RNCC Meeting Minutes, September 12, 2016

RNCC GENERAL MEETING MINUTES, September 12, 2016

1.  The meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm by President Stanly Anderson. His report was the Council of Industries shoreline cruise on September 22, 2016, leaving the Harbormaster’s dock at 1:45pm. He will also be making a report on the workshops he attended at NUSA along with Rochelle Monk. There will be upcoming candidates forums on September 14th at Marina Bay, September 19th at East Hill Church and September 29th at Hilltop Community Church all starting at 7:00pm.

2.  MSP approval of the Minutes from the July 11, 2016 meeting.

3.  Representatives from the following (13) neighborhoods introduced themselves and some gave reports: Castro Heights, Fairmede/Hilltop, Hilltop Villages, Laurel Park, Marina Bay, North & East, Panhandle Annex, Park Plaza, Point Richmond, Richmond Annex, Richmond Heights, Richmore Village & Metro Square, and Santa Fe neighborhood councils.

4. Announcements from RNCC PIO: Garland Ellis told us about the RNCC candidates forum in the Council Chambers on Monday, October 3, 2016 starting at 7:00pm. The Southshore Specific Plan can be commented on until October 18, 2016. Zone Richmond now has maps that show your neighborhood in an old map and a new map so you can see what zoning changes they will be making in your neighborhood. October 5th 2016 will be a meeting about Zone Richmond, starting at 5:30pm in the Multipurpose room in the basement of City Hall. Spirit & Soul Festival is September 17th from 1-5 P.M.

5. City Department Heads/City Official Reports:

Engineering & Capital Improvements: Tawfic Halaby spoke to us about the ADA upgrades at the Richmond Auditorium. The new elevator is almost complete and there are some other ADA upgrades happening as well. The Nevin Streetscape is to be completed by the end of October (that is from City Hall to 19th Street). The 19th Street BART entrance has set the foundation for the elevator and should be completed by the middle of 2017. They are always out filling potholes and working on street paving as long as the weather is good. They have completed the safe routes to school for four elementary schools, Ford, Grant, King and Lincoln.

City Manager/Community Services: Rochelle Monk spoke about the new Love Your Block $2,000.00 mini grants that are open to all right now. There will be a display of Arts in Windows and Love Your Block at the Richmond BART station on September 29th from 4-6pm. The Tool Lending Library is still growing and hopes to be open weekends soon. You must have a Richmond CA Library Card to use the tool lending library. There will be a survey coming out in October and they need us all to participate. It will help develop the new recreation programs for the future. The Recreation Department has been asked to cut their budget by $100,000.00 and they want to offer good services that we all want. The Tool lending library will accept gently used tools that you are no longer using. The City is hoping to receive a grant from Kaboom for Wendell Park and if this happens to partner with other organizations to help complete the vision for Wendell Park. They would also like your feedback on the Special Event application on how to streamline it.

Mayor’s office: Christopher Whitmore told us about Beacon Program and that the City of Richmond won 2 Gold Awards for saving energy and sustainability best practices. The Mayor’s business roundtable is September 28 and the next “Time with Tom”  will be October 13th at Cafe Soleil on San Pablo Dam Rd from 5-7. The Mayor’s Community Benefits Gold Tournament is October 17th and last year they raised $35,000.00 for youth sports. Also the Mayor’s office is putting together a resource guide for the homeless with all the agencies in the City of Richmond that work with the homeless.

Police Department: Allwyn Brown spoke to us about the increase in violent crimes in August and September and the actual decrease in all other crimes since the beginning of the year. He needs more people to be active in the community policing in the City. Without the help of the people in the City of Richmond, many crimes might not be solved and or stopped before they happen.

Department of Infrastructure and Maintenance and Operations: Tim Higares spoke to us about the rehiring of Renee Sousa as a contractor going after the Business Licenses in the City of Richmond. The more revenue she collects, the more she validates her position is necessary and it can become a fulltime position.

Planning Department:  Lina Velasco told us about sending written comments to the Planning Department by October 18th for the Southshore Bay Specific Plan. She let us know that the Climate Action Plan will be released in October. The Zoning Plan will include things like how much or many storage sheds you can have and other things like that. Form Based Codes will turn into the Zoning Updates and you can see the new Zoning maps and they will host another meeting on October 5, 2016. The RNCC asked Lina if the Z15 group on the Planning Report by Neighborhoods could say multiple neighborhoods if applicable. Also, how can we find building permits on the City’s website so we know what is happening in our neighborhood.

Fire Department: Adrian Sheppard spoke to us about what is happening with the Fire Department and how it is evolving. They are hiring 5 lateral firefighters that will be replacing some that are retiring. They are also updating the recorded messages you receive when you contact them about the sirens. The county was updating the siren system when it inadvertently went off. This has been fixed and it now operational. When the siren goes off, it does not mean that there is an issue with Chevron, it could be any chemical spill or release that occurs in Richmond. The Office of Emergency Safety is working to upgrading all of Richmond’s response services and they are also making a more robust set of procedures to follow in the case of an emergency.

WCCUSD: Marcus Walton told us that the school year began on August 22, 2016 and if you are interested in be a school volunteer, they will be having a training session on October 22, 2016 at DeJean Middle School from 10am to 12 noon. They are having a reception for all of the Gold Ribbon schools in the district at Coronado School on September 17th. There will be School Board Forums on September 19th at DeJean, October 13th at Pinole Middle School, and on October 24th at Korematsu and all begin at 6:30pm. Also there is a renewal of the parcel tax on the ballot, Measure T.

6. Presentations: 1) N/A

7. Old Business: Non

8. New Business:

1) We are having a candidates forum on October 3, 2016 and need questions. Please send your questions to Jerry Yoshida, Naomi Williams or Bea Roberson. There will be open time for questions from the floor as well.

2) Nominating Committee for 2017-2018 RNCC Officers, the committee will consist of Bea Roberson, Naomi Williams and Roxie Stile.

9. Adjournment: President Stanly Anderson adjourned the meeting at 9:02 pm and thanked Castro Heights and North & East NCs for the nights refreshments.

Respectfully submitted by,
Jan Mignone
Recording Secretary