Economy
On Tuesday night, at the last city council meeting before a month-long recess, the council wrapped up by approving nearly a dozen expenditure items, most notably the resurrection of Richmond’s only beach—Point Molate.
The city council Tuesday night approved two contentious campaign finance ordinances that, taken together, limit the influence of people and businesses that contribute to a candidate or sitting councilmember. These ordinances will likely reshape the way candidates approach fundraising in this year’s election.
On Saturday night in downtown Richmond, the unmistakable beats of Latin Jazz, followed by cheers and laughter, poured out of a small office tucked away in a row of other non-descript offices. The little space on Macdonald Avenue by the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts was illuminated with ambient lighting and filled with people. In the back corner the band played while people twirled on the dance floor. This is how the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) was helping two of its own candidates—Marilyn Langlois and Eduardo Martinez—raise money.
During a heated meeting on Tuesday night, Richmond council members tackled two items that drew out many members of the public: the teachers’ union’s concerns about Teach for America members employed in Richmond and the formation of the city’s first business improvement district. But the most heated exchange of the night came when council members Corky Booze and Jovanka Beckles got into a dust-up over Booze’s request for a legal opinion regarding his concerns about the possible civil rights violations of public speakers during past meetings.
It was a long meeting of the Richmond City Council Tuesday night, and it lasted into early Wednesday morning, filled with passionate debate regarding where the SS Red Oak Victory Ship should be berthed—and at what cost.
Richmond’s regressive and indiscriminate sugar tax promises a bitter outcome for our most underserved residents and struggling businesses.
The proposed tax is extraordinarily broad, impacting much more than the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) sweetened sodas suspected of causing much of the nation’s obesity
On Monday and Tuesday Saffron Strand, a Point Richmond non-profit focused on helping the homeless find meaningful employment and achieve economic independence, hosted its third annual conference to generate ideas about how to end homelessness. Topics included health care, housing, transitional employment and the hiring of ex-offenders.
Councilmember Tom Butt got the ball rolling when he suggested an amendment for council consideration with regards to accepting and disclosing money, which says that a councilmember who receives more than $250 from a business or individual cannot vote on what that business or individual asks for during future council votes.
Bagging groceries, flipping pizzas and sitting by the public pool as a lifeguard used to be the ultimate jobs for young people. But with funding from Kaiser Permanente, five motivated teenagers from Richmond’s Police Activities League (RPAL) will skip the chump change and start their own business.