Mayor and Councilmembers:

This is the weekly report for the week ending November 16th, 2012.

Meeting Notes

The next City Council meeting is this Tuesday, November 20th, beginning with a Closed Session at 5:00 PM and with the regular agenda at 6:30 PM.

For planning purposes, please be advised that scheduled City Council meetings during the remainder of the year following next week’s meeting are (all Tuesdays):  November 27th, December 4th, and December 18th.  The first meeting following the New Year will be the swearing in ceremony on January 8th.

City Offices Closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday

The City offices will be closed this week on Thursday, November 22nd and Friday, November 23rd in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Richmond Preparedness Fair

 Are you prepared for the next emergency? Find out how on Saturday, November 17th (tomorrow) at the Craneway Pavilion from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM at the Richmond Preparedness Expo.  Over 20 local safety and disaster preparedness organizations will be on-hand with tips, demonstrations and more.  Preparedness workshops will be provided on the community warning system, public transportation protocol, Shelter-in-Place orders, asthma education and general emergency safety.  The first 1,000 adults to attend will receive a free disaster kit.  Admission is free and there will be free shuttles available, free parking, and complimentary snacks and drinks.  Please bring your family and join us for a fun day to learn how to be prepared and safe.  For additional information, visit www.RichmondPreparednessExpo.com or call 2-1-1.

Healthy Richmond Logo Contest - $500 Prize

Healthy Richmond is a 10-year partnership funded by The California Endowment to create meaningful and lasting improvements in the health of children and youth in Richmond.  Healthy Richmond is holding a contest for Richmond residents to create its new logo. The winner receives $500 and a meeting with a graphic design professional to perfect the logo.  The contest deadline is November 30th. View the contest flier and find out more about Healthy Richmond.

Health in All Policies Community Workshop

 Health in All Policies (HiAP) recognizes that the causes of health disparities, and the resulting health inequities, are the consequence of a variety of social factors that impact individuals and communities "upstream," beyond the scope of traditional health services. This concept acknowledges that all city departments impact health, even those that we do not traditionally consider as conducting health-related work.

The City Richmond’s Health in All Policies Strategy is a collaborative approach with the goal of improving health equity by addressing the social determinants of health and integrating health into the decision making processes across all departments of the City.  This past November 8th, Richmond Health Initiatives hosted the first Health in All Policies Community Workshop.  Approximately 25 community members attended. City staff and UC Berkeley Public Health graduate students presented on topics including health equity, the social determinants of health, and the goals of Health in All Policies in Richmond.

Those interested in this Health in All Policies effort can learn more about this strategy and actively engage in its development at the next community workshop on November 29th, from 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM in the City Council Chambers. Find out more about Health in All Policies at www.richmondhealth.org.  Please RSVP at www.healthinallpolicies.eventbrite.com so that we can plan the logistics accordingly.

City of Richmond Highlights Community Benefits and Urban Agriculture at EPA Brownfields Workshop

The City of Richmond shared its efforts to promote community benefits and support urban gardens at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Workshop in Oakland on November 7th -9th.  Employment and Training Director Sal Vaca, Nicholas Alexander of RichmondBUILD, Richmond Housing Authority Director Tim Jones, and Housing Director Patrick Lynch hosted a Community Benefits session highlighting strategies for ensuring that the community has clean land, sustainable and affordable housing, employment, and open space. Jennifer Ly from the City Manager’s Office presented in an Urban Gardens session, highlighting the City’s efforts to create policy infrastructure to support urban agriculture through the Community Health and Wellness Element, Urban Agriculture Assessment, and community partnerships. Unity Park, a 6th and Enterprise site, and the Richmond Plunge recently received EPA Targeted Brownfield Assessment funding to conduct soil testing. View all brownfields workshop presentations.

Richmond Health Equity Partnership – Progress Report

 The City of Richmond, Contra Costa Health Services, West Contra Costa Unified School District, and UC Berkeley have completed the first Richmond Health Equity Partnership Progress Report to The California Endowment. The Richmond Health Equity Partnership is a two year initiative to advance health and health equity in Richmond. Among report highlights are accomplishments in implementation of Community Health and Wellness Element action items, preliminary data tracking of health outcomes, and collaborations between participating agencies. View the report. Find out more about the Richmond Health Equity Partnership.
 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) United Heckathorn Technical Assistance Meeting

On December 3rd from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM, the EPA is hosting a meeting at which those interested can hear about and discuss the results from the recently completed Technical Needs Assessment (TANA) for the United Heckathorn Superfund Site.  (Please find meeting fliers in English, Spanish, and Laotian.)  At the meeting, the EPA will give a brief update on the clean-up schedule and an overview of the TANA process and findings. We are encouraging those interested to attend the meeting, get involved in helping implement actions identified in the report, and find out more about the United Heckathorn Superfund site.

