District 1 City Council forum: Candidates tackle questions on how the city should spend new Chevron money, and other issues

District 1 City Council candidates fielded questions Wednesday night on quality-of-life issues ranging from public safety and clean streets to economic development and how to spend the $550 million windfall the city is set to receive from Chevron. 

About 50 people attended the candidates’ night at CoBiz Richmond, hosted by the media outlets Richmond Confidential, Richmondside, The Contra Costa Pulse and El Tímpano. Journalists and residents asked Jamelia Brown, Mark Wassberg and incumbent Melvin Willis how they would promote business growth, community engagement and more affordable housing. But the Chevron settlement, which the city will receive in increments over the course of a decade, was at the forefront of residents’ minds.

“What is your plan for over a half a billion dollars over the next 10 years?” Joe Puleo, a retired resident, asked the candidates.

Both Brown and Willis emphasized the need for an oversight or advisory committee made up of community members to determine how to spend the Chevron settlement, which the city will start receiving next year under an agreement in which a proposed refinery tax was pulled from the November ballot. 

“This money is not the city’s payday. It is the community’s payday,” Brown said. 

“We’ve already had people asking for millions toward certain issues, and it’s like, ‘Whoa, let’s have our community budget sessions first,'” Willis said. “We need to make sure we’re not treating this like we hit the lottery and blow it all at once.” 

Wassberg was skeptical. “That half a billion dollars is going to go straight to the general fund, straight up to Sacramento,” he said.  

District 1 includes downtown, the Iron Triangle and Belding Woods. The area has some of the lowest income earners in the city, with about 35% of the population making less than $50,000 a year, according to U.S. Census data for the three census tracts included in the district. Of the roughly 17,000 residents, 75% are Latino.

The three candidates were all born and raised in Richmond, but have drastically different campaign platforms. 

Brown, a social worker and fourth-generation District 1 resident, has never held elected office and has recorded no financial contributions, according to campaign finance reports. She said the district has been “overlooked and underserved.” She advocated for safer streets and government transparency and emphasized the need for change.

“It’s time to dispel the notion that our district is just the ghetto where anything goes. We are so much more than that, and we deserve better,” she said. 

Wassberg, a retired mechanic and frequent speaker at City Council meetings, has never held elected office and finished last in the 2022 mayoral election. He has lived in many parts of Richmond, including in his car for 16 years. His overarching message is to end Richmond Progressive Alliance’s majority on City Council, blaming its influence over the council for high-crime rates. 

“You can’t have people like Willis and the RPA out there supporting criminals, supporting hate,” he said. 

The RPA is a grassroots group that has gained significant political influence in the city over the past 20 years, getting a majority of council seats in the 2020 election, and grabbing the mayor’s seat in 2022. The group is fighting in the November election to keep that majority, as three council seats held by RPA members are up for reelection, including the one Willis has held for two terms. 

Willis did not mention his affiliation with the RPA during the forum. His campaign finance reports show he has raised $16,325, through contributions from individual donors. At the forum, he relied on his reputation as his main platform, citing his work fighting for rent control and against evictions, as well as to increase the minimum wage and affordable housing.

 “I’ve been on the council for two terms and at the end of the day, there’s already a lot that I can be proud of,” he said. 

Though the forum was well-attended, a contingent of UC Berkeley students comprised half the audience, and District 1 voters were notably scarce.

District 1 resident and community organizer Luna Angula said after the event that it’s hard for many of her neighbors to participate in the political process. “A lot of folks are just focused on getting their basic needs met, on getting by day to day,” Angula said. 

Contra Costa County 2020 General Election results showed District 1 with a voter registration rate of 43.6% and a turnout rate of 61%.

Brown said much of her campaign has been registering residents to vote. She suggested social media as a way to engage more residents and criticized the City Council for meetings that often go past 1 a.m., making it difficult for residents to attend. 

Willis said he has gone directly to constituents who can’t make a council meeting to discuss a particular issue, citing his work fighting eviction threats at Saint John’s Apartments.

Wassberg blamed political apathy on the choices people make, including not going to college. 

One concern raised by some in the audience was about Richmond’s ability to attract businesses.

“I think that’s one of the things I really heard here tonight, is that we really need to hear from the community, what they want also. But really, the business owners,” Richmond Economic Development Commissioner Diana Wear said after the meeting.

Willis expressed optimism toward business development, referencing the $1.12 million in relief small businesses received after COVID-19, and the reduced cost of business licenses to $100. He, however, also acknowledged that the council has fallen short of meeting community needs and vowed to prioritize discussions with business owners.

CoBiz CEO Wesley Alexander asked why the city can’t develop the amenities that residents leave Richmond to get such as grocery stores and restaurants.

Willis said Richmond’s reputation as having a lot of crime prohibits business growth. He said it comes down to marketing and changing the narrative. “That narrative has been plaguing the city since before I’ve been on the council, and we’ve actually come a very long way.”

Brown said she’d like the option of getting ice cream in her neighborhood, rather than having to go to Pinole or El Cerrito for it. And she challenged the notion that Richmond has become safer. “There are still stop signs and stop lights that I don’t sit at for too long,” she said. “I’ll rather get the ticket, and that should speak to the safety here in this district.” She sees safer streets as the way to attract new businesses.

Wassberg agreed that safety concerns prevent business growth in District 1. “It ain’t going to happen here,” he said. “It’ll last five minutes because you got a high crime rate.”

With regard to affordable housing, moderator Christine Schiavo, the editor of Richmond Confidential, asked the candidates what solutions they would offer. 

Willis said he supports mixed-income housing developments and housing policies based on Richmond income levels rather than regional averages. He encouraged residents to support Proposition 33, which seeks to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act that limits rent control by exempting newer buildings and single-family homes. He said he is “fighting for a constitutional amendment to make housing a human right.”

Wassberg said rent control could be a solution but warned that it should be granted sparingly so as not to destroy the real estate market.

Brown applauded the city’s new affordable developments including Hacienda, Metro Walk and the conversion of a Motel 6, but she also pointed out that the city has surplus public land that can be developed into much-needed housing. She pointed to vacant land on 12^th Street and Macdonald Avenue that is gated. “We literally have the unhoused population sleeping on the ground outside of those gated lots,” she said. 

Willis later alluded to negotiations happening for that same land but said he couldn’t provide more detail.

The news organizations will be co-hosting two more  candidates’ forums before the Nov. 5 election. The next is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, at Memorial Auditorium, Bermuda Room, 2533 Nevin Ave., in District 6; and the last is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Easter Hill United Methodist Church, 3911 Cutting Blvd., in District 5.

(Top photo by Kelly Sullivan)

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