On July 1, 2014, the City Council failed to get a supermajority vote (required to extend meetings past 11:30 PM) to end debate and vote on funding allocations for the North Richmond Waste & Recovery Mitigation Fee Expenditure Plan. The item had been held over from a previous meeting because time had also previously run out before a vote could be taken. Bates, Booze and Rogers did not support the motion, and the meeting ended shortly after 11:30 PM.
Reporter Robert Rogers Tweeted:
Council meeting ends on sour note as Jim Rogers votes no on passing North Richmond mitigation funding plan, which excluded Men and Women of Valor. Jovanka Beckles was outraged. "So one group doesn't get their money so no one gets their money, good job Jim!" she said.
The sticking point was a protest from an organization, Men and Women of Valor, who were unhappy about not being funded for a project they had proposed under the North Richmond Waste & Recovery Mitigation Fee Expenditure Plan.
Jovanka Beckles further commented:
"... Tonight, was so pathetic. Crabs in a barrel. One group didn't get funded, so they were happy no one got funded. Which means, People in North Richmond will not get the services they need. That saddened and angered me."
The North Richmond Waste & Recovery Mitigation Fee Expenditure Plan specifies the proposed activities and projected revenue derived from the collection of Mitigation Fees for the Bulk Material Processing Center (BMPC) in calendar years 2013 and 2014, as recommended by the North Richmond Waste and Recovery Mitigation Fee Committee, for approval by the Richmond City Council and Contra Costa Board of Supervisors.
Staff review of the Men and Women of Valor proposal indicated that, “In past, applicant had issues with a past fiscal sponsor. However, recommend working close with City and County to insure no issues in future, if given funding,” and “Did not follow application template, sections missing. High admin costs shown in budget…” See http://www.cccounty.us/DocumentCenter/View/31024.
According to Guidestar, “This organization's [Men and Women of Valor] exempt status was automatically revoked by the IRS for failure to file a Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-N, or 990-PF for 3 consecutive years. Further investigation and due diligence are warranted.”
The problem is that the deadlock delays and may preclude the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars targeted to reduce blight. Supervisor John Gioia wrote:
None of the North Richmond Mitigation funding can be spent until both the City Council and the Board of Supervisors approve a one year spending plan. The Board of Supervisors has already approved the spending plan based on the fact that the plan was unanimously approved by the North Richmond Mitigation Fee Committee which is comprised of several Richmond City Council members, a representative of my office, and several residents of North Richmond (including from the NR Municipal Advisory Council). Some of the money goes to support City and County services in North Richmond and some goes to community non-profits providing services in North Richmond. Also, if the City and County do not agree on a joint spending plan for how the money can benefit all of North Richmond (both city and county areas), the City and County could then each decide how to spend their half of the money and not go thru a joint process. In either case, the money must be spent in North Richmond.
The bigger issue here is that the council has not yet acted on this North Richmond expenditure plan during the 2 meetings its been on their agenda (last week and this week) The plan entails spending about $700,000 in funding over the 2014/15 fiscal year in North Richmond for such things as neighborhood cleanups, additional code enforcement, extra law enforcement, extra trash pickups from public streets, community garden projects, and various community based projects. A committee of 3 City Councilmembers, 3 North Richmond residents, and a representative of my office make up the Mitigation Fee Committee, which develops the expenditure plan. The Committee unanimously approved the plan and it was approved in June by the Board of Supervisors. None of the money can be spent until the plan is approved by both the City and the County. One of the non-profits (Men and Women of Valor) which did not get funded (it was seeking $20,000) has objected to the plan. That is the reason it has not yet been approved. In the meantime, the other important expenditures cannot go forward until the Richmond approves the plan. I'm hopeful that a plan will be approved at their July 15 meeting. We are into the new fiscal year, and the funding is being held up until a plan is approved.
It is unclear whether Bates and Booze hope to redirect funding to Men and Women of Valor or to simply stall the process, resulting in no funds being jointly distributed.
Bates and Booze have long been associated with the Men and Women of Valor, but Roger’s association is murkier. Rogers has been a long-time supporter of a project called “Greenprint,” for which he obtained a multi-million dollar grant from Chevron as a part of the Community Benefits Agreement with Chevron during the 2008 permitting of the ill-fated Chevron Modernization Project. Greenprint morphed into a program called “Easy Go”
In 2011, The City of Richmond established the Greenprint Transportation Project, a citywide initiative geared towards reducing Richmond’s part in greenhouse gas emissions and VMT by offering mobility alternatives and transportation education. In an effort to educate and engage members of the Richmond community, the City partnered with service providers TransMETRO, Inc. and Getaround introducing "Easy Go Transportation Services." Housed at the Richmond Village Apartments, Easy Go is committed to providing safe and sustainable transportation services. Easy Go assist children to commute to school without the concern of danger, giving low-income parents the chance to travel without while enabling employees to commute to work at a low cost.
Easy Go is partially funded by the Chevron grant and partially funded by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. At the January 24, 2013, meeting of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, a total of 13 people associated with Men and Women of Valor, as well as City staffer Lori Reese Brown, who always seems to routinely show up to support Men and Women of Valor, testified against a staff proposed reduction in funding for Shuttle Richmond Circular + Marina Bay project.
Dwight Adams, is frequently associated with men and Women of Valor. Mr. Adams appears below in a group photo of a cleanup project and is frequently associated with Men and Women of Valor. The Minutes of the May 22, 2012, City Council meeting reflect:
Dwight Adams thanked Councilmembers Bates and Boozé for assisting members of the Men and Women of Valor in obtaining jobs and challenged Councilmember Beckles to also help Richmond residents get jobs.
Richmond Post, August 8-14, 2012, showing Dwight Adams and Lori Reese-Brown
Dwight Adams is the individual who conspired with Corky Booze to run a hit piece against me just before the November 2012 election. See http://www.tombutt.com/forum/2013/130712.htm and http://www.tombutt.com/forum/2013/130822.htm. Adams was the designated chair of Richmond One Committee, which settled a complaint by the City of Richmond for campaign violations by correcting campaign reports and paying a $2,000 fine.
Members and associates of Men and Women of Valor have long been a leading part of disruptions of Richmond City Council meetings, including routine expressions of homophobia and xenophobia. They have particularly singled out Jovanka Beckles for race-based and homophobic-based personal attacks that are way outside of the subject matter allowed under City Council rules consistent with the Brown Act and upheld by the courts. See http://www.tombutt.com/forum/2013/130725b.htm and http://www.tombutt.com/forum/2013/130730.htm.
Because they have never filed tax returns, no one knows where the funds come from that support Men and Women of Valor, and no one knows where any of that funding goes. In short, Men and Women of Valor enjoy little sympathy from members of the City Council except for Bates and Booze, both of whom support and encourage them.
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