City Council - Regular Meeting

With that sound, we begin the uh special oops the   uh special open session to hear public  comments before close session. Roll   call. Council member Bana here. Council  member Brown here. Council member Jimenez   presente. Council member Zapeda here. Council  member Wilson she'll be participating under   AB2449. just calls. She is caring for an  ill parent. Council member Wilson here. Vice Mayor Robinson here. And Mayor Martinez  here. Okay. Our next item under close session.   The council will discuss the following item.  Conference with legal counsel. Anticipated   litigation. Significant exposure to litigation.  There are two cases. And then we have one   request to address the council under public  comment. Ben Tero, you'll have two minutes. Thank you. President Richmond Police Officers  Association. Press the button. Yeah. Cool. There   you go. Ben Tero, president of the Richmond  Police Officers Association. Uh good evening.   I'm here tonight to talk about what's happening to  officers Remik stalking and Hajes. It's not about   policy. Uh it's not about the law. It's about a  failure of leadership. Uh these officers have not   been disciplined. They have not been terminated.  There's been no administrative finding against   them. And yet they remain removed from duty  indefinitely with no timeline, no resolution,   and no justification grounded any legal  requirement. There's no law that requires   this. There is no post regulation that requires  this. There is no department of justice mandate   that requires this. This is a choice and it is  a choice that is harming your police department   and exposing this city to unnecessary legal and  operational risk. Every officer in this department  

is watching what you do. They are watching whether  their careers can be put on hold indefinitely,   not because of findings, not because of  discipline, but because of hesitation and in   action. And they're drawing conclusions. They're  concluding that this city will not stand behind   them. They are concluding that their careers  are safer somewhere else and many are starting   to already act on that conclusion. Richmond  cannot afford to lose more officers. Uh yet   the current curse of action is accelerating  exactly that outcome. But more importantly,   you are the governing body. The city manager  does not operate independently of your authority.   Although the city manager does make uh employment  determinations, these decisions are being made   though under your leadership and you have the  ability to ask questions, demand answers, and to   provide direction. If you do not do anything, you  are not bystanders. You are participants and you   have a responsibility to ensure that decisions  affecting your police department are lawful,   justified, and in the best interest of the  city. The continued removal of these officers   without resolution is damaging morale, undermining  retention, and weakening the operational stability   of the Bridgemond Police Department. The question  before you simple, are you going to provide some   leadership, or are you going to allow this damage  to continue? And as hopefully you all know,   we have sent a demand letter from our attorney  firm and we have filed two uh you know basically   tort claims. They're basically a preamble to  that. Thank you. Please take some action on   this issue. Thank you. If there's anyone joining  us online that would like to speak under open   form for close session, please raise your hand  at this time. Okay, that was our last speaker.  

All right, with that I will close the uh public  hearing and we will retire to close session.

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Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

All right, it is now time to begin  the special meeting of the Richmond   Housing Authority. Uh we'll start  with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the  United States of America and to the republic   for which it stands. One nation under God,  indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. This is a special meeting of the Richmond Housing  Authority. Commissioner Brown here. Commissioner   Jimenez present. Commissioner  Zapeda here. Commissioner Bana. Commissioner Bana here. Thank you.  Commissioner Wilson is participating   remotely under AB2449 just calls to care  for a sick parent. Commissioner Wilson here.   Vice Chair Robinson here. Chair Martinez here. And  tenny commissioner Scott is absent. Our next item,   statement of conflict of interest. Are there  any hearing? None. Our next item is a report   from the executive director. KCRT, can  you please bring up the PowerPoint? Good evening, chair, commissioners.  My name is Antouet Terrell, executive   director of Richmond Housing Authority.  This evening, I will provide updates   on our redevelopment progress at Nestrom  Village, environmental compliance steps,   resident engagement efforts, and capital  improvement projects. Next slide, please.  

We continue to advance the Nish Nestrom village  redevelopment in a deliberate compliance-driven   manner. Several foundational agreements are moving  forward simultaneously to ensure that we protect   public housing assets, maintain HUD eligibility,  and align with the city's broader affordable   housing priorities. These include the land  disposition and development agreement or LDDA,   the right of entry agreement, predevelopment loan  documents, environmental review determinations,   and structured resident engagement. Next slide,  please. The LDA is the primary legal framework   governing redevelopment of Nestrom Village. This  agreement establishes one for one replacement unit   requirements, long-term affordability  protections, development milestones,   and preservation of Richmond Housing Authorities's  land interests. Ensures that the redevelopment   does not diminish public housing capacity, but  modernizes and strengthens it. Next slide, please.   The right of entry allows the development team  to conduct necessary due diligent activities   such as engineering assessments, environmental  testing, and site investigations. Next slide,   please. We are also advancing pre-development  loan documents to structure early stage funding.   These documents number one defines eligible  use of the ARPA and pre-development funds,   establishes re- repayment terms, protect public  resources, and ensures compliance with city   and HUD requirements. The structured approach  allows us to support necessary planning while   work maintaining financial safeguards. Next slide,  please. Another key component is determining the   appropriate environmental review pathway. staff  is coordinating to confirm that a HUD part 50  

environmental review will apply under part 50.  HUD retains environmental authority. We're also   re reviewing the part 58 pathway where the city  would retain environmental authority. Choosing   the correct environmental track is critical.  It directly affects funding eligibility,   review timelines, and overall project delivery.  Our goal is to select the most efficient and   compliant pathway to avoid delays and ensure  continued federal funding access. Next slide,   please. Equally important is resident engagement.  We have emphasized two priorities. First, that   previous resident feedback must be incorporated  into the current planning discussions. Second,   that messaging around project timelines  and scope must be measured and responsible   to avoid creating unrealistic expectations. A  coordination meeting with the development team,   community engagement consultants, architect,  and relocation specialists is scheduled for   later this month in preparation for a broader  resident meeting anticipated in mid-March. We   are committed to a transparent and structured  resident engagement process. Next slide, please.   Looking ahead, staff will one finalize  the environmental review pathway,   two execute remaining pre-development agreements,  three continue resident engagement, four,   advance financial structuring for redevelopment.  Next slide, please. So, in addition to long-term   redevelopment planning, we continue to address  immediate capital needs. Next slide, please. We've completed the gutter replacement on block A,   which is the block closest to MLK Park at  Nestrom, which resolves serious drainage   issues that were causing exterior deterioration  and potential structural risks. This proactive  

capital work protects the long-term integrity  of the property. We anticipate completing this   completing the remaining blocks by the end  of fiscal year 2627. Next slide, please.   We replace sidewalks in front of the maintenance  office to remove trip hazards and improve ADA   compliance. This improves day-to-day safety  for residents and while reducing liability   risk. We plan to complete the remaining blocks  by the end of fiscal year 20 26 27 as part of   our phase safety improvements. Next slide please.  And also would just like to note that as of today,   we found out that the Contraosta Housing Authority  will be opening up their projectbased weight list   for Nevin Plaza starting March 2nd, 2026 at 10:00  a.m. through March 19th, 2026 at 400 p.m. And we   will send more information out to the board as  well as in the weekly newsletter. Thank you. Okay, our next item is agenda review. Are  there any changes to the special meeting of   the Richmond Housing Authorities consent  calendars to only two items? No changes.   Okay. Our next item is housing authority  open form. We have one speaker Cordell   Hendler. You'll have two minutes to  address the council commission. So,   good evening uh chair Martinez. Commissioners,  for the record, I am Cordell Handle and I have   looked at the consent calendar and I don't have  no objections. So just approve it and get it done. All right. Our next item is approval of the C.  Richmond Housing Authority consent calendar. We  

need a motion. We need a motion. Yes. A motion  to approve the consent calendar as is. I second.   Motion by Commissioner Zapeda, second by  Commissioner Bana. Or is it Brown? Brown.   Okay, thank you. Commissioner Brown, yes.  Commissioner Bana, yes. Commissioner Jimenez,   yes. Commissioner Wilson, yes. Commissioner  Zapeda, yes. Vice Chair Robinson, yes. Chair   Martinez, yes. Intending Commissioner  Scott is absent. The motion passes.   With the passage of the housing authority  consent calendar, we will now adjourn. Moving on to the regular meeting of the Richmond  City Council. Um, roll call, please. Okay. Council member Bana, I'm here. Council  member Brown here. Council member Jimenez   present. Council member Zapeda here. Council  member Wilson is participating remotely under   AB249 2449 just cause to care for  a sick parent. Commissioner I mean   council member sorry Wilson here. Vice  Mayor Robinson here. And Mayor Martinez   here. Okay. Our next item is statement  of conflict of interest. Are there any hearing? None. Our next item is agenda review.  And we have a request from Claudia Centum to   remove the following three items from the  consent calendar. Item V3A, that's the  

additional loan for capital costs related to  the Civic Center Apartments home key project.   Item V6A, that's the Richmond Fund for Children  and Youth, calendar year 2026 through 27 grants.   And item V7D, opposing the unlawful United  States military intervention against Venezuela. That's all I have. No more changes. Okay. Our next item is a report  from the city attorney of final decisions made   during close session. Good evening, mayor and  city council. Um there during close session,   no uh final action was taken on either of the  two cases listed under C1. Thank you. Our next   item is a report from the city manager. Good  evening, mayor and city council. Nikki Maste   filling in for Shasta Curl this evening. As  a reminder, all of these items can be found   on the city's weekly report or by calling  the city manager's office at 510-620-6502. Next slide, please. Next slide, please. Okay,  severe weather warning. Don't know if you've   seen it today. We had some hail. Please  drive cautiously while you are out there,   but we are expecting rain for the remainder  of this week. We also have two fully stocked   sandbag stations for the residents at the  corpyard at the entrance on Harbor Way near   Richmond Greenway and at 5100 Hartnett  Avenue, the Bay View Library parking   lot. Signs are also posted in known flooding  areas and hotspots throughout the city and   public works crews are on standby and ready  to respond as needed. Next slide, please.

Okay. Free mobile immigration legal services. Um,  Stand Together Contraosta County in partnership   with Supervisor John Joya is welcoming the new  mobile legal clinic offering free immigration   legal services to District 1 residents.  The clinic will take place on Wednesday,   February 18th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Residents must register in advance to book a   consultation and the clo location will be provided  after registration. Participants are encouraged to   bring all relevant documents. To register, visit  the website or scan the QR code on screen. For   more information, contact info at standto  togethercontraosta.org. Next slide, please. Join city staff and consultants on Thursday,  February 19th at 7 p.m. at the Partchester   Community Center for a community meeting regarding  the Partchester Village Infrastructure Master   Plan. The meeting will provide the opportunity  to discuss and learn about flooding, drainage,   and safety assessments. Come out and share your  input regarding your experiences and priorities.   For more information, contact Nina Greenwood  at nenina davisimpact.com. Next slide, please. Snow day update. If you hadn't heard, we  have a new snow day. It is February 20th,   2026 at 10:00 a.m. Please bring your  saucers and your snow gear and be   ready to come out and enjoy the snow. For more  information, call Recreation at 510-6206793. The location is at Nickel Park, 3230  McDonald Avenue. Next slide, please.   The city of Richmond is moving forward with plans  for a new community center and exciting upgrades   to MLK Junior Park, and we want to hear from you.  Your feedback will help shape what these spaces  

look like, what programs they offer, and how they  serve our families, youth, and neighborhoods for   years to come. The next community outreach event  is February 25th, 2026 at 6 p.m. You can RSV P2   attend by scanning the QR code on screen.  For more information, call 510-23130008. Next slide, please. Thank you. And scan the  QR code for the city manager's weekly report. Okay. Our next item is open form for public  comment. And open form is an opportunity to   address the council on items that remain  on the consent calendar or items that are   not on the agenda. And as a reminder,  there are three items that were removed   from the consent calendar. And if you  would like to speak on those items,   please wait until they're called.  They're item V3A, V6A, and V7D. During open form, dialogue between the council  and the speaker is prohibited. Tonight, we have   22 in-person speakers. Anyone joining us online  that wishes to address a council under open form,   please raise your hand at this time. We'll  start with the in-person speakers and then   we'll move on to the online speakers. When your  name is called, please come forward and line up   behind the speakers podium. When you're called to  address the council, state your name and your city   of residence is optional. Please terminate your  address to the council when your time expires.   Each speaker shall be allowed up to two minutes  to address the council. City of Richmond welcomes   your comments and requests that you present  your remarks in a respectful and appropriate   manner within the established two-minute time  limit. First 10 speakers are Cordell Hendler,   Andrea McKelie, Lewis McCrae, Dosia Arnold,  Josetta Gillo, Armad Johnson Jr., Toma H. Evans,  

