Government
Two members of the Richmond Design Review Board, Leah Marthinsen and David Plotkin, resigned Monday afternoon in response to the City Council’s resolution supporting the people of Gaza, passed in late October. “The resolution clearly isolates and endangers the Jewish community in Richmond, which includes my family,” Plotkin wrote in his letter of resignation, which former Mayor Tom Butt included in his e-forum on Monday. “My children do not feel safe in their own home.” Richmond made national news as…
Richmond City Council passes controversial resolution supporting Gaza that draws hundreds to meeting
Following a hot debate, with over 300 residents weighing in on the issue, the Richmond City Council voted 5-1 Wednesday morning for a resolution affirming Richmond’s support and solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza. “The fact that you’re here tells me this is a Richmond issue,” Mayor Eduardo Martinez told the crowd, which spilled from the council champers into an auxiliary room and included more than 100 speakers present and and an additional 200 commenters on Zoom. The resolution…
Residents are no longer allowed to comment on Zoom during El Cerrito City Council meetings, after an ugly incident last month in which a group spewing hate speech took over the public comment session. El Cerrito Mayor Pro Tem Tessa Rudnick, who is Jewish, described the hateful rhetoric that erupted during the session in an opinion piece in The Jewish News of Northern California, noting that it included a depiction of pedophilia and remarks denying the Holocaust. She said a…
Cristal Banagan, a mother of four and longtime Richmond resident, thinks public libraries are becoming “obsolete.” None of her four kids has visited the library. “At the stage we are with technology in this world, they’re unnecessary” Banagan said. “And these kids, that’s what they know.” That, however, may not be true, now that Richmond is introducing reforms to help people engage more with the library’s resources through new programs and community outreach. The management is drafting plans to renovate…
A delegation of Richmond city officials will travel to sister-city Zhoushan, China, next month for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez sees the trip as a chance to show solidarity with Richmond’s Chinese community. “Since COVID, the United States has seen a terrible rise in hate speech and violence against the AAPI community, particularly Chinese people,” Martinez said in an email. “Conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID run rampant, and I want to…
A dirty red couch. An old pink baby stroller. Broken appliances. Rusted car parts. These are just some of the biggest pieces of illegally dumped trash spotted this month in a Richmond neighborhood. City crews can’t keep up with the work. “We go to a street and pick up garbage,” said Victor Mejia, a Richmond Public Works Department cleanup worker. “Then after 20 minutes, we go back to the same spot and they dumped it again.” To fight the problem,…
“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: Should Richmond City Council return to holding meetings only in person? “It’s a tough question, just because people can’t be exposed to COVID. It’s a good thing to have social settings, but maybe if there’s different ways to hold these meetings, that would be best.” (Angelica Zambrano, social media manager, pictured at…
Editor’s note: After a tie, a tiebreaker and a recount, Cesar Zepeda won the District 2 City Council seat over Andrew Butt, becoming the first openly gay man elected to Richmond City Council. He will represent District 2, which includes Point Richmond and the Chevron refinery. Zepeda spoke to Richmond Pulse before the recount about public safety, housing and community-building. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Richmond Pulse: Having won in such a dramatic fashion, what will you do…
“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…