community

City council rejects zoning revisions for a digital sign in Hilltop

A divided Richmond City Council has rejected a zoning amendment that would allow a digital advertising billboard on the I-80 corridor for the troubled Hilltop business district. Leaders in the Hilltop district have urged the city to allow a digital billboard to promote the businesses there since 2007, but the city’s sign ordinance currently doesn’t allow such signs. Last March, the city council directed staff from the Planning & Building Services Department to create a zoning amendment that would permit…

School district holds town hall meeting to discuss funding, school services and Common Core

Peres Elementary School’s auditorium was filled with low murmurs of conversation Saturday morning as West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) held its second community town hall meeting of the year. Armed with questions, parents trickled in around 9 am, dropping off their children at the daycare service the district provided. Coffee and pastries were munched as community members, teachers, staff, parents and Spanish translators split off into four groups for light discussions. Each group discussed changes in the district…

Colorado professor comes to Richmond to discuss the lives of Mexican American women during World War II

Roughly 40 people filled up the theater at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park’s visitor center on Saturday morning to meet Elizabeth Escobedo, author of From Coverall to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front. The author and associate professor of history at the University of Denver was invited to the museum to share her research. During her presentation, Escobedo showed a variety of advertisements, newspaper articles, and photos…

Backers of a flyer campaign and ballot initiative proposal criticize city manager’s salary

Two weeks ago, Richmond residents discovered in their mailboxes large flyers titled “Call the Mayor.” The mailers accused City Manager Bill Lindsay, who has served in that position since 2005, of receiving a salary higher than California Governor Jerry Brown and of mismanaging the city. A few days later, a ballot initiative that called for amending the municipal code to regulate Lindsay’s salary was also submitted to the City Clerk’s office. The flyers put Lindsay’s photo right next to Brown’s….

Council to discuss filling Richmond’s vacant seat

A council seat opened up when former Councilmember Tom Butt was sworn in as mayor earlier this year. By last Tuesday, 18 applicants had submitted statements to fill the vacancy. The council now must appoint one of them, and they may do so as soon as Tuesday night. Richmond Confidential asked all the councilmembers, including Mayor Butt, to share their thoughts by email on the large number of candidates who applied, what criteria they would use to make the appointment,…

Codex Book Fair, the largest of its type in the world, visits Richmond

An estimated 4,000 people are expected to converge upon the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond on Monday for the Codex Book Fair, a biannual convention of hundreds of the world’s leading fine press publishers and artists. Over 22 countries will be represented at nearly 200 booths, some from as far as Chile, Russia and Japan.