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| City Manager's Weekly Report for the Week Ending March 4th, 2011 March 6, 2011 |
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Mayor and Councilmembers: This is the weekly report for the week ending March 4th, 2011.
There is a special meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, March 8th, beginning with a closed session at 5:00 PM, followed by a discussion and possible action on a sales tax and advisory measure at 5:30 PM, and followed by City Council consideration of the Pt. Molate EIR beginning no earlier than 6:30 PM.
In partnership with the Recreation & Parks Commission, Opportunity West, the Richmond Police Department, LEAP, Building Blocks for Kids, the Iron Triangle Neighborhood Council, CCISCO, the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, and First 5, the Recreation Department will be celebrating the launch of a number of new programs at a spruced up Nevin Community Center on Saturday, March 5th (tomorrow) from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. There will be raffle prizes, crafts, sports, games, food, performances and a bounce house. Prior to the celebration, several groups and organizations will meet at Nicholl Park and parade from the park to the Nevin Community Center to start the event. The event is free to the public and open to all ages.
The Employment & Training Department was notified by the State Employment Development Department’s Workforce Services Branch that the RichmondBUILD Academy will be receiving an additional $400,000 as a bonus for exemplary performance on the Clean Energy Workforce Training grant. The additional funding will be used to enhance current programs and to increase the number of student slots for training in construction skills, energy efficiency, solar installation, and Building Performance Institute (BPI) certification with Build it Green.
The City of Richmond’s nationally-recognized RichmondBUILD Academy, in partnership with Brookside Community Health Clinic and Network for Healthy California Worksites and a host of partners, officially launched the “Healthy RichmondBUILD Initiative” today. The Academy is expanding its successful program model to go beyond training and employing graduates to include addressing the health inequities that arise from the lack of resources, knowledge and opportunities. The Friday event that launched this initiative was attended by such luminaries as California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, and Richmond City Councilmember, Dr. Jeff Ritterman. Approximately 100 RichmondBUILD and YouthBUILD participants received cholesterol screenings, body mass index ratings, diabetes screening, blood pressure checks, and a host of resources and materials provided by local agencies and non-profits. In addition three different food preparation and nutrition workshops were provided. This resource fair and health screening will be offered to all participants in the RichmondBUILD Academies three times a year. Community partners for the event included: Bay Area Green Tours, Brookside Community Health Clinic, Contra Costa College, Contra Costa Health Services, Eco-Village, State Employment Development Department, H.E.A.L, Gardener’s Guild, LEAP, Opportunity West, Network for Healthy California, RD3 Enterprises LLC, Weigh of Life, Opportunity West, and the San Francisco Foundation. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson addresses RichmondBUILD/YouthBUILD participants
On behalf of the Richmond community, and with the unanimous support of the Richmond City Council, the City Manager submitted today a community response to the Request for Qualifications for the second campus of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (“LBNL”). In that response, we believe that we made a strong case that the City of Richmond offers several outstanding locations for LNBL to continue its excellence in delivering solutions to complex problems of national significance, with its emphasis on energy efficiency and carbon reduction. We understand that several property owners/managers are submitting responses to the RFQ for a second LBNL campus, and made it clear in the City’s response that we support all such proposals in the context of the resolution approved by the City Council. In the absence of a specific developer to present the attributes of the Richmond Field Station (“RFS”), our response provided some conceptual guidance to decision makers who may be interested in understanding the exciting opportunity that the RFS site represents.
At its meeting this past Thursday, representatives of the nineteen cities at the Contra Costa Mayors Conference voted to appoint Vice-Mayor Tom Butt as its alternate representative to the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).
Beyond Violence is a program launched in 2010 by Richmond’s Office of Neighborhood Safety in collaboration with John Muir Health’s Trauma Department, Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) and community based organizations. The program, which began in the City of Richmond, and is also being developed in the City of Antioch, identifies trauma patients between the ages of 14-25 who are victims of intentional injuries (e.g. knife assault, gunshot, assault) and reside in the cities of Richmond or Antioch. Identified patients are referred to a Beyond Violence Intervention Specialist (IS) from their community. The IS supports the injured patient and their family and friends in coping with the injury, and assists the patient with follow-up care and connects them to community resources to promote healthy choices and avoid street violence. Recently, John Muir completed their 2010 year end evaluation of the effectiveness of the Beyond Violence program. In transmitting this evaluation, Aiyana Johnson, MSW, MPH, of the John Muir Health Community Health Alliance, stated that, “Beyond Violence demonstrated extraordinary success in 2010. A total of 38 individuals were referred and participated. Together, the Office of Neighborhood Safety, The Williams Group and One Day at a Time connected with these individuals over 900 times through frequent check-ins, family interventions, school meetings, court appearances, etc. The services that were provided contributed to high levels of engagement and positive improvements in health status and behavior change.” Attached to this weekly report is the complete 2010 Year End Program Evaluation.
