Less than a week after Tom Butt urged the recruitment and selection of a permanent city attorney as soon as possible, Acting City Attorney Everett Jenkins directed his assistant, Bruce Soublet, to garnish Butt"s meager City Council wages to satisfy a nine-year old...

Don"t miss the final act of the 2004 Point Richmond Music Festival today at Baltic Square, Friday September 24 - from 5 to 8 PM, Wendy DeWitt - Queen of Boogie Woogie (www.wendydewitt.com) and Stars of Glory (Gospel) will each be playing two sets. For more...

The Design Review Board is down to five of its seven authorized members, and there is one vacant position on the nine-member Planning Commission. This is your chance to volunteer in a way that will shape what Richmond looks like in the future. I get hundreds of...

Several Richmond organizations collaborated in the research and publication of two major reports that are being utilized as part of an effort by the State Fire Marshal"s office and the California Building Standards Commission to upgrade building code requirements...

My neighbor, Mike Elwell, accompanied correspondent Mike Cerre in the Iraq invasion, embedded in a Marine company. Their reports, featured on ABC news, won them an Emmy on September 13, 2004, for "The Outstanding Feature Story in a News Magazine." The Emmy press...

RICHMOND Court OKs land sale for casino Chevron challenge rejected, but deal has long way to go - Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, September 21, 2004 A Contra Costa County Superior Court judge quashed on Monday Chevron's attempt to block Richmond's...

A full page newspaper ad run three times in the last four days in the West County Times by http://www.protectpointmolate.org, which directs people to call the City Manager"s office to protest the proposed sale of Point Molate to Upstream Investments, has generated the...

Based on accounts from those present at today"s hearing, the Contra Costa Superior Court not only dismissed ChevronTexaco"s complaint that the City of Richmond had to comply with the state Surplus Property Law, but the judge also chided ChevronTexaco for not offering...

The City of Elk Grove recently conducted a survey among League of California Cities members about the advantages and disadvantages of directly elected mayors and city council members elected by districts. The attached file is a summary of the responses, which may...

I committed last week to introduce legislation to allow the City to seize vehicles used to illegally dump trash on public streets. It would have been an amendment to Municipal Code Chapter 11.94, passed by the City Council in early 2003, providing for the seizure and...

The annual California Coastal Clean-Up day is always a fun, rewarding community event. It is amazing how much a large group of people working together can do to clean up litter along the Bay Trail. Many hands do make light work. The event will take place Saturday,...

The revised Point Molate draft Land Development Agreement (LDA) is available on the City website at http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/. Click on "Point Molate" on the menu on the upper right part of the screen. The draft has a number of revisions, most notable an...

The Richmond Farmers Market Association celebrates Richmond Farmers Week September 13-17, 2004, to be culminated with an exciting program at the market on Friday the 17th from 12:00 PM to -3:00 pm. The public is invited. The Richmond Farmers Market is open every...

Many constituents have identified education as one of the three top issues in Richmond. Despite the low rating given to the City Council and City management, the top concern of Richmond voters in 2004, according to a poll paid for by the City of Richmond, is not the...

With the recent resignation of Architect Charles Duncan, the Design Review Board, authorized with a membership of seven, shrinks to five. The Design Review Board and its mission are described in Richmond Municipal Code 15.04.930...

Dumping has become endemic in Richmond. Favorite spots are poorly lit streets in commercial and industrial areas where few people live, deserted cul-de-sacs and vacant lots. There are many reasons for this, but most of them boil down to people not wanting to pay the...

Yesterday, Our Interim City Manager, Phil Batchelor, handed out copies of his 170-item list of things that have to be done to fix Richmond. The most refreshing part for me was the fact that the shortcomings were actually being acknowledged. Richmond city government at...

Start by attending the Point Richmond Music Festival tomorrow evening, Friday, September 10, 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM at Baltic Square. See http://www.pointrichmond.com/prmusic/index.htm and attached flyer for more details. On Saturday morning, celebrate California Coastal...

In a 6-2 vote yesterday at a quickie and lightly attended noon public meeting, the Richmond City Council ratified a previous extension of the Exclusive Right to Negotiate (ERN) with Upstream Investments. Chevron had earlier written a letter to the City claiming the...

A fourth possible West County casino site at Hilltop surfaced today in the Chron"s Matier and Ross column. Read on. Firm sees Hilltop Mall as possible casino site - Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross Wednesday, September 8, 2004 There's a new player in the fierce battle over...