Mayor and Councilmembers:

This is the weekly report for the week ending April 20^th, 2007.

1.         Meeting Notes

The next City Council meeting will convene on Tuesday, April 24^th for two study sessions.  The City Council Finance Committee will meet at 9:00 AM on Monday, April 23rd.  As a reminder, the City Council goal setting retreat has been scheduled for a half day on Tuesday, May 8^th.  We are also proposing a joint meeting of the City Council and Housing Commission that evening.  We will finalize specific times and locations for the meetings on May 8^th in the very near future.

2.         Passing of Pam Cagler

Ms. Pam Cagler, the City’s Grants Manager, passed away on Wednesday, April 18.  She was surrounded by friends and family, including many of her colleagues from the City.  She personified honesty and integrity both on the job and in her personal life.  Her commitment and dedication to the City was also demonstrated by her work through 5:00 PM on the day preceding her passing.  In her memory and for her family, a City Proclamation is being planned for presentation on May 15 at the Council Meeting.  All who knew her are welcomed to submit information to Finance (620-6740 or Finance@ci.richmond.ca.us) for inclusion in this proclamation.

3.         City of Richmond Receives an Award of Merit for its New Website from Statewide Public Information Association 

This past week, the City of Richmond received an Award of Merit for its web site during the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) Awards of Excellence Program.  This is a first for the City’s web site, as it had not been nominated for such an award in the past.

The CAPIO awards program recognizes outstanding public information programs and campaigns by government, nonprofit, educational and private agencies throughout the state.  This year, the 2007 Excellence in Communications Awards received an historic all-time high of more than 136 entrants.

As you may recall, a number of staff members worked very hard to develop the new web site, and are to be congratulated for this award acknowledging their work.  The website is also maintained utilizing a decentralized departmental approach to content management, so that many staff members are still very much involved in this effort.  I offer my thanks to all those that are involved in this continuing effort.

4.        Community Budget Presentations

Finance Director Jim Goins and Budget Analyst Andrea Miller attended Community Budget Presentations this week at Easter Hill Church and the Senior Center.  A “Budget Facts” handout was distributed and reviewed during these presentations that provided an overview of the City’s FY 2006-07 budget.  Highlights of the handout include: budget by fund type; General Fund revenue and where it comes from; General Fund expenses by department; services provided to the community; and a breakdown of Richmond’s share of citizen’s tax dollar.   Each of these meetings was attended by over sixty citizens.  Also in attendance among the two meetings were Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and Councilmembers Lopez, Rogers, Sandhu, Thurmond, and Viramontes.  Future meetings are scheduled for the May Valley Community Center on April 26^th, the Community Services Building on May 14th, and the Sojourner Truth Church on May 24^th.

5.         Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Lawsuit

The City of Richmond has been named in a lawsuit, along with 18 other cities in Contra Costa County, citing the inability to gain access to certain sidewalks due to the lack of wheelchair ramps at intersections and crosswalks.  Deputy City Attorney Bruce Soublet and City Engineer Rich Davidson attended a meeting in Pleasant Hill that was organized by the Municipal Pooling Authority (MPA), the City’s insurance carrier, to prepare a group response.  The law firm of Bertrand, Fox and Elliot out of San Francisco has been retained by the MPA to defend this claim.  This firm represented the City of Vacaville in a similar case in November of 2006, and successfully reached a settlement agreement.  The claim filed against the City pointed out 90 locations, all of which were located around the Richmond Annex area.

6.         Meeting Regarding Rental Inspection Program

This past week, Planning Director Richard Mitchell, Building Official Fred Clement, Fire Marshall Don Perez, IT specialist Jan Duggar, County Building consultant Kevin Moses, and I, together with several systems consultants, met with Theresa Carr of the California Apartments Association, and Terry Murphy of the West County Board of Realtors, to discuss the status of the City’s rental inspection program.  Among other topics, we discussed several ways to try to develop a more accurate rental property database and better outreach to the rental property owner community.  Both Ms. Carr and Mr. Murphy expressed their interest in assisting in the City’s efforts to fully implement the rental inspection program, which has had difficulty in getting off the ground.  To further advance the program, we are planning significant outreach activities for June followed by active inspections in July.  One issue that I am very interested in pursuing as this program rolls out is better integration of the fire inspection and Section 8 inspection programs with the rental inspection program.  We will keep you informed.

7.         Casino Traffic Study for Urban Casinos in West Contra Costa County

A consortium of jurisdictions in West Contra Costa, Alameda, and Marin counties are undertaking and funding a Casino Traffic Study for Urban Casinos in West Contra Costa County.  As the Regional Transportation Planning Committee, the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC) is facilitating meetings among stakeholders in this traffic study, but is not providing funding.  Dowling Associates, and their subconsultant, EcoNorthwest, is the firm that has been retained to complete this study, the scope of which includes a traffic impact analysis of various scenarios:

·         1,050 Class II video bingo machines at Casino San Pablo plus full build-out of the Sugar Bowl (North Richmond) project;

·         2,500 Class III slot machines at Casino San Pablo only; and

·         2.500 slot machines at Casino San Pablo plus full build-out of the Sugar Bowl and Point Molate projects.

The technical analysis includes an evaluation of the intersection levels of service at approximately 28 intersections, arterial operations at key junctions such as San Pablo Avenue/San Pablo Dam Road, and freeway segment/ramp junction levels of service.

