The latest and long anticipated biannual Richmond survey results are in, and they are not pretty. See Item M-3 on the December 21, 2021, Agenda (RECEIVE a presentation and report on the City of Richmond's 2021 Community Survey results; and PROVIDE direction to staff as appropriate - City Manager's Office (LaShonda White 510-620-6512).).

This survey started in 2007 and takes place every year. Ever since 2007, the results typically show Richmond residents increasingly satisfied and optimistic about the direction of the City. Something happened between the 2019 survey and the 2021 survey that reversed that trend; it was the 2019 election that resulted in RPA domination of the City Council.

You can see the before and after in selected topics form the survey shown below. Typically, there is an upward trend for years until the RPA took over the City Council. The dividing line stands out like an earthquake fault.

The “Survey Highlights” on page 6 include some clues about how the RPA takeover has adversely affected public perception.

Safety remains a huge concern of residents, but the RPA City Council majority instead have disparaged and defunded the police.

Safety is a focus area for Richmond. About 2 in 10 residents rated the overall feeling of safety as excellent or good, while about 9 in 10 indicated that this was an important area of focus for the City in the next two years; these relative quality and importance ratings indicate that the facet of Safety is a top priority for residents. About three-quarters of residents reported feeling safe in their neighborhood during the day, while roughly 4 in 10 felt safe in the downtown/commercial area, from property crime, and from violent crime. Regarding safety-related services, about two-thirds of residents gave favorable scores to fire services and 6 in 10 were pleased with ambulance/EMS; about half of respondents or less gave positive marks to police services, crime prevention, fire prevention and education, animal control, and emergency preparedness. These ratings were all lower than the national benchmark comparisons. When compared to 2019, ratings improved in 2021 for animal control, but declined for fire and ambulance/EMS services, crime prevention, fire prevention and education, and emergency preparedness. Further, when asked in a custom question unique to Richmond about the importance of addressing a number of issues within the community, the #1 priority that emerged was reducing crime and disorder (89% essential or very important). (Survey Results, page 6)

Residents also rated the economy as an area of great concern, but the RPA City Council members are anti-business and anti-housing. In the Bay Area, there is a shortage of 440,000 residential units, but the RPA has made it a policy priority to thwart two entitled housing developments in Richmond totaling some 6,000 units. Rent Control and Just Cause have actually reduced the number of rental units in Richmond, increasing competition for what is left. Measure U has left the business community reeling.

Economy is also an area of opportunity for the City. Less than 2 in 10 residents gave positive ratings to the overall economic health of the city, while nearly 9 in 10 rated it as essential or very important, indicating that this is also an important area of focus for Richmond. Around 3 in 10 respondents favorably rated Richmond as a place to work and to visit and the overall quality and variety of business and service establishments in the city, while about 2 in 10 or fewer gave excellent or good scores to the vibrancy of the downtown/commercial area, employment opportunities, shopping opportunities, cost of living, and economic development. These ratings were lower than those given in other communities across the nation and compared to 2019, ratings in 2021 declined for the city as a place to work, economic development, and employment opportunities. When thinking about city issues to address, roughly 8 in 10 thought it was essential or very important for the City to pursue developing job training opportunities, improving downtown Richmond, and increasing economic development activities. (Survey Results, page 6)

The third example is government performance and resident engagement. Under the RPA-dominated City Council, the number of funded but unfilled City employee positions rose as high as 130 and still remains close to 100 with drastic impacts on performance and services. The RPA City Council members embrace secrecy and eschew transparency, leaving the public and the business community out of important decisions.

About one-third of Richmond residents positively rated the quality of the services provided by the City of Richmond, the overall customer service provided by Richmond employees, and public information services. About one-quarter of residents or fewer gave high scores to various indicators of local government performance, including the value of services for taxes paid, the overall direction of the City, and overall confidence in Richmond government, among others. These ratings were lower than the national benchmark comparisons and many declined from 2019 to 2021. Further, about 4 in 10 residents or fewer positively rated opportunities to volunteer, to participate in community matters, and to participate in social events and activities; these ratings were also below average and declined over time, though it is important to note that closures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may have had an impact on these scores. (Survey Results, page 6)

There is a massive amount of chatter about Richmond politics on Facebook and NextDoor. While the RPA does have its supports, the overwhelming majority of comments disfavor the RPA. Following are some examples:

