Council Split on $6.3M Traffic Safety Plan as $29M Budget Gap Looms

Richmond's City Council wrestled with how to spend scarce dollars on "dangerous" streets, took a stand against a proposed carbon capture pipeline across the Carquinez Strait, and got its first look at a budget gap that will force hard choices before summer — all in a marathon session that stretched past midnight.

• $6.3M complete streets plan approved 5-2 after three council members broke ranks, arguing neighborhood traffic safety complaints have been ignored for years while $2M was steered to Richmond Parkway

• Resolution opposing Montezuma CO2 pipeline passes 5-0-2 with overwhelming public comment from environmental groups; two members abstain, wanting to hear from the project proponent

• Police union refuses to participate in state-mandated staffing hearing, alleging the city failed to produce required vacancy data and ignored a year-old bargaining request

• $29M in unfunded department requests revealed during budget presentations, with three public safety union contracts still unresolved ahead of a June 23 adoption deadline

• Community group demands Humphrey Playlot rebuild as six residents describe sinking, flood-prone park where volunteers have logged 225+ hours of cleanup

• Ten faith centers unite as council unanimously adopts urgency resolution after San Diego mosque shooting

Where Should Traffic Safety Money Go?

The sharpest divide of the night came over how to allocate $6.27 million in complete streets improvement funds — and exposed a deeper fault line over whether the city has a coherent plan for neighborhood traffic safety at all.

The basics: The allocation, presented by Public Works Director Daniel Chavarria, would direct $2 million to Richmond Parkway — covering restriping at seven high-injury intersections — with the remaining funds going to paving around three new parks (Boorman, Wendell and Shields Reed), ADA curb ramps and improvements near the RYSE Youth Center.

Why it matters: Vice Mayor Doria Robinson pulled the item off consent, alarmed that a third of the total was earmarked for a single corridor while the city's traffic calming program — a prioritized list of neighborhood trouble spots compiled from years of resident complaints — remained unaddressed.

"I was alarmed when I saw that a third of the money was going to be applied to the Richmond Parkway, which is not addressing those issues," said Vice Mayor Robinson, who proposed splitting the Parkway allocation in half and redirecting the balance to the highest-priority neighborhood projects.

Councilmember Claudia Jimenez pressed staff for a timeline on the long-promised comprehensive traffic calming program. "What I want is also to see — we created a street calming program where there are so many intersections. You have that list. When is the list coming?" she said.

Councilmember Sue Wilson questioned why the selected projects diverged from the high-priority list the council had seen just two weeks earlier. "It looks to me like the projects that were picked for this additional $6 million in surplus are different from the ones that are listed as high priority traffic calming, high priority design," she said.

The other side: Councilmember Soheila Bana made a substitute motion to approve the staff plan as written, citing the former police chief's assessment. "I remember that our former police chief told me she would never take Richmond Parkway because it's one of the most dangerous routes in Richmond," Councilmember Bana said. Councilmember Cesar Zepeda supported the plan, noting pedestrian fatalities at the listed intersections.

Vice Mayor Robinson pushed back on what she described as a systemic failure. "I feel like there's this issue that keeps happening where if you don't put any energy into making a plan to address something, then it's never shovel ready, it'll never be ready," she said.

Decisions: The substitute motion to approve the staff plan passed 4-3 (For: Bana, Brown, Zepeda, Martinez; Against: Jimenez, Wilson, Robinson). Staff committed to presenting the comprehensive traffic calming program at a future meeting and noted that street lighting improvements could come as part of the FY 2026-27 budget in June.

What's next: The split vote puts pressure on staff to deliver the long-awaited traffic calming priority list before the budget is finalized. Residents with pending complaints should watch for the presentation at an upcoming council meeting.

Richmond Takes a Stand Against Carbon Capture Pipeline

Council adopted a resolution opposing the proposed Montezuma carbon sequestration project — a 45-mile CO2 pipeline that would run along the Carquinez Strait — after a lengthy public comment period dominated by environmental groups.

Why it matters: The resolution positions Richmond alongside a growing coalition of Bay Area cities challenging fossil-fuel-extending infrastructure backed by state cap-and-trade incentives. Councilmember Jimenez, who placed the item on the agenda, said residents had come to her directly about the project's risks. "I put this item on the agenda because some of the residents in Richmond came to me about the issues that this project could have. And I think it's more a prevention," she said.

Where things stand: Speakers from 350 Bay Area Action, the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) and Biofuelwatch lined up in support of the resolution, citing the 2020 Satartia, Mississippi pipeline rupture, unproven carbon capture technology, earthquake risks to a subaqueous route and what they described as an economic model that shifts costs to taxpayers while channeling profits to private companies.

Mayor Eduardo Martinez grounded the discussion in data, noting that more than 8,100 pipeline incidents were reported in the United States between 2010 and 2023. He made the motion to adopt.

The other side: Public commenter Don Gosney, a retired Steamfitters Local 342 president, argued the council should hear from pipeline experts rather than relying on presentations from advocacy organizations. He questioned whether a pipeline actually runs through Richmond per the project maps.

Councilmember Bana abstained, saying she had not heard from the project proponents and wanted a more balanced view. Councilmember Jamelia Brown also abstained, citing insufficient information.

Decisions: The resolution passed 5-0 with two abstentions (Abstain: Brown, Bana).

Police Union Draws a Line on Staffing Hearing

The Richmond Police Officers Association publicly refused to participate in a hearing required under AB 2561, a state law mandating that cities report on public safety staffing levels, vacancies and compensation improvement plans.

