Easter Hill, The Forgotten History
Easter Hill Village, administered by the Richmond Housing Authority, is about to become history. Over the last few decades, "Easter Hill" has become a metaphor for crime and poverty. It will shortly be torn down, to be replaced by a $100 million enlarged project...
Richmond News in the Chron, Up and Down
NIAD is up. I attended an inspiring Chamber of Commerce mixer at Richmond NIAD last week. What a great venue and a great program. The East Bay Center for Performing Arts is reeling from budget cuts and funding losses. It is one of Richmond"s treasures and deserves our...
State E-Waste Bill Moves Ahead But Needs Support
Richmond remains the only municipality in California to actually vote on an e-waste ordinance, but the second reading has yet to occur. Cities will be relieved of this burden if the California legislature passes AB-20. For a summary of the broad-based move to deal...
Design Review Board Seeks One Good Member
The Richmond Design Review Board, the body that determines what Richmond"s built environment will look like, currently has one vacant seat. The position need not be an architect or other design professional, but the applicant should be familiar with reading and...
City Staff Reorganization
Effective September 1, 2003, City Manager Isiah Turner has promoted Public Services Director Rich McCoy to Assistant City Manager in charge of Public Services (Richmond"s name for public works), Information Technology (IT and GIS) and Recreation and Parks. Previously,...
Richmond Music Blowout
THIS SATURDAY IS IT -- AUGUST 16 FROM 12:00 Noon to 7:30 PM. POINT RICHMOND MUSIC will put on its first all-day festival featuring the fabulous music of seven bands, great art by over 30 artists, a side-walk chalk event for young and old alike, and great food by the...
Chevron “Burps,” City Lurches
It was an interesting week that started with a threat by Chevron to shut its Richmond refinery unless workers could double their efforts and produce more profits. It ended with a "burp" that set off sirens, sent a "rotten egg" odor over Richmond, spawned 300 9-1-1...
Toxic Release and Siren Nuisance Ordinance Reintroduced
Attached as a PDF file is a copy of an ordinance to be on the September 9, 2003, Richmond City Council Agenda. siren_nuisance_ordinance.pdf
Navy Overwhelmed by Interest in Point Molate
The Navy was overwhelmed initially by the number of telephone requests to join the tour of historic Point Molate this Saturday from 10 AM to noon. By yesterday's deadline, over 120 people had called. As a result, some who telephoned a reservation request may have been...
Chevron-Texaco Poormouths Over Richmond Refinery
According to a story posted yesterday in the East Bay Business Times, ChevronTexaco is considering closing or selling its Richmond refinery or converting it into a terminal. After quadrupling profits in a year, ChevronTexaco aims to cut $150 million in costs at the...
More on ChevronTexaco Financial Whining
As background on the prospect of ChevronTexaco bailing out of the Richmond refinery, readers are directed to several stories carried in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 1 and 2....
Point Molate Featured in National Preservation Magazine
The following story, featured as "story of the week" appeared in the July 25, 2003, on-line edition of "Historic Preservation," the official magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The text follows this message, and the original can be found at...
Guided Tour of Point Molate
Point Molate (former Navy Fuel Depot about to be conveyed to the City of Richmond) is big news lately. Now is your chance to see for yourself. Take advantage of a unique opportunity for a guided tour of Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot from 10 AM to noon this Saturday...
Casino Feasibility Study Falls Short
The City"s long-awaited (and one month overdue) Casino Feasibility Study (actually, "Gaming Market Assessment, Economic and Social Impact Study") that cost $100,000 turns out to be worth about ten cents. What it concludes is no surprise to those who ordered it that...
Ford Assembly Building and Point Molate
FORD ASSEMBLY BUILDING Two of the most ambitious development projects in recent Richmond History have attracted proposals from a total of thirteen developers, and the Richmond City Council (sitting as the Redevelopment Agency and Reuse Authority) will be making...
City Adopts “Hail Mary” Budget – Asks Unions For 5% “Give-Back”
One day late, on the first day of FY 2003-2004 (July 1), the Richmond City Council adopted a $94 million General Fund budget with a diminished reserve without knowing where $5 million of revenue is going to come from. If the additional revenue, or comparable...
Richmond Sounds and Zounds
We may be broke in Richmond, but we're still having fun. Following is your star studded free weekend of arts and music plus a couple of worthy pay per views: " July 11. Start your weekend with free music under the trees in Baltic Square, Railroad Avenue, Point...
Clark Road Project
The draft EIR for the Clark Road Project is complete and available for public comment. Over the last several months, I have received hundreds of letters, phone calls and emails about this project. I have tried to thank those who have contacted me, but at the same...
Chevron Places No. 1
According to a story in today"s Oakland Tribune, a nationwide inventory of pollution shows that refining industries continue to lead the Bay Area, with Chevron Products Co.'s Richmond facility as the leading polluter, responsible alone for 1.5 million pounds of toxic...
Macdonald Avenue Revitalization
The public is invited to attend an important Macdonald Avenue Revitalization workshop on Saturday, June 21st. The Richmond Redevelopment Agency has begun a collaborative planning process to develop a community-driven strategy for revitalizing Macdonald Avenue,...