• Here is my take on what’s going on in our dysfunctional city: 1. The RPA members on the City Council did some really dumb stuff. I mean, even dumber than usual: a) They told the City attorney to side with the group suing the City over Point Molate — instead of defending the City against that group’s lawsuit against the City, as is legally required! The City attorney refused, realizing what a ridiculous position that put her in legally. b. The City manager spent lots of our money over two years trying to pin corruption charges on Tom. Some was spent illegally. No smoking gun was found. 2. The RPA Council-members are embarrassed by their cluelessness on these and other matters where they’ve violated both common sense and the City Charter. (Such as the requirement that items be on the official agenda before they can be discussed in closed session). 4. Out of anger and embarrassment they are trying to censure and silence Tom for letting us all know what’s going on. 4. The City attorney (who is now leaving) wrongly labeled and is claiming as “Confidential”and “Privileged” relevant communications about City business which we have the right to know about, thus violating the Brown Act and Tom’s Freedom of Speech. 5.. The RPA Majority City Council is now having their attorneys sue Tom. Since he is himself is a City official, this is tantamount to suing themselves. (Case law says you can’t sue an individual in an official capacity; you are suing the organization.) 6. Thus, the City Attorneys who are suing him are required to defend him against their own lawsuit. Final Synopsis: Dumb and Dumber are running the Richmond Sh*t Show! (That would be a great headline, lol!)(edited) Their vendetta against Mayor Butt because he spoke out against them on some things is kind of pointless. He's not going to run for office again, so all they have to do is sit tight. Instead, they're spending OUR money on frivolous lawsuits to defame. Another pointless aspect: if they "win" and he has to take down his posts, the public already knows what is in the posts, and copies have been shared and stored to redistribute ad nauseum. The RPA is reckless with our very limited tax dollars and spending it frivolously on lawsuits; funding significant contracts with organizations that are not properly vetted and didn't go through a mandated RFP (competitive bid) process; slapping busine…
• Another article from Robert Rogers - this is why the RPA exiled Ritterman - his support of the agreement that created the Richond Promise scholarship and MCE 1 Solar Project: https://www.mercurynews.com/.../richmond-councilman.../ "Perhaps Jeff Ritterman’s finest hour in public office unfolded in secret meetings. In spring 2010, he and his City Council colleagues grappled with Chevron Corp. leaders in high-stakes negotiations over millions the city sought in new utility tax revenues. Chevron vowed to bankroll a competing ballot measure linking tax cuts for its refinery to tax cuts for average households. Ritterman’s anti-Chevron bona fides were beyond reproach, giving him leverage to strike a deal with the energy giant, then sell it to skeptical constituents. “Ritterman was kind of like (former President Richard) Nixon, the only leader who could go to China,” said Councilman Jim Rogers, who was party to the meetings. “(Ritterman) handled some tricky high-level negotiations (with Chevron officials) about as well as could be done. It was an exemplary performance.” Both sides dropped their threats. The city accepted $114 million in payments over 10 years from Chevron.
• Tuesday’s City Council meeting will be the final act of what has arguably been among the most energetic and consequential terms ever served on the Richmond council. His four-year term was marked by historic triumphs such as the deal with Chevron and the successful wooing of a Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory campus, as well as high-profile setbacks such as his failed effort to make Richmond the first city in the nation to tax soda."
• Jeff Ritterman was a bona fide Progressive who had just retired as chief of Cardiology at Kaiser and wanted to devote his time to improving Richmond. He was exactly the kind of council representative Richmond needs: wicked smart, a huge heart, and the time and energy to do great things.
• But that was before he crossed Andres Soto and deviated ever so slightly from the powerful RPA Steering Committee's orders - and so RPA went on the attack against him. Jeff did not have the inclination or appetite to get into the mud with RPA, so he quietly retired from city politics at the height of his rise.
• It was a huge loss for Richmond. The below story was written by Robert Rogers when he wrote for EBT: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/.../richmond-progressive.../ "In 2008, Jeff Ritterman won a come-from-behind election, later to emerge as perhaps the RPA’s most potent single voice.
• In 2010, Mayor McLaughlin won another narrow re-election in another three-candidate race featuring bruising attacks. Jovanka Beckles won a spot on the council, giving the RPA its most decisive legislative majority and delivering a crushing defeat to Chevron-backed candidates despite nearly $1 million in funding. In 2012, Ritterman declined to run, and RPA candidates Marilyn Langlois and Eduardo Martinez are bested by Gary Bell"
