Remarks by Cesar Zepeda
92 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 4
So, and we have the data that shows that it's a very dangerous street. We had multiple people die in the past couple of months. So what we want is not a presentation that tells us this is the data. We want a presentation that says here's what we're doing because we know this already.
We're going to do crosswalks by this day. We're going to do lights by this day. That's what we're looking for.
So he'll have a plan. Because tonight, the item for us was going to be to say, we want staff to do something now. So if he's prepared to do that at the presentation, to come back and say, here's what we can do, what we can do now, short term, long term, then I'm OK with moving it. Otherwise, we need to have that conversation.
Sorry, I have a question on one of the items. I just want to make sure. I'm just looking for process. I lost it. On the mcdonald item, is it still an ad hoc? I was looking at our city attorney for that.
So it's a Brown Act body, so then it's agendized?
And so then there, if it is, there's only three members, so we should have more than, because we should have a quorum, right? That is, the ad hoc is, having a Brown Act usually allows to have up to four because it's agendized, right?
So the agenda is 72 hours, all that stuff there. So similar to if we were to add another person, we would still have to go through that same process is what I'm getting at.
So if we're able to add one more, I don't want to bother but Council Member Brown is on McDonald's.
Yeah. And I'm thinking that there's opportunity for one more. For four? Yes.
Thank you all for trying to fit up here. But more importantly, thank you for the service that you provide to the city of Richmond and all of our residents. Thank you for your bravery. Thank you for putting yourselves out there. And to the family, thank you for allowing us to borrow your spouse and your dad and for allowing him to keep us safe. So thank you. And now we'll read the proclamation.
All right. We continue in honoring and celebrating the great work from various of our community members. whether you're in the fire department or police department. Sometimes you may not actually work for the city of Richmond, but you put your heart and soul into it. And we want to appreciate all these individuals that help uplift our community. And with that, there.
I'll make a motion to extend the meeting until we finish this item.
Council Member Cepeda. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Sam, first off, thank you for the great work you have done. Thank you for the great work you have done. I want to acknowledge you for everything you've done for our community for many, many years. You have a really great program and every life saved is a life saved. So you're doing a great job. So thank you for that first off. And thank you for the report as well. I want to get back to you in a minute, but he's here. You mentioned something I want to start off with, something you ended up there with, which is if they're hungry, right, the services…
Thank you. Thank you for that. Thank you. I'll now ask our hearer for it. Thank you, Sam. Thank you. Going over the report, first I thank you both for the time that you put into Richmond and helping us paint a picture of Richmond that has been always changing and for the better. And the crime rates show that. So thank you for that there. I was trying to figure out what is the magic that is making it. ONS is a really great program. I want to see if there's anything else there that has helped so we can continue doing it side by side. revenues in Richmond or household income has also gone up. I…
So just to confirm that I understood correctly, so the other model cities, you also looked at their data and as they were changing, did you pivot to a different city if one of them changed too drastically, or did you stay with the same ones throughout the whole time regardless?
I believe in your report there was at least two cities and I always try to find my chicken scratch here but I think there was at least two cities that don't have similar program but they had a reduction as well. Do you know what strategies were part of these two cities?
Okay. And then kind of in the similar there, so the report says that the Peacemaker program wasn't solely for the reduction. Are you able to speak to what else you see out there? So ONS, great piece of the pie, right? But what else can we as policymakers continue doing that what else contributed to that change?
And I know it's difficult to pinpoint, and I'm asking these questions, but I feel the pain in even asking them. So some of the demographics have changed in Richmond. And then you see Richmond's crime decrease. And then if you look at some of the places where some of the individuals migrated to, like Antioch. Antioch is one of the cities that has had an increase in crime. And from... I joke, I'm a Googler, right? I Google stuff. While Googling it says several people from Richmond moved to Antioch. And I'm not saying that those are the people that moved to Antioch and created crime, but it's…
Again, this is really great info. And then kind of along that same line, do we know what number of Richmond shootings actually involved any of the peacemaker fellows or any of the conflicts that they had? Do we have any data on that?
If there's any future data, any future reports, or maybe it's missing, or maybe I'm missing it here, it's a word nobody likes, but it's out there. It's gentrification, right? If that's happening to a city, does that have anything to do? You have new neighbors coming in. You have the older generation passing away, part of the generation moving away. Are all of these points considered into the change?
I look forward to seeing a future report. This is really interesting, and I think it's a question that everyone has had. changing demographics, changing Richmond, always changing positively. So let's see what else we can do. Several years ago, we also had, I remember one of our former, former police chiefs kind of start out the community policing. So I don't know that has also taken into account what programs the police has done on their own side, solving crimes or being out in the community more. So I don't know if that's in there or not. I have one second.
May I ask a procedural question? There's a deadline on there. We have a new city manager. I want to make sure. It's his first meeting, so we're saying to do something within the next 20 days. I want to make sure that that's enough time.
Okay. Thank you for that. Then my vote is yes.
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
The mayor. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Sorry, if you can hear me. I have a procedure question. So on our city council rules, it says items not completed, items carried over from a previous meeting should be continued as the first order of business within the appropriate category. So I just want to make sure, is that still within the city attorney's guidance?