RNCC Meeting Minutes, November 18, 2013
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:04 P.M. by President Don Woodrow. President Woodrow told us about the Holiday party at the Senior Center on December 9th at 6:30 P.M. Remember to bring an unwrapped child’s toy to donate to the Richmond, El Cerrito Police and Fire Departments toy drive. There is also a Climate meeting on Wednesday November 19th in chambers at 6:00 P.M. President Woodrow also told us of the adventure the agendas and minutes had on their way to tonight’s meeting. Sandi reminded us that we can order RNCC badges at Bowler’s Mart for $6.50 and if you give her your name and $6.50, she will take care of it for you.
2. MSP approval of the Minutes from October 21, 2013.
3. Representatives from the following 16 neighborhoods introduced themselves and some gave reports: Carriage Hills North, Fairmede/Hilltop, Hilltop Villages, Laurel Park, Marina Bay, May Valley, North & East, Panhandle Annex, Parchester Village, Park Plaza, Point Richmond, Pullman, Richmond Annex, Richmond Heights, Santa Fe, and Shields/Reid NCs.
4. Announcements from RNCC PIO: Goretha Johnson included the Parchester Village Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday Nov 23rd and the Santa Fe Hug-a-Bear dinner at Hotel Mac for $25.00 (plus a stuffed bear) on December 4th at 7:00 P.M.
5. City Department Heads/City Official Reports:
Police Department: Chris Magnus spoke about homicide clearance rate that had been in the news as of late. RPD 2012 homicide clearance rate average was 55%, still not the best but they are getting the community to help them solve some of these cases. Residential burglary is down 11% from the same time last year and car thefts are also down 22% compared to last year. Armed robberies are up 15% from the same time last year. The flash cams are also helping with crimes as they are tripped by motion and it tends to scare people away from a location. There were 12 car theft arrests in the first 2 weeks of November. They have had 2 Ceasefire call ins, one for 10 people and the second for 4 and the police feel that they have become very effective with the community’s help. There will be 2 sobriety checkpoints during the holidays and predictive policing is still in the beginning stages and they have not yet seen the results they hope to have.
Public Works: Yader Bermudez was unavailable but Warren Williams was here in his place and Warren told us about the parks and the Bay Trail that are being worked on, Elm, Belding/Garcia, Lucas, planting at Solano Playlot and the reopening of Pt Molate. They are still working on the electrical on Cutting Blvd. At this time of year, they work more on drainage and potholes than paving so no paving schedule.
Engineering Services: Tawfic Halaby was not available.
City Manager/Community Coordinator: Rochelle Monk talked about the Kaboom build a playground in a day event that happened at Belding/Garcia. She also thanked the N&E for donating 500 canned goods to the student volunteers that picked up food instead of candy on Halloween. She also reminded us to check with our community meeting rooms to make sure that they have us on the books for 2014.
Mayor’s office: Nicole Valentine talked about the upcoming Youth march and Youth summit and that the City was reestablishing the Youth Council. Ryse is going to City Council to tell the Council about the Listening Campaign they have completed. The Family Justice Center groundbreaking has finally occurred and there will be a graduation at San Quentin and she talked a bit about a group called GRIP; Growing Rage Into Power.
Fire Marshall: Terry Harris was not available but Deputy Fire Marshall Robin Poindexter was and she talked about electrical safety. Make sure you only use UL listed electrical cords and use outdoor cords outdoors and use power strips for indoors. If you think you have an electrical problem please contact a licensed electrician to check it out.
Code Enforcement: Tim Higares talked about getting a warrant for the Leake house in Parchester Village so they can demolish it within the next 14 days. They are also working on a house in Carriage Hills North that is an eyesore and more. They have finished the Barrett overpass mural restoration and have the paint if there are any problems. Parking fines increased in October and they are now closer to what other cities charge. Sweeper parking went from $30 to $50. They are interviewing for an ADA parking enforcement officer and hope to have someone on board soon. They are also hiring a fulltime building trades worker too. They will be demolishing a house at 159 1st Street soon.
Environmental Manager: Lynne Scarpa was not available.
Planning Department: Hector Rojas spoke to us on 2 issues that are now available for public comment. On December 2nd, there will be a public hearing at City Council for the EIR for the new LBNL Richmond Bay Campus. He also talked about the public comment time for the form based code closes on December 6th and that it will only be for 23rd Street, Macdonald Ave. and San Pablo Ave. for the time being. It will have lots of pictures to make it easier for people to understand the designs and mixed use applications. There will also be parking standards for the area.
6. Presentations:
1) Mark Cruise from the State of CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He was here to let us know about what all the changes in the jail system has done to the parole system. They have gone from having 340 parolees to 1000 per agent. Right now they only have 6 agents for all the parolees in the area. They finally realized that the parole program that was in place was not working so they looked at what other states and cities have as a program. They have worked up a 5-year road map, working with all the state, city and private agencies to find and create a program that will help keep parolees from violating their parole.
2) Patrick Lynch from the City of Richmond’s Housing and Community Development brought us an update on the MiraFlores Project. They have completed the cleanup of the area and are working on the Baxter Creek Greenway. They are working to produce the documents needed to pull permits to begin the grading at the creek. It has already cost 14 million dollars to purchase and clean the land and they are also storing some of the greenhouses that were on the property and will be put back there once the Senior Housing is built (it will cost around 30 million dollars to complete). They would be back at City Council on December 17th and they need our support to continue with this project.
7. Old Business: Sandi Genser-Maack read the RNCC 2014 election slate, there was a motion to accept the slate and it passed unanimously.
8. New Business: The 2014 swearing in ceremony will be at the Holiday party on December 9, 2013 at 6:30 pm at the Senior Center.
9. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 pm.
Next General meeting will be at the Richmond Senior Center, December 9, 2013 and the next Executive board meeting will be Monday November 25, 2013, 7:00 pm, Conference Room 440 Civic Center Plaza.
Thank you to Laurel Park and Coronado NCs for tonight’s refreshments
Respectfully submitted by,
Jan Mignone
Recording Secretary