• I had a whole statement that I wanted to display but out of courtesy and consideration I just decided to say listen to your gut and listen to the constituents of Richmond. Then I said forget that… Jeffrey I have one last statement (ok maybe not my last.) The horrific state that our city is in and will be in is caused by the run of the RPA. And some people have said individually they are delightful people as a whole they have ripped the city to shreds. As our city is burdened with dreadful nights, overcast, bankruptcy, homelessness, hunger, lack of employment, higher taxes, rent control, closing of businesses, mental health exclusion, providing one sole entity non-profit $900,000 and giving them no accountability of where the funds actually have been distributed, assigning the city attorney to lie for them, avoid delivering promises to help Richmond become better, separation and division in the school system, push Pixar to leave and build an empire in Emeryville, push the San Pablo casino out of Richmond which would have put Richmond in a hell of a better financial situation fiscally, persuaded and sold dreams to people that lost in previous races that they will do everything they could do if they ran under/on their slate and then silence them (sold their souls to the devil), built a monster a reimagining policing commission with the assumption that they will make Richmond better, but all along they coal in their back pockets to kill off the Richmond Police Department. Community members who joined the reimagining commission were used as bait for people to vote for this commission which now has our city under siege. If you ever listen to the city Council meetings online when they discuss problems with the police they only information that they can provide are made up stories from some young person talking about the police following after them; Petty Perez which is a very sad, unfortunate situation. Now realize that, that police chief nor that police officer works for The city of Richmond any longer, but yet they still continue to blame the entire police department. They continue to relive the Cowboys  from the 80's which have been long gone and for the most part the folks that are reliving it didn't live here nor did they ever have an issue with them. Their nightmare are the RPA's bring back to life situations that are nor a situation of the present tense. The only thing that the RPA plays on is reminiscing on things from long ago; they will never bring up things that are trying to progress the city to a better state. It is your choice on how you choose to vote, but choose wisely. Ask a RPA member who or what they have donated to besides their own party to get someone voted in. Ask an RPA member who have they actually helped with services and resources without offering them to join their cult. Ask a RPA how many promises they have kept to keep Richmond up to standards. Ask a RPA council what their fear number was when they were faced to go before a federal judge. Ask each RPA member what their objective is to help the community in realtime. Ask a RPA member would they help you as a constituent in dire need if they voted against everything they voted for. Research Mike Parker or Andres Soto who run the RPA but do not live in Richmond. As an ending statement I am now leaving Richmond NOT because of the RPA, but every chance I get my own choice I will throw the RPA under the bus because they suck and deserve to be run over 6 times as a whole. That’s my own opinion. I speak for myself.
• Reason being at no point from here forth I cannot do anything to help Richmond progress in any near or far future (which is sickening) when we have the RPA literally killing off the Constituents of Richmond, California.
• After 10 years of voting for every single RPA candidate and donating to most of them - starting with Andrés Soto (lost), then Gayle on the council, two terms as mayor, Eduardo twice, Jovanka twice, Marilyn Langlois as I recall, and Jim Jenkins (lost) - I bailed after 2014. That was the big Chevron election, which got national attention. Tom as mayor and Eduardo/Gayle/Jovanka on the council. The way they won was with the support of non-RPA voters - it was a powerful coalition that defeated Chevron money. BUT. Once the RPA councilmembers were seated, they showed signs of not wanting to play with others, and that continues unabated to today. Their way or the highway. Contempt for views different from theirs. Bullying and disrespect for not just opponents, but people/voters who have questions or might want to challenge their positions. They hate business. Oddly, they seem to hate progress. They were opposed to the ferry coming to Richmond. They ignore constituent concerns, caring only about their social agenda, which is formulated in secret and brought as a fait accompli to the council. SEIU is one of their main donors, yet the RPA councilmembers never recuse themselves from closed-session negotiations on SEIU contracts. Transparency? How are they managing to win elections if they’re so incompetent and awful? Well, even as they say they’re free of corporate money, they ARE getting plenty of money from somewhere. Too bad we don’t have any investigative media that can look into their donors. This money and excellent strategizing plus loyal foot soldiers allow them to run really effective campaigns. For the last three cycles, if I’m not mistaken, they’ve run as Team Richmond, with nary a mention of "RPA." Videos, flyers, and the like are full of happy talk about "One Richmond" - heavy irony here, because they win and maintain power by dividing. Zak Wear, former RPA communications specialist and social media director, calls it a cult. He was in charge of messaging post-2014 election and man, it was hateful and alienating. He subsequently left the cult. I love reading his comments and perspective on Next Door - check it out.
