City Manager’s Weekly Report for the Week Ending October 29, 2021
Hon. Mayor and Members of the City Council: This is the report for the week ending October 29th, 2021. Meeting Notes The next Regular City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021. Closed Session begins at 5:00 P.M., followed by the Regular Meeting...
New Information on Marin Water Pipe Line
New information is coming out about the proposed water pipe line to Marin. Our EBMUD representative Lesa McIntosh is making sure EBMUD doesn’t just roll over for MMWD. EBMUD General Manager Clifford Chan wrote on October 29, 2021: While we have no capacity in our raw...
Update on Water Line to Marin
I participated in two show and tell meetings with Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) yesterday, the first with just City staff and me in the morning, and the second at last night’s City Council meeting. The content of both was identical. MMWD staff started by...
City Divided Over Sideshows
No subject better illustrates the serious philosophical and political divide in Richmond than the subjects of sideshows. Wikipedia defines “sideshow” as, “an informal demonstration of automotive stunts now often held in vacant lots, and public intersections, most...
Richmond Ferry Update
At the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC) meeting yesterday, WETA provided an update on the Richmond Ferry and efforts to recover from the loss of ridership during the pandemic. On a slide below is a list of Core Principles – Pandemic...
Local Government Commission Retreat
When I was first elected to the Richmond City Council, former Mayor Rosemary Corbin advised me to become active in the Local Government Commission (LGC), a statewide nonprofit supporting local elected officials – city council members and county supervisors. It was the...
Plan Bay Area 2050 Adopted
In a rare joint meeting last night, the ABAG Executive Board, on which I serve, and the MTC approved Plan Bay Area 2050 following four years of study and preparation. For details, including document downloads, see Agenda item 6a at...
Visit to U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco
With 32 miles of shoreline (more than any other city on San Francisco Bay), the Port of Richmond, the highly secured Chevron Refinery and the Coast Guard-owned East Brother Light Station, the Coast guard has a lot of interest in Richmond. I was invited to meet the new...
New Life for Hacienda
On Thursday of this week, I joined Deputy City Manager Shasa Curl and Richmond Housing Authority Director Nannette Beacham in a tour of the under construction Hacienda Housing project. Some eight years ago, the Hacienda became the poster child for underfunded public...
Marin Water Pipeline Update
I will not be at the CCTA meeting tonight; I have a conflict, and my alternate Paul Fadelli will represent WCCTAC in my place. Item 4 on the Agenda is “Presentation on Richmond-San Rafael Bridge - Representatives from the Transportation Authority of Marin, California...
Comment on MMWD Intertie Project
Here is information about how to comment on the MMWD Intertie Project. Click here for the agenda report. Marin Municipal Water District Public Meeting Tuesday, October 19, 2021 7:30 PM This meeting will be held virtually, pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 361. To...
RPA City Council Members Take Nuclear Option
As announced by the city attorney regarding action taken during closed session tonight, the four RPA City Council majority members, McLaughlin, Jimenez, Martinez and Willis, voted to instruct the city attorney to file a brief in the lawsuit SPRAWLDEF et al v. the City...
Adverse Impacts of Marin County Water Line on Richmond
To preserve lush lawns like this, Marin will rip up the Bay Trail and Richmond streets for a water line across the bridge On October 19, 2021, the Marin Municipal Water District is set to approve construction of the water line across the Richmond San Rafael Bridge....
Exxon Goes After Small Town California Mayor
Former Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson passed this on to me. Richmond was one of a number of cities and counties that sued fossil fuel companies, but I have not been subpoenaed by Exxon yet. Richmond filed its complaint against 29 defendants on January 22, 2018. EL...
Arbor Day in the City of Richmond
In 1594, the Spanish village of Mondoñedo celebrated the first documented Arbor Day and in 1805, the Spanish village of Villanueva de la Sierra celebrated the first modern day Arbor Day, organized by local priest Don Ramón Vacas Roxo who was convinced of the...
Chief Bisa French Deserves Our Compassion and Support
The mayor and City Council members make policy. We don’t micromanage the City; the city manager does that. But we don’t like surprises, and the public expects us to at least know what’s going on at City Hall. On Friday, October 8, 2021, at 8:54 PM, City Manager Laura...
MCE Clean Energy Retreat
Last week, I attended the annual retreat for MCE Clean Energy. MCE, which originally was an acronym for “Marin Clean Energy” is a four-county, 36 member community, Joint Powers Authority that provides the generation component of your electricity. Distribution (poles...
City Manager’s Weekly Report for the Week Ending October 8, 2021
Hon. Mayor and Members of the City Council: This is the report for the week ending October 8th, 2021. Meeting Notes The next Regular City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 19th, 2021. Enjoy the next week off! Upcoming Events Community Benefits Policy...
Policing in Richmond
As the City Council extended the life of the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force another three years, Richmond police officers went to work as always, responding to domestic violence calls (often involving a firearm or other weapon), thefts, carjackings, homicides,...
Let Us Know What You Think!
The City Manager's Office is extending an invitation to all Richmond residents to fill out the bi-annual community survey. In January 2007, the City of Richmond enrolled in the National Research Center’s (NRC) National Citizen Survey (NCS) program in order to conduct...