Elections
Two Richmond residents are vying to represent Area 1 on the Contra Costa County Board of Education: Area 1 covers the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Anthony Caro and Daniel Nathan-Heiss are running for the seat held by Consuelo Lara, who served one term and is not running for reelection. The board, alongside the county superintendent of schools, provides oversight of the county’s 18 school districts. Its duties include monitoring districts’ financial obligations, overseeing transfer and expulsion hearings, and…
Seuy Karnsouvong remembers going to the fire station by Crescent Park in Richmond with her late husband, Boonthong, to vote. Since she wasn’t familiar with English like he was, he would walk her through filling out her ballot. That was decades ago, but Karnsouvong still needs help dissecting the complicated language used in measures and other parts of the ballot. She isn’t alone in needing assistance with voting. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Richmond has 1,667 Laotian and 182…
District 5 City Council candidates fielded questions Tuesday night on issues ranging from police funding and environmental concerns to plans for diversifying city revenue and reducing reliance on Chevron, Richmond’s largest employer. The chairs in Richmond’s Eastern Hall Methodist Church were just over half full, with about 40 community members, organizers, and journalists. Another 30 people joined the discussion virtually. The forum was co-hosted by Richmond Confidential, Richmondside, The Contra Costa Pulse, and El Tímpano, and was moderated by Richmondside…
More than 100 people attended the District 6 City Council forum Monday night at Memorial Auditorium, pressing candidates Claudia Jiménez and Shawn Dunning about sideshows, smoke shops, rent control, public safety and the $550 Chevron settlement. About 70% of the residents who came in person live in District 6. The forum also was accessible on Zoom. It was the second of three candidates’ nights to be co-hosted by media outlets Richmond Confidential, Richmondside, The Contra Costa Pulse, and El Tímpano….
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: With the Richmond Progressive Alliance gaining a super-majority on City Council, what do you think the future holds for Richmond? “Although it is a RPA majority, they are still individuals. I don’t want to do to them what a lot of people have done to the African American and Latino community, box…
On Tuesday, Richmond will vote for a new mayor. The four candidates in the running are Vice Mayor Eduardo Martinez, filmmaker Mark Wassberg, City Council member Nat Bates and independent consultant Shawn Dunning. Maybe you have a favorite. Maybe you’ve already cast your vote. But could it be that your views on some specific issues align with a candidate you did not expect? Play this game to see which of the four candidates you are most like based on your…
On Tuesday, Hercules voters will decide whether to extend Measure N, a utilities tax that has been funding essential city services for the past 18 years. The 8% tax creates revenue of roughly $3.6 million per year and assures financial stability. This allows for more funding of neighborhood police patrols, water quality, community services, parks and recreation, and for attracting local businesses, as the official website for the measure states. The City Council unanimously voted to put the measure on…
Richmond Confidential posed the same questions to mayoral candidates Nathaniel Bates, Shawn Dunning, Eduardo Martinez and Mark Wassberg. Their answers are being presented verbatim, in the order they were received, with light editing, where necessary, for brevity. Today’s Q&A is with Nat Bates. Where are you from, and how many years have you lived in Richmond? My mother and I are from Texas, and at the age of 11, we moved to Richmond after the invasion of Pearl Harbor. Like…
Richmond Confidential posed the same questions to mayoral candidates Nathaniel Bates, Shawn Dunning, Eduardo Martinez and Mark Wassberg. Their answers are being presented verbatim, in the order they were received, with light editing, where necessary, for brevity. Today’s Q&A is with Shawn Dunning. Where are you from, and how many years have you lived in Richmond? A: I was born in San Francisco, and I grew up outside the small town of Colfax, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Since going…