RNCC Meeting Minutes, November 19, 2012
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 P.M. by President Bea Roberson.
2. MSP approval of the Minutes from the October 15,2012 meeting with one abstention.
3. Representatives from the following (15) neighborhoods introduced themselves and some gave reports: Carriage Hills North, Cortez/Stege, Fairmede/Hilltop, Greenbriar, Hilltop Villages, Marina Bay, May Valley, North & East, Panhandle Annex, Parchester Village, Pt. Richmond, Pullman, Richmond Annex, Richmond Heights, and Santa Fe.
4. Announcements from RNCC PIO: Goretha Johnson had only one announcement for the San Pablo Ave Streetscape Meeting on December 5th from 6-8 at Wilson Elementary School.
5. City Department Heads/City Official Reports:
Public Works: Yader Bermudez was unavailable, but Warren Williams filled in. Warren passed out the street paving agenda for the next 2 weeks weather permitting. This is the time of year that they work on potholes and wait for better weather to do paving. They are working on lighting upgrades and finding the best solutions for stopping the copper thieves.
Engineering Services: Tawfic Halaby was unavailable.
City Manager/Community Coordinator: Rochelle Monk was unavailable, but Gabino Arredondo brought us the “Health in All Policies” program that the city has just launched and there is a meeting on November 29th. He explained that so many of the grants out there now must have a health element in them and that by having a health policy we can be more competitive in getting these grants.
Mayor’s office: Nicole Valentine was unavailable.
Police Department: Chief Magnus was unavailable.
Code Enforcement: Tim Higares talked about a new City program that City Manager Bill Lindsay wants implemented. It is to take the worst 50 blighted properties in Richmond and take them over, fix them up and sell them. The first 5 are properties that surround Lincoln Elementary School. They are working with the County Tax Assessor’s office to get this underway. Code Enforcement is now in charge of maintaining all of the former redevelopment agency’s properties. They do after hours boarding of damaged properties. They are in the process of getting the City Council to approve 2 new flash cams and 6 mounts so they can move the cameras to different hot spots as needed. Tim also talked about the political signs and that the city ordinance needs to be reworded to make sure all signs are removed in a timely manner.
Environmental Manager: Lynne Scarpa was unavailable.
Planning Department: Hector Rojas brought us the project planning list that was newly updated and asked for our assistance in supporting the city of Richmond in not having a Rent Control Board and asked us to come to City Council on January 15th to speak about how unnecessary a rent control board would be in Richmond. He also spoke about the need for sidewalks and bike lanes on San Pablo Ave from River St. to Hilltop Dr. in Richmond.
Fire Department: Terry Harris was unavailable.
6. Presentations:
1) Kyra Worthy presented us with an overview of 4Richmond. They helped send 500+ kids to AT&T Park for Discovery Science Day. They also want to set up Family Science Days as well as a linkage for those in Richmond that do not have health care and use the emergency room when available. They are working to get all asthma kids diagnosed so they can have it on their permanent record even if they go from school to school. They will be back next month with more information.
2) George Schmidt and Jerry Yoshida were our representatives at the 2012 NUSA conference. They have been going to NUSA for a few years and they both collect pins and buttons from the conventions. There are many classes and seminars that you can take and they each took the classes and tours that they thought would be the most informative. George told us that the Indiana State government spends 50% of their budget on education. He was able to tour the state capital and visited a seminar put on by a NC from Little Rock, Arkansas that cleaned up a park that had a creek that was a part of the Arkansas River. They then had wind golf tournaments and it became a very active part of the park. Jerry went on a tour of the historical part of town and they do their bicycle lanes different from us. They have parking between the road and the bicycle lane with the bicycle lane being against the curb. He went to a seminar about how to improve participation within your neighborhood as well as one entitled “Youth Creating a City that They will Inherit”.
7. Old Business: None
8. New Business: Election of 2013 Officers is as follows:
President – Don Woodrow, Vice-President – Jerry Yoshida, Treasurer – Bea Roberson, Corresponding Secretary – Stanly Anderson, Recording Secretary – Jan Mignone, PIO – Goretha Johnson, Sergeant at Arms – George Schmidt, Director at Large (#1) – Garland Ellis, (#2) – Janie Holland, and (#3) – Naomi Williams. Paul Connor made the motion and Sims Thompson seconded. There was a unanimous vote for the slate. The officers will be sworn in by the City Clerk on December 10th, with the dinner starting at 6:30 P.M. and everyone is to bring an unwrapped toy and a gift for the RNCC raffle.
9. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 P.M. and we would like to thank Cortez/Stege and Carriage Hills North for this evening’s refreshments.
Respectfully submitted by,
Jan Mignone
Recording Secretary