John McKinley, Claudia Citroron, and Bruce  Brewaker. Cordell, thank you. So, good evening,   uh, Mayor Martinez, uh, council. Um, for the  record, I am Cardell Hendler and I have some   gifts for you all. But before I begin that, I do  want to thank the mayor's office um for hosting   the Contraosta mayor's conference. Actually,  technically, it was my idea to have it at the   golf course because I like to see the view of the  barriers. So, so I do so I so I deserve credit for   that one. So, that's one. And then second is um  what I just presented to you all is like it's a   classification study cuz if you remember a few  years back the city had requested has worked   with a consultant to do the class and comp study  because I've done my own analysis. I've looked   at other jurisdictions with similar positions  and I'm thinking to myself that money that we   got from Chevron that should be allocated to  like, you know, fund a consultant like to do   the to redo the class and comp study because  other cities pay their employees more money.   And so if you want more if you want the employees  to to stay in Richmond, we have to do a better   class and comp study. So I am just putting it as  a reminder. And so I'm thinking to myself, think   ahead because we want our city employees to stay  in Richmond. And if we wanted to do that, we need   to do a fully dialogue of a classic comp study.  So I'll just leave it at that. Andrea McKelby. Hi. Um my name is Andrea McKelby. I'm coming to  speak about the Castro Street and Cameron audit.   Um, I lost a lot of stuff from these people and  um, my storage they they they haven't paid for a   lot of items and um, stuff that they were supposed  to pay for with the funding and I received none of   it and um, I'm behind on a lot of stuff due  to them due to them seeing that they did pay  

for everything and they they they didn't and so  um, I was wondering what can we do about that? Thank you. Louis McCrae. Yeah, my name is  Louis McCrae. I'm from North Richmond. I'm   speaking on the uh the cash show and came  also. Basically, what she said is basically   what I got to say. Just wondering why we ain't  got nobody to turn to and we still homeless. Doia Arnold. Dosia Arnold. Okay. Just Gillo. I was speaking on a um encampment. I was um I  was one of the uh residents. Speaking of Mike,   huh? Speaking of Mike, I was a  resident um at the encampment and   um I'm back homeless again because they didn't  renew my uh my lease and uh they put me out uh   my apartment. So now I'm back in the rank.  Um, and they they didn't use our fund. They   misused our funding. That's it. Mr. Mayor, we do  have um Lena Velasco, our community development   director. If anyone has any questions about the  homeless and encampment, she is actually back   out in the lobby with the first two speakers  and this current speaker can go join them. Arban Johnson Jr.

Armad Johnson Jr. No. Okay. Toma H. Evans John McKelie McKini. John McKini. Good evening, mayor and city council members. My  name is John McKini and I'm speaking on behalf of   the Richmond Police Officers Association and the  officers who serve this city every day. I'm here   tonight for two very simple reasons. First,  to again ask this council to support fair,   competitive, and marketable contract  for Richmond police officers. Second,   to demand accountability from city manager  Curl to return officers Remick, stocking,   and Hodgers to work immediately. Richmond  is already in a staffing crisis. Officers   are leaving, retirements are accelerating, and  recruiting has become increasingly difficult.   Every officer in the city is watching how this  contract is handled. And they are watching how   three officers are still not back to duty. and  there's no timeline to bring them back. There's   no resolution and there's no explanation that  meets the basic standards of fairness. This is not   how functional organizations operate. The failure  to bring these officers back is not only unjust,   it creates real legal exposure for the city of  Richmond. Prolonged administration is excuse me,   prolonged administrative removals  without resolution increase liability,   undermine due process, and send a chilling  message to the remaining workforce. Officers   see this and they leave. Potential recruits see  this and they never apply. A fair contract and   basic accountability are not radical demands.  They are the bare minimum required to maintain  

public safety and organizational stability.  City Manager Curl was hired to manage,   to make decisions, to resolve issues, and  to lead. Kicking the can down the road while   officers sit at home and staffing collapses is  not leadership, it's avoidance. Council members,   you cannot say you care about public safety while  allowing this to continue. support a marketable   contract and demand that city manager curl  your time is expired. Thank you, Claudia Citra. So, on Monday 9th in San Francisco, um three  officers were um decided by a jury uh that they're   innocent. And I want to call out those officers.  This was a four-year trial. This was Tom Tran.   He still works with RPD. Cedric Tagora, Mark Hall.  They moved on because it was too long for them and   the public discourse was just too acrimonious  and poisonous. Um, officer Eric Smith also was   by a contraosta jury um called not guilty on any  charges. He also left. you lost four officers and   I want to acknowledge that these officers were by  a jury not considered guilty. Um secondly, I want   to also point out that I demand that the council  sticks to council procedures. If there's a public   comment allowed to any topic, I want to have the  right to speak. I don't tolerate that any council   member says that uh voting is occurring. I last  time there was one issue where there was a big   discussion until I was able to speak. This is un  this is um government corruption in the simplest   thing. So that's all I have to say. I just want  to acknowledge the four officers who went through  

the burden of four-year trial um just to be called  innocent. Um this is needs to change in the city   and these officers behind here asking for the  officers to being reinstated. They have a reason   and I'm asking all of you who have connections to  Richmond site or the other publications who write   uh opinion pieces calling them u informative  in-depth reporting to please adjust their   reporting. If it's opinion fine, say it's opinion.  If it's information fine, be informative and   unbiased. That's all I have to say. I yield my  time. Our next speaker is Bruce Brewaker. Will the   following individuals please come forward? Line  up behind the speakers podium. D. Carlos Scott,   Nate Lonzo, Kais Fuller, Robert Lopez, Ventio,  Colton Stocking, Don Nelson, Andy Demen Nissi,   Demens Nissi, sorry. Savannah Stewart, Michael  Pagelene, Harry Winer, and Iette Blandon. Bruce   Brewbeck. Hello. Uh, Mr. Mayor and City Council,  I am Bruce Brewbaker. I'm a Richmond resident and   the vice chair of the planning commission here.  I'm here to ask council for redoubled efforts to   attract and appoint additional members of  the planning commission. As you know, the   planning commission is a decision-making body uh  on issues of development and land use in the city.   We're having difficulty uh forming a quorum and  it is making it hard to conduct business at the   planning commission. I'm very happy to see you  have an appointment in this agenda tonight for   um for a new uh commissioner, but we would need  we need a couple more commissioners. So, I would  

like to request that the mayor and council members  appoint two more uh or seek to appoint two more uh   commissioners to help us uh do our business.  Um in addition, we could use more geographic   diversity on the commission as there are of three  of the four active commissioners are from the   point Richmond area. So, um, just and I would also  appeal to those watching the meeting tonight and,   uh, and others that are in attendance that the  commission is seeking members and everyone should   consider joining the planning commission as we are  seeking good people. Thank you to Carlos Scott. No. Nate Lonzo. Good evening, Mayor and Council members. My name  is Nate Lonzo, and I'm speaking on behalf of the   Richmond Police Officers Association and the  officers who serve this city every day. I'm   here tonight for two simple reasons. First,  to again ask this council to support a fair,   competitive, and marketable contract  for Richmond police officers. Second,   to demand accountability from city manager  Curl to return officers Remik, stocking,   and Hajes to work immediately. Richmond is already  in a staffing crisis. Officers are leaving,   retirements are accelerating, and recruiting has  become increasingly difficult. Every officer in   this city is watching how this contract is  handled. And they are watching how three   officers can be kept off duty indefinitely with no  timeline, no resolution, and no explanation that  

meet basic standards of fairness. This is not how  functional organizations operate. The failure to   bring these officers back is not only unjust,  it creates real legal exposure for the city   of Richmond. Prolonged administrative removals  without resolution increase liability, undermine   due process, and send a chilling message to the  remaining workforce. Officers see this and they   leave. Potential recruits see this and they never  apply. A fair contract and basic accountability   are not radical demands. They are the bare  minimum required to maintain public safety   and organizational stability. Council members,  you cannot say you care about public safety while   you allow this to continue. Support a marketable  contract, demand the city manager do her job, and   bring back officers Remick, Stocking, and Hajes.  Thank you. The next speaker, is it Chase Fuller? Yes, that's correct. Thank you. Good evening,  Mayor and uh council members. My name is Chase   Fuller and I'm speaking on behalf of the Richmond  Police Officers Association and the officers who   serve this city every day. I'm here tonight  for two simple reasons. First, again ask this   council to support a fair, competitive, and  marketable contract for the Richmond police   officers. Secondly, to demand accountability  from city manager Curl to return officer Remick,   officer Stocking, and Officer Hodgees to work  immediately. Richmond is already in a staffing   crisis. Officers are leaving. Retirements are  increasingly and accelerating and recruiting has   become increasingly difficult. Every officer  in the city is watching how this contract is   handled and the how they are watching how three  officers can be kept off duty indefinitely with   no timeline. No resolution and no explanation that  meets basic standards of fairness. This is not  

how functional organizations operate. The failure  to bring these officers back is not only unjust,   it creates real legal legal exposure for the city  of Richmond. Prolonged administrative removals   without resolution increase liability, undermine  due process, and send a chilling message to the   remaining workforce. Officers see this  and they leave. Potential recruits see   this and they never apply. A fair contract and  basic accountability are not radical demands.   They are the bare minimum required to maintaining  public safety and organizational stability. City   manager Curl was hired to manage to make decisions  to resolve issues and to lead. Kicking the can   down the road while officers sit at home and  staffing collapses is not leadership. It's   avoidance. Council members, you cannot say you  care about public safety while allowing this to   continue. Support a marketable contract. demand  that the city manager do her job and bring back   officer Remick, Stocking, and Hajis back to  work now. Thank you. My time, Roberto Lopez. Good evening, mayor and council members. My  name is Roberto Lopez. I'm speaking on behalf   of the Richmond Police Officers Association  and the officers who serve the city every day.   I'm here tonight for two simple reasons.  First, to speak, first to ask again to ask the   council members support a fair, competitive, and  marketable contract for Richmond police officers.   Second, to demand accountability from city manager  Curl to return officer Ramik stocking and Hodgees   to work immediately. Richmond is already in a  staffing crisis. Officers are leaving. Retirements   are accelerating and recruiting has become  increasingly difficult. Every officer in the city  

