Mayor and Members of the City Council:

This is the weekly report for the week ending January 15, 2016.

1. Meeting Notes

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 19th, 2016 beginning with a closed Session at 6:00 PM, followed by the City Council agenda commencing at 6:30 PM.  The agenda may be found by clicking this link. 

Image of the San Francisco Bay, taken from the Richmond shoreline by KCRT staff

2. Martin Luther King National Day of Service on the Greenway

Make this Martin Luther King Day a day on! Join the Friends of the Richmond Greenway in partnership with the City of Richmond, for the ninth annual MLK Day of Service, Monday, January 18th, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM, along the Richmond Greenway (4th-16th Street & Ohio Avenue). Activities include volunteer projects, a kids zone, and a commemoration ceremony. For more information, please visit http://www.richmondgreenway.org/.

3. Get Covered! Health Care Enrollment Event (Covered CA/Medi-Cal) on Saturday January 23rd

Get Covered, Richmond!

Millions of families now qualify for free or low-cost quality healthcare, and there is an opportunity to find out more about this opportunity during a health care enrollment event in Richmond on January 23rd:

Date:       Saturday, January 23, 2016
Time:       10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Location:  Richmond Memorial Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza
Languages Supported:  Spanish, Cantonese, Hindi, Khmu, Korean, Lao, Mien, Nepalese, Thai, Tibetan, Urdu, Vietnamese

Free assistance at the event will be provided by certified enrollment counselors to help find the best options for enrollees and their families, whether it's through plans with Covered California, Medi-Cal or a new program called Contra Costa Cares. There are health benefit options for everyone, regardless of age, income or immigration status.  Covered California open enrollment ends January 31, 2016.

Please call Gabino Arredondo at (510) 620-6606 to make sure you’re ready to enroll or if you have any questions. To download the fliers, please visit the City of Richmond Health Initiatives webpage at www.richmondhealth.org.

Download the Event Flier using this link.

4. Leadership Capacity Development Workshops for Richmond Youth

ServiceWorks is a groundbreaking, national youth development program that uses volunteer service as a strategy to help youth and young adults develop the skills they need to prepare for college and career success. In collaboration with the City of Richmond and Public Allies, the City is offering a series of training sessions to coach young adults in developing group service projects to make transformative changes in their communities.

Session 1, the MLK One-Day Program, will be held on Saturday, January 16th from 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM at the Richmond Council Chambers (440 Civic Center Plaza).

For more information about ServiceWorks, to sign up for this Session 1, and to find out about future sessions visit this link:  RichmondServiceWorks

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jantsan Damdinsuren at (510) 620-6563 or jantsand@ci.richmond.ca.us.

5. Richmond Tennis Association Acknowledged by the USTA for Excellence

Garry Hurlbut, one of the leaders of the outstanding Richmond Tennis Association (RTA), reports that the Northern California Division of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) will be presenting the Richmond Tennis Association with the 2016 Outstanding Community Tennis Association Award at their annual ACES event on Sunday, January 31st. 

This is a notable accomplishment for an organization that represents the Richmond community so very well throughout all of northern California. The RTA competes at a high level against teams from surrounding areas including Oakland, Walnut Creek, San Leandro, Berkeley, Claremont, Alameda.

Congratulations to Garry and Maryn Hurlbut and the entire RTA Board of Directors for this honor.

6. Grand Opening of John F. Kennedy Park

On behalf of the Friends of JFK Park, you are invited to come to see the transformed John F. Kennedy Park (Cutting Boulevard and South 41st Street) on Saturday, January 23rd, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.  This day would not have been possible without the generous funding of partners and remarkable volunteers who helped rebuild the park on Make a Difference Day in October 2015.   The Friends of JFK Park are excited to showcase this beautiful gem.

Bring your family and friends to:

• play in the new kids zone area
• workout on the outdoor fitness equipment
• have your kids tryout the new dirt bike track
• take a walk on the fitness trail
• view the completed event plaza mural
• check out the new Little Free Library

To help keep you warm, the Friends of JFK Park will have plenty of hot beverages.  For additional information, please contact (510) 620-6511. 

7. City Manager Chronicles

I have listed below some of the topics for meetings that I attended this past week 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 included:

• Participated in a comprehensive review of the Preliminary Official Statement for the Richmond Joint Public Financing Authority Lease Revenue Bonds, along with Finance Director Belinda Warner and the finance team;
• Met, along with Mayor Butt and Chief of Staff David Gray, with Father Paul Fitzgerald, President of the University of San Francisco, to discuss potential partnerships through the Richmond Promise program;
• Met with Cynthia Armour, Project Manager for Bike East Bay, and Najari Smith, of Rich City Rides, along with Transportation Program Manager Lori Reese-Brown and Engineering Infrastructure Administrator Patrick Phelan, to discuss potential bicycle transportation program opportunities;
• Participated, along with Administrative Chief Shasa Curl and Chevron Public and Government Affairs Manager Patty Canessa, in interviews for the Executive Director position for the Richmond Promise non-profit organization;
• Met with staff members from the City and the West Contra Costa Unified School District to discuss data collection agreements for implementation of the Richmond Promise program;
• Met with representatives from the Hilltop District Homeowners and Stakeholders to discuss the Hilltop Landscape Maintenance District, and other related issues;
• Attended the monthly meeting of the Contra Costa Public Managers Association;
• Participated in the quarterly informational meeting with representatives from the City’s bargaining units, together with Human Resources Director Lisa Stephenson and Finance Director Belinda Warner;
• Met with representatives from Richmond Swims to discuss aquatics program opportunities;
• Met, together with Richmond Housing Authority Executive Director Tim Jones, with representatives from the Safe Return Team to discuss housing policy issues
• Attended a forum with Assemblymember Tony Thurmond, hosted by the El Cerrito Branch of the NAACP at the Easter Hill United Methodist Church.

