Tax Break For Chevron May Hit Home
A looming property tax break for Chevron of gargantuan proportions may translate into reduced library hours (again) unfilled potholes on your street or fewer cops in your neighborhood. In the midst of the highest gas prices on record and the profits that go with them,...
East Brother Featured in KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Inflight Magazine
"From Finland to Australia, a dazzling selection of lighthouse retreats guaranteed to leave you positively beaming." Richmond"s East Brother Lighthouse was featured in the December 2005 issues of Holland Herald, the inflight magazine of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (see...
City Attorney in Power Grab
City Attorney John Eastman finally went too far last night. During a discussion of a draft ordinance I placed on the agenda to bring Richmond"s Mining and Reclamation Ordinance in line with state law, Eastman stated that the City Council could not vote on the...
Free Tax Preparation Assistance for Qualified Taxpayers
Free tax preparation program for low to moderate-income residents continues All sites are now open for the annual free tax preparation program helping hard-working, low to moderate-income families and individuals file their taxes and claim refunds owed to them, such...
Can’t Keep Mouth Shut
I don"t know what it is about lawyers. My father and grandfather were lawyers (as well as judges). My brother is a lawyer. I have some fantastic lawyer clients. I even have friends that are lawyers. I just seem to be continually in conflict with the ones that work for...
Support Ferry Service in Richmond
The following story from yesterday"s San Francisco Chronicle notes that "91 percent of Bay Area residents surveyed in a Bay Area Council poll, released today, supported the idea of expanding the regional ferry system to help move people, emergency supplies and...
Volunteer as a Mentor at Washington Elementary School
FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY TO VOLUNTEER WITH BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF THE EAST BAY Washington Elementary School in Point Richmond is collaborating with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the East Bay! We are in the process of recruiting potential Big Brothers and Big Sisters...
More on Skyrocketing Garbage Rates
The following was received from Supervisor John Gioia. I guess the critical information is the reality of the high cost of transferring from a small truck to a large truck and shipping our garbage and trash somewhere else. For many years, we have had the (economic)...
Illegal Quarry Operations Continue Unabated, New Ordinance Introduced
The following is from the Berkeley Daily Planet, February 21, 2006. I have placed a draft ordinance on the City Council agenda for February 28, 2006, which would update the City"s mining ordinance and bring it in line with California State law. See attached....
Skyrocketing Garbage Rates?
Recently I was asked by an E-Forum reader why his garbage bill went up 10 times the Consumer price Index increase. Here"s why: There are two parts to the garbage fee. The collection fee increase was passed by the City Council on January 10, 2006, Item J-1 on the...
Reader Response Mixed on Emulating Richmond
received some interesting comments from the E-FORUM: IS RICHMOND WORTH EMULATING? The first one copied below came from our community and economic development (CED) director, Steve Duran. Steve and I agree on about 90%, but I enjoy sparring with him on those issues we...
The High Cost of Old Sewers
According to a report from City staff, there is an average of 15.45 claims made each year for private property damaged from blockages in the sewer mains operated by Richmond Municipal Sewer District. The total cost of claims since July 2000 is $2,238,301, including...
That Doggone Blu Just Won’t Go Away
From the San Francisco Chronicle: Dog's death coming back to bite city - Chip Johnson Monday, February 13, 2006 Maybe the death of old Blu, a 1 1/2-year-old pit bull Richmond police shot to death in July, will not be in vain. One thing is almost certain, though. It's...
Richmond Greenway Approaches Full Funding
Greenway_Summary.pdf With the western (Phase 1) portion scheduled to start construction this spring, Richmond Greenway advocates were ecstatic to learn that the eastern portion (Phase 2) has been selected for a highly competitive $1 million grant from the Metropolitan...
Is Richmond Worth Emulating?
According to a recent Contra Costa Times article reproduced below, municipal planners are coming from around the world to study how Walnut Creek has created a downtown ambiance that makes it the highest generator of per capita sales taxes in Contra Costa County. I...
Richmond Greenway on Path to Completion
A couple of weeks ago, bids were opened for Phase 1 (west) of the Richmond Greenway, and the project appears to be within the $3.1 million budget. Although the low bid was $2,206.238, the total construction cost also includes contingency, city furnished materials,...
Richmond, A City of Neighborhoods
Where do you live? Before World War II, Richmond was a small town of about 23,000, It had an "old town," Point Richmond, where the city began at the turn of the Twentieth Century, and a "main street," Macdonald Avenue, where the city expanded in the 1920s and 1930s...
Free Natives Garden Tour Registration Opens
If you missed it last year, be sure to sign up and/or volunteer for the 2005 BRINGING BACK THE NATIVES GARDEN TOUR. Our home will be on the tour again this year and will be one of the five Richmond gardens. Digital photographs available at...
Bay Trail Update
The colorful, upbeat Richmond Bay Trail New Year Report has been mailed out to about 600 people on TRAC's snail mail list, including elected officials, community and business leaders and key government agency management. Special thanks go the Richmond Community...
Richmond a Little Bit Less Dangerous for Dogs
Following a dog shooting last year, the Richmond Police Department internal investigation found no fault. See Richmond Also Dangerous for Dogs December 3, 2005 and Canine Killing Caper Piques Interest of Bay Area Media , December 9, 2005. The Police Commission,...