Measure U passes, but businesses remain divided

Parking lot of Easter Hill United Methodist Church polling site. Vote sign in multiple langues.

The change in the tax code could increase the city’s revenues by nearly $6 million dollars, according to a financial analysis by the city attorney. The city, according to a finance department presentation from October 6, is currently operating on a $6 million deficit.

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Council takes no action on proposal to charge fees for public records related to police misconduct

The Richmond City Council listens to public comments on the police fee item.

The fee, intended to charge enough to cover the actual cost of the service, applies only to previously private police misconduct records made disclosable by the recent and upcoming police transparency legislation Senate Bill 1421 and Assembly Bill 847. SB 1421, enacted in January, has made a number of formerly unreleased police misconduct records disclosable to the public, including records related to officer-involved shootings, uses of force resulting in serious injury, on-duty sexual assaults and police dishonesty.

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Proposed housing developments promise to transform downtown Richmond

A series of recently proposed housing developments along Macdonald Avenue in downtown Richmond could spur a business renaissance in the struggling district if city and local business leaders’ predictions ring true. In a city desperate for affordable housing, the developments reserve only about one quarter of the total number of units for residents making below…

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Residents of Richmond public housing live in fear, demand action to address poor conditions

Her family dialed 911. But when paramedics reached the seven-story affordable housing development, they found its elevators malfunctioning yet again. In fact, the elevators at this federally funded housing development had not been working for one week, residents say, and they often break down. The building houses some of the city’s most vulnerable residents — low-income seniors and people with disabilities.

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2016 election could bring RPA biggest win yet

The Richmond Progressive Alliance office along MacDonald Avenue, crowded with posters of various candidates for City council and WCCUSD Board of Education. Photo by Grace Oyenubi.

Back in 2004, Richmond voters saw local election posters encouraging them to “Reach for a better Richmond” and promising them “New Leadership, New Ideas, New Ethics.” Now, six elections later, the up-and-coming political faction behind those fliers, the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), could wield more influence over City Hall than ever before.

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