Rift emerges in Richmond as Bell seat falls vacant Council is divided on how to fill the the vacant seat left by Gary Bell. Photo - Tawanda Kanhema By Tawanda Kanhema and Jennifer BairesPosted January 10, 2013 10:14 am An empty chair sat on the dais of Richmond City...

From Don Gosney: Gary Bell’s inability to be sworn in as a member of the Richmond City Council—a seat which he earned with the 11,474 votes cast on November 6th supporting him—has thrown Richmond into a situation which will be nearly as divisive as Point Molate, as...

Chevron forecasts higher profits in fourth quarter By George Avalos Contra Costa Times Posted: 01/10/2013 02:35:53 PM PST Updated: 01/10/2013 03:52:08 PM PST SAN RAMON -- Chevron expects its profits for the fourth quarter of 2012 to be "notably higher" than the...

Click here for the court ruling The City and County won a resounding Superior Court victory in the property tax allocation lawsuit filed by most of cities and special districts in the County. The lawsuit challenged the Auditor’s decision to allocate reimbursement...

http://sireweb.ci.richmond.ca.us/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=431&doctype=AGENDA Items of particular interest are: J-1. (1) ADOPT the Resolution in Attachment 1 adopting the Addendum to the Richmond General Plan 2030 EIR and adopting the Richmond General Plan...

Richmond's Caspers a mecca of politics, community and famous hot dogs By Robert Rogers Contra Costa Times Posted: 01/11/2013 04:31:00 PM PST Updated: 01/11/2013 04:31:00 PM PST RICHMOND -- The dangling bell jingles as you walk in the door. The "Wizard" swivels on a...

The following emails have been circulating publicly: Nat Bates: Below, Councilmember Jim Rogers declares his position to a constituent on the appointment replacement for Councilman Gary Bell. While I share a few of his opinions such as should Rogers hold fast, there...

This has some interesting stuff in it, but if you read it carefully, it has Chevron’s fingerprints all over it. It is full of buzz words like “pro-business environment,” “benefits of established industries,” “ripple effects” [of established industries] and “work with...

The City of Richmond and Contra Costa County won a resounding Superior Court victory in the property tax allocation lawsuit filed by most of cities and special districts in the County (See Cities Consider Suing Contra Costa County Over Chevron Assessment Dispute,...

Richmond African-American leaders back Sullivan as replacement for ill Councilman-elect Gary Bell By Robert Rogers Contra Costa Times Posted: 01/10/2013 02:36:11 PM PST Updated: 01/10/2013 05:05:14 PM PST RICHMOND -- A coalition of African-American organizations on...

In November, the voters of Richmond overwhelmingly supported (72.97% to 27.03%) an advisory measure to ask Congress to pass an amendment to the Constitution to remedy the Citizens United decision and previous Supreme Court decisions that bestowed certain rights of...

The following story by super reporter Robert Rogers in the Contra Costa Times accurately condenses a three hour love fest at the City Council meeting that is not likely to be repeated in future meetings. Although compliments were intermingled with criticisms, even the...

Richmond City Council welcomes back Nat Bates, Tom Butt with swearing-in ceremony Re-elected Councilmembers Nat Bates and Tom Butt take the oath of office Tuesday night at a special ceremony at City Hall. Gary Bell, who also won a spot on the council last November,...

The following article by Chronicle reporter Carolyn Jones includes some quoted generalizations by others with which I take issue (not with Carolyn). Bell supporters were quoted as describing factions as , “left-leaning Richmond Progressive Alliance, led by Green Party...

Chris Treadway: Richmond Museum prepares for ship's historic voyage By Chris Treadway Contra Costa Times Posted: 01/04/2013 05:40:02 PM PST Updated: 01/04/2013 05:40:02 PM PST There is a lot of news to report from the Richmond Museum of History, which is preparing for...

The timeline for considering a replacement for Gary Bell will likely go something like this: 60 days runs out on March 8. January 15 - announce the vacancy and set the dates for the process January 31 - deadline for candidates statements February 12 - public hearing,...

One of the jobs of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LACO) on which I serve as an alternate to the two members appointed by the Contra Costa Mayors Conference is to provide periodic reviews of services provided by cities and special districts (Municipal Service...

Mayor and Councilmembers: This is the weekly report for the week ending January 4th, 2013. Meeting Notes The swearing in ceremony for newly re-elected Councilmembers is scheduled for Tuesday, January 8th, at 6:30 PM in the City Council Chambers. A reception follows...

As the City faces the prospect of selecting a replacement for Gary Bell, a little history about past appointments may be interesting. Since at least 1994, the City Council has never selected the runner-up in a previous election to take a vacant seat. I know this well,...

Chevron firefighters may have gouged pipe Jaxon Van Derbeken Updated 10:45 pm, Thursday, January 3, 2013 A fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond spewed a cloud of gas and smoke thousands of feet into the air on Aug. 6. Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle / SF A...