1. YouthWORKS Division Update

The YouthWORKS Division has completed their move into their new building at 2705 Macdonald Avenue and expects to be open for public services beginning the week of November 26th.  The Muir Career Academy, a charter high school serving youth ages 17 to 24, and the after-school Academic Program are fully operational. In addition, case managers are able to serve clients.  However, there are still technological and organizational challenges that prevent us from fully serving public and “walk-in” youth until the week of November 26th.  Staff is planning an Open House for early January 2013.

The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) Report has been finalized and is available online at http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=1139 .

Even though fundraising was down by over $50,000 this year, the SYEP program provided 263 youth with meaningful, career path work experience this summer.  247 of the youth were coordinated by Richmond YouthWORKS staff.  An additional 16 high school age participants received their work experience at Doctor’s Hospital through a targeted grant-funded opportunity that was coordinated by the West Contra Costa Unified School District Health Academy and the County Office of Education.

Overall, 44 employers provided 70 individual worksites, including urban farms, elementary level summer schools, City of Richmond departments, Kaiser Hospital & Optical Lab, local daycare businesses, Brookside/Lifelong Medical Center, green energy non-profits, and auto mechanics.

The program was funded by (in order of contribution size) the City of Richmond, Chevron, Contra Costa County CSBG Program, Kaiser Optical, Levin Richmond Terminal, Richmond Pacific Railroad Corp., Mechanics Bank, Port of Richmond, British Petroleum, IPTE Local 21, and Genser  & Watkins.

48% of participants came from households earning $10,000 or less, with 80% from households earning $30,000. The average household size was three individuals (including the participant) with a single adult present.  Over 60% of the participants came from high risk neighborhoods in the Iron Triangle, North Richmond and Southside communities.

The CommunityWORKS project, a program of the after-school Academic Program has assisted with five community events and participated in one college preparation conference since the beginning of October. These events include two tree planting events for the National Park Service and GroundWORKS Richmond, the Point Pinole North Richmond Regional Park Festival, and the Homefront Festival.  In less than two months, they have provided over 150 hours of volunteer service to the community.  We cannot stress enough the empowerment for our youth that will last the rest of their lives simply from the creation of tangible improvements in their neighborhoods that they will see on an almost daily basis.

1. Recreation Highlights

Community Emergency Response Team

The Pt. Richmond Community Center will begin hosting the Community Emergency Response Team, Marina Bay Neighborhood Team, every 2nd Tuesday of the month from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Parchester Thanksgiving

The Parchester Community Center hosted its 4th Annual Thanksgiving luncheon sponsored by the Parchester Neighborhood Council on Saturday, November 10th.  All the fixings of a Thanksgiving meal were served to over 150 Parchester community members from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Homemade desserts and coffee were served while music and lively conversation culminated the fun filled event.

Disabled People’s Recreation Center

The Disabled People’s Recreation Center Adult Morning participants continue to develop their daily living skills. This week, while shopping, they were given $10.00 each and a 60% off coupon for Johann’s Fabric. They were instructed to find an item not on sale, purchase the item, be sure to ask if the coupon was valid for the item and after paying, be sure the receipt showed their discount. A great job was done by all.

1. Public Works Updates

Parks and Landscaping Division:  Crews performed fence repair along Carlson Boulevard, weed abatement along the Richmond Parkway Bay Trail, and landscape maintenance and rehabilitation at Boorman Park. They also replaced the header board at the Kern Play Lot, performed maintenance to the median along Jacuzzi Street, continued with the landscape rehabilitation at the Janice Play Lot in Point Richmond, and completed the rehabilitation of the overlooks in Point Richmond including the pathways and barriers.

The Tree Crew trimmed and pruned trees on Clinton Avenue, Plumas Avenue, and Lincoln Avenue, and removed a down tree in Point Molate.

Rehabilitated Barrier in Point Richmond

Streets Division:  Pavement Maintenance crews worked from the outstanding pothole list.

Street Sweeping continued with the commercial and residential routes for the second Monday through Wednesday and the third Thursday and Friday of the month in the May Valley, Vista View, Clinton Hill I – III, Atchison Village, South Belding Woods, Santa Fe, Coronado, Marina Bay and Point Richmond Neighborhood Council areas.

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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 and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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
City Manager
City of Richmond
(510) 620-6512
Bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us