is watching how this contract is handled and they  are watching how three officers can be kept off   duty indefinitely with no timeline, no resolution,  and no explanation that meet basic standards   of fairness. This is not how a functional  organization operates. The failure to bring these   officers back is not only unjust, it creates real  legal exposure for the city of Richmond. Prolonged   administrative removals without resolution,  increase liability, undermine due process, and   send a chilling message to remaining workforce.  Officers see this and they leave. Potential   recruits see this and they never apply. A fair  contract and basic accountability are not radical   demands. They are the bare minimum required to  maintain public safety or and organizational   stability. City manager Curl was hired to  manage to make decisions, to resolve issues,   and to lead. Kicking the can down the road while  officers sit at home. Staffing collapses. It's   not leadership is avoided. City council members,  you cannot say you care about public safety while   allowing this to continue. Support a marketable  contract. Demand that city manager do her job.   then bring back officer Reminik stocking and Hodes  back to work. Thank you for your time. Benio, Benio, president of the Richmond Police Officers  Association. I want to start by pointing something   out that everyone in this room can see. The city  manager is not here. She's not sitting in front   of the public. She's not standing here behind  her decisions and she's not answering for the   damage that she's continually causing to this  police department. Instead, she's hiding on   Zoom. That alone tells you everything you need  to know because what is happening right now is   not about facts. It's not about due process. Is  about a city manager who is unwilling or unable   to make a decision and instead chooses to leave  officers in limbo. Officers are sitting back here   indefinitely while the city assumes greater legal  risk every single day. As I spoke earlier, there  

are tort claims inbound and demand letters that  already been sent to the city attorney's office.   They know what the legal justification is and  what it's not. Officer Remick and Detective Hodes   and Officer Stalking have been sidelined without  resolution, without closure, without justification   that would withstand scrutiny anywhere else in  this county or anywhere else in this state. And   while she hides behind delay and distance, the  consequences fall on the officers who protect   this city and on you, the council members  responsible for oversight. Let me be clear,   the city manager serves at the pleasure of this  council. she does not operate independently. And   when she fails to lead, when she refuses to  act, and when she exposes the city to growing   liability and weakens this police department,  it's your responsibility to intervene. Right now,   every officer in Richmond is watching. They're  watching to see what this city will stand   behind them or not, or abandon them. They're  watching to see whether leadership actually   exists here. This is not sustainable. This  is not defensible, and it is not acceptable.   It's time for this council to step in, restore  some type of accountability, and put an end to   this failure of leadership. These folks need  to come back to work. It's just that simple.   You have an attorney. Ask your attorney. Ask  an outside counsel. They're going to tell you   the same thing. It's not a mystery. Bring them  back to work and bring them back now. Thank you, Colton. Colton stocking. Colton stocking. Good evening, mayor and city council members. My  name is Colton Stalking. I'm speaking on behalf of   the Richmond Police Officers Association and the  officers who serve this city every day. I'm here   tonight for two very simple reasons. First,  to again ask this council to support a fair,   competitive, and marketable contract for  the Richmond police officers. Secondly,  

to demand accountability from city manager Curl to  return officer Remick, Detective Hodes, and myself   to work immediately. Richmond is already in a  staffing crisis. Officers are leaving, retirements   are accelerating, and recruiting has become  increasingly difficult. Every officer in this city   is watching how this contract is handled. and they  are watching how three officers can be kept off   duty indefinitely with no timeline, no resolution,  and no explanation that meets basic standards of   fairness. This is not how functional organizations  operate. The failure to bring these officers back   is not only unjust, but creates legal exposure  for the city of Richmond. Prolonged administrative   removals without resolution increase liability,  undermine due process, and send a chilling message   to the remaining workforce. Officers see this  and they leave. Potential recruits see this and   they never apply. A fair contract and basic  accountability are not radical demands. They   are the bare minimum required to maintain public  safety and organizational stability. City manager   Curl was hired to manage to make decisions to  resolve issues and to lead. Kicking the can down   the road while officers sit at home and staffing  collapses is not leadership. It is avoidance.   Council members, you cannot say you care about  public safety while allowing this to continue.   support a marketable contract and demand  that the city manager do her job. Also,   bring back Officer Remick, myself, and Detective  Hodges back to work immediately. Thank you. Don Nelson, Don Nelson. Good evening, Mayor Council. I'm Don Nelson,  vice president of the Richmond Police Officers   Association. Uh 10 years ago, I was in the  audience when Attorney General Loretta Lynch   visited Richmond, specifically the Richmond  Police Department to la us for our efforts in  

community policing engagement and progressive  police work. It was the Obama administration   that saw the excellent work we did here  and and pointed us out for those efforts.   A few years later, we continued to go  without a contract, without a raise,   which prompted several members to start the  leave due low wages. Then COVID hit to fund   the police movement happened, and you it it  was a crippling blow to the police department. We need a fair contract. We need a contract  that's going to bring us up to par with the   other cities on our survey. We're not there.  And we lose good applicants because of that.   And then you throw on top the fact that officers  perform well, admirably, and heroically in the   performance of their duties and they're held  in limbo in purgatory because of fear-based   leadership that don't that doesn't hold with  the bounds of any legal authority or any legal   justification anywhere else within the state. We  need a fair contract. We need to bring Detective   Hodges back to work, officer Remick back to  work, and officer uh Colton Stalking back to work   immediately. Thank you. Our next speaker, Andy  Dominy, followed by Savannah Stewart. Andy Dominy. Good evening, mayor and city council member. My  name is Andy Dominy and I'm speaking on behalf of   the Richmond Police Off Association and officers  who serve this city every day. I'm here tonight   for two simple reasons. First, to ask to again  ask this council to support a fair, competitive,   marketable contract for the Richmond Police Office  Association. Second, to demand accountability  

from the city. Manager Curl to return officer  Remick, Stocky, and Hodes to work immediately.   Richmond is already in a staffing crisis. Officers  are leaving. Retirements are accelerating. I can   go in three months. Been here over 25 years.  And recruiting has been increasingly difficult.   Every officer in this city is watching how  this contract is handled and how and they   are watching how three officers can be kept  off duty with no timeline, no resolution,   with no explanation that meets basic standard of  fairness. This is how functional organizations   This is not how functional organizations operate.  The failure to bring back officers is not only   unjust to create real illegal exposure for  the city of Richmond. Prolong administration   removals without resolution increase liability,  undermine due process, and send chilling messages   to the remaining workforce. Officers see  this and they leave. potential recruits. Some will ever apply. A fair contract and basic  accountability are not radical demands. They   are bare minimum requirements to maintain  public safety and organizational stability.   City manager Curl was hired to manage,  to make decisions, to resolve issues,   and to lead. Kicking the can down the road while  officers sit at home, staffing collapses is not   leadership, it's avoidance. Council members, you  cannot say you care about public safety while   allowing this to continue. Support a marketable  contract, demand the city manager to do her job,   and bring back officers Ramik, Stocking, and  Hodes back to work. Thank you, Savannah Stewart. Good evening, Mayor and members of the city  council. My name is Savannah Stewart. I'm a member   of the Richmond Police Officers Association.  I am here to speak about the recent officer  

involved shootings. First, I want to acknowledge  that these incidents are tragedies. Families and   friends have lost loved ones and regardless of  the circumstances, that kind of loss brings a pain   that words cannot fully express. My heart goes out  to everyone who is grieving. These events are also   deeply impactful for the officers involved. Often,  we don't speak about that side of these incidents.   Officers who are involved are frequently  forgotten in the broader conversation. Yet,   these events affect our families, our hearts, and  over and our overall well-being in profound ways.   I want to emphasize that there are multiple layers  of review and accountability in every use of force   incident, including officer involved shootings. If  an officer violates the law or department policy,   they will be held accountable. I have seen  that accountability firsthand. Furthermore,   if I believe that these officers involved in  recent incidents have violated someone's rights,   the law or department policy, I would not be  standing here tonight. I have served as an   officer in the city city for nearly 16 years.  In that time, I have never seen or heard of an   officer being prevented from returning to full  duty when there was no violation of the law,   department policy, and no excessive force was  used. I am simply simply asking the city to follow   its established policies and procedures regarding  these incidents. I also ask that you trust our   chief and experts tasked with conducting these  reviews. Due process and accountability are not   in conflict. They work hand in hand when we when  we allow established policies to run their course. All of us who have taken an OLA  office are held to a higher standard.   I respectfully ask that you set aside  politics and do what is right by allowing   these officers who operated within  the guidelines and policy to return   to work and continue serving the citizens  of this community. Thank you for your time.

Michael Pagalene. Good evening, mayor, city  council members. My name is Michael Pagalene   and I'm speaking tonight as a member of  the Richmond Police Officers Association.   I stand here tonight for my brothers,  officers Remick, Stalking, and Hodgeges.   They were they were all involved in a justified  shooting. They've been cleared by evaluations,   remain in good standing, and yet they are  still not being allowed back to work. That   is not policy. It's politics. And every officer  in Richmond sees it. If you can do your job,   follow the law, and still be sidelined for  political reasons, then no officer in this city is   safe from unfair treatment. We are demanding that  these officers be returned to duty immediately.   Richmond cannot afford to punish officers for  doing their jobs lawfully. Thank you, Harry Winer. Harry Winer. Is he telling you? I'm not here to speak on the matter that's  been before us for the last bit. I'm here   to talk about something completely  different. Uh, mayor and council,   my name is Harry Weiner and I live in Far  East Richmond. I appreciate that many on the   council are joining the mayor and studying  about Jewish people. Just a few facts about   Jews to add to your study. Standing against the  mass slaughter of innocent children is Jewish.   Jews are against any genocide. Never again. There  is such a thing as American Jews being solely   loyal to America as opposed to a foreign nation.  Uh what this is called by morally stunted people  

should be ignored. Thank you very much. Our last  inerson speaker is Evette of Landon. Honorable. Uh, complain. Roant. That was our last in person speaker.

The online speakers, we have six speakers.  They are Tarnel Abbott, Elsa, Daniel S. J.   Mari, Isabella, and Sarah C. When your  name is called, please be prepared to   unmute yourself and please state your full name  for the record. Tarn Abbott, you may begin. Hi, am I unmuted now? Yes. Thank you. Uh Tarnel  Abbott, 35 year plus whatever u uh veteran,   not veteran, resident of the city of Richmond.  I I am chair of the Richmond Regla Friendship   Committee. Regla is our sister city in Cuba. And I  I want to read something and I want I want people   to get active and this is from let Cuba live.info.  Let Cubalive.info info. The president is trying   to induce a famine in Cuba. Mass starvation and  human suffering in Cuba is the goal of Trump's   latest emergency executive order preventing  Cuba, an island nation, from importing oil   or any energy sources needed to survive. It is a  cynical and crude ploy to distract public opinion   from the issues at home that are eliciting mass  public dissent. And as we've seen with Venezuela,   it is a precursor to an illegal military attack.  Millions of people in the US and around the world   reject this inhumane act against the people of  Cuba. It's not a policy of national security.   It's a deliberate act of economic warfare  aimed at strangling an entire population.  

