:

a)    Flag Football on Saturdays at Nicholl Park from 10 AM to 3 PM.  The attendance is 120 youth.  On this Saturday only (October 6, 2007), the games will be played on the Jr. Giants Ball Field to accommodate the KDYA Gospel Concert.

b)    Teen Twilight Basketball League (males) every Tuesday from 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM in the Recreation Complex Gym.  The attendance is 60 teens.

c)    Teen Twilight Basketball League (females) every Thursday from 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM in the Recreation Complex Gym. The attendance is 80.

d)    Little League Meetings:  6:00 PM every 1^st and 4^th Wednesday of each month at Coronado YMCA.  This is in the planning stages, to reintroduce Little League to Richmond.  Volunteers are welcome.

For any of the sports events, the public is invited to come and watch!

These programs have been made possible through a collective effort by Mr. Darryl Robinson, who is currently volunteering as a referee and coach, and Jerry Anderson, the Community Services Program Manager.

7.         Other Recreation Program Highlights

There are several other significant pieces of news coming from the Recreation Department.  Perhaps the most significant is that the Richmond Recreation and Parks Commission received the Outstanding Commission Award at the National Recreation and Parks Association-Citizen Branch Reception at the NRPA Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana during the month of September.  Myrtle Braxton received the award on behalf of the Commission.

Other program notes include:

·         The Department is in the final stages of preparing a new 24-page Activities Guide which will be available very soon.  15,000 copies of this guide will be distributed to the Richmond community.

·         The Department is collaborating with PAL to develop a youth golf program for the spring activities schedule.

·         The Department is collaborating with the Richmond Library to implement martial arts, literacy and mentoring program at Booker T. Anderson and Shields Reid community centers entitled Peaceful Conflict Resolutions.

·         The Commission on Aging conducted a retreat during the month of September to review the commissioner guidebook, and will begin planning the Senior Winter Ball this month.

8.         RichmondCA4Business.com Launches Spanish Language Portal

The Richmond Community Redevelopment Agency, Office of Economic Development’s (OED) business website—Richmond California Business—is now available en Español.  To access this portal, go to the English homepage and click on the word ‘Español’ (upper right) or go directly to www.richmondca4business.com/es/

The Spanish language portal is the latest in a series of website enhancements designed to better serve the City’s diverse business community.  In August, OED added “Tools for Business Success,” an online business information and resource center for fledgling and seasoned entrepreneurs.  The “Tools” are also available in both English and Spanish.

In the months ahead, the OED has plans to evaluate and augment as needed its approach to the delivery of business assistance and resources to both English and non English-speaking residents in Richmond. This will include print materials, CDs and PowerPoint presentations.

9.         Public Works Department Activity

Public Works Director Yader Bermudez reported the following significant activities during the past week:

·         Restoration of electrical services and repair irrigation systems at Lucretia Edwards Park that were damaged due to wire theft and vandalism;

·         Repair of vandalized irrigation systems on Richmond Parkway;

·         Repair of two broken mainlines and irrigation systems at Shields-Reid and Kennedy Parks;

·         Repair of irrigation valves at Judge Carroll Park, Crescent Park and Junior Giants Field at Nichol Park;

·         Irrigation repairs on Richmond Greenway and in Rain Cloud and LaMoine Parks;

·         Replacement of the irrigation controller at Civic Center Triangle and new installation panel in Martin Luther King Park;

·         Branch clearing from street lights on West Chanslor and West Macdonald;

·         Brush clean up and tree trimming at Pt. Molate Beach Park;

·         Weed/litter abatement on Giant Road between Phanor and Griffin Avenues; Goodrick from Parr Blvd., east to dead end and medians and sidewalks on Regatta between Meade and South 34^th Streets;

·         Continued repairs to lighting impacted by wire theft on Bay Trail at the east side of Shimada Park, Atlas Road, Richmond Parkway at Goodrick, Railroad Avenue (Pt. Richmond) and Hilltop Park;

·         Continued pothole operations on Nelson Drive, Wilson Avenue and 7^th Street, as well as crack sealing in Carriage Hills North.

10.       Financing for Clean Renewable Energy

The City’s Bond Financing Team is scheduled to meet with representatives from Bank of America’s Energy Services Division to discuss financing sources for renewable energy projects.  One new financing vehicle is “Clean Renewable Energy Bonds” (CREBs).  CREBs would allow the City to finance projects that generate renewable energy at 0% interest.  An example of a project that would be eligible for CREBs financing is the solar panels planned for the new Civic Center.  The Financing Team plans on meeting with other firms as well.

11.       African American Community Input on the General Plan

Members of the Finance Department have been working with Planning Department staff to identify issues and priorities of the Richmond African American community pertaining to the General Plan.  Approximately 70 concerned citizens, business owners and various leaders of the community have been meeting weekly to provide meaningful input to this plan.  With the assistance of MIG and Davis and Associates, the group has been provided maps, reports, and other General Plan correspondence, and has discussed priorities such as Public Safety, Economic Development, Shoreline Development and Land Use, as well as Public Facilities and how the community can affect the designated change areas.   The group’s input on these issues is an important part of the outreach effort that is intended to reach all members of the Richmond community.

12.       Department of Paternal Pride

Please allow me to take liberty as author of this Weekly Report for a shameful bit of paternal pride:

As some of you know, I spent a summer vacation week in late July working with a non-profit organization, Cambiando Vidas, on a “home build” project in the Dominican Republic.  What you may not know is that I learned of this excellent organization through the efforts of my daughter, Sarah, who is currently a senior in college, and was a summer intern there.  I was pleased to find out that her efforts were recently featured on her college website, and hope that you might find the attached link interesting: http://aspen.conncoll.edu/news/3720.cfm.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments about these or any other items of interest to you.

Have a great week!

Bill Lindsay

City Manager

City of Richmond

1401 Marina Way South

Richmond, CA 94804

Phone:  510-620-6512

Fax:      510-620-6542

e-mail:   bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us