Posts Tagged ‘Melvin Willis’
Candidates backed by the Richmond Progressive Alliance sweep City Council elections
Richmond Progressive Alliance backed candidates sweep city council races.
Read MoreMeasure U passes, but businesses remain divided
The change in the tax code could increase the city’s revenues by nearly $6 million dollars, according to a financial analysis by the city attorney. The city, according to a finance department presentation from October 6, is currently operating on a $6 million deficit.
Read MoreCouncil greenlights tenant purchase proposal, Veolia deals
Richmond landlords may be forced to give tenants the first shot at buying their homes before putting them on the market under a proposed rule whose drafting the City Council kicked off on Tuesday.
Read MoreCouncil takes no action on proposal to charge fees for public records related to police misconduct
The fee, intended to charge enough to cover the actual cost of the service, applies only to previously private police misconduct records made disclosable by the recent and upcoming police transparency legislation Senate Bill 1421 and Assembly Bill 847. SB 1421, enacted in January, has made a number of formerly unreleased police misconduct records disclosable to the public, including records related to officer-involved shootings, uses of force resulting in serious injury, on-duty sexual assaults and police dishonesty.
Read MoreKathy Robinson: the Richmond mayoral candidate you didn’t hear about
Less than a week before Election Day, Kathy Robinson got into her car, ready to drive around Richmond and tell as many people as she could that she was running for mayor. Her aging white Volvo was decked out for the occasion, plastered with homemade campaign flyers. In her trunk were stacks of these same…
Read MoreProposed housing developments promise to transform downtown Richmond
A series of recently proposed housing developments along Macdonald Avenue in downtown Richmond could spur a business renaissance in the struggling district if city and local business leaders’ predictions ring true. In a city desperate for affordable housing, the developments reserve only about one quarter of the total number of units for residents making below…
Read MoreResidents of Richmond public housing live in fear, demand action to address poor conditions
Her family dialed 911. But when paramedics reached the seven-story affordable housing development, they found its elevators malfunctioning yet again. In fact, the elevators at this federally funded housing development had not been working for one week, residents say, and they often break down. The building houses some of the city’s most vulnerable residents — low-income seniors and people with disabilities.
Read MoreMayor aims to dissolve Richmond’s low-income-housing agency, but critics call plan ‘simplistic’ and ‘reckless’
Mayor Tom Butt proposes a resolution to disband the Richmond Housing Authority (RHA), responsible for operating much of Richmond’s public housing.
Read MoreContra Costa supervisors fund Richmond-based prisoner re-entry program on heels of beef with sheriff
The Contra Costa County board of supervisors unanimously voted to renew the contract of a Richmond-based prisoner re-entry program, but only after County Sheriff David Livingston and a supervisor clashed over the group’s financial practices.
Read MoreRPA celebrates city council wins on election night
Scenes from the Richmond Progressive Alliance’s campaign party on November 8 as they celebrated their massive wins on the city council and rent control.
Read More2016 election could bring RPA biggest win yet
Back in 2004, Richmond voters saw local election posters encouraging them to “Reach for a better Richmond” and promising them “New Leadership, New Ideas, New Ethics.” Now, six elections later, the up-and-coming political faction behind those fliers, the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), could wield more influence over City Hall than ever before.
Read MoreCity council candidates clash over development, rent control and schools
Candidates’ strategies for development across Richmond—and especially downtown—varied greatly.
Read MoreForeclosure prevention program inspires Bay Area activists
City leaders commitment to help struggling homeowners, even despite threats from powerful financial institutions, has inspired scores of activists across the country—from Irvington, New Jersey to Seattle, Washington.
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