This is collective punishment. People, if you  want to get involved and do something about this,   you can reach me through uh Trina Jackson Lincoln,  who is the staff liaison for the Richmond Regula   Friendship Committee and part of the uh city staff  who supports the the city um um the city council.   You can also go to uh let Cuba live.in. Thank  you. Your time is expired. Our next speaker is   Elsa. Elsa, you may begin. Can you hear me now?  Yes. Good. Is this the right time to talk about   Venezuela? No. That item has been removed from the  consent calendar and you will need to raise your   hand at that time. Thank you. You're welcome. The  next speaker is Daniel S. Daniel, you may begin.   Uh yes. Can you hear me? Yes. Yes. My name is  Daniel Sanchez. I'm speaking on behalf of the   Richmond Police Officer Association that  I've been a member for 27 years. Uh one,   I urge you as a city, city council, and city  manager to present a competitive, and I repeat,   competitive contract for the city of Richmond.  It's going to be needed to stop the exodus of   officers and the hardship of finding officers to  join the Richmond Police Department. Um secondly,   the officers who you have been unjustly and  unlawfully punishing by keeping them out of   work and making them suffer them and their family  needs to stop. They need to be returned to full   duty so that they can continue with their career  without being hampered by this punishment that the   city has bestowed on them for doing their job.  Number three, I want to talk about some of the   public postings that members of the city council  have put out there publicly that have been filled   with basically ignorant propaganda, uh, political  propaganda that does nothing but fan the flames of  

hatred and division within its community and  its police department. This goes completely   against what the city of Richmond and its police  department need to survive and its community.   It's a shame that the city council and members  of the city council are truly actively trying   to divide and prevent its police department and  its community from having unity. Disgraceful. I   hope that you understand that this needs  to stop, that these officers need to be   returned and that you need to pay the officers a  salary to keep them from happening and leaving.   I want you to know that in 27 years, the city  has always put forward their effort to join in   their community to build those relationships.  And over the last 27 years that I've been here,   I can tell you that your actions, not only  with how you're treating these officers,   but the rhetoric that's been out there publicly  has done nothing but destroy that and has really   brought back those efforts that this department  has really gained. And lastly, I want to let you   know as a 20-year veteran. I'm currently in the  process of being employed by another agency as   I am leaving. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jay  Mari. Jay, you may begin. Can you hear me? Yes.   My name is Jason Mari and I'm speaking on behalf  of the Richmond Police Officers Association and   the officers who serve the city every day. I'm  speaking tonight for two simple reasons. First,   once again, ask the city council to support a  fair, competitive, and marketable contract for   the officers of the Richmond Police Department.  Second, to demand accountability from city manager   Curl to return officers Remick, Officer Stocking,  and Detective Hodgees to work immediately. Since   I started my career here in the city of Richmond,  the Richmond Police Department has faced staffing   crises and challenges. The contract situation and  the treatment of three officers and how they can  

be kept off duty to serve the citizens of this  city indefinitely has caught my attention as   well as my colleagues. Officers are seeking  departments and cities that recognize that   public safety is paramount and necessity, not  just an option or criteria simply to be met.   This has compelled officers to hasten plans of  retirement. potential recruits look elsewhere,   which collectively further exacerbates  our staffing issues. City Manager Curl   was hired to manage and to resolve issues, not  to incessantly avoid times of leadership. Mayor,   council members, I implore you to support a  marketable contract and demand the city manager   to do her job and bring officers Remick, Officer  Stocking, and Detective Hodgees back to work now.   Thank you. I yield my time. Thank you. The next  speaker is Isabella. Isabella, you may begin. Good evening, city council and city manager. My  name is Isabella and I am the widow of a police   officer. I'm speaking not just as a grieving  wife and mother, but as someone who has lived   the consequences of decisions made by people like  you. My husband died from exhaustion driving home   from work after years of mandatory overtime. My  children lost their father. I lost my partner and   my best friend. His death didn't have to happen.  For several years now, Richmond has made choices.   You defunded your police department. You've  destroyed morale. You've publicly made false   damaging statements about your officers. And  you've even launched investigations targeting   officers whose rights were violated instead of  those responsible for reckless leaks that put   those officers and their families in danger. And  right now, three officers sit on administrative   leave in violation of established case law  and historical practice while your department  

hemorrhages officers. Every one of those decisions  has a human cost. You have created a staffing   crisis so severe that your officers are worked  to exhaustion. That is a life and death issue and   my family is living proof. Think about the little  girl who will never have her father walk her down   the aisle. The son who will never get that proud  hug after his first big win. Those moments are   gone for my family. But you have the power today  to stop taking them from somebody else's children.   Stop playing politics with people's lives. Do  right by your officers and community and return   those three officers to active duty. Fully fund  your police department and pass their contracts.   And please treat your officers with the dignity  and respect they have earned. The next family   that loses somebody because of your actions, that  is on your hands, not theirs, yours. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is  Sarah Caner. Sarah, you may begin. Sarah Caner, you may begin. Hi, thank you. My name is Sarah Caner. I'm a  resident of Richmond. Um, I am calling in to   thank the city manager for her leadership in  making sure that officers who have not yet   been cleared by the DOJ don't return to the  force. I think that it is a strong show of   uh leadership and accountability to make sure that  we're not bringing officers back into the field   um when there is still an open question as to  whether excessive force was used. Additionally,  

I support a fair contract for all unions.  I don't support a contract that uplifts one   union over others significantly and I really  feel for the officers who are having to work   mandatory overtime. I think that that is unjust.  Um, as I have said many times over the years,   I think that it is past time for us to  recognize that the recruitment issues are   not going to change suddenly and we need to change  the structure of the department and uh the minimum   staffing requirements to be able to operate with  the force that we have rather and so not making   people do significant mandatory overtime. And I  really feel for the woman who just shared about   um her husband's death. I agree that that didn't  have to happen. And the fact that we have based   our staffing structure on the assumption that  we're we'll be able to maintain a a force size   that we have not been able to maintain for  years despite significant recruitment efforts.   Um I think is an issue. Thank you. Thank  you. And that was our last public speaker. Our next item is approval of the consent  calendar. For the record, item V3A, additional   loan for capital costs related to the civic  center apartments home key project. Item V6A,   Richmond fund for children and youth calendar  year 2026 through 2027 grants. and item V7D,   opposing an unlawful United States military  intervention against Venezuela. Those items  

were removed from the consent calendar  and will not be included in this vote. We need a motion. Yes. I move  the consent calendar. A second. Item moved by Council Member Jimenez and seconded  by Vice Mayor Robinson. Council member Brown,   yes. Council member Bana, yes. Council member  Himenez, yes. Council member Wilson, yes. Vice   Mayor Robinson, yes. Council member Zapeda, yes.  And Mayor Martinez, yes. The vote is unanimous.   Our next item is item B3A and that is to adopt a resolution increasing  the city loan amount from 8.3 million to up   to 10.3 million to 4 million to 425  civic center plaza civic center LP   for the civic center apartment project which  will com convert an existing motel into a 49   9 unit permanent supportive housing  development for the chronically homeless. We have one speaker online. Okay. Um good evening mayor, council members. Lena  Velasco, director of community development. If   I can have KCRT please bring up the presentation.  Um, and I'm joined this evening Jesus Morales,   housing manager is on Zoom, as well as  Eric Swakin from Hillman Consulting,   who has been acting as the city's owner's rep as  we review invoices, construction, and u management  

of the project. Um, in addition, we also have  Henry Baka and Marina Rios from Novvin Development   um who is also part of the partnership um that the  city is doing this project with. Um, next slide. So, the recommended action is to adopt a  resolution which would increase the city's loan   for this project from 8.3 to 10.3 million. Um,  the the loan would go to 425 Civic Center Limited   Partnership, which is comprised of Trinity Center,  Wanuk Creek, Novin Development Corporation, and   NDC Contraosta LLC. Uh the project is a 49 unit  permanent supportive housing development that will   serve the chronically homeless population. Next  slide. And so just a brief summary of the project.   The city has acquired a motel um with the intent  to convert it into permanent supportive housing.   It would be 48 studio units um which would have  on-site services that would be provided by abode   services and there would be one bedroom manager's  unit um on site. We did complete a property   condition report back in June 2023 as part of our  application to home key grant um which provided   $14.5 million towards this project. The city  council approved deal structure includes that the   city acquired the property from Jouri Hospitality.  Um we paid $6.22 million based on an appraisal   for the fair market value. Um in addition, the  city provided an $ 8.3 million loan. A portion   of the funding would go towards capital, which is  the rehabilitation, and then a portion is being   uh reserved for operations for on-site services  as well as paying down some of the rent. um for  

early occupants. Um and with the 8.3 million, the  city was able to secure an additional 14.5 million   um which has supported the project. The city is  the land owner and we're doing a ground lease with   425 civic center LP for a dollar a year for 55  years from occupancy. Next slide. So just in terms   of the project status is we have received the  home key grant. Um so we received the total 14 a.5   million. Um the a portion of it has already gone  to fund the acquisition and we've been spending   down the grant funds. Um Novin Development was  also able to secure an almost a million dollar   grant from Contracasta which is also used to fund  the rehabilitation. Um, the city closed on the   acquisition as well as the ground lease on April  30th, 2025 and we started demolition activities in   May of 25. Um, we did have to seek an extension to  our milestone for Hope Key, which is that we were   supposed to complete the construction in February  of 2026, but due to unex unanticipated building   conditions, um, we sought an extension which has  been granted to June 30th of 2026. Next slide. So,   here's just some updates in terms of our  grant milestones. So our capital expenditure   which is all the funds that are reserved for the  rehabilitation have to be expended by June 30th   of 2026. Um and in addition the rehabilitation  will also be complete by June 30th of 2026 and we   anticipate having full occupancy by June 30th of  2026. That's our deadline. Obviously if we could  

um achieve full occupants before that that's  our goal. Um, next slide. Okay, so here I'm   going to pass it over to Eric who's going to  cover an update on the rehabilitation. Hey,   good afternoon everybody. Uh, my name is Eric  Swikon with Homeman Development Adviserss. Uh, if   you could keep up that that presentation, it would  be great. Um so as the construction proceeded   uh a number of items were identified during the  construction process that uh posed uh health and   life safety issues um that needed to be addressed  throughout the project. So what was identified uh   if you move forward to the next slide uh there  were a number of issues including mold asbestous   uh and deteriorated uh wall conditions that  required replacement. Next slide. Uh, next   slide. So, what we've done is we've identified a  number of hard costs and soft costs to complete   the project from this point forward. There's a  total of 18 um change order requests to bring the   project to fruition. Uh, along with two identified  soft cost numbers, those amount to a rough uh $2.5   million in additional funding. the developers um  participating by crediting roughly 500 550,000   uh to bring the total request down to 2 million.  Um the bulk of the change orders that are being   requested are for items such as uh replacement  of the rear wall of the entire facility that was   um unwaterproofed and deteriorated. So it needed  to be replaced. All structure um and stucco was   replaced. uh replacement of the all tenant unit  showers uh is a large line item there uh as there   was found mold uh behind those units. So all  tile and structure are being replaced there.  

Next slide. I think uh Lena is going to take back  over here. Okay, I'm going to pick up here. Um,   so we just wanted to provide the council  a summary of the total costs per unit. Um,   and this includes the state home key funds. As as  I noted earlier, it's a total of 14.5 million. Um,   approximately 12 million of that was towards the  capital cost which included the acquisition. Um,   and then there's another 2.4 million approximately  2.4 million that will be used for operating.   um services and that is anticipated to be  spread out over a five to sevenyear period.   Um the city of Richmond and it's with the 8.3 we  were approximately at 3.7 towards capital with the   additional 2 million that we're requesting this  evening. It would increase it to 5.7 million total   um which is approximately 117,000 per unit.  Um and the remaining city funds will be used   um towards operations. Um and then the county put  money in for capital which totaled approximately   a little bit over 20,000. Um, so that puts  the total capital cost per unit is $384,426 and then leaves approximately 142,000 per unit  for operating um expenses over the next seven   years. Next slide. And so what I wanted to provide  here is, you know, we've been looking at what the   cost of producing an affordable unit is. Um this  is a study based on tax credit applications for  

low-income housing tax credits. Um so on average  in Contraosta a new unit would cost 798,000   uh to produce. So we are significantly below that  and then the time that it takes to produce. Um a   rehab or a converted unit is a lot quicker than  new construction. So um we just wanted to provide   that comparison. Um it's alarming how quickly  and how expensive a new unit is to produce. So   um next slide. And we just wanted to note that  the homelessness strategic plan that was adopted   by the council in May of 2023 identified goals  of creating more permanent supportive housing   opportunities specifically targeting uh the  unhoused population which would help address   um our our unsheltered um homelessness within  the city. So this project helps implement that   and we'll hopefully bring new units online um  by this summer. Next slide. And so here's our   recommendation is that the city council would  allocate an additional 2 million. So this is   a loan um which would be paid back from from  um now I'm forgetting the name. It's um from   revenues that are generated for the project once  all costs um are covered. And so this would be   annually. And we do have in our agreements with  the operator that we will split um the residual   receipts. That's the word I was looking for.  So, thank you. Apologize for that. Um and so   we're happy to answer any specific questions that  the council may have. Before we allow council to   ask questions, do we have any public speakers? We  have one speaker and that speaker is online. The  

