The following message appears on all American airlines communications to their customers with frequent flier accounts: Do you know a Rosie the Riveter? Who is Rosie the Riveter? A character familiar to the World War II generation, Rosie symbolizes the countless women...

Back in January, ChevronTexaco was calling hundreds of Richmond households for opinions on such things as City Council corruption, a possible City Council recall and whether or not there should be a casino at Point Molate. See TOM BUTT E-FORUM ChevronTexaco Looking...

The first of six community meetings intended to educate the public and seek input on solutions to the budget crisis occurred on March 10 at the Hilltop Mall Community Room. It was intended to serve residents of Hilltop Green, Fairmede Hilltop, Hilltop Village,...

There will be a public meeting with the three railroad companies operating in Richmond to discuss issues including horn noise, garbage along the tracks and long trains: Saturday, March 27, 2004, 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM City Council Chambers 2600 Barrett Avenue Richmond, CA...

You can subscribe to the following WCCUSD e-newsletter by emailing pehara@wccusd.k12.ca.us. WCCUSD e-Weekly March 12, 2004 BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETS MARCH 12 TO CONSIDER NEW PARCEL TAX Responding to community concern about cuts to the 2004-05 budget approved March 8,...

In the next eight days, six community meetings will be held to seek citizen input on what service cuts should be made to balance the budget. The first meeting will be tonight from 6-8 PM at the Hilltop Community Room. The City Council is scheduled to act on March 23...

On January 13, 2004, I placed an item on the City Council agenda to reduce the City Council budget by 10%. There was little support form the City Council, and Mayor Anderson said that the proposal would be discussed at the upcoming City Council retreat. But it wasn"t....

The long awaited second quarter financial report was quietly distributed to City Council members tonight after the City Council meeting. It showed a whopping cash deficit of $35.2 million, which is more than a third of the entire General Fund budget. Also included was...

In 2003, the City of Richmond rolled out what was supposed to be a new effort to effectively enforce codes and abate nuisances in the City. A new page on the City"s website was introduced, and City Council members were invited to participate in a high profile play to...

Nat Bates, Charles Belcher and I attended the City of Richmond SAP Study Session at City Hall on February 24. There was both good news and bad news. Based on the many written comments I received from city employees and others, SAP is a system that can serve the city"s...

One of the reasons that Richmond continues to be strapped for money is a perennial reluctance by the administration to collect revenue. This is not a recent phenomenon; it is a pattern that goes back decades. Case in point is the ordinance that requires a business...

Our older son, Andrew Martin Butt, was notified on February 27 that he had passed his final test, an oral examination before the California Architects Board, to complete his eligibility to become a licensed architect in California. In order to legally use the title...

Big Floyd died today. He was a giant of a goat " almost the size of a small horse. The biggest goat I ever saw. We acquired Floyd about 1996 when feral dogs had decimated our herd down to a single goat. Our last remaining goat, Truffle, was exceedingly lonely and in a...

The search for The World"s Best Lighthouse Keepers enters the home stretch, boosted by two Bay Area media personalities, Chip Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle and Mike Sugarman of KCBS. The airwaves have been reverberating to the sounds of Richmond"s East...

The Kucinich Campaign and the Richmond Progressive Alliance packed the Foyer of the Richmond Memorial Auditorium with a standing room only crowd of about 600 enthusiastic supporters and maybe some curiosity seekers. Fred Jackson and Andres Soto warmed up the crowd...

There are many City employees on my E-FORUM distribution list, so this is addressed primarily to them because I have no way of automatically separating them out. To others, please indulge me. Perhaps you will find this interesting anyway. When I first took my seat on...

The Richmond Progressive Alliance announced a second Community Forum, at which Dennis Kucinich will appear as a speaker. The Forum is hosted by The Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), "a coalition of progressive Democrats, Greens, and Independents." It will be an...

On the waterfront Richmond looks to make old Ford plant a tourist draw Daniel Moulthrop, Special to The Chronicle Friday, February 20, 2004 "2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ URL: sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/20/EBGPQ4UNTP1.DTL...

I only found out later that after I left the City Council meeting on February 17 after being shut down by Mayor Anderson, she allowed other City Council members to freely debate the same topic. This points up one of the long standing problems with the Richmond City...

Like most other Richmond fiascos, the current budget crisis didn"t just happen. The apparent problem and its repercussions, including hiring a quarter million dollars worth of damage control consultants, was caused by someone either asleep at the switch or someone...