| E-Mail Forum | |
RETURN |
|
| City Manager's Weekly Report for the Week Ending September 7th, 2012 September 7, 2012 |
|
|
Mayor and Councilmembers: This is the weekly report for the week ending September 7th, 2012 (seventeen items this week, reflecting some very busy times).
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 11th, beginning with a Closed Session at 5:30 PM and with the regular agenda beginning at 6:30 PM.
As a reminder, the City offices will be closed on Monday, September 10th, in observance of Admission Day.
The City of Richmond learned today that Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) has given the City of Richmond its highest possible short-term financial credit rating (SP-1+) on its current tax revenue anticipation notes (TRANs). TRANS are used to provide for short-term, working capital needs during the fiscal year and are repaid in approximately one year. According to Jean Buckley, the City’s financial advisor with Tamalpais Advisors, Inc.: The (S&P) rating committee noted that the City has strong management and has weathered the economic and housing downturns better than many other cities. Because of the concentration of the tax base (i.e. exposure to Chevron) and below average demographics relative to national means and medians, …there are constraints on the upside of the City’s long-term rating of A+. The Committee did not feel a need to review the long-term rating, however, as the City’s financial performance has been relatively stable. The credit evaluation included a formal presentation in San Francisco to S&P analysts by the City Manager, Finance Director Jim Goins, Finance Department staff members Susan Segovia, Tracey Lovely, Chinwe Okoli, and Senior Assistant City Attorney Everett Jenkins. Thanks to the Finance Department team, and to Ms. Buckley and the other professional service consultants, for their work on this project. The official credit rating is attached to this report.
On Monday, September 10th from 9:45 AM to 11:00 AM, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Board of Directors will hold a special board meeting regarding the Chevron Refinery Fire that occurred this past August 6th. BAAQMD oversees air quality policy, regulations, monitoring and enforcement within the San Francisco Bay Area. The meeting will take place at the BAAQMD offices - 939 Ellis Street, 7th Floor Boardroom in San Francisco. Free bus service from Richmond will be provided for community members that may be interested in attending the meeting. Please plan on arriving at 8:00 AM and boarding by 8:25 AM. The buses will leave from the Richmond Civic Center Plaza at 8:30 AM sharp. Due to limited space on the buses, you must RSVP in order to secure a spot. The buses will return to Civic Center Plaza after the meeting at approximately noon. Please RSVP for the bus transportation services at: http://airqualityboardmeeting.eventbrite.com/ or (510) 620-5502. For more information, please see:
This past Wednesday, September 5th, Chevron released the 30 day report required by the City’s Industrial Safety Ordinance. The 30 day report is accessible on the following link. The 30 day report includes Chevron’s account of the event summary, timeline, agencies notified and responded, and amounts of hazardous substances released during the fire.
This past Thursday, September 6th, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), University of California, Berkeley (UCB), and City of Richmond hosted the Richmond Bay Campus Forum on Science and Research at the Richmond Auditorium. This was the second of a series of community workshops to share information about the Richmond Bay Campus and solicit community input. LBNL and UCB scientists provided presentations about research that will take place at the Richmond Bay Campus, including research on anti-malarial drugs, use of microorganisms to remove carbon from the environment, renewable fuel production, soil remediation, sustainable urban water infrastructure, and neurogenerative disease and aging. We thank the community for active engagement in the process. View photos of the workshop on our photostream.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will host an Open House on Saturday, October 13, 2012 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Families, community members, and science enthusiasts are invited to tour facilities, hear from scientists about their research, and have fun with hands-on activities in the Family Adventure Zone. Registration required: www.lbl.gov/openhouse
The City of Richmond recently received a prestigious award by the American Public Works Association (APWA) at the 2012 APWA International Congress & Exposition in Anaheim, California, for the work performed in response to the April 2010, Via Verdi sinkhole. The award was for Public Works Project of the Year in the Disaster or Emergency Construction/Repair category for projects less than $5 million. Plaques were presented to the City of Richmond, Nichols Consulting Engineers (for their engineering work), and O.C. Jones (the contractor), during the awards and recognition portion of the Congress.