speaker is uh with the device name iPhone. Please  state your name for the record and you may begin. Hi. So the only reason I brought this topic  uh for discussion is because I thought this   presentation was valuable and um it should  not have been in the consent calendar. I just   want to say thank you Lena for bringing such a  detailed u budget breakdown. I do expect that   um the fund for children is as uh concise  and as reliable. So, thank you for being   leadership. That's all I have to say. Thank you.  Thank you. There are no more speakers. Okay,   then public uh comment is closed. Uh do we have  any questions from the council? Uh go ahead,   council members. I wanted to make a motion.  Go ahead. Quick question. Uh thank you for the   presentation. Uh we all heard this presentation  before in close session which is why we might not   have a lot of questions. Um but just some that  come to mind. Uh the loan will be repaid and   that's both the 10 million and the 2 million. Well  it would be a total of 10.3 million. Now, it's   paid through residual receipts, which means that  it's the home key amount is a forgivable loans   because that's a grant that we got us from the  state, but the city's money is residual receipts,   but it's highly unlikely that the full amount  will ever be paid because a lot of these projects   um are not um high revenue generating because  they're subsidized units. So the idea is that   the funding is being provided by the affordable  housing nexus fee. So as money is repaid,   it gets put back into that that special fund which  then will go towards other future projects. But  

this is the way we subsidize, you know, affordable  developments. Thank you. So then to back into that   there, the timeline to be repaid, there's no real  timeline. It might just be one day someday maybe.   uh they have up to well it's the residual  receipt. So once the lease term expires in   55 years the asset comes back to the city right  so we will own the housing development and we can   repurpose put it out get another um operator but  so the goal is is that we now have this enhanced   asset that is going to be providing affordable  housing. So the but the loan the loan we will   get a portion of it paid but it's likely not the  full amount. Okay, perfect. Thank you. No other   questions. Thank you. Council member Brown. Thank  you, Miss Lena. Um just a quick question about   um the occ I know you said we may come into full  occupancy by September. Um, I'm wondering because   we know that many individuals who um are unhoused  often battle with addictions and so I'm wondering   is there going to be some sort of program  structure that requires a sober living environment   because I would just hate for us to invest all  of this money um for things to get torn apart. So the home key I mean it's a really good question  and it's a difficult question in that you know we   are required to have a housing first approach to  the housing where um we do we will offer on-site   services including you know calaim um making  sure people get connected to both mental health   services as well as any um addiction services that  they may need. But we we can't um the state will  

prohibit us and the money is tied where we look  at housing first as the first issue we resolve and   then we provide services to provide that ongoing  but they do have rules in the sense like you can't   consume on site. Um, you know, there there'll  be restrictions around it, but the goal is to   get people clean and sober. Um, and they could  lose their housing if they're caught, you know,   consuming drugs on site. But the big issue is  that it's more of the wraparound services that   will help provide the support and hopefully get  them clean over time. Okay. So, there will be   requirements. There will be requirements, but  it doesn't mean that somebody may not still   have an addiction when they move in, right? But  once you come in, there are like stipulations   that an occupant must follow in order to maintain  their housing. Housing. That's correct. Thank you,   Vice Mayor Robinson. Hi. Thank you for this. I  know it's been a difficult project to move along.   Um, so just to make sure that I'm understanding  this correctly, been along for this ride. Um,   this particular project from my understanding is  targeted specifically at those who are chronically   homeless and those who have special challenges  like addiction. Is that correct? Yes. Yeah. So,   it was designed to have the wraparound services  and to have somebody there 24 hours and to have   it's not just a shelter. It's not just temporary  housing um for families or whatever. It's actually   designed for the purposes of trying to meet  the needs of of the chronically homeless. Is   that correct? Yes. There's a definition and  we have to work through the continuum of care   system to find occupants. So we do have to pull  from what we know as the housing queue. Um so  

we're working closely with Contraosta County.  Um we we're working on since the city also has   encampment resolution funding. Um and so these  are folks that have been unsheltered, unhoused   and may be temporarily staying in hotels or motel  right now that could be good candidates for this   um site. But the idea is is that there are there  are on-site supportive services. And that was one   of the the big changes we made into the floor plan  was we will have office space for the the services   um and an on-site manager unit as well as um  people coming in to provide services regularly,   right? Well, daily. Okay. And this is one of  the biggest needs that we have in terms of   working with with folks who are in encampments,  chronically homeless, is we actually don't have   enough places for them to go, especially places  that will help them transition out with all those   supportive services. We have very temporary um a  few motel vouchers, a few places where we'll have   a grant for a while that will help provide for  for rent but doesn't give any other support and it   makes it so that people can find themselves right  back out on the street. Right. That's right. Um,   and this is this this this particular project  is kind of different and stands alone from those   temporary measures because it's a deeper it's it's  it's meant to be deeper providing deeper services   wrap around services, right? Yes. So, this is  more than just units. This is an investment in um   trying to trying to find more permanent solutions  of getting people permanently off the street. Um,   and then I just wanted to ask a question about the  uh the loan and the funds. So I want to make sure   I understand that correctly too. Um, I thought  that the loan was coming from and I might have  

had this totally wrong. Um, the developer in lie  of funds. Is that right? So if a developer um is   required to have a certain number of um affordable  units but they don't meet that requirement, they   can work out um an arrangement to do to pay in  lie of fees. Correct. That's correct. Yes, that's   correct. Yeah. And so the the amount of this  money that we're we're loaning is from that fund,   right? And then if the money comes back, it'll  go back into that fund. Is that am I understand?   Did I understand that correctly? Yes. So the 8.3  um is a combination right now of inloo affordable   housing nexus fee because we also collect now from  nonresidential development. Um so some commercial   development will contribute some funding. Um but  typically it's assessed on market rate housing   because they're not providing their affordable  units. Um now that because we didn't have the full   8.3 million in hand, the general fund is loaning  some amount, but as it's repaid, we'll pay back   the general fund. Um in addition, the 2 million  that we're asking for, we are holding under the   housing division. um some funds that have been  repaid back from old successor agency loans or   um and so we'll use two million from that fund  um because we don't want to borrow more from the   general fund and and the housing and ly doesn't  do we know exactly how much of the general fund   that we're loaning from? Um, we haven't had to  tap into the general fund yet. Um, because like   I noted earlier in the presentation, a portion  of the funding is in operations and so we're  

not going to spend down those funds until we start  operating the facility and certainly our desire is   to use our grant funds first and then as needed.  So we may not need some of that funding until   year four or five of operations. So hopefully by  then we'll have replenished the fund and may never   need to actually borrow. Right. Right. Great. So  this looks to me as a pro project that's aimed at   uh trying to provide a solution for one of our  most difficult problems that we face in the   city and that is not having adequate wraparound  services and transitional housing for those who   are chronically homeless. Um, we actually need  like many many more home keys if this is going   to be a successful project. This the pilots. We'll  try try to figure it out. But it seems like we're   making an investment in more permanent solutions  for people who are unhoused. Is do I have that   correct? That's that that's the aim. Yes, this is  permanent supportive housing. So for the 55 years,   um, there's a regulatory agreement. There's a  whole process for finding tenants that qualify   for this unit. So, it's not just important for  Richmond, but I think the county um continuum   of care as a whole, right? And it is also like  kind of final statement here, transitioning a   very problematic um property, the farmal hotel  into now a place that's actually going to be,   you know, at least it aims to be a place  where people are restoring their lives,   um not destroying them. So, I thank you for your  work on this. Thank you. All right. And I'd like   to thank the vice mayor for asking such uh  uh informative statement questions. Um I   think you did the public service by outlining  the actual uh objectives of of this of this  

process. So council member Oh, I wanted to make  a motion to approve this item. I second that. Council member Brown, yes. Council  member Ba, yes. Council member Jimenez,   yes. Council member Wilson, yes. Vice  Mayor Robinson, yes. Council member Zepeda,   yes. And Mayor Martinez, yes. The vote is  unanimous. Thank you. Our next item is item V6A.   That is to adopt a resolution approving grant  award recommendations from the Richmond Fund   for Children and Youth Oversight Board  for calendar year 2627 to eight youth   serving nonprofit or organizations in  a total amount not to exceed $1,217,161 annually and authorize the city manager  or their design to negot negotiate and   execute grant service agreements  with approved grantees. Please,   there's anyone joining us online that would like  to speak on this item, please raise your hand. Good evening, mayor and members of the  city council. My name is Patrick Sals.   I'm the administrative chief. Uh, tonight,  oh, KCRT, if you could just pull up the few   slides I have. Thank you. Um, tonight we have a  adoption of we're requesting that you authorize   an adoption of a resolution to authorize us  to enter into grant service agreements with   eight organizations. In December 3rd of 2024,  you all approved 37 organizations to receive   the RDCY funds and subsequent to that award,  the city received an installment of revenue   uh of 1 approximately 50 million and 3%  of that is dedicated to the department of  

children and youth. And as a consequence of that  additional revenue, there was a need for us then   to basically enter into grant service agreements  with additional organizations. Um, next slide. So,   uh, these are the organizations that we're  proposing, uh, that you authorize us to enter into   grant service agreements with, um, during 2024.  Uh, the organizations applied, they weren't funded   in that initial cycle, and as a consequence of the  additional revenues, we didn't want to then seek   to release another grant agreement. What we did  is we just selected those two organizations next   in line to honor the review and approval of all of  our grant reviewers. Um, and so this is in align   with article 15 of the charter. Um, and so if I  there any questions, I'd be happy to address them. Um, yeah. public. Um actually uh how many more  slides do you have because I think this is a   very complicated uh issue and there'll be lots of  questions. So uh I'm asking you do do you think   it's better for you to finish the presentation  and then for for us to ask questions afterward? Okay. Well then, well then um let's do  questions as we go along because I I have   several questions also. Oh, as we go along.  So is that was that the last slide or Oh,   that was that was the last slide. Yes, sir.  Oh, okay. Well, then um in that case, we'll go   to public comment. We have one online speaker.  The speaker is Claudia Citrion. You may begin.

