Q&A with District 4 City Council candidate Soheila Bana

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, unless noted. We are publishing their verbatim responses, with light editing for clarity or brevity. This interview was conducted by email on the candidate’s request.

District 4 includes Hilltop Village, Hilltop Green, Fairmede/Hilltop, Greenridge Heights, Quail Hill, May Valley, Greenbriar, Sobrante Hills, Carriage Hills North and South, and the Castro Heights neighborhoods

Soheila Bana, District 4 incumbent

What are District 4’s top two priorities and how would you address them?

Public safety, including wildfire safety and traffic safety, and quality of life issues, such as improved parks, sports facilities, and paved and cleaned streets with proper lighting, are the top priorities for District 4. A large portion of District 4 is surrounded by the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and the Hayward Fault is right by Fairmede-Hilltop. This makes disaster preparedness an important and urgent issue for our residents. The issue has different dimensions to be addressed. I have had great success with raising public awareness about wildfire safety within City Hall. We have had Fire Station Open House events and evacuation drills, started FireWise communities, and secured funding assistance and grants for residents to help them prepare. For the first time, the city’s weed abatement protocol will find some enforcement teeth. Public Works has started grazing, hired four arborists, and purchased three remote mowers to provide defensible space around our communities. When it comes to earthquake preparedness, we have just started addressing the issue. Pogo Park is establishing Harbour Hall, the city and county’s first Community Resiliency Center. I have started the process for the city to bring our high schools, faith centers, and HOA club rooms up to code for becoming CRCs so residents all over the city learn about emergency preparedness and will have a place to go after a public disaster to receive services. This is especially important for Fairmede-Hilltop community and for Hilltop Village, as they are right by the Hayward Fault and surrounded by PG&E gas pipelines and hazardous material pipelines under the ground, not to mention the high PG&E voltage towers in the area.

Then of course are the basic quality of life issues: better parks, creating dog parks as a place for socializing and community building, traffic safety – almost everyone complains about high speeding cars on their streets, for example. I am glad that Public Works Department is doing a good job with street lighting as a matter of public safety and has started street paving, which will continue for the next few months.

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How would the Chevron settlement money be put to best use in District 4?

I have a long wish list of mostly improved infrastructure, and I am sure every Richmonder has their own wish list. But the money is too little for all our wishes. We need to make a list of the best ways to invest and spend the money, and then make a collective decision based on the amount of saving and total benefit to the residents. Let us remember this money is supposed to help us wean off the fossil fuel industry, which also provides a large portion of our revenue. Hence, we need to use it in a way that enables us to reduce our future costs or to reduce our future financial burden, for example, or by improving our street paving, because the sooner we do it the more we save, as deferred maintenance gets very expensive. Finally, we need to consider the need for parks and sports fields, public benefits that cannot be measured in a dollar amount but that contribute to the community’s physical and mental health and help keep our youth on the right track. Long story short, we need our city Finance Department to provide some projections before we make a collective decision.

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 will be open to considering alternative choices. As you know, Palantir does not have a good reputation and many of our residents strongly believe that we should only work with socially responsible corporations. I, too, believe that we should consider social responsibility when we get into contracts. The more important issue to consider with safety cameras is to make sure the data is secure and would not be shared with any other agency. I have urged the city administration in the past to consider ownership of data to make sure it is safe and secure.

What makes you the best candidate?

I deliver. My agenda has been focused on enhancing public safety, including wildfire safety. Three years into my term, I have made public safety a top priority at City Hall and institutionalized within the city administration. For the first time in Richmond’s history, both the Fire Department and Public Works Department have specific budget allocations for wildfire prevention. I was also a force in bringing the cities along East Bay Hills as well as the two counties of Contra Costa and Alameda together as the East Bay Wildfire Coalition of l governments. I have been very successful in raising public awareness and promoting city-community collaboration on public safety. I have brought transportation services and city sponsorships to District 4. Faimede-Hilltop and Hilltop Green are receiving tree trimming, new light posts that had been missing, and street paving improvements are scheduled to come. I am in the process of assisting Hilltop Village, Quail Hill, Villa Mira Vista, Carriage Hills, Castro Heights and Baywood HOAs to help them receive free vegetation services in their HOA properties.

I have been a voice not only for District 4 residents, but also for residents of other districts. I have spearheaded a working group that led to the allocation of $7 million to improve Richmond’s soccer fields. I initiated free legal assistance for mom-and-pop landlords by the Rent Board. I expanded the residents’ initiative to stop illegal fireworks into a citywide campaign. I have established the first database of Richmond’s historic sites, and built bridges between the city and nonprofit historic preservation organizations such as the Richmond Museum Association and Rosie the Riveter Trust. I have promoted grassroots efforts and nonprofit organizations across the city. As a human rights defender, I brought agenda items forward to prohibit caste-based discrimination in Richmond, ban land grabs by big corporations, and stop city usage of products made by prison labor. I am deeply rooted in and well-connected to the community, and will continue to be their voice on the council.

(Top photo courtesy of the candidate)

Coming Friday: A Q&A with District 4 candidate Keycha Gallon

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Q&A with District 4 City Council candidate Keycha Gallon

Q& A with District 4 City Council candidate Jamin Pursell