• Never mind the economic disaster the RPA has brewed here in Richmond. (I voted RPA in 2014) Look at the psychological atmosphere they have created. This will probably be the hardest thing for the city to recover from. We arguably had the best police department in the country that used Chris Magnus community policing model. Loretta lynch, US attorney general under the Obama admin, personally visited Richmond to commend our police. Shortly thereafter, the RPA determined that "we can do better" and dismantled all of the work Magnus had done. In the process, they demonized and vilified cops. When they decided that rent control had to be implemented here in the city their go-to tactic was division and vilifying housing providers. They did everything they could to shut housing providers out of the process and label them as evil and greedy. Developers, who build houses, for people to live in... Corporate scum. Same tactic when it recently came to measure U Business licence taxes. They did everything they could to slander any business owner who opposed a 500% increase in their annual tax. Driving a wedge, as Andres soto puts it. As Oakland is finding out the hard way, in order to hire and retain good police officers, they need to offer more than just money. Prospective cops need to know that their council won't just throw them under the bus first chance they get. They need moral support. The same could be said for business, developers and housing providers. It will be interesting to see how the search for a new city manager and attorney will go given the current unstable environment.
• Inorder for a city to thrive it needs fiscal and mental stability. We have neither.
• Their site is a hot bed of propaganda. Actions speak louder than words and literally the RPA is contrary to all the beliefs they spit out on the website. The RPA has gotten out of control with their blatantly misleading rhetoric
• I receive the RPA newsletter, have looked at the web site, check in with the Facebook page, read the communiques. "What the RPA says about itself" amounts to surface-y spin.
• I was an RPA voter. Have lived in Richmond since 1991. And this old Berkeley leftie says stop the RPA. Richmond needs to build a collaborative, inclusive, local, responsive, truly progressive city government, and the RPA city council majority ain't that!
• The thing I find most frustrating with RPA (and I was really excited when they originally. Formed, and became slowly very disenchanted.). 1) they are often not civil to their non-RPA colleagues, pre arrange for their supporters to disrupt meetings and regularly used that old lefty trick of running the meeting out til 1am, by which point everyone else has given up, and RPA gets its way. And the biggest objection I have is that they are not very good at legislating. Their core ideas are often worth considering. But the text they bring Forth is not well thought out, doesn’t fully address the problem, and has poor implementation mechanisms. And since they are not usually open to feedback, the idea becomes law without the improvement it needs to work. This happened over and over. Oh and did I mention that they seem to be totally uninformed about the budget and the chronically shaky position of the city? They are mostly smart people, so it’s a bit of mystery why they are so bad at drafting and refining legislation. At this point it would hav to be a very exceptional candidate for me to vote for an RPA candidate
• I have met many residents around Richmond who were once/initially excited and motivated by the RPA who are now disappointed by the RPA because of their tactics. I think this is an indicator that lots of people agree on similar values (e.g., respecting the environment, serving people in need, etc.), but actions taken without collaboration or cooperation are ultimately resented. What people care about is not the problem; lack of collaborative leadership is the problem…
• I share a very similar sentiment to those who have already commented. I have deep family roots in Richmond and at first the RPA’s “positions and values” sounded great. But sadly they have not delivered on any of their promises and quite frankly, the opposite. The RPA chooses to spend money on absurd measures/things for a poor city. Their money management skills are just not there. Most egregiously they tend to vote against what their constituents want and do it in a sneaky, vile way. They are so consumed with themselves, they have lost sight of what the city truly needs and they focus (and spend money) on the most ridiculous cases. Lastly, my biggest gripe is that THE RPA refuses to be collaborative with non RPA officials AND never, ever respond to constituents questions/comments. They are in a bubble and not in a good way. They need to listen more and stop welding their vote as a power move, instead of what is best for Richmond.
• I always voted RPA until I realized that they follow an agenda that has little to do with constituent's concerns. As
• Speaking of Chevron, Chevron was topic numero uno in the 2014 election. Chevron this, Chevron that, those bloody Chevron flyers in our mailbox daily, it was a freaking crusade to defeat those MFs. Then, once the new council was seated, as a result of our (all of us) hard-fought victory, the word "Chevron" was never uttered again. I kept listening for it, thinking "What's happening with Chevron? What's happening with Chevron?" Instead, the subject was changed to "rent control! rent control!" - which had never been mentioned once in the 2014 campaign. The new wedge issue. WTF? The subterfuge, the effing nerve - you've got to admire it in a perverse sort of way.
