On February 24, 2022, Governor Newsom announced $50 million in grants for programs and projects to alleviate homelessness, with $4.8 million going to Richmond. See City of Richmond Awarded Homeless Grant, February 25, 2022. Less than a week later, on March 1, 2022,...

https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Bart-Removes-Only-Black-Board-Member-After-16993564.php Until yesterday, Lateefah Simon represented Richmond on the BART Board. I always found her to be responsive and easy to work with. This was quite a shock.Bart Removes...

Several years ago the Richmond City Council voted to join Oakland and other cities in paying for a feasibility study to charter a public bank. From the October 3, 2017 Minutes: The matter to discuss and consider donating funds to the City of Oakland to conduct a study...

Remember back last year when the owner of 8 Western Drive sold the property for over $1 million after illegally expropriating most of the street right of way for a front yard and private parking lot? See How to Homestead Land in Richmond, September 11, 2021. It turns...

With little fanfare, former Richmond City Attorney Teresa Stricker emerged as the new city attorney for the City of San Pablo, not only a little too close for comfort to Richmond, but entirely surrounded by Richmond. Stricker almost single-handedly did her best to...

With Russia on top of the news these days, I thought I would share my first and last trip to Russia 52 years ago this month way back when it was the USSR. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxc-iKzLQBE. The voyage from Yokahama to Nakhodka was a couple of days....

____________________________________________________________________________ MCE Submits $188 Million Energy Efficiency Business Plan Includes Funding for New Equity Offerings in Environmental Justice Communities SAN RAFAEL and CONCORD, Calif. — On March 4, 2022, MCE...

… I traded in my jungle boots and frayed fatigues for civilian clothes and bought a ticket on Air Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I always wanted to see Angkor Way, so instead of taking the Freedom Bird east, I headed west. Figure 1 - Goodbye, Vietnam! Figure 2 -...

Press Release 02/28/22 Chevron Announces Agreement to Acquire Renewable Energy Group Expected to build strength and accelerate growth across renewable fuels value chain Projected to be accretive to earnings and free cash flow Cynthia (CJ) Warner, REG CEO, expected to...

This message is being sent on behalf of Interim City Manager Shasa Curl Hon. Mayor and Members of the City Council: This is the report for the week ending March 4th, 2022. Meeting Notes The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15th, 2022. Enjoy...

Today, March 6, 2022, would have been my mom’s 100th birthday. She died way too young at the age of 69, a victim of a lifetime of smoking, which was considered not only normal but healthy in the 1940s and beyond. Figure 1 – Typical 1940s cigarette ad. Smoking was...

Back a couple of years ago when I challenged Richmond’s ten largest employers to create a $1.5 million to address unsanctioned homeless camps, Sims Metal was the only one to step up, providing the largest single donation to the Mayor’s Community Fund that is now the...

Richmond mayor raises Ukraine’s flag at City Hall in show of solidarity February 28, 2022 https://richmondstandard.com/richmond/2022/02/28/richmond-mayor-raises-ukraines-flag-at-city-hall-in-show-of-solidarity/ After raising the Flag of Ukraine at City Hall in a show...

The sad part about the current Richmond City Council is that you don’t have to be anti-business and anti-housing to be environment friendly and improve the quality of life for Richmond residents, particularly underserved residents. The knee-jerk Richmond Political...

Thanks to Claudia Citroen, flagmaker extraordinaire, we will be raising the Ukraine flag tomorrow, Monday February 28, 2022, at Richmond City Hall to show solidarity with the people of the Ukraine. Figure 1 - Tom Butt and Claudia Citroen with the Ukraine flag she made...

I plan to hoist the Ukraine flag City at Hall tomorrow to show solidarity. Ready-made flags are hard to come by and backordered, so I bought fabric this morning. I need a volunteer to sew it into a flag by tomorrow. It’s a pretty simple flag. Any takers out there?...

MCE update. Read about MCE's largest solar plus storage project and our McGlashan Advocacy Award winner. Board and Municipal Update February 2022 Dear Directors Butt and Johnson, Samantha, and Ruben, I hope all is well! I wanted to share some recent news, achievements...

The Mayor’s Housing First Initiative, in partnership with the Richmond Rotary Club, has already housed approximately 10 percent of the people living in cars and RVs at the Richmond Parkway/North Castro Street RV Camp. Unfortunately, new people are moving into and...

One of Richmond’s enduring mysteries is how to get speed bumps installed on your street. This was resolved by the long-lost Resolution 62-96 of 1996. Here are the criterial for speed bump applications: The street must be a residential, neighborhood street with no...

The good news is that the City of Richmond has been awarded a $4.8 million grant to “rehouse 100 individuals.” That’s $48,000 per person. The bad news is that most of it will be frittered away simply perpetuating existing encampments, leaving only $1.8 million to...