I’ve read with some dismay how several RPA councilmembers publicly castigated former Councilmember Vinay Pimplé for his votes on the Perez shooting and Police Commission reforms. As those stones have already been cast I think it’s only fair to point out the RPA’s own dismal failure to ensure police accountability and transparency in Richmond. Continue reading

At the Richmond City Council meeting of 17 January the Council was tasked with addressing Item I-12--a simple consent calendar item approving Mayor Tom Butt’s appointment of former Councilmember Vinay Pinplé to the Citizens Police Review Commission. Council members Beckles, Willis and McLaughlin took exception to this appointment and shot it down. There has been great concern in Richmond regarding the perceived takeover of the Council by the Richmond Progressive alliance--which now holds five of the seven seats.  And with Jael Myricks often voting with the RPA-5, there have been concerns voiced about whether the many non-RPA members in the CIty will be represented at all. In the past, at least two members of the Council who held high ranking positions in the RPA wrote in emails that they refused to listen to people who disagreed with them. Many have voiced their concerns after this vote about the political nature--the payback nature--of this vote and see it as laying down the groundwork for what’s to come. Many other committee/commission members who have their own appointments up for renewal in the near future or those that were considering serving the City worry that any consideration of their future may depend on whether that applicant has drank the RPA Kool-Aid.  Will all applicants now be required to swear their allegiance to the tenants of the RPA if they expect to have their appointment approved?  If they don’t, should they expect the RPA members of the Council to publicly humiliate them?  Do qualifications matter any more or has it come down to political ideology? Earlier today Mayor Tom Butt posted the following commentary on his eforum.  Included was a letter from an unnamed Richmond resident that eloquently voiced concerns about what happened with this vote.   Continue reading

  Right now, on the other side of town, there are several thousand construction hands working in the Chevron refinery.  They’re making good money with benefits.  This is a good thing. Continue reading

   En Español below  Dear Community, I have two elementary school aged sons. My wife and I are planning to use the upcoming Presidential Inauguration on Friday as a teachable moment for our boys. I anticipate they will have questions that I can answer, and I know they will pose questions that I lack answers to. My hope is to use the week as an opportunity to talk to my sons about the importance of our democracy and for all of us to be engaged, ask tough questions, and to think critically. I’ll also remind them that it is our differences that should bind us as a society and not divide us. Continue reading

On Monday evening the Contra Costa Elections Department certified the election results for West County. As expected, the vote tally did not differ much between the previous count last Friday evening.  In West County there were about 482 additional ballots counted and in Richmond there were about 33 additional ballots counted. The 2016 election has concluded and the 2018 election season has officially begun. Continue reading

  I am saddened to report that victims of the Oakland Warehouse (“Ghost Ship”) fire included two recent employees of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, Travis Hough and Sara Hoda. I have been informed by District sources that Mr. Hough and Ms. Hoda were among the 36 known victims of the devastating warehouse fire that took place Friday evening in Oakland. Continue reading

Anyone who has been around a college bound senior in the Spring can tell horror stories about the angst they go through as they wait for those college acceptance letters.  Did they get into their college of choice?  Will the financial aid package be enough?  How much student debt will they carry for the rest of their lives?  The World Court would be well within their rights to declare that this is cruel and unjust and claim it to be a war against humanity.  Yet it prevails every Spring. Continue reading

With the penultimate vote tally coming from the County’s Elections Office late on Friday night we’re seeing an additional 3200+ ballots counted in Richmond and a bit over 6800+ additional ballots counted in West County. Continue reading

  The Richmond Community Services Department is kicking off their holiday food drive with Crafts & Cocoa! Continue reading

The sun had popped up nearly an hour and a half before the first race of the day but when the gun when off to start the Boys Division 4 race at the CIF State Cross Country Championship it was still a chilly 48º.  More than 2,000 runners had gathered from across the state to compete in the California Interscholastic Federation’s state championship at Woodward Park in Fresno. Continue reading