Government
The City of Richmond is seeking public comment on the South Richmond Transportation Connectivity Plan (SRTCP) draft, which was released in early May. The plan is the city’s effort to improve transportation connectivity between South Richmond and surrounding key locations. Caltrans awarded a planning grant to the city in 2012. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or Assembly Bill 32, requires the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state. The goal of the plan is to adopt…
On April 23, new Richmond Mayor Tom Butt concluded his first 100 days in office. Butt, a longtime councilmember and Point Richmond architect, won the November election to replace termed-out former mayor Gayle McLaughlin, and took office in January. In politics, the first 100 days is considered an important period in which a new legislator shows their priorities and begins to make good on campaign promises. It’s also a time for voters and colleagues to evaluate the elected official’s performance….
This year is the driest in recorded history in California. This has forced the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) to declare a stage 4 drought, the highest stage ever announced in the area, although even higher stages can apply if the drought gets worse. EBMUD is asking East Bay citizens to cut down their water usage. Water is a vital resource to survive. But most of the water on Earth is salt water and not directly usable for humans. Only about…
Advocates for stronger tenant protections in Richmond received support last week when the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) decided to join their efforts. The RPA is an influential political player in the city, with members—Jovanka Beckles, Eduardo Martinez, and Gayle McLaughlin—holding three of the seven seats on the city council. The group’s steering committee voted on Wednesday “to reaffirm and update its historical position” in support of just cause protections against eviction and a “fair rent” ordinance, said Marilyn Langlois, a coordinator…
In Richmond, politicians and community organizations are tackling the issue of rising rents. Last week, in a step that he hopes will bring immediate relief to tenants vulnerable to rent increases, Vice Mayor Jael Myrick announced agreements with a number of property management companies to temporarily limit rent increases while the city council debates solutions for tensions over rent prices. According to Myrick, some of the biggest players in the city’s rental market, who collectively own more than 1,600 units,…
The members of 10 households living in Richmond’s infamous Hacienda public housing complex are claiming the city should pay them damages because the city failed to maintain the housing complex and caused them physical injury, property damage and emotional distress. The Hacienda apartments caught media attention when the Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit investigative news organization based in Berkeley, California, broke a series of stories last year about the disturbing living conditions there, which include infestations of bugs, mice…
Plywood with large red letters simply reading “DMC Closed” was affixed to the signs on the street that once welcomed patients to the largest public hospital on the western part of Contra Costa County. Members of the community gathered at the hospital in the early morning of April 21 to say goodbye, then made their way to the Board of Supervisors meeting at the county seat to inform the public about the threat of living in an area without a hospital….
Richmond is seeing better days. According to a recent research paper by UC Berkeley’s Haas Institute, homicides and violent crime were at historic lows in 2013, parks are being renewed, living conditions are improving and new investment money is flowing in. But what seems to be good news for the city’s just over 100,000 residents, the authors say, could even pose a threat to a large and deeply rooted community in Richmond: African Americans, who make up almost a quarter…
So far, around 20 families who live at the Hacienda public housing complex have received Section 8 vouchers intended to help them relocate while the building undergoes renovations. They have 60 days to find a new home. But some of them say they have received little search or transportation assistance and are worried they will not be able to find a new home before time runs out. The Hacienda apartments caught media attention when the Center for Investigative Reporting, a…