Taking Care of Developers
On November 18, the Richmond Planning Department hosted the third in a series of closed workshops intended to review potential changes in design and planning review intended to reduce the time and effort required to process development applications for commercial,...
Year-End Recap and Predictions
At the end of each year, I try to summarize Richmond"s high and low points for the previous year and make wishes and predictions for the future. This time, I am opening the process up to all who read the E-Forum. Take a look at the previous Out With The Old " In With...
Brown Finds Work in Richmond
Local attorneys and lobbyists, who have a long history of gainful employment greasing projects through the Richmond political mill, may find themselves unemployed in the future as new developers and old industries look higher up the food chain for help. Former San...
City Should Weigh in on Breuner Marsh
Some members of the Richmond City Council recently complained that the City of Richmond has "too many parks." While the comments were based on a very real problem that Richmond"s tax base is no longer able to support our municipal lifestyle, and parks don"t pay taxes,...
Next Shorelines Project to Get Public Scrutiny Next Week
PointRichmondShores.pdf TRACBCDCDRB.DOC Thanks to Bruce Beyaert for providing the following information about Point Richmond Shores, which is located at the former Richmond Terminal No. 1 (last leased by Petromark as a tank farm in the late 1980"s) at the foot of...
Rosie/Bay Trail Marker Dedication
MAKE A DATE WITH HISTORY AND CELEBRATE THE PRESENT 11 AM, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 17 LUCRETIA EDWARDS PARK AT FOOT OF MARINA WAY SOUTH RSVP: Jacqueline Vaca, City of Richmond Redevelopment Agency, 510/ 307-8150 On Nov. 17, 2004, the City of Richmond dedicates a new series of...
Bay Trail Progress Reports
Following are two reports from TRAC. The first is the Third Quarter 2004 report and the second is announcement of a $301,000 grant and a summary of grant funding to date. An updated map is attached as a PDF file. TRAC_map_01-06-04.pdf Richmond Bay Trail Report Third...
Beware of Commercial Slate Mailers
During the last few days before an election, voters will receive a number of typically 8 " x 5 " cards single or double folded with slates of recommendations. The one I am looking at now proclaims "Attention Democrats" and "The Team for Democratic Voters" and comes...
Media Coverage of Point Molate Decision – ChevronTexaco Hires Willie Brown to Undo the Deal
Posted on Thu, Nov. 11, 2004 Casino far from done deal By Rebecca Rosen Lum CONTRA COSTA TIMES It's a tantalizing concept. California's second urban casino nestled into a plush hotel resort populated by gamblers debarking endless ferry runs across the Bay. But the...
Point Molate is a Go
Last night, the City Council voted 6-2-1 to approve the Land Development Agreement (LDA) with Upstream for an option to purchase Point Molate to construct a destination resort that is intended to include a casino. Dissenting were Maria Viramontes and Charles Belcher....
Full Text of ChevronTexaco Point Molate Offer
Attached as a PDF file is the full text of the ChevronTexaco offer for Point Molate. Many people have asked for this. The offer starts on page 10 following the City Manager"s memo. SCN_20041108163718.pdf
Hearing on Campus Bay Exposes Dysfunctional Environmental Agencies
On November 6, 2003, Assemblymember Loni Hancock chaired a Joint Hearing of Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials and the Select Committee on Environmental Justice at the UC Berkeley Richmond Field Station to discuss the participation of state...
Monarchs Return to Richmond Field Station
Thanks to Phil Maynard, I now know that like swallows to Capistrano, migrating Monarch butterflies stop over in Richmond. I have seen the Monarchs in Pacific Grove and Monterey, but little did I know they were staying over in our own neighborhood. Check out the...
Point Molate Back on the Hot Seat
Batchelor_Point_ Molate_ Memo_110504.pdf point_molate_comparison_110404.pdf With the Richmond City Council election barely over, Point Molate is back on the November 9 City Council Agenda. The new council members do not take their seats until January, so the old guard...
More Richmond Election Recap
Based on the total number of votes cast for measure Q (which slightly exceeded Measure R), there were at least 23,754 Richmond voters participating in the November 2 election. Although not verified, this is an all-time record, far exceeding the 13,667 votes cast in...
City Council Election Results
I would like to thank those who supported my re-election with your donations, your volunteer services, your endorsements and of course, your votes. As you may recall, I have been unsure for some time whether the voters would react to Richmond"s financial disaster by...
Go Vote!
Two of the great myths of Richmond city government are that (1) the City Council makes policy, and (2) five votes is all it takes. On July 20, 2004, the City Council voted 5-3-1 to authorize release of an RFP to evaluate Chevron"s energy usage (Item 0-3). Voting in...
Stealth Source of Richmond News?
An overlooked source of interesting news stories on Richmond is the North Gate News Online, a project of the U.C. Berkeley School of Journalism. I have noticed several young reporters at City Council meetings lately, and I sometimes get calls from U.C. School of...
Richmond Loses EIR Suit on Chevron’s LPG Project
According to a former CBE attorney, on October 29, 2004, the First District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Communities for a Better Environment ("CBE"), holding that the City of Richmond should have prepared an environmental impact report ("EIR") for the Chevron...
Good News for MLK Community Center and Park
The Richmond Children"s Foundation announced yesterday that the City of Richmond is the recipient of a $2.5 million grant under the State of California Murray-Hayden Urban Youth Services Grant Program that will be used to rehabilitate the Martin Luther King, Jr....