8.         Groundworks USA Site Visit to the Richmond Greenway

Doug Evans of the National Parks Service (NPS) was in Richmond on Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week to tour the Richmond Greenway.  This site visit is part of the application process for the Friends of the Richmond Greenway’s proposal to the NPS Groundworks Trust Program.  The purpose of the visit was to orient the NPS to Richmond and the Greenway and for Richmond to learn more about the Groundworks Trust program.  A key feature to the Groundworks Trust program is its focus on transforming brownfields for community benefit, and to flexibly adapt to local needs.  Richmond is one of 4 applications being considered for funding under this program.

9.         New Trash Cans for Parks

Parks & Landscaping staff recently replaced 20 trash cans at Nichol Park with a sturdy concrete and stainless steel product with a raised aggregate finish. The trash cans all along Cutting Boulevard will be replaced next with the same product.  Soon, all the trash cans throughout the Marina Bay area (except Lucretia Edwards Park) will be replaced with a similar product but with a smooth concrete finish matched to the ones at Lucretia Edwards Park.  Funding for the change out of trash cans was made possible through the Redevelopment Agency.

10.       Richmond BUILD Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Skills Training

RichmondWORKS will start the first class of the Richmond BUILD pre-apprenticeship construction skills training program this coming Monday, April 23, 2007.  A total 31 Richmond residents have been selected to begin the training that will take place at the former Richmond Housing Authority’s maintenance shop located at 360 S. 27^th Street in Richmond.  Students will receive hands on training on use of power tools, framing, reading blueprints, and applying construction math.  In addition to a spacious shop area for framing and mock up projects, the Richmond BUILD facility will feature a computer lab equipped with internet access and software for aptitude testing, test preparation, and math tutorials.

The partnership between RichmondWORKS, WCC Adult Education, Contra Costa College, Richmond Housing Authority, and the Building Trades strengthens the Richmond BUILD training model and will provide opportunities to leverage resources and seek other grant opportunities.

Richmond BUILD has secured the first two corporate sponsors for the training program.  In particular, Home Depot will contribute $10,000 to be used for tools and materials and Image Painting & Decorating (IPD), a small Richmond-based minority business, donated labor and materials worth $8,000 to paint the interior of the facility.

11.       Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Selection

On Friday of last week, the ERP Evaluation Team met to decide which two ERP vendors to recommend for elevation to the next stage of evaluation.  After reviewing feedback from subject matter experts and discussion, Tyler Technology’s MUNIS and SunGard’s Bi-Tech were selected to continue in the selection process, along with CRW’s permitting/ business license/ inspections system.

12.       Health Element of the General Plan

Last Thursday, MIG, the City’s General Plan consultant hosted a second meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee in support of the Health Element of the General Plan.  As you may recall, the Health Element is a unique grant-funded expanded scope for the City’s General Plan.  An initial report outlining issues and opportunities related to this work will be presented to the General Plan Advisory Committee in May.

13.       Planning Commission Studies Mobile Vendors

This past week, the Planning Commission heard a comprehensive report on the status of mobile vendors.  As the City’s Municipal Code is currently written, mobile vendors are permitted to operate as stationary establishments for extended periods of time. Rather than acting as incubators that would eventually lead to the establishment of conventional restaurants, the number of mobile/stationary vendors is increasing (possibly at the expense of neighboring conventional restaurants).  The purpose of this report was to provide background information for the Commission to consider any changes to provisions of the Municipal Code regulating mobile vendor activity.

14.       Shields-Reid Park; Big ‘K’ Day Cleanup

The Kiwanis Club of Richmond performed a cleanup and tree planting at the Shields-Reid Park playground on Saturday, April 7^th.  This was their annual Big ‘K’ Day contribution to the community. The Kiwanis Club was assisted by the Key youth group, and other youth and residents from the North Richmond neighborhood, totaling approximately 30 participants (mostly young people). Tony Norris, the Parks & Landscaping Superintendent, always welcomes the participation of civic improvement groups in building the community.

15.       City Participation at the Sheldon and Shannon Elementary School Science Fairs

Ashvin Desai and Mary Phelps of the Industrial Pretreatment Program, and Sharon West of the Parks Department, participated as judges in this year’s recent science fair at both Sheldon and Shannon elementary schools.  Public Works Department and Industrial Pretreatment Program staff members have participated in these science fairs for the past 15 years.  This year there were over 250 entries.

16.       Grant for Emergency Generators

A team of Richmond Fire, Finance and Public Works personnel revived a $218,000 Assistance to Firefighters Grant to install emergency generators for 6 of the 7 fire stations (the 7^th station already has and excellent generator).  It is anticipated that the generators will be installed and online by September 30, 2007.

17.       Supervisory Training for City Staff

This past Friday, April 20^th, a training program entitled “Keys to Effectively Supervising People” was held for City supervisors and managers. Over 40 managers and supervisors attended the training. The next City sponsored training will be on May 18^th, entitled “How to Motive, Manage and Lead a Team.”

18.       This Week’s City of Richmond Website Fun Fact

When do our visitors view our website? Answer: Often on the weekends and in the evenings.

Community members are able to get information and forms even when we’re closed.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments about these or any other items of interest to you.

Have a great week!

Bill Lindsay

City Manager

City of Richmond

1401 Marina Way South

Richmond, CA 94804

Phone:  510-620-6512

Fax:      510-620-6542

e-mail:   bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us