Associate Civil Engineer Tawfic Halaby of the Engineering Services Department, former When the sinkhole first appeared on the evening of April 15, 2010, fire and police mobilized quickly to ensure public safety and to minimize disruption to the neighbors. Three construction contracts were awarded in 2010: emergency response and site stabilization, emergency bypass road, and temporary channel improvements. The emergency response and site stabilization project included diverting San Pablo Creek into a storm drain, stabilizing the soils surrounding the sinkhole, and building a one-lane bridge for access to the Sobrante Glen neighborhood. The emergency bypass road entailed constructing a temporary two lane road through the Rolling Hills Memorial Park, to provide the Sobrante Glen residents with uninterrupted access to their homes. The temporary channel improvements included excavating the collapsed corrugated metal pipe and erecting two parallel retaining walls to create an open channel to convey San Pablo Creek. For several months during 2010, City staff and consultants worked closely with utility companies to ensure uninterrupted utility service access, regulatory agencies to ensure proper adherence to applicable federal, state, and local requirements, and neighborhood groups to keep neighbors apprised of the project progress.
As a recipient of the Project of the Year award (above), the City of Richmond was invited to host a booth in the Exposition Hall during the recent 2012 APWA International Congress & Exposition in Anaheim. Richmond was the only local agency from outside southern California to host a booth. The booth included several poster boards, a slide show, and several project handouts. City staff and consultants hosted the booth, and interacted with exposition attendees, answering questions and discussing the Via Verdi Emergency Response projects.
Recently, Recreation Coordinators Sharolyn Babb and Mapuana Bal identified a gap in their programming offered at the Disabled Persons Recreation Center (DPRC). Several participants who attend DPRC have communication barriers and Sharolyn and Mapuana postulated that an iPad would be an innovative and resourceful way to best serve their participants.
From right to left, Daniel Lloyd-Massey, Shanna Harper, David Matsumoto With help from the City’s Information Technology Department, participants in DPRC’s Therapeutic Interactive Recreation Program (TIRP) were introduced to two iPads. Due to the varied tier of developmental disabilities, each participant found their own unique benefits in using these devices. One example is that participants will increase their fine and gross motor skills by using the index finger while swiping the iPad. Participants have also applied their critical thinking skills by using other applications that increase their ability for problem solving. The iPad offers several of the non-verbal participants the ability to communicate with each other and staff, enabling and increasing their quality of life.
From right to left, Daniel Lloyd-Massey and Shanna Harper August 20, 2012 was a paramount moment when The Adult Morning Program’s (AMP) participant Daniel Lloyd-Massey did a role reversal from student to teacher with another participant. The iPad has familiarized Daniel with technology, something of which he was very intimidated prior to iPad classes. Daniel took what he had learned from the previous day’s instructions and was able to walk Shana Harper through it step by step. Daniel gave instructions to Shana about navigating through various search engines. Congratulations to Sharolyn and Mapuana for their continual inventiveness in serving the DPRC community, and to the program participants for their continued interest in learning.
Sixteen employees and seven managers were peer nominated by secret ballot for the 2012-13 Demitrea Foster Employee and Leveron Bryant Manager of the Year awards program. Some of the key components the nominees had to demonstrate are dedication to the highest standards of public service and customer satisfaction, professionalism, courtesy and respect, good stewardship of the public’s resources by providing quality services in the most responsive and cost effective manner, recognizing and honoring the diversity of the community, embracing change, demonstrating adaptability, and several other vital attributes.
The 2012-2013 Demitrea Foster Employee and Leveron Bryant Manager of the Year Nominees The nominees were presented at a luncheon on August 17th. Each nominee received a commemorative paperweight, and the award recipients received a commemorative statuette. Among the very deserved nominees, we are happy to present to you the 2012-13 Demitrea Foster Employee and Leveron Bryant Manager of the Year: Associate Planner Hector Rojas, and Parks and Landscape Superintendent Chris Chamberlain. Congratulations on a job well done!
Last week, on August 27th, the Richmond Fire Department, in conjunction with John Muir Health, participated in a "Welcome Home Baby" program. During this event, Fire Department staff checked over 30 car seats, and gave away 15 new car seats, funded by a First 5 California grant.
While this was an organized annual event, the Fire Department provides car seat help to the community on an ongoing appointment basis.
