Government
Richmond’s effort to pass a minimum wage hike has stalled. A general increase to the minimum wage gained support from the city council on March 19, but the proposed ordinance failed to pass a second reading after some councilmembers felt the wage hike deserved more input from small businesses.
About 250,000 West Contra Costa County residents may soon be in the midst of a health care crisis. Doctors Medical Center San Pablo has lost millions of dollars for years by treating the uninsured and underinsured. The hospital has stayed afloat with the help of two parcel taxes and previous funding from the state and area providers including John Muir and Kaiser. But it still faces a sixteen million dollar shortfall for this year. A third parcel tax measure will…
City releases a draft Environmental Impact Report of Chevron’s Modernization Project.
Richmond is headed for a new record: the highest minimum wage in the Bay Area. The plan is for a minimum wage of $12.30 per hour to be phased in over the next four years. The City Council voted 6-1 to pass the first reading of the ordinance with Councilmember Tom Butt voting no.
In a special meeting to address poor public housing conditions exposed by media reports nearly a month ago, the Richmond City Council voted to draft a plan that includes evacuation of Hacienda, where residents have been living in apartments affected by mold, vermin and a leaky roof.
The Richmond City Council will hire an independent auditor to investigate systemic issues of work order responsiveness within the Housing Authority.
Currently there are hundreds of young people in Richmond who need to be provided with effective youth development opportunities and purposeful engagement with healthy adults on a consistent basis.
The Dalai Lama was in Richmond to bless the Tibetan Association of Northern California’s offices and community center, where participants hope Tibetan cultural life can be sustained and passed on to the next generation. Many of the Tibetans in attendance said that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Richmond’s Tibetan community center on Huntington Avenue will receive His Holiness the Dalai Lama this Sunday. Last Saturday, members prepared the center for his arrival.