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.

8. June 30, 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

The City of Richmond issued its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the Year Ended June 30, 2015 on December 31, 2015 with an unqualified opinion from the City’s external auditors, Maze & Associates.  The CAFR presents the financial position and results of the City’s operations, as well as cash flows of its proprietary funds for the fiscal year then ended.

In conjunction with the issuance of the CAFR, the City’s application for the Excellence in Financial Reporting Award was submitted to the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).  This certificate of achievement, which the City has received in each of the past eight years, is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting. 

The City’s CAFRs, dating back to fiscal year 2001-2002, are all available online at the following link: http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=1000

9. R-Transit

R-Transit provides door-to-door transportation service to persons with disabilities and seniors (age 55 and older) living in the communities of Richmond, Kensington, El Sobrante, East Richmond Heights, Hasford Heights, Rollingwood, and North Richmond. Register for service and reserve your next trip to the movie theatre for $2.00 each way. See the flyer below for additional details.

10. Holiday Tree Disposal and Recycling Options

Residents have several options to properly dispose of holiday trees. Please read the summary below or access the flyer for more information.

• If you’ve not already used your allocated On-Call Curbside Clean-up(s), call RSS Customer Service to arrange for no cost curbside pick-up at (510) 262-7100. Unscheduled pickups are subject to a $16.00 service fee by RSS.

• On any of your regular green waste collection days, cut your unflocked, natural tree to fit in your yard waste cart. Trees must be 6 feet or less in diameter and cut to 3 feet in length. Cut off top and remove stand and all decorations. Artificial trees should be put into the trash bin.

• With proof of residency (driver’s license or CA ID), RSS customers can take Christmas Trees to Golden Bear Transfer (1 Parr Blvd, Richmond M-F, 7:00 AM -5:00 PM; Sat-Sun, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM) through the first weekend in February at no cost for compostable trees; $8.50 disposal fee for non-compostable tree, or no proof of residency.

View a copy of the flyer and more information at www.richmondenvironment.org.

11. Information Technology

Social Media

Twitter Statistics
Tweet impressions increased by 24.7%
Profile visits increased by 32.2%
Followers increased by 18.0%
  
Website

Top 10 Webpage visits for the week ending 01/15/2016

KCRT IMAGES OF THE WEEK

Don’t forget to download and provide feedback on the City’s mobile APP.

We welcome your comments at webservices@ci.richmond.ca.us

12. Public Works Updates

Facilities Maintenance Division:
Carpenters replaced emergency doors at the Plunge, completed cabinets for the west wall of the Senior Center and constructed a customer service desk also for the Senior Center.

Painters completed the lobby of the Plunge and applied finish to the Senior Center cabinets.

Painting at the Plunge

Stationary Engineers repaired the radiant heating, replaced water supply valve all at the Plunge and fixed the water closet at the Art Center.

Utility Workers changed light bulbs at City Hall, set up Council Chambers for various events and mantained 29 City owned facilities.

Electricians assisted with Plunge repairs, fixed knockdowns at Hilltop and Shane Drives and Roosevelt Avenue and Harbour Way, repaired lights along the Marina trails, removed the traffic controller at 22nd Street and Nevin Avenue and repaired the timing for the Greenway trail lighting.

Knockdown Repair

Parks and Landscaping Division:  
General maintenance crews trimmed brush on Santa Rita Road, removed graffiti at Nicholl Park, picked up trash on the Greenway, completed maintenance at the Clinton Avenue turn around, trimmed medians on Carlson Boulevard, completed and mounted the Santa Fe Union sign, tightened the loose fence at Santa Fe Union Park, performed maintenance at Boorman Park and cleaned various storm drains.

Storm Drain Clearing

Hilltop District crews conducted storm patrol, continued weed abatement and clean up of right-of-ways.

Marina Districtcrews completed installation of hot coal bins, irrigation changes at Shimada Park, rose pruning throughout and storm clean up in the District.

Marina Maintenance

Tree crews trimmed or cut trees on/at: Barrett Avenue, 37th Street, Macdonald Avenue, San Mateo Street and Marine Street.

Streets Division: 
Paving staff ground and paved an area of 33rd Street, worked from the outstanding pothole list, conducted storm patrol, constructed sandbags and delivered sandbags.

Area Paving on 33rd Street

Street sweeping performed commercial and residential sweeping services for the second Monday through Thursday and the third Friday in the May Valley, Vista View, Clinton Hill I – IV, East Richmond, Santa Fe, Coronado, Marina Bay and Point Richmond neighborhood council areas.

Signs and Lines staff installed 31 new poles and signs, repaired 33 signs, fabricated 43 signs, installed pavement delineations and conducted storm patrol.

Stop Message Installation

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

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