Final statistics for sales tax collections in California during the first quarter of 2012 (January thorugh March) shows continuing improvement in the retail economy. The annual increases in sales tax cash receipts for the first quarter ending March 31, 2012 were 9.8% in Northern California, and 8.2% in Southern California, resulting in a statewide increase of 8.8%. Richmond experienced an increase of 0.6% during this period. Quarter-over-quarter comparisons of January – March 2012 compared with January – March 2011 show an increase of 5.2% in Richmond. The City’s economic categories are well diversified, with a tax base that is led by the General Retail category, which makes up approximatley 34.5% of the revenue, due in large part to Costco, Wal-Mart, Target, and other large retailers. Also of significance, new auto sales taxes increased 35.6% from the first quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012. The Richmond Finance Department will continue to closely monitor sales tax revenues, local trends that we see developing in Richmond, and projections provided by our sales tax consultant MuniServices.
Contra Costa County is hosting a Climate Action Plan Open House on Wednesday, September 19th, at 7:00 PM in the Richmond Auditorium, Bermuda Room. The Open House will provide information on the County’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory, explain proposed greenhouse gas reduction measures and health indicators under the CAP, and review results from an evaluation of how effective proposed measures are in reducing greenhouse gases. You can view the flier by clicking here. Please RSVP to help staff plan appropriately: http://contracostacap.eventbrite.com/ .
On Tuesday, August 28th, Jennifer Ly, Sustainability Associate in the City Manager’s Office, presented on behalf of the City of Richmond on PolicyLink’s national webinar, “Equitable Strategies for Growing Urban Agriculture,” along with Kimberley Hodgson, founder of Cultivating Healthy Places, and Harry Rhodes from Chicago-based Growing Home. Jennifer presented on the City’s policy infrastructure to support urban agriculture through the Community Health and Wellness Element, community engagement undertaken to develop the Urban Agriculture Assessment, and City strategies to support the growth of urban agriculture. This webinar was part of a mini-series of webinars focusing on how low-income communities and communities of color are incorporating urban agriculture into their community development efforts and into policy infrastructures supporting this work. The presentation is available on the PolicyLink archive.
Senior Center Beginning in September, glucose testing is now available with the monthly blood pressure screening program held on the first Tuesday of every month at the Richmond Senior Center. Senior Annex Computer Classes In collaboration with LEAP, the Richmond Annex Senior Center will be offering free computer classes to those 55 years and over each Tuesday between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM. The classes will have personalized instruction with a 3 student limit taught in one-half to one hour increments.
Facilities Maintenance Division: The Stationary Engineers replaced an apparatus room door at Fire Station #61 and repaired the exhaust extractors at Fire Station #67. The Electricians repaired lighting in the Police Department, lighting at the Auditorium, repaired knock downs at Cutting and Carlson Boulevards as well as a knockdown at San Pablo and Barrett Avenues, corrected timing of a traffic light on McBryde Avenue, installed traffic box and conduit at Cutting and Canal Boulevards, and continued street light relamping around the City.
Parks and Landscaping Division: Crews are continuing with the Burg Park construction; landscape maintenance was completed at May Valley Community Center and John F. Kennedy Park; crews also performed Esplanade tree replacement in the Marina Bay area, completed vegetation management at Hilltop Lake Park, landscape maintenance on Hilltop Drive, and irrigation repairs at various parks.
The Tree Crew trimmed and pruned trees along Barrett Avenue, Esmond Avenue, Rheem Avenue and San Mateo Street. Streets Division: Pavement Maintenance crews worked from the pothole list and paved the South 46th Street and Nichol Park paths. Street Sweeping had two sweepers down causing some areas to have limited or no sweeping. The routes swept during the first Tuesday through Friday of the month were, Parchester Village, Hilltop Bayview, Hilltop Green, Fairmede/Hilltop, Carriage Hills North, El Sobrante Hills, Greenbriar, Hansford Heights, Via Verde, San Pablo Dam Road, Bristole Cone, May Valley, Vista View and Clinton Hill I Neighborhood Council areas.
********************************************* 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! You can sign up to receive the City Manager’s weekly report and other information from the City of Richmond by visiting: www.ci.richmond.ca.us/list.aspx
Bill Lindsay
|
|
|
RETURN |
