RNCC Meeting Minutes, June 13, 2016
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:01 pm by President Stanly Anderson. He reported on the Marina Bay Candidates Nights to be held August 13, 2016
2. MSP approval of the Minutes from the May 9, 2016 meeting.
3. Representatives from the following (13) neighborhoods introduced themselves and some gave reports: Castro Heights, Fairmede/Hilltop, Laurel Park, Marina Bay, May Valley, North & East, Panhandle Annex, Park Plaza, Pt. Richmond, Pullman, Richmond Annex, Richmond Heights, and Shields/Reid.
4. Announcements from RNCC PIO: Garland Ellis told us about a CERT class in traffic control for CERT graduates, also AC Transit will be having their meetings around the area during the Summer and there will be one in El Cerrito on July 13, 2016 at City Hall at 5:00 pm. There will be a study session for the Zoning Ordinance on June 16th in Council Chambers.
5. City Department Heads/City Official Reports:
Engineering & Capital Improvements: Tawfic Halaby thought that July would be the completion date for the Nevin Streetscape and he would contact Cal Trans about the Central off-ramp work to be done.
City Manager/Community Services: Rochelle Monk No Report (her time went for the City Budget Presentation)
Mayor’s office: Christopher Whitmore told us about the Mayor’s Urban Garden Showcase, his business roundtable luncheon, the Saffron Strand 2 day conference, The Home Front Festival and Rosie Rally on August 13, 2016, his start a business plan and the Marketing and Branding campaign he is working on. He is also trying to get people to volunteer for the City’s Boards and Commissions and Juneteenth is June 18th and the musical star will be Cameo.
Police Department: Chief Allwyn Brown – N/A
WCCUSD: Marcus Walton – WCCUSD will be at Juneteenth this year and they are just finishing up graduations with a 84.7% graduation rate. Big improvement from the past years. Each year they have more and more students taking the advanced placement tests and that is good news. They should be hiring Matthew Duffy to take over as the Superintendent of Schools by July 1, 2016. The Facilities Master Plan should be approved at the June 15, 2016 Board meeting. School classes return on August 22, 2016.
Dept. of Infrastructure and Maintenance and Operations – Tim Higares – N/A
Planning: Hector Lopez passed out the Under Review Planning Projects by Neighborhood List.
Fire Department: Chief Adrian Sheppard talked about the drought the winter rain and the dry vegetation all around our homes. He had a handout that showed how much of an area around your house needed to be cleared to protect it from fire. There are areas that are much more prone to fire like Castro Ranch, EBMUD land, Parchester Village, and Pt. Pinole. If there is a location in your neighborhood that is overgrown, contact either DIMO or the Fire Department.
6. Presentations:
Belinda Warner, Director of Finance; City of Richmond presented the 2016/2017 budget presentation. The City has five goals that are budget initiatives for this and future budgets. 1) Build and maintain a minimum of 10% unrestricted budget reserve; 2) Create a budget structure where recurring revenues exceed recurring expenses; 3) Repair and maintain the City’s roads by creating revenues in excess of that needed to maintain fund balance; 4) Maintain City’s investments in parks, libraries, and other public buildings by setting aside monies for repairs as they are needed; and 5) Craft a compensation plan that is competitive but affordable. Their conclusions to these issues are critical to keeping Richmond a fiscally sustainable City. They need to find ways to increase revenue and to decrease expenses so they can balance the budget and find breathing room in the future. They have projected that many of the new residential builds will help increase revenue but they need more.
On May 3, 2016 the deficit was $13 million. They brought it down to $10 million at the end of that meeting, May 17, 2016 they brought the deficit to $5 million, May 31, 2016 they brought it down to $4.7 million, and on June 7, 2016 they brought the budget down to $2.9 million which is where it is right now. They do have some one time cash events that could be used to fund improvements but not to balance the budget. They could be used for capital improvements, street paving, reduction in unfunded OPEB liability and deferred maintenance. The budget should be completed and approved by the 1st of July.
7. Old Business: We were to vote on the changes to the by-laws that the committee has come up with but it was not on the agenda so it will have to be voted on next month after it has been on the agenda.
8. New Business: No new business
9. Adjournment: the meeting was adourned by President Stanly Anderson at 8:45 pm.
Thank you to Panhandle Annex and Pullman NCs for this month’s food.
Respectfully submitted by,
Jan Mignone
Recording Secretary