I believe that both the City Council and City staff are now aligned and committed to make the Port Operations and Security Center implementation coincide and co-locate with a rehabilitated Riggers Loft.
For additional background, see The Riggers Loft is the Clear Choice for the Operations and Security Center/Emergency Operations Center, June 3, 2012.
The policy direction, which came after a 4-2 vote on Tuesday, June 5, was unnecessarily protracted and divisive. The new City Council tag team and party of “no,” Nat Bates and Corky Booze, have consistently opposed any efforts to rehabilitate the Riggers Loft and its, neighbor the historic General Warehouse Building, both located near where the SS Red Oak Victory is berthed at historic Shipyard No. 3, now known as Point Potrero Marine Terminal.
In fact, Nat Bates has, over the years consistently advocated demolishing many of what are now Richmond’s iconic cultural landmarks, including the Civic Center, the Plunge, the Ford Plant and the Mechanics Bank in Point Richmond (historically the “Trainmaster Building” or “Santa Fe Reading Room”). All were ultimately award-winning projects that not only helped change Richmond’s image but in the case of the Ford Plant, became significant engines of job creation and economic activity. They also attracted millions of dollars in grants and tax credits and put a lot of construction people to work.
For his part, Booze criticized the City for allowing the historic SS Red Oak Victory to occupy a pier at Point Potrero Marine Terminal, and criticized me for my advocacy of railroad Quiet Zones throughout south Richmond, both of which he characterized as a waste of City money.
Some people are about  building a  better Richmond and improving the quality of life, and some people are about just tearing everything down. I hope Richmond voters will keep this in mind as the 2012 City Council campaign season approaches.
Richmond council moves port security project to new location
By Robert Rogers, Contra Costa Times
Posted:   06/06/2012 09:20:11 AM PDT
Updated:   06/06/2012 09:03:01 PM PDT

RICHMOND -- After weeks of debate, the City Council opted this week to shift a grant-funded port security construction project to a new location.
The divided council has approved a measure to seek new bids to build a security and operations center for first responders at Riggers Loft, a vacant 26,000-square-foot building constructed during World War II.
The vote, which occurred past midnight on Wednesday after more than two hours of heated debate, was a rejection of Richmond Port staff's suggestion that the city rebid the project for its original proposed location, the port's former main offices at 1411 Harbour Way South.
Councilman Nat Bates, who joined Corky Booze in dissenting, criticized his council colleagues for eschewing the staff recommendation.
"This jeopardizes the whole project," Bates said, noting that the nearly $4 million California Emergency Management Agency grant that will fund the project includes a June 2013 deadline for project completion.
Council members Jim Rogers, Jovanka Beckles and Tom Butt joined Mayor Gayle McLaughlin in forming a four-vote majority. Councilman Jeff Ritterman was absent.
The issue of where to build the center has simmered since early spring, when Butt began lobbying publicly to move the project from the Port's main office to Riggers Loft. Butt argued that Riggers Loft may be a better site not only for the center but also in terms of spurring economic development and enhancing historical attractions related to the city's World War II Homefront National Park.
Riggers Loft is located across the Santa Fe Channel from the site originally proposed, and sits among several other World War II-era buildings in the Point Portrero Marine Terminal.
As part of his efforts, Butt publicly criticized Executive Port Director Jim Matzorkis and his management of the port facilities.
"It came down to a matter of credibility," Butt said. "Where I differed with the port staff is that we were working from different fact sets, and it was my credibility versus theirs I had no choice but to take them on."
Matzorkis and his staff had been joined by the city's fire and police chiefs in proclaiming that Harbour Way was the optimum site for the security center. Matzorkis said that responding to Butt's criticism of the security center plans and insistence on Riggers Loft had consumed "significant" staff time over the past two months.
City Manager Bill Lindsay lamented the rift that had opened between port staff and the council.
"I will say that this was not a good process," Lindsay said. "It did become adversarial, and I think unnecessarily so."
Lindsay added that haggling over the location at this late date is undesirable.
"We are still very concerned about making the deadline," Lindsay said. "We are really going to have to expedite getting this done (by June 2013)."
Resident Don Gosney presented a public photo slideshow of Riggers Loft's condition. The photos showed a vacant 26,000-square-foot building with considerable rust and corrosion.
Butt countered that an expert analysis concluded that the building could be rehabilitated and outfitted for the security center at a lower cost per square foot than the Harbour Way site.
The council vote included a provision that will allow for the project to be moved back to the Harbour Way site in the event of unforeseen impediments to construction at Riggers Loft.
The deadline for the project's completion is June 30, 2013.
In other council business Tuesday, George Carroll, the first African-American councilman and mayor in Richmond and the first African-American judge in Contra Costa County, was honored for his lifetime of public service with a civic proclamation.
Also Tuesday, dozens of youths and adults spoke out in support of the local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Their public remarks were in response to the May 22 City Council meeting, when several audience members made anti-gay comments during a ceremony declaring June as Gay Pride Month in the city.
Contact Robert Rogers at 510-262-2726. Follow him on Twitter @roberthrogers