Please unmute yourself and you may begin. Um, can  you hear me? Yes. Okay. So, um, again I have the   question. I understand it is supposed to go to  nonprofits. Now, there are schools involved. Um,   since when are schools allowed in this uh um uh  funding cycle? And the second question I'm having,   I had quite a an unfriendly conversation with uh  uh with the uh Mr. Patrick because I was like,   well, the council has questions. And he was  like, well, if you don't have any questions,   there's no reason to pull it. And they said, well,  me uh members of the community have questions.   Well, what are their questions? I said, I don't  know their questions. So um in the meantime on   uh on a social media platform um Arthur Winintella  brought up the same question. Why is this going   to schools? This is school funding. Um so I am  curious what the council's question is. This is   why I pulled it. Um I also wanted the budget  to be more specific. What goes to salaries?   what goes to uh rent and what goes actually  to material. I mean that is a standard budget   presentation and not just 20,000 there and  80,000 there that is just not sufficient   um for you to approve. So first if uh schools are  not in the initial um uh vote how it's supposed   to be spent, you need to discuss that. It needs  to be voted and then this proposal needs to to   come back to be voted on. Um and secondly, if it  in indeed was allowed in the initial proposal,   then it needs to come back with a more specific  breakdown. That is what you requested when you  

presented last time that it was just a a  a fluffball uh budgeting that is just not   acceptable for so much money. That's all I have  to say. Thank you. There are no more speakers. All right. Um Council Member Sepa. Thank you,  Mr. Mayor. Thank you for the presentation,   Patrick. I have a couple of questions. I couldn't  see. Excuse me. And I might have missed it,   but I cannot see the applications to drill  down a little bit further. I'm trying to just   figure out from the on the agenda report there's  actually your last slide as well has the list of   the organizations that we're potentially going  to be funding and two of them in Senica family   of agencies and Oakland Technology and Education  Center. They're not located in Richmond. Correct.   So I was trying to find the connection back to  Richmond. So they provide services in Richmond   schools. So the Oakland Technologies is going to  be supporting 170 children at Lincoln Elementary   School to promote literacy. And so what  their program is is they're going to support   uh comic books to promote literacy. So they're  going to allow the kids to develop their own   comics so that they actually not only enjoy  the process but increase their literacy. The   Cynica family of agencies provides mental health  support services to thousands of Richmond young   people across at least four or five schools in the  district. And so although the the headquarters of   these organizations is located outside of the  city, the program services are provided within   the city. And I also want to call out just for  everyone's attention when the charter was adopted   uh article 15 of the charter was adopted the  language that was entered into that charter   said for programs that are not only in Richmond  but those in proximity to Richmond. The writers  

of the measure could have very well have limited  to only Richmond. They chose not to. And so as   a consequence we have to extend and our radius is  approximately 15 miles uh to the city hall. That's   typically the radius that we do. And those  organizations, although have headquarters,   Cynica Family of Agencies has been supporting  elementary schools here in Richmond for probably   a decade now with mental health supports and  services to thousands of kids every year. Thank   you for that. Um the other question is in regards  to counting the the from our last presentation a   couple of couple months ago, a couple weeks ago uh  where you were giving an update on uh children's   first. Yes. Uh the So you mentioned some numbers  here for uh believe it was the Oakland Technology   Center about doing about 70 170 170. Thank you.  Are those going to be unique? are going to be able   to recount them if they go get other services.  That's a great point. No, no, no presentation.   I appreciate the the conversation. So, just as an  update for the council and also for the community,   um our consultants now are starting from  2025, so a year ago. They will be coming   back within a couple of months to provide you  an annual report of all the services provided   in 2025. Those counts will be unique identified uh  young people. Additionally, they are going to be   conducting audits, which is they're going to visit  every organization in addition to us as staff to   confirm their processing the the um technology  that they use so that they do they are counting   Richmond residents. And we are also going to be  in contract with Badawi Associates, the city's   um auditor to move forward with auditing  specifically the Department of Children and Youth   and the Richmond Fund for Children and Youth. And  so I just want to share that information. Thank  

you. So they are so there is a mechanism then to  confirm that they are Richmond residents. Yes.   The the the the mechanism will be is that our  evaluators will go sit with the organizations.   They will have to pull up their systems. They  will have to show records that confirm that the   counts match the number of residents. Okay.  Perfect. Thank you. No further questions at   this moment. Thank you. Um I have a couple of  questions. Um, so there's organizations that,   uh, service more than Richmond residents, correct?  True. So, so my question is, um, uh, how is the   money that comes to Richmond residents calculated?  So, it'll be a percentage. So, hypothetically,   let's say there are in one of the examples, let's  say that a organization is servicing um a school   because that was the example. And I'd also just  like to say for the record that schools are not   prohibited from applying. The charter specifically  calls out that schools are eligible applicants   for this as long as they apply in partnership with  local nonprofits. and all of the schools that have   received grants or eligible for grants, we can  confirm that they have applied in partnership. So,   hypothetically, if there are organizations that  are serving uh hypothetically because we sit next   to San Pablo as an example. So, if there was a  program that was servicing Richmond and San Pablo,   right, 70% are Richmond, 30% are San Pablo,  right? What we do is we we we meet with them   and figure out what their programmatic costs are  and they get 70% of what that programmatic cost   is because 70% of their participants are Richmond  residents and 30% in this hypothetical would be   San Pablo residents or Elserto residents. Okay.  But um let's say uh the organization has a certain  

amount of money. Uh they don't get the grant. How  how how is the money distributed then? Is it by   percentage or or how? I'm not sure if I understand  that question. Okay, let's say let's say I I'm an   organization and I serve people from from Berkeley  to Hercules. Uh and I and so uh I apply for the   grant. I don't get the grant. Okay. Okay. So So my  budget is set. So before uh I mean if I don't get   the grant, is it still done by percentage or or is  it done otherwise? So if you don't get the award,   you you wouldn't be receiving any of the dollars.  No, no, but but I'm just asking is is okay,   I'm an organization. How do I distribute the funds  I have? Is it is it by percentage or or or or what   what mechanism do I use? So that would be that  would be left up to you, right? But so um it   would also depend on the fund funding sources that  they have received. So there could be restrictions   on those funding sources. Some may require  percentage, some may specific dollar amount.   It does depend on the dollars that are received by  those organizations. And I just want to thank you.   Well, go ahead. And it could also be so there are  a few scenarios. So if you're an organization and   let's just make it simple, 50% of your the young  people you serve are Richmond and 50% are not   Richmond, right? You receive our award. You are a  teacher, a former teacher, right? Let's say you're   doing tutoring services and you have a hundred  young people a part of your program. We pay 50%   of your salary. Let's say that you're going to do  supplies. Your supply budget is $10,000. will pay   50% of your supply budget. And so it is it is  linked to the number of young people that you  

serve. I understand that. What I'm what I'm trying  to point out is that uh if let's talk numbers,   okay, so so so let's say I I don't get the  grant uh uh who pays who pays for the other 50%. You might not perform the program. So if you don't  receive the award, so you apply for a grant that   says, "Hey, I want to serve a thousand kids and  this is what I need to serve a thousand kids,   right? I need five teachers. I need this amount  of supplies. I need these things." If you don't   receive the funding, the program as it's been  submitted to us won't take place, which is   which is why our nonprofits are so in need of the  dollars that we provide. Um, and so if you don't   receive the funding, typically the numbers that  you would serve given that you have the funding   might decrease or it could very well be that  those organizations are applying for multiple   grants at the same time. So they have a cache of  grant opportunities that might be available to   them. So we're not they're not only sticking they  don't have all their eggs in one basket. And as   a requirement, we organizations can't apply for  more than 40% of their budget. So we won't allow   organizations, right, to do to be in a position  where they're relying solely on us because when   you when you do that, it impacts sustainability.  So hypothetically, if an organization were to   receive 100% of funding from the Richmond Fund  for Children and Youth and their program and   then they don't receive funding in subsequent  years, that program goes away. So we have great   programming for young people and then it goes  away in subsequent years. So we try to limit it   the awards that we provide so that we encourage  organizations to develop sustainable practices  

around fund management and fund development.  Okay. Uh I don't think I'm getting myself   uh understood. Um if if I apply for a grant and uh  12% of my grant goes to Richmond students, but uh so so so the rest of the grant goes to other  students. I I'm not quite understanding what   you're So, um, typically we'll ask the  percentage of young people that are served   by your organization that are Richmond residents  and we typically have a threshold just generally   of between 50 and 80% is what we require.  So if your organization were serving 12%   it it may be unlikely that you would receive  funding. Okay. Well, what my concern is that   uh uh Richmond taxpayer money uh ends up  funding students from other areas. No,   I and and I I can understand that concern,  mayor. Um and I appreciate you for voicing it.   I I will say this that um we definitely heard  from the council and the members of the public   regarding this and we are building in systems to  build and increase the trust and confidence in the   council as well as the public regarding that these  dollars are going to the places and to the young   people in the services that it's intended. I feel  confident that the organizations that we serve are  

operating in integrity and fidelity to serving  Richmond residents. I and I will I will stop   there. Okay. Yeah. Well, I wouldn't expect you to  say anything less. Uh and then one one other thing   uh in terms of uh doing grants, you know, some  organizations like Aspire uh are fantastic at   at filing for grants and so they get a lot of  money from from grants. Uh other organizations um   uh aren't so good. Um and uh what can we do to to  make sure that that these lesser organizations get   get funding? Uh I I went to the uh Eastbay Center  for the Performing Arts uh uh performance day.   Yes, sir. Uh and I listened to the bands from our  middle schools and our high schools. And I could   see the improvement from the middle school bands  to the high school bands and and you know, when   I heard the high school bands, I heard what the  middle school bands will sound like when they get   there. You know, it's truly amazing. So, uh, how  can we ensure that those sorts of organizations   can get some of these funds? This is a great  question. So, you now you're getting me excited.   So, um, because I love to talk about this type of  stuff. So, um, one of the things that we are in we   are trying to do right now and we're piloting is  we are beginning a technical assistance component.   Mayor, we recognize that grant applications for  a lot of people can feel honorous and at the   application process and the knowledge necessary  to complete grant applications is a skill and as   a consequence can be a barrier. We all understand  the systemic issues that many people face with   gaining entrance to places that they have  historically not been allowed into. And so   what technical assistance, we're starting this now  for our grant cycle, is we're going to provide up  

to two hours of grant writing support one- on-one  with a grant writer to allow this. Additionally,   uh we're going to try to pilot, we're piloting  this, but our goal is to allow or to set up that   system for all of the grants, the art grant, any  grant that the city the city would uh open. We   want to allow technical assistance. Next year,  we're going to also establish next fiscal year,   apologize. Next fiscal year, we're going to start  some capacity building. We also have some ideas   around uh with our participatory grant process.  We've met with 17 local nonprofits and we also   have met with our larger service provider working  group which includes 50 plus local nonprofits and   we've hosted them this past weekend or excuse me  this last week and they basically gave us ideas   which we're piloting now in our participatory  structure and their recommendation is hey how   do you divide up the budget system so instead of  it being a 50% line hypothetically an organization   is small and emerging and that's $250,000 and  then organizations over that all compete in   a large pot. Their recommendation is is there a  possibility that you can stratify that budgeting   because somebody goes from $250,000 annually  to 350 or $450,000. Could we stratify it so   organizations of like size are competing against  one another? And so we're trying to incorporate   an equity lens and that is one of the things that  we're trying to do. Also trying to simplify the   application process. um is another opportunity.  And so there are some some things that we're   activating right now. And the first one right now  is the technical assistance piece. Um and that is   available to local organizations and folks  are signing up for that and participating.   That sounds fantastic. Um council member uh  Jimenez, thank you for the presentation. I  

just wanted to um clarify something. Um so in the  one of the requirement is that uh nonprofits has   to be partnered with either city staff or city  departments or schools to be able to apply for   that. So I heard from some of the comments  that why a school. So can you clarify that?   And my second question is uh I know like the the  application process I can imagine um part of that   is a budget a detailed budget. Yes. So I wonder if  um you can provide that information in next time   so people know this is the budget that is required  for more information. No, that's a great point and   I just will clarify the process that we go through  to finalize these grant service agreements is um a   little intense and so the reason that I can't to  the the speaker or the residents concern how much   money is going to staff how much money is going to  um supplies how much the truth is is that we don't   know right so once we approve the award what we do  is we actually sit down with the organization and   say okay you've been awarded 50,000 hypothetically  it's going to serve Richmond young people. How   is it that you want to divide this money up,  right? Because the truth is is that between the   application and the time that they get the award,  they could have gotten other awards. So they might   have said, "Hey, I want staff," but they got a  grant now for staff. And they'll be like, "Oh,   what we needed is for supplies. Oh, guess what?  We need a contractor that's going to come in and   teach our kids one, two, three, and four." And  so this the action that we have before you is to   say hey if we can if the city council would allow  and approve this moving forward with these grant   service agreements then what we do is we sit down  with the organizations and say okay let's have a  