On Saturday, February 26th, Engineering Services’ Stormwater Division and Public Works’ Parks Division conducted a volunteer creek maintenance project on Baxter Creek at Booker T. Anderson Park. The Watershed Project recruited high school students from Making Waves to participate and earn community service hours. They removed invasive plants and placed effective weed control using integrated pest management (IPM) practices. The recycled newspapers, cardboard, and tree trimming mulch provide an effective pesticide-free barrier that prevents weeds from returning and allows the California native plants on the top of creek banks to flourish. On Saturday, March 26th, the Kiwanis clubs in the area will provide another volunteer opportunity at this same site on Baxter Creek. In addition to providing valuable work in this beautiful section of stream, participants learn IPM, to identify native and invasive plants, and creek restoration techniques.
Black History Celebration: The Recreation Department hosted the annual City-wide Black History Celebration on Saturday, February 26th. Over 400 guests dined while watching “The Black List,” followed by a singing performance from City of Richmond employee Jacqueline McBride, a history of Richmond discussion, presentation of the Civil Rights Flag by former Mayor Irma Anderson, an African dance and ballet from Art of Ballet in Richmond, demonstrations from the Yuan Ji class of the Richmond Senior Center, line dancing from the seniors of the Booker T. Anderson Community Center, and praise dancing from Divine Angelz of Praiz, Roland Byrd, Jr., and Nakita D. Thomas. There was also a fashion show featuring senior citizens and youth, in addition to an honoring of community members Lee Ester Lovingood, Mary Peace Head, Mildred Scott McConnell and the Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Advisory Group, all of whom have made positive contributions to the City of Richmond. Winter Break: The Shields Reid Community Center hosted youth, ages 6 to 11, from the North Richmond area, during winter break recess, from February 22nd to the 25th. Participants spent the week working on arts and crafts, swimming at the Plunge, playing games, and attending the snow tubing trip where the Youth Activities Section escorted 29 youth, ages 9 to17, to Boreal Snow and Ski Resort on Thursday, February 24th.
Martin Luther King Jr. Park: The green synthetic turf started rolling out this week at the Martin Luther King Jr. Park signifying a major milestone in its construction. It will take another couple of weeks to complete this phase of the work. Next week, the restroom building will be installed and the field lights will go up. All of this work is focused on completion by the end of April. Quiet Zone West 5 (Port Honda): Engineering staff continues to work on the vacation of 4th Street. The site map and legal description is complete. Approval of the street vacation resolution is scheduled for the March 15th City Council meeting. Notifications have been sent to all utility owners.
Facilities: The carpenters and utility worker crews have completed all preparations for Saturday’s celebration at the Nevin Community Center. The Utility Division will be preparing to pressure wash Civic Center Plaza and clean the windows at the Art Center and Auditorium. The stationary engineers have been working on the heating units and furnaces at the Richmond Art and Richmond Recreation Centers, and have ordered a new unit for the Art Center. Painters have been repainting portions of the Richmond Recreation Center. Electrical: The electricians have been working on repairing the lighting at the Richmond Auditorium and on the replacement of the Civic Center sign. They have also been working with PG&E on the series lighting re-lamp project and will start the disconnections to replace lamps on Monday, March 7th (weather permitting). The first areas scheduled for lamp replacement are around the John F. Kennedy Park/Park Plaza neighborhood, Overend Avenue and path, Reece Court and path, Taft Avenue and path, Wall Avenue, South 39th, South 41st , South 42nd, South 45th, South 46th, South 47th, South 49th, and South 50th Streets. Parks: Parks crews repaired irrigation on the East Macdonald medians and prepared ball fields at all City parks, as they opened on March 1st. The tree crew trimmed 14 trees and removed 2 large trees. Next week, crews will be continuing with planting and irrigation work on Carlson Boulevard, weed abatement in the Hilltop Business District, as well as general maintenance throughout the City. Streets: The weather prevented crews from paving this week, but crews worked from the pothole list, patching various locations throughout the City. Staff was also on “storm patrol” where they tried to prevent flooding by clearing drains in various areas that Veolia may not have been able to service. Next week, crews will continue to work on potholes, and if weather permits, will begin with dig-outs on Burlingame Avenue to Santa Clara Avenue. 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! You can sign up to receive the City Manager’s weekly report and other information from the City of Richmond by visiting: www.ci.richmond.ca.us/list.aspx Bill Lindsay
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