Why it matters: RPOA President Ben Therrio told the council during open forum that the city had failed to produce the data required by the statute — including bargaining unit vacancies, applicant counts and average time to hire. He said the union received only three business days' notice and that a meet-and-confer request filed in May 2025 had been ignored for nearly a year.

The RPOA requested the item be continued and reserved all rights under AB 2561, the Brown Act and the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, including the right to file with the Public Employment Relations Board.

The standoff adds legal risk to what is already a fraught budget season: three public safety memoranda of understanding remain unresolved, and their terms will significantly shape the city's spending projections.

$29M Gap Sets the Stage for a Tough Budget Season

Staff delivered the first round of departmental budget presentations, and the picture was sobering.

The basics: City Manager Shasa Curl opened by flagging global economic headwinds — Bay Area tech layoffs, rising utility costs and fleet expenses outpacing inflation. The city has grown from 581 to 684 full-time employees since FY 2021-22.

"There were 29 million of requests from departments that were not included in the budget," City Manager Curl said. On the bright side, she noted, "I'm pleased to say that we now have over $309 million in grants and that amount is increasing."

Where things stand: Deputy City Manager Lashonda White presented Community Services, covering seven community centers, two senior centers, aquatics programs, the Office of Neighborhood Safety (94 active fellows, 12,000+ engagements), the new ROC community crisis response program launched in March 2026, and Youth Works employment programs serving hundreds of youth at $19.18/hour. She asked the council for policy direction: serve fewer youth with more hours, or more youth with fewer hours?

Economic Development Director Nannette Beacham presented programs including business development (60+ engagements in 2025, a $350,000 ARPA small business program), environmental initiatives (SB 1383 compliance, solar workshops), and real estate operations managing former military base properties and marina leases. The Port of Richmond reported receiving an $11.2 million PIDP grant and a $750,000 offshore wind grant, but is operating with just three full-time staff.

Vice Mayor Robinson pushed for granularity, requesting each department identify and rank its top unfunded needs. "If they could bring forward and say what would help them do that work while they're giving the presentation — because then we can put it in context," she said. City Manager Curl committed to providing line-by-line detail by June 16.

What's next: Housing Authority and Fire Department presentations were deferred to May 26 due to time. The council must adopt the budget by June 23.

Neighbors Demand a Park Rebuild

Six residents affiliated with Friends of Humphrey Playlot and the organizing group Fierce Advocates made an organized appeal during open forum, requesting the council fund a complete rebuild in the FY 2027 budget.

Lead organizer Tashi Johnson described the park as a drainage disaster where standing water, sinking infrastructure, rusted equipment and buried needles have rendered it unsafe. The group reported logging more than 225 volunteer hours to maintain the space and noted that Parks and Recreation had granted the play lot critical-needs status.

Multiple speakers stressed equity concerns, noting the park sits in a neighborhood that has experienced long-term disinvestment. Their message was direct: the community has built the social infrastructure — now the city needs to fund the physical rebuild.

Faith Centers Unite After Mosque Shooting

Councilmember Bana introduced an urgency item following a shooting at a San Diego mosque the previous day, displaying a joint statement signed by two mosques, three churches, a Sikh center, a Jewish temple, a Nepalese center and a Tibetan center.

"There was a horrible shooting at a mosque in San Diego yesterday and our faith centers came together," Councilmember Bana said, emphasizing that the resolution was about public safety, not politics.

Decisions: The council voted 7-0 to add the resolution to the consent calendar, which was subsequently adopted unanimously.

Downtown Business District Gets Scrutiny, Then Approval

Vice Mayor Robinson pulled the annual renewal of the Downtown Richmond Property and Business Improvement District assessment to ensure transparency on how the $245,760 in annual levies across 87 properties is being spent.

Sarah Walley, executive director of Richmond Main Street Initiative, delivered an 81-slide presentation covering the organization's ambassador program (68-70 hours per week of cleanup), community park maintenance, walking tours, events including Music on the Main and Small Business Week, and social media outreach to more than 7,000 followers. Roughly 15% of funds go to operations, with 40-44% covering hospitality and ambassador programs.

Councilmember Brown challenged the presentation, saying the photos did not reflect her everyday experience and raising concerns about persistent blight and unsheltered individuals downtown.

Councilmember Zepeda praised the work but argued the city should raise its own baseline. "The city needs to give more as the base so you can supplement less. Your work should not be 100% of taking care of all of the streets," he said. He also asked about policies to encourage more retail tenants versus nonprofit occupants in storefronts. The city manager noted that religious institutions and community-based organizations cannot be discriminated against in zoning but committed to exploring policy support for commercial activation.

Decisions: The PBID assessment was renewed unanimously, 7-0.

Minor Items

• Consent calendar approved 7-0, including the urgency resolution on the mosque shooting, with several items pulled for separate discussion.

• Accounts receivable write-off item withdrawn after errors were discovered; Vice Mayor Robinson flagged that her organization, Urban Tilth, was incorrectly listed, raising a conflict-of-interest concern.

• Sidewalk vendor ordinance passed first reading unanimously (7-0) after being continued twice; updates enforcement and waiver provisions for Richmond's street vending regulations.

• E-bike share program received a $390,000 contract amendment (7-0) to cover arrears and keep the program running through June 30. Public commenter Claudia Citroen noted the cost was approximