Mayor and City Councilmembers:

This is the weekly report for the week ending November 22nd, 2013.

• Meeting Notes

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 26th beginning with a Closed Session at 5:00 PM, followed by the agenda at 6:30 PM.

• City Hall Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday

The City offices will be closed next week on Thursday, November 28th and Friday, November 29th in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.  Please enjoy a great holiday!

• Cover Richmond! and the Affordable Care Act

The Richmond community has 20,000 uninsured residents, many of whom could not previously afford coverage or were denied it due to a preexisting condition. As part of our ongoing efforts to build a healthy community, the City is hosting Cover Richmond! to help promote access the healthcare system.  Cover Richmond! will take place in the Richmond Memorial Auditorium (403 Civic Center Plaza) on Saturday, November 23rd (tomorrow) from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM.  The goal of this event is to help residents access healthcare through Covered California, the State of California’s implementing agency for the Affordable Care Act, and connect them with resources for building healthy lifestyles.

Cover Richmond! will provide attendees with the opportunity to learn more about:

• Covered California & the Affordable Care Act
• Enrollment & eligibility information
• Low Income Health Program (LIHP)                                         
• Creating a healthy lifestyle —visit with Richmond groups transforming our community!
• Healthy snacks & recipes

Open Enrollment for Covered California began October 1, 2013. Those interested in accessing the program and begin enrollment can call the Covered California's telephone help line at 1-800-300-1506 or visit the Covered California website at https://www.coveredca.com/.  Interpreters in multiple languages are available on the telephone help line.

A few important things to know are:

• Open enrollment is October 1 – March 31, coverage can begin January 1, 2014.
• Coveredca.com will allow consumers to make apples-to-apples comparisons of plans before enrolling, including premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.
• Many Californians will qualify for financial assistance to help make premiums more affordable.
• Covered CA recommends having the following household information available when enrolling: contact information for all household members applying for coverage, ID numbers such as social security or immigration information, income and tax filing status. 

Affordable Care Act Frequently Asked Questions addressed by Contra Costa Health Services can be found at http://cchealth.org/aca/faq.php.

Please consider these other Affordable Care Act resources for Richmond and Contra Costa County residents:

• Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting

The City of Richmond’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 has been awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), for the sixth year in a row.  The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management. 

The CAFR was judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, including demonstrating a “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate the City’s financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.

The CAFR can be found on the City’s website at: http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?nid=1000

• Continued Increase in Sales Tax Receipts

This past week, Finance Department staff met with the City’s sales tax consultant, MuniServices, to review sales tax figures for the second quarter of 2013.  Richmond experienced an increase of 13.6% in its sales tax cash allocation from the same quarter of the previous year. This includes adjustments by the State Board of Equalization and County Pool receipts.

The City has experienced steady growth in this revenue stream since 2009.  Richmond’s tax base is led by the General Retail category, which currently makes up 33.1% of the sales tax revenue.  This category is driven, to a great extent, by large retailers such as Target, Costco and Wal-Mart. Of significance, new auto sales increased by 8.3% and used auto sales increased by 29.3% during the second quarter of 2013.  The Finance Department will continue to closely monitor the actual revenue submitted by the State Board of Equalization, the local trends developing in Richmond, and the projections provided by MuniServices.

• Richmond Main Street Small Business Workshops

Janet Johnson, Senior Business Development Officer from the City Manager’s Office, Jacqulyn Holley from Employment and Training, Ofelia Alvarez from the Finance Department, and Ranjani Mohana from the Small Business Development Center, participated as panelists in the recent “Doing Business in the City of Richmond” workshop.  This was the first in a series of workshops presented by Richmond Main Street and co-sponsored by the City of Richmond.  These free workshops allow small businesses to network and learn how to open a new business or expand a business in Richmond.  Other scheduled business workshops are listed below.  For more information go to http://www.richmondmainstreet.org.

• December 7, 2013 – First Steps to Successful Startups
• December 12, 2013 – Business Finance:  Small Business Loans, End-of-the-year taxes, & Special Incentive Programs
• January 15, 2014 – 2nd Annual Small Business Boot Camp
• February 13, 2014 – Contracting with Corporations and Government Agencies: Is Your Small Business Ready?
• March 13, 2014 – Making Technology Work for Your Small Business

• Officer Bradley A. Moody Memorial Underpass Project Update – Night Work Scheduled for November 23rd  – 24th 

The Bradley A. Moody Memorial Underpass Project involves the construction of a roadway underpass on Marina Bay Parkway between Meeker Avenue and Regatta Boulevard, and is intended to resolve long-standing access limitations to the Marina Bay area caused by frequent train crossings.  In early September 2013, Marina Bay Parkway was closed to traffic.  This closure will remain in place for approximately 18 months. 

This week, utility relocation work and Deep Soil Mix (“DSM”) wall construction continued.  DSM work is approximately 95% complete with only one short wall remaining to be drilled.  The rains experienced on Tuesday and Wednesday did not delay DSM production. 

As noted in prior updates, on November 22nd, 23rd and 24th, the second of up to six weekend, 24-hour a day closure windows has been confirmed as scheduled.  During this weekend closure, the contractor will be installing large precast concrete bridge abutment shells - weighing 45,000 pounds each - using a large crane. Community members can expect work on the project to continue for 24 hours a day, from 8:30 AM on November 22nd to 8:30 AM on November 24th.  While disruptive, these weekend work shifts are necessary to complete the project, and the project team appreciates the community’s patience.  

For the week of November 25th, crews will continue utility relocation work, complete the DSM wall production and begin demobilization of DSM equipment.

For additional information and to be added to the project update contact list, please see the project website at www.moodyup.com.  You can also follow the project on twitter: @moodyunderpass.

• Richmond Arts & Culture Commission Awards Community Art Grants

Eleven local artists, non-profits, and community groups were awarded Neighborhood Public Art (NPA) mini-grants for arts and culture by the Richmond Arts & Culture Commission. On November 4, 2013, the commission cast the final votes for the winning proposals. Competition for the FY 2013-14 grants was stiff, with nineteen groups applying this year.

Grant guidelines were to encourage visual and performing arts in the community, and to allow participants to learn basic artistic skills by working with professional artists.  Eligible categories were: visual arts (media, painting, graphics, ceramics, mosaic, or sculpture), and performing arts (spoken word, music, dance, theater, and literary arts.)

This year’s grants were awarded for the following projects:

• Harbour-8 Murals on the Greenway (Toody Maher/Pogo Park) will transform Harbour-8 Park on the Richmond Greenway by completing a mural series reflecting social cohesion, creating a vibrant community space, and installing an art-covered storage container for gardening tools and supplies. Grant: $6,000

• Alive & Free Mural (Richard Muro) will paint a mural at the corner of Harbour Way/Macdonald Avenue highlighting principles of  Alive & Free Richmond, an organization promoting ways to reduce gun violence, promote cultural unity, and make civic/community partnerships. Grant: $3,000

• American Teenager Project Photo Installation (Julia Hollinger/American Teenager Project) will engage Richmond youth in the production of a photographic exhibition, using themselves as subjects, through a program called Unlock the Talk; the exhibition will be at the Richmond Art Center in January 2014. Grant: $9,000

• Water-Writes Mural (Nancy Hernandez/Estria Foundation) will create the 10th mural of a series about water and how to create a cleaner, safer environment; community input and research will guide the imagery; location TBD. Grant: $10,000

• Veterans Mural (Rhonda Williams/Veterans Resource Program) will create a mural honoring veterans, engaging the veteran population in the concept and painting of the mural; site will be at the Veteran’s Resource Building on Harbour Way in Richmond. Grant: $4,000

• Po’ Boys Kitchen: a Spoken Word Theater Piece (RAW Talent/Molly Raynor) will create a spoken word theater production written and performed by Richmond youth at the De Anza High School Theater; youth workshops will be held in theater arts, social justice, leadership and other topics. Grant: $10,000

• Health Watch 411, Presenting an Art Attack, (Fred Franklin) will use graphic posters created by the artist and youth interns to promote health, wellness, and encourage good eating and fitness habits of Iron Triangle residents by placing posters in local stores, business lobbies, community centers, etc. Grant: $2,000

• Trashcan Treasure Boxes (Daud Abdullah) will engage the community in workshops to create mosaic art on city trashcans, which are placed throughout the city as examples of community art  inspiring us to be creative and to “stash our trash.” Grant: $3,000

• Youth Voice and Community Empowerment Mural (Veronica Orozco/RYSE Youth Center) will create a vibrant culture of young muralists reflecting youth voices to complete the mural on the Macdonald side of the RYSE Center. Grant: $5,500

• We Can Live As One (Kathryn Stambaugh/Lifelong Medical Care) will create mural classes taught by Bay Area renowned artist, Edythe Boone at public housing locations in Richmond; project will culminate in a public painting and educational workshop at the Richmond Public Library or other central location. Grant: $8,500

• Washington Elementary Music Project (Kit Eakle/Connie Calderon) will provide a music program at Washington Elementary School that gives students hands-on music making experiences with professional musicians, and a look into the possibility of music as a profession. Grant: $4,000

Grant recipients will complete their projects by the end of FY 2013-14, working with the art commission as the oversight body. The projects will have different completion dates, but there will be an exhibition highlighting all of them in October 2014 at the Richmond Art Center.  For more information, please contact Michele Seville, Arts & Culture Manager at Michele_seville@ci.richmond.ca.us, or (510) 620-6952.

The pictures below are projects from last year’s mini-grant award recipients:

Mural in progress of cyclist on the Richmond Greenway

Hummingbird mural in progress on the Richmond Greenway

Rosie’s Girls and other youth learning how to weld art bicycle racks for the Richmond Greenway

• City Manager Chronicles

I have listed below some of the topics for meetings that I have recently attended in the hope that it provides an idea of the varied issues with which our organization deals routinely.

Activities and meeting topics during the past week have included:

• Discussed with staff the coordination of City comments on the Richmond Bay Campus Long Range Development Plan EIR;
• Discussed with staff recent program eligibility changes to the State of California programs to deal with the foreclosure crisis;
• Attended the regular project status meeting for the Richmond Bay Campus project with LBNL and UC Berkeley staff;
• Participated in the formal credit presentation to Standard & Poors regarding the City’s proposed tax revenue and anticipation notes (TRANS);
• Discussed with School Superintendent Dr. Bruce Harter issues related to assessed values in the City of Richmond;
• Attended a meeting of the Environmental – Labor Coalition of Contra Costa County to provide a status report on the Richmond Bay Campus project;
• Attended a “Town Hall” meeting regarding Chevron’s Community Revitalization Initiative;
• Attended a “principals’ meeting” of the East Bay Green Corridor to discuss potential collaborative projects among the members.

These meetings were in addition to attending the regular management staff meeting, agenda planning, reviewing staff reports to the City Council, doing department head “check-ins,” having discussions on various personnel matters, and having short discussions with staff, community members, members of the press, etc.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the substance of these or any other topics.

• Draft Richmond Livable Corridors Form-Based Code Available for Public Comment

The Planning Department has announced the availability of the Draft Richmond Livable Corridors Form-Based Code (FBC).  The FBC will replace the existing zoning and set the rules for development along San Pablo Avenue, Macdonald Avenue, and 23rd Street and their surrounding areas.

The draft FBC is available online at draft livable corridors.  Hard copies are also available for viewing at the Planning Division Counter at 450 Civic Center Plaza, 2nd Floor, and at the Richmond Main Library at 325 Civic Center Plaza. The public review and comment period will be from October 9th through December 9th, 2013.

Written or emailed comments should be sent to:
Lina Velasco, Senior Planner
Richmond Planning Division
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, CA 94804
Lina_Velasco@ci.richmond.ca.us

This project is funded in part by a Sustainable Communities Planning Grant awarded by the California Strategic Growth Council.
 

• 2013 Community Survey Available to All Richmond Residents to Complete
  
  If your household was not one of the 3,000 households selected to receive the survey, but you would like to provide feedback to the city, then now is your chance. The 2013 Richmond Community Survey can now be completed by ALL Richmond residents by accessing the links below.
  
  • English: http://www.n-r-c.com/survey/richmond2013survey.htm
  • Spanish: http://www.n-r-c.com/survey/richmond2013encuesta.htm
  
  Feel free to contact LaShonda Wilson-White in the City Manager’s office at (510) 620-6828 with questions, comments, or to obtain a paper copy of the survey. Your input can help make the City of Richmond a better place to live, work and play. We currently have over 400 surveys submitted and we look forward to receiving your feedback! Time is running out to respond so please take time to complete your survey today!

• Recreation Highlights

Disabled People’s Recreation Center

Both the Adult Morning Program and Therapeutic Interactive Recreation Program participants met their current objectives through all their weekly activities. Activities included exercise, cooking, excursions, arts and crafts, computer training, mobility training, and independent living skills. The participants were very social and talked about all their adventures.

Commission on Aging

Tickets are on sale now at the Richmond Recreation Complex at 3230 Macdonald Avenue for the Commission on Aging 16th Annual Senior Winter Ball to be held on December 7th, 2013 from 7:00PM to 11:00PM.  For ticket information contact the Recreation Department at (510) 620-6793.  For Event information contact Eli Williams, Chair of the Commission on Aging, at (501) 232-4690.

Black History Celebration

Tickets for the Richmond Black History Celebration are on sale now at the Richmond Senior Center at 2525 Macdonald Avenue.  Tables are going fast so buy your tickets today!  The event will be held at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium on February 8th, 2014 from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM.  Tickets are $15 per person and include dinner.  For event information call (510) 307-8087.

Adult Tennis

The Adult Tennis teams enjoyed another beautiful, active weekend on the courts last week, just beating the incoming rains.  Competing groups included the 
6.0 Mixed (age 40), 5.5 Women, 6.5 Men, and 7.0 Mixed (age 40).

2014 Teams: Registration for January teams is now open.

• Public Works Updates

Facilities Maintenance:  Carpenters began the installation of a new support post at Fire Station #63, as well as the installation of new carpet at the Men & Women of Valor building, and completed the new counter for the Disabled Peoples Recreation Center.

Support Beam Replacement at Fire Station #63

Painters sanded and sealed the gym floor at the Richmond Recreation Complex and replaced the acoustic ceiling tiles at the complex.

Sanding of Gym Floor at the Richmond Recreation Complex

Stationary Engineers replaced the shower heads at the Richmond Recreation Complex, cleaned solar panels on the roof of the library, cleaned roof drop outlets on all buildings in Civic Center Plaza, repaired the air conditioning unit on the server room at 440 Civic Center Plaza, retrofited the water closets at the Police Department, and repaired the pool heaters, chemical feed pumps, induction unit, and four starting blocks at the Plunge.

Electricians installed an ADA automatic door circuit at the Starlight building, repaired area of Hilltop Ring road lights, installed and connected the circuitry for Civic Center Plaza holiday lighting, and responded to two knocked down poles at  Cutting Boulevard/Harbour Way and in John F. Kennedy Park.

Knocked Down Pole at John F. Kennedy Park

Equipment Services: Staff added a new sweeper to the City of Richmond fleet that will be used in pavement maintenance.

New Sweeper

Parks and Landscaping:  Crews continued to work on the Elm Play Lot renovation, worked on constructing of a rock wall in the Hilltop District, continued with the Marina Bay Trail landscape improvements along Meeker Creek, installed new landscape and irrigation at the Solano Play Lot, performed maintenance along the Richmond Parkway in the Hilltop area, began resurfacing the futsal court at Belding Garcia Park, started the tennis court and futsal court resurfacing at Lucas Park, and performed landscape cleanup around the Civic Center Plaza.

Elm Play Lot Renovation

Rock Wall Installation in Hilltop Area

Tree crews trimmed, cut or ground trees around Nicholl Park, 3rd Street and Ohio Avenue, Potrero and Carlson Avenues, and on Mendicino Street.

Streets Division:  Crews paved Humboldt Avenue from Clinton Avenue to Dimm Avenue, conducted storm patrol, prepared the Fire Training Center for paving, hauled grindings from paving jobs, and worked from the outstanding pothole and sidewalk list.

Paving on Humboldt Avenue

Street sweeping performed commercial and residential sweeping services for the third Monday through Thursday and the fourth Friday in the North Richmond, Iron Triangle, North Belding Woods, Atchison Village, South Belding Woods, Richmond Annex, Parkview, Panhandle Annex, and Eastshore neighborhood council areas.

Signs and Lines Crews installed holiday decorations along Macdonald Avenue, installed 98 pavement markers, painted 234 feet of curbs, and repaired 32 signs.

Installed Holiday Decorations

***********************************************

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 festive Thanksgiving!

Bill Lindsay
City Manager
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, California 94804
(510) 620-6512
Bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us

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
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, California 94804
(510) 620-6512
Bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us