conversation about where monetarily you want  how you want to uh allocate your budget based   on what your needs are at this very moment. And  so that's that's a point I think that I want to   make. Also with regards to to schools, the charter  calls out that there are some organizations that   are ineligible to apply. Um police uh any type  of public safety um are ineligible to apply.   government agencies and the school district are  eligible to apply in partnership with a nonprofit,   a local nonprofit. So, they need if they're if  they're a public agency in any form, they need   to have been in conversation in discourse with  a local nonprofit to then submit an application.   Thank you. Vice Mayor Robinson. Hi. Um, so I just  wanted to clarify one thing you just said because   I want to make sure that that people don't go  running off in the wrong directions with it. Um,   when you said you don't know what what their  budget is. Oh, that that's you don't you do   actually know what their budget is because when  people apply a part of the application is a line   item budget. Correct. And so the difference is  is that when they get awarded Yes. Then you go   back to that line item budget and you make sure  that that line item budget is still true because   it's been months later and that if there are any  changes that need to be made that you you make   those changes and and then it becomes a contract.  Yes. And then people have to fulfill once the   agreement is made on what exact amounts go to what  exact line items then that is contractually that's   the only things they could spend money on. You  are correct. But whenever somebody submits an   application for these grants, they must submit  a line item budget. So you you do have an idea  

of what they would like to spend it on. It's just  that between the time that somebody submits that   thing and the time that it's actually time to do  that thing, it's many many months and things may   have changed because yes, nonprofits apply for  lots of grants. Yes. Because you have to make a   patchwork of of funding in order to make a program  go. Just wanted to make sure that that was clear.   You are correct. Thank you. that could have gone  all up in the wrong directions and people will be   like, "Oh my god, they don't I app I appreciate  I appreciate your clarification." Thank you. Yes, council member Sepa. Thank you. One  other question. Sorry. The amount uh it says   uh additional revenues. Uh and I'm trying to  figure out is that from the Chevron stuff or   where's the 1.5 from? that is so $50 million  was deposited into the general fund revenue   accounts in July of 25. The awards were made in  December of 24 and consequently we went to the   Richmond Oversight Board. 3% of that 50 million  is actually $1.5 million. 85% of that goes to   grants. 10% of that goes to administration  to pay the department staff. and 5% pays our   evaluators to do the work. So that's just just  to confirm that is just the first 50 that was   received last year. The 50 that's coming this  year is not here yet. Be coming to us at the   budget session. That's in the charter that  says we are to approve it during the budget   session. I'm sorry I I couldn't hear you. The  next 50 that comes to us in July, will we will   we be appropriating it during the next budget  session or when will the next 50 be appropriated?   So there won't we won't be appropriating 50  million sorry the percentage for 50 so the   one point whatever the the math is but for the  next 50 that we're getting right the 3% of that  

when are we appropriating those this action care  so the the organizations that are before you now   will receive the award for two years right so in  24 you awarded three-year grant terms to that so   we're assuming that we're adding that 50 this  next July if we receive it. Yes, sir. Okay. So,   that's with the caveat that you are correct.  Assuming Chevron will continue paying us. You   are correct. They promise. Okay. Just want to  make sure that Okay. We're not appropriating   other funding. Yes. Um All right. Perfect. I think  no other questions for now then. Thank you. All   right. Uh if there's no other questions, I need  a motion. I move the item. I second it. Okay. Council member Brown, yes. Council  member Ba, yes. Council member,   C. Council member Wilson, yes. Vice  Mayor Robinson, yes. Council member Zepa,   yes. And Mayor Martinez, I. The  vote is unanimous. Thank you. Our next item is item V7D. and that is to adopt a resolution  opposing unauthorized United States   military intervention in Venezuela affirming  the city of Richmond's commitment to peace,   human rights, constitutional governance, and  the prioritization of public resources for   local community needs. We have two in-person  speakers, and if there's anyone joining us   online that would like to address the council on  this item, please raise your hand at this time. I'd like to begin by uh saying that with the  recent uh actions of our current president  

uh our world is much more unstable and  some of these actions uh are creating   situations that are untenable. Uh we have  recent unauthorized US military actions in   Venezuela that raises serious concerns  about the misuse of public resources,   the violation of international law, and the  human cost of foreign military intervention.   Uh these actions directly matter to the city of  Richmond because federal funds used for overseas   conflicts are diverted from local priorities  such as housing, public safety, infrastructure,   and social services while global instability  contributes to human humanitarian displacement   that affects communities like our ours. And when  this displacement also creates more injustices in   the form of ICE, it complicates things beyond uh  uh beyond inaction. So something needs to be done.   So, we are asking the city council to consider  whether we should formally oppose the actions   against Venezuela, reaffirm our commitments to  peace, human rights, and prioritize the needs of   our residents. Um, so I'll let you go to public  speakers. Okay. We have two inperson speakers,   Mark Wasber and Juan Rearen. You both have two  minutes to address the council. Mark Wasber. Trump did the great thing by blowing up these  drug dealers. They're out there poisoning the   world. They want to kill everybody. Trump did  the right thing by uh arresting the president of  

Venezuela. He was dealing with the drug cartel. He  was bad mouthing Trump. So Trump took care of it   and now he will never get out of prison. Him and  his wife are there forever. You talk about peace.   You was out there promoting hate and violence and  murder when you wore that hat. Kill the people of   Israel. You had a big smile on your face. You was  supporting Hamas. You said you was you wanted to   be with Hamas. And then you blame Israel for uh  that terrorist attack in Australia. Yeah. Real   sweet. Then you talk about human rights and peace  and you have the nerve to to talk about this. It's   it's already over. There's there's nothing you can  do. You're the one that was out there violating   people's rights, standing up for Hamas when  they was burning babies in ovens. And you say,   "Oh, gee, I'm so sorry. You ain't sorry for  nothing. You're just full of hate. That's   all you are. And I guarantee you when it comes  election time comes around, I said it's going to   look real bad cuz you're out there preaching  hate and violence, human rights and peace,   you're going to tell me you're supporting  Hamas, you talk about peace. I said, you people,   you guys are sick in your head. as Trump did the  right thing by getting rid of these drug dealers   and now all the other drug dealers in uh Central  America are running scared cuz they're know   they're going to get blown up too. I mean just a  hypocrite. You're over there supporting people,   killing people, and you had a big smile on your  face. Dude, you're one sick guy, man. Juan Reen.

Good evening, Juan Reen, Richmond resident. I  want to thank the mayor Martinez and Vice Mayor   Robinson for leading this initiative to condemn  the unlawful US military attack on Venezuela,   the killings of more than 100 persons  and the kidnappings of the Venezuela   president Nicolas Maduro and  his first lady Celia Flores.   These attacks are not only serious crimes  against Venezuela. They are also serious   crimes against the Constitution of  the United States the and the world. Richmond needs to stand again with honor to  oppose these crimes and to demand rectification.   There are thousands of Latin American  families residing in Richmond and   thousands of families whose roots are  elsewhere in the world. They're here.   We are here building a better Richmond  every year, year after year. And we are   we seriously appreciate your respect for our  countries of origin and their sovereignty. As Richmond said before, a better world is  possible. And we repeat, hands off Iran,   free Palestine, end the blockade of Cuba, and  hands off Venezuela, an immediate freedom to   the kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicholas  Maduro and his f first lady, Cyia Flores,   and of freedom also for all the prisoners of  these imperial wars. ers, please vote in favor  

of this honorable resolution. Thank you. That  was our last inerson speaker. Now we'll move to   the online speakers. We have three speakers. The  speakers are Claudia Citrion, Carnell Abbott, and   Elsa Stevenson. You will have up to two minutes  to address the council. Uh Claudia, you may begin. So, how difficult was it really to just  present it to the council? Mr. Mayor,   um I pulled it simply for procedural process.  You cannot um go use a legislative power which   you do not have to put things on the consent  calendar because you discussed it behind closed   doors. It deserves a public conversation. As you  saw, it is a valuable conversation. It is 8:00.   You are not losing your sleep tonight. I am urging  you in future to understand what new business is.   Treat it as new business so I don't have to spend  hours chasing everyone down. And by the way,   I did not receive a response from your office  when I called in three times which is just   poor communication again. So again, how difficult  was it to present it? I hope you have a chance to   answer it tonight. I yield my time. Thank you.  The next speaker is Tarnel Abbott. Tarnel, you   may begin. Thank you. Um, thank you, mayor, and  city council members for bringing this forward.   Um, this country has become rogue and among uh the  many things that we've done lately that are rogue   include what we did in Venezuela and it it's an  embarrassment to to us as citizens of the world  

that our government is is has decided to reenact,  you know, a 19th century colonial imposition on   Latin in America and it it's it's necessary for  all of us to stand up and say no, we don't accept   this. It is an act of piracy to board ships at  sea and seize them. And we've been and the US is   doing this now with the Venezuelan uh oil tankers.  We are confiscating oil that is not ours. It does   belong to the Venezuelan people and it's um it it  has implications beyond um our little uh you know   us kidnapping Maduro and his first lady. It's the  implications are global and they are um amplified   in the Caribbean and in Latin America. Enough  is enough. Uh people have the right to the the   uh natural resources of their land. They have the  right to sovereignity. And you don't like Maduro?   Well, that's not, you know, that's up to the  people of that country. So, hands off Venezuela,   hands off Cuba, hands off everywhere. And all  these um struggles are interrelated. We are all   accountable. and we all become victims of this  kind of fascism and imperialism and it it just   we have to stand up wherever we can all the time.  So, thank you so much for bringing it forward. I I   urge you to adopt this. Thank you. Thank you.  The next speaker is Elsa Stevenson. Elsa,   you may begin. My name is Elsa Stevens. Um  a a longtime Richmond resident. I came from  

Cuba when I was 8 years old. I I mean when  I was 6 years old, not eight. Um, thank you,   mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, council,  for speaking up against so much lawlessness. We must stop um North American piracy um with  absolutely no evidence Venezuelans were accused   of drug smuggling and murdered in our name. Uh and  over a hundred people were murdered um with uh um   with the US invasion. We don't even know their  names. Our government interferes with commerce   and humanitarian aid in Latin America. The these  are United Nations member countries that we're   interfering with. All of this piracy in our name  must stop. It must not be normalized. I pray that   your statement will make a difference. Thank you.  Thank you. And there are no more public speakers. Any comments from the council? Uh, council member  Jimenez. Yeah, thank you uh, mayor and vice mayor   for bringing this forward. I think it's important  for for Richmond to be a voice um in these   matters. Even though um we are a small city but  we are also telling our community here in Richmond   that we hear them as we did with the resolution  for uh our brothers and sisters from Palestine. Uh  

we are doing this to say to our community um who  has who are born in other countries like myself   from Colombia that uh we listen to them and we are  here to um speak um against any injustice in any   place. Um I think um US has a history in Latin  America and South America um doing these kind   of things in Chile with they they did it with  Salvador agenda and impose a really terrible   um not even government but um military coupe and  it's it's time for for US government to treat   um South American and Central America  their backyard and treat us with respect   um the killing of many innocent people in the  Caribbean just because they think that they   were drug dealers without any proof that that  was the true um has been devastating for many   families even from Colombia and from Venezuela.  Um so I think we use this space to also send this   message even though we are an a small city we use  the power that we have um to send um a message   that we at least here locally we don't stand  with this government that is trying to impose   um barbari in other countries. Um and if we don't  speak up then we will have another word in near  

and it's not going to be overseas far away but  it's going to be just next to the borders. Um   so we don't need more work because work also  uh what it carries is that people start moving   to other countries and they are coming here and  then here uh people are are just uh it creates a   migration where people are looking for um other  opportunities and then it creates also a big   uh push here for uh people don't feel comfortable  and people feel like um there is no space. So I   think if we want to uh make sure that um  people are able to stay in their in their   homeland. What US government needs to do is to  create the stability that these countries needs   because people are moving because there is no  opportunities not because they really want to move   but there is no opportunities and they are moving  because they they feel like here they can find   that opportunity. So if if US government start  really acting as a good neighbor um we will have   a another different relationship and it creates um  a partnership instead of these wars uh where the   rest of the world is looking at US government  and the country as their enemy. So thank you. One of the things that I find disturbing is  uh the imperial the blatant imperialistic  

