1.  The meeting was called to order at 7:03pm by President Stanly Anderson and this is his first meeting as President so it will be a learning curve for him over the next few months.

2.  MSP approval of the Minutes from  November 9, 2015

3.  Representatives from the following (19) neighborhoods introduced themselves and some gave reports: Belding Woods, Castro Heights, Coronado, Fairmede Hilltop, Hilltop District, Hilltop Villages, Laurel Park, Marina Bay, North & East, Panhandle Annex, Parchester Village, Park Plaza, Park View, Pt. Richmond, Richmond Annex, Richmond Heights, Richmore Village & Metro Square, Santa Fe, Shields/Reid, and Southwest Annex neighborhood councils.

4.  Announcements from RNCC PIO: Garland Ellis, there will be a WCCTAC meeting on 1/14/16 from 9-11 am in El Cerrito at 6333 Portero ste # 100 and you can view the transportation study they did on their website.  Richmond Museum will have an event on 1/23/16 at 2pm and it is called Richmond and the Black Panther Party.  With the departure of Chief of Staff Terrance Cheung, the Mayor’s office has done some rearranging; David Grey will now be the Chief of Staff and they have brought on Christopher Whitmore to be the Director of Community engagement.

         Public Works: Warren Williams told us about the completion of phase I of the Shields/Reid Park on January 14, 2016.  The Nevin Streetscape project will go until probably June, 2016.  They will start work on the main library and they are still working on the Plunge flood issue, it should be completed in 2 more weeks.  They will work on potholes as the weather permits and they will start the ADA upgrades at the Richmond Auditorium which includes an elevator.  We will have to wait until Spring for the new paving schedule.

         Engineering Services: Staff N/A

         City Manager/Community Coordinator: Rochelle Monk told us about selection committee for the Love Your Block grants and that Tim Higares and Code Enforcement will be in charge of the neighborhood cleanups.  The Friends of JFK Park invite everyone that participated in the rebuilding of the park to join them on Saturday, January 23, 2016 from 1 to 2:30 to walk and hear all about the new items in the park.

         Mayor’s office: Alex Knox/David Grey N/A

         Police Department: Chief Allwyn Brown spoke to us about some promotions that had just occurred, Officers Y. Rogers and J. Clark were promoted to Sergeant.  They have had some hardware and software problems and are trying to reestablish 3 weeks of lost crime stats.  Crime is up 5% overall in the City and they are looking into what the cause might be.  There have been an increase in car break-ins and gun violence and they have added some shifts to try to quell the crime sprees.  They have put together a special investigation groups and from 1/4/16 to 1/13/16 they have made 22 felony arrests.  The police force is getting more lateral officers that want to come to Richmond because they like the “Richmond Approach” to fighting crime.  This is good for Richmond because these officers can be on the streets in a shorter amount of time compared to those that have to go through the academy.  Chief Brown hopes for the police department to be at full strength by Spring.

         Code Enforcement: Tim Higares N/A

         Planning Department: Jonathan Malagon (who is the newest planner for the City of Richmond) brought to us the updated Form Based Code, The Sign Ordinance, and the Creek Ordinance.  He also brought the updated planning project list.  He also brought us a request from Planning Director Richard Mitchell to be a presenter at the February 8, 2016 meeting.

         Fire Department: Terry Harris has retired and the Fire Department did not send anyone in his place.

6.  Presentations: There were no presentations for this meeting.

7.  Old Business: None

8.  New Business: There was a lively discussion about what to do with squatters and zombie properties. Some of the neighborhood councils did not know that this had been a topic of conversation with our past Chief Magnus and he explained that you had to call the police as soon as they broke in. Otherwise, you would have to evict them as they usually are smart enough to change the locks and make their own lease papers. Then it becomes the owner’s issue and it could take months to get them out of the home.

9.  Adjournment: 8:19 pm

Respectfully submitted by,

Jan Mignone
Recording Secretary