• No one wants Chevron to run Richmond, BUT, when you go after Chevron and local business at the complete lack of attention to city streets, traffic control, and small businesses.....people start to notice. When you bring the city to the brink of bankruptcy, people start to notice. When you propose a homeless encampment at Civic Center, people start to notice. When you tax small businesses out of Richmond, people start to notice. When you make it impossible for a family to rent out a space for a little extra income, people notice. When you pay no attention to building and improving San Pablo ave, people notice. When you devalue the police (instead of spearheading reform) people notice. Hopefully those noticing will be active in changing the City Council make up and helping to work towards a Council that gives a hoot about representative government.
• You’re attempting to rewrite history and of course not saying a word about the strife and division the RPA has intentionally created in our community over nearly two decades. Chevron no longer had an office in City Hall before the RPA was even founded, and as _______ points out Tom Butt was a champion against the oil giant when few others were. Let’s also remember the RPA has largely won local elections because other candidates split the vote, and their “grass-roots” organizing is funded by the public employee unions they protect. Your myopic assertion that Richmond’s view of the RPA is “largely favorable” is unfounded.
• The RPA’s ideals are noble but their governance is authoritarian and irrational. They’d be much more successful in their goals if they played nice with others. But they refuse to do so and have instead led our City to the brink of infrastructure collapse.
• Excellent question. Many of us voted twice for Gayle to be mayor. Then Jovanka began playing victim card against Nate because he would not take all of their meddling. Eventually a RPA run FB page began purging/blocking any critical voices. So this FB page appeared. The hosts manage to keep diverse conversations polite. Now the RPA city council blocks anything and anyone not aligning with their agenda. They prefer to safe China from communism to dealing with municipal politics. They also continue to squander millions on frivolous legal matters. None with community transparency or community involvement. They also encourage out of towners to work as consultants and peddling RPA tunnel vision agendas. It’s complicated. Please feel free to invite anyone for a cup of coffee to hash out any additional questions you might have.
• Well said ______ and _______. Please note that many of the people who are running the RPA haven't lived here for years yet still tell "our" city council what to do. (While I'm not going to open a can of worms here, Pt Molate is a great example of people pressuring our council who have never lived here and would never consider living here!) There have been numerous examples of council people using Richmond as a mechanism to improve one's political career, rather than focusing on our city's needs. The meetings now are secretive and it's quite obvious that the council members vote as the RPA tells them.(If not believed, ask formers Ben Choi and Ada Recinos what happens when you don't follow the RPA Koolaid. You get kicked out). Get in touch with former RPA member Zak Wear some day and he'll tell you the damage first hand. The RPA is in full power now, like when the Republicans won the House and the Senate and ran havoc. Plus, the RPA is funded by the SEIU (free rent, funds elections) and it shows in the elections. Its a political party and now the balance of power is gone.
• Let’s put it this way. Most money goes currently to RPA initiated legal issues. Face it, it’s diverted from filling some 100 open positions in order to run city business.
• I think the best education one can get is to look at the history of RPA candidates for (or holders of) local office who, on a single vote, go against what the RPA Steering Committee wants. Generally speaking, they politically disappear.
• Inasmuch as I no longer have any “dog in the fight” by virtue of the fact that I divested myself of all holdings in Richmond, my analysis of the RPA is as follows with the caveat that all of these characteristics do not apply to every individual who identifies as a member of the RPA. I don’t subscribe to broad sweeping generalizations that attach with no exception, to every member of a group. This is MY overview.

  1. Excellent grass roots organizers.
  2. Excellent at identifying and promoting wedge issues
  3. The group has some great strategic thinkers who can effectively articulate.
  4. Their focus is too narrow.
  5. Policies do not appeal to most for profit businesses.
  6. They have difficulty embracing facts that are contrary to their objectives.
  7. Campaign purity test and overall campaign methodology is open for scrutiny and interpretation.
  8. Ineffective at uniting all segments of the community.
  9. Many elected RPA policymakers seem to lack a firm understanding of the role of municipal government.
  10. Decision making behavior seems to indicate that fully understanding and grasping balance sheets and financial statements are not priority items.
  On a personal, non political basis, many RPA
  members are pleasant people to talk and interact with. I can differ with people on policy and still relate in a cordial, civil and even friendly manner. Whether ultra liberal or ultra conservative “there are very fine people on both sides.” When it comes to my best interest, I’ll move “my chips” accordingly.