uh uh point of view that our president has  taken. I mean calling Canada our 51st state,   saying uh uh Greenley will be ours one  way or the other. uh threatening Mexico,   uh isolating Cuba even more so economically so  that the people there uh will feel like they must   rise up in their scenario. Uh threatening  Venezuela and u uh bolstering uh fascists   in other Latin American countries with his  rhetoric. It's it's disturbing. And what's   also disturbing is using the murder of people on  boats as political propaganda. U we had means of   interdiction of those boats with our coast guard.  We chose not to do that. Our we chose to bomb them   without even knowing who they are and without  being able to prove who they are because of the   way they were bombed. That's wrong. That's evil.  and we should stand against that. Um I I want to   uh read the now therefore let it be resolved so  that we understand exactly what where we stand and   what it is we want to ask of our government.  Now therefore be it resolved that the city   council of the city of Richmond, California  condemns the US military strikes, occupation   or occupation like control of Venezuela, the  unlawful killings and abductions of Venezuelan   nationals and opposes any US military presence  intervention or de facto governance of Venezuela.   And be it further resolved that the city of  Richmond, California, calls for an immediate and   unconditional end to any US military occupation  or control activities in Venezuela, including  

the complete withdrawal of US armed forces from  V Venezuelan territory and internal affairs. And   be it further resolved that the city of Richmond,  California, calls for the immediate release from   detention and repatriation of the constitutional  president of the Bolivian Republic of Venezuela,   Nicholas Maduro and first lady Celia Flores. And  be it further resolved that the city of Richmond   urges the US federal government to end its  current strategies and actions against the   Bolivian Republic of Venezuela. These policies  are causing diplomatic, humanitarian, political,   and economic crises, creating regional instability  and undermining international law. And be it   further resolved that the city of Richmond calls  on the US Congress to assert its constitutional   authority and require the president to cease all  unauthorized military actions against the Bolivian   Republic of Venezuela. And be it further resolved  that the city of Richmond rejects all attempts by   the current federal administration and all  others to revive the imperial hemispheric   dominance policies known as the Monroe Doctrine  and to overturn overrun the sovereigntry of the   nations of the continent and subjugate them to the  will and interests of the United States. And be it   further resolved that the city clerk is directed  to transmit copies of this resolution to the   president of the United States, the United States  Secretary of State, the United States Secretary   of Defense, and I say defense instead of war, the  speaker of the House of Representatives, and the   majority leader of the Senate and the city's  federal representatives. Do I have a motion? I move the item. I second.

Council member Brown, I abstain. Council  member Bana, yes. Council member Jimenez,   yes. Council member Wilson, yes. Vice  Mayor Robinson, yes. Council member Zepeda,   yes. And Mayor Martinez, yes. The motion  passes with Council Member Brown abstaining. Our last item, reports of officers,  referrals to staff and general reports,   including AB1234 reports limited  to two minutes per council member. Uh C, Vice Mayor Robinson. Hi. So, this is a  very busy term. Um we had the meeting of the   economic development commission. Um in that  meeting um lots of plans moving forward for   um the first sustainability um expo um for  business sustainable business expo for the   city of Richmond being planned. Um a taste of  Richmond is coming back this year. Um there   are flyers out for that now. I wish I would have  wrote down the date. I shall I'll have it on my   website and on my social media so you can find  that. you can come and learn about and taste   um and learn about the restaurants in Richmond  and taste some of the of the offerings um here   at the uh at the civic center. Um they're also  putting together a plan to formalize their work a   little bit more and they'll be coming and speaking  directly to the council um a few times a year as   well as putting together um a set of annual report  and recommendations around business development   and economic development in Richmond. So felt  like it's really um a really positive direction   for that commission. Um and it's exciting. Uh we  also met with the GEZ, the green empowerment zone,  

and that project is is really moving forward.  Um uh lots of work being done internally. We are   going to be setting up a Richmond's website  for industrial um scale um green and blue   development so that it'll be a place where where  people who are interested in looking at Richmond   as a place where they could relocate their their  business their manufacturing green businesses in   Richmond and hopefully we'll be also setting  up the backend so that there'll be people in   our economic development part department who can  help them find places to locate their businesses   within our city um so we can bring the kinds  of businesses that we want here and really   help develop our economy. Um so there's be a lot  more um stuff coming with that. There is a green   empowerment zone uh website that's already been  created for the whole of Contraosta County. You   should really check that out. um our Richmond  website will connect to that website and soon   you'll be able to see resources um available  on our website that'll show you what kind of   um commercial uh parcels are available for people  to develop in Richmond. So exciting developments.   Um also went to the Pullman Neighborhood Council.  Really great energized energetic meeting. Um lots   of great uh developments. Um the international  hotel is finally being taken care of. Um there's,   you know, lots of developments around the the fire  at the public uh storage facility so that Carlson   Boulevard is open again and um lots of lots of  things moving forward. So thank you, Council   Member Bunner. Thank you. So, I would like to  thank um our fire chief and OES manager, Richard   Diaz, for organizing an evacuation drill in the  entire Elsa Bronte Valley, which includes the city  

of Richmond and also part a part of city of San  Pablo and unincorporated Elsa Bronte to make sure   it's realistic. um um city and county fire and  law enforcement um agencies will be involved and   um residents are required to register uh for the  drill. The drill is on Saturday, May 30th. And   um we as the district representative from the  area, I'm very glad that this is happening because   wildfire safety and safe evacuation is one of the  main concerns and also district 2 is partially   involved and residents from district 2 are welcome  to register and participate if they're interested.   Um and we hope that the office of city manager  and everyone in the city helps with educate   because the point of it is not just making  sure that all the agencies are coordinated   uh but also educating the public about community  warning system, red flag warning, evacuations   and everything related. And you'll gradually  hear about all that until May 30th. Thank you. Thank you. Um, want to just thank the Richmond  Coordinating Council again for celebrating Black   History Month. I know several of us attended as  a really great event. Uh, last year they did it   as well and every year I learned more and more.  And this year, uh, former council member and my   and mayor Nat Bates shared some really great  history about Richmond. And I think you all   might have seen the article, but just how long  he's been in Richmond and fighting for uh having  

a a better Richmond and seeing Richmond Richmond  changed through the time and really felt honored   to have him there still sharing the history and  and all the great work that people before us have   done. So I want to thank everyone who uh helped  out with that. And also just another reminder   for the Partchester meeting is this Thursday for  anyone that's in Parkchester. And I want to thank   my colleagues again for helping provide funding  to help uplift one of our communities in the most   need which is Partchester uh Village. The meeting  is this Thursday at 7 o'clock at the community   center there in Parkchester where they're going  to be discussing uh all the different issues and   concerns and see what the next steps will be so  we can provide either more funding or they can   use the funding they currently received to help  uplift that community and uplifting them literally   figuratively in every single way because various  parts of flooding and they flood all the time.   So we're hoping that we can help them out a little  bit there. Um, that is it for my notes. Thank you.   I'm sorry. May I make a Sorry, I made a mistake. I  said district two could be partially involved. I'm   in district 6. That's the district of council  member Claudia Himenez. Thank you for your   collaboration. Yes. Just want to quickly mention  the dates um for Taste of Richmond. It's on March   28th, Saturday, March 28th from 4 to 7:00 p.m.  here at Civic Center Plaza. Um there I think there   going to be over 30 restaurants that are going  to come and they're going to have vendors and   um art artisans uh at that event this year. And  then April 18th is going to be the date of the   um sustainability expo fair here at Civic  Center. Thank you. Anyone else? If not,  

uh I'd like to um uh uplift the uh Eastpace Center  for the Performing Arts for allowing all of the   uh middle school and high school students to  perform to show exactly what they're capable   of doing. It was a fantastic concert. Uh uh  the musical selections were uh diverse and um   uh there were some who showed the the wide range  of percussion. Uh there was someone who who had   these big kettle drums and also a triangle and  different parts of this of of the piece. He   would be she would be banging on the kettle drums  and then another piece the same piece uh tinkling   away rhythmically on the triangle. It was just  amazing to watch and even more amazing to hear.   Um I also went to the LEAP graduation ceremony uh  that was uh on on Thursday. Uh and it's I am so   proud that our city is able to sustain the leap uh  uh uh educational opportunities for people who who   uh were unable to do what needed to be done at  the time that it needed to be done but had the   uh the courage to leap forward and continue the  work that that they had missed formerly. Um so   uh and finally I want to ask again for people to  contribute to the uh uh snowball scholarship fund.   Uh they they need as much money as possible  so they can give as big a grant as possible.  

They'll be giving the grants March 21st, Saturday.  And um uh so the sooner they can get the money,   the the better off the grass will be. Yes. Um  I don't want to interrupt what you just said,   but I want to add something about  the East Bay Center. Oh, okay. Well,   then uh let me finish up. So um you can make  your donations uh to the uh www.hurledbutt foundation. That's u hurl lu t fo u n d a t io  n at.org snowball and a hyphen between snow and   ball. So just to add on to what um our mayor said  about performance day, it was truly actually went   as well and it was just truly inspiring. And one  of the things that I just feel like is really   important to make the point is that the Eastbay  Center offers free performing arts education to   hundreds of Richmond's youth, thousands. If you  consider all of the the support they do in our   schools, this particular program is funded by the  Richmond Fund for Children and Youth. It would   not be possible at all to serve all those middle  schools and the high school program without that   funding. And it's powerful. It's making powerful  change. And so I just really wanted to underscore   that that, you know, there's really great things  happening with that fund, including all of those   kids being able to have access to arts education  in a time when the school district is cutting all   of their electives and art education for those  age groups. Amen. I want to close in memory of  

um GC Jackson that passed today at 884. Um he was  a a predominant civil right leader and a founder   of the rainbow push coalition. Um so if we can  close in memory of that and uh council member   Sepa also has someone on. Thank you. Yeah is so no  more comments and then if uh colleagues and KCRT   if you wouldn't mind bringing up the the slide  there really quickly. Uh colleagues tonight if   we can also adjourn in the memory of Norma Jean  Labont. We have her family here with us as well.   Uh she's a longtime Richmond resident with deep  East Bay roots. Norma was known for her warmth,   her steady presence, and the way she made  people feel seen and cared for. She was a   proud mother and grandmother, and her family  was truly the center of her world. She worked   hard throughout her life, including roles with UC  Berkeley Extension and later Kaiser in Oakland.   She also had a creative spirit. She loved  stained glass and ceramics, and she had a real   eye for beauty and detail. If you knew her, you  probably remember her unique style, especially her   magnificent scarves and signature red glasses. I  know that I can see her from a mile away, not just   because of the red glasses, but her wonderful,  friendly smile. Norma loved Richmond, especially   South Richmond, and she cared deeply about what  was happening locally. She stayed engaged in local   activism and community issues, and she supported  efforts she believed was threatened the city and   protect its legacy. On behalf of her family and  all who loved her, we honor Norma's life and   the legacy she leaves behind. May her memory be a  blessing. As you see here on the screen, Norma's  

memorial will be uh Friday, March 6 from 10 to 1  at the Wilson and Cratzer. Uh and there will also   be a live stream for anyone that wants to join in  celebrating her life. Uh thank you all for helping   close out tonight's meeting. Enormous memory. She  was truly a Richmond res uh treasure. Thank you. So in honor of the uh two people  mentioned, we adjourn this meeting.