Q&A with District 3 City Council candidate Doria Robinson

On June 2, Richmond voters will cast ballots in a primary election. Richmond Confidential interviewed the two District 3 candidates and the three District 4 candidates, either in person or by phone or video, unless noted. We are publishing their verbatim responses, with light editing for clarity or brevity.

District 3 includes Atchison Village, Coronado, Pullman, Park Plaza and the Richmond Village/Metro Square neighborhoods.

Doria Robinson, District 3 incumbent

What are District 3’s top two priorities and how would you address them?

From what I hear from residents, one of the top priorities has to do with safety, specifically traffic safety and safety when it comes to being the victim of property crimes like car thefts. They just want more ways to stop these things from happening — stop people from speeding down the residential streets, putting people in jeopardy; stop people from doing donuts; stop people from stealing cars and breaking into houses. It’s an ongoing concern, and it’s something that I feel like is really, really important and needs to be addressed. It’s what I hear from all of the neighborhood councils whenever I talk to people. I think another top priority is having safe places for kids to be and play, like good programs and parks that are safe and well-maintained. Those things are a big priority. I think that residents just want stable city services.

Doria Robinson, 52, executive director of Urban Tilth.

Political experience: Elected to City Council in 2022; appointed to California Food and Agriculture Board

Education: Attended Hampshire College, liberal studies

How would the Chevron settlement money be put to best use in District 3?

I’m in listening mode. I definitely have my own ideas about what could or should happen. I was actually out in Pullman today talking to a resident and they were really concerned that we’re smart with the Chevron money that comes in, that we don’t just waste it on buying things, but that we invest it for the city. They were saying that the city is an endowment, and we should only use the endowment to invest in new things, and we should really bank their other money and let that money do work for us. I am of the mind that I really agree with that resident, that we have a huge opportunity with this money to create long-term financial stability for our city — a kind of financial stability that could help us weather any storm, no matter what’s happening on the international or the national stage. I think we should be very, very careful about what we spend, and I personally am leaning more and more towards having some model where we’re investing the funds and then spending the earnings from those funds towards investing in our fire stations, investing in our parks and investing in creating community hubs that create the kind of stability and security that people want. There’s been this historic, long-term under-investment in and deferred maintenance in our city, in our assets, in our streets, in our roads, in our city infrastructure — the buildings and facilities that we own. I feel like all of the departments need larger budgets so we have appropriate staff departments, and they can all actually provide the services that we are demanding, that city residents want.

Would you be likely to support the continued use of Flock license plate readers when that question returns to the council later this year?

I am 100% in support of license plate readers. I am not sure at this point that Flock is our only provider, the only vendor that’s out there. In fact, I’m told by our police chief that there are other vendors that would be able to accommodate our values and our rules around sanctuary cities and would not violate those. In the three years that I’ve been on City Council, there have been too many times where vendors like Flock have a contract with clear terms that they willingly violate. It’s frustrating to have the city’s contracts just disregarded by vendors, and I feel like if we don’t have a clear line that we hold for other vendors, that we will cancel contracts, that we will not contract with people who violate the terms of their agreements, then we’ll constantly be taken advantage of as a city. The message we need to send is that the era of different vendors coming in here and just picking and choosing what parts of agreements they’re going to fall through on, is over. And if there are other vendors, as Chief Timothy Simmons is saying, out there who can provide this service, then I think that we need to consider them. 

What makes you the best candidate?

I feel very strongly that I bring a depth of experience that not many City Council candidates or City Council members bring. I actually have over 20 years of experience running a big, complicated organization. I’ve dealt with audits, I’ve dealt with complex HR issues, I’ve dealt with a growing organization, a changing culture, capital projects. It’s not the scale of a city, but it’s more than any of the other candidates. So when I come to a problem in the city, I’m coming with a wealth of experience, and I understand the complexity. I know how to be a member of a team and work as a team with our city staff, with our neighborhood residents, with the unions and with other people to solve problems, because my focus is solving the problem, not accumulating power or whatever else people do when they become politicians. I think because I come at this as a life-time Richmond resident and as somebody who was doing change-making work in Richmond for many years before I was ever elected to council, I’m in it because I love this city. I’m not in it because I aspired to be a politician, I’m not a political broker who worked in the back scenes for years to vie for power, that’s not me. I’m here because I want to make this city better, and I bring a host of hard skills and soft skills that help me move and be successful and accomplish things as a City Council person. 

(Top photo courtesy of the candidate)

Coming Thursday: A Q&A with District 4 candidate Soheila Bana

Q&A with District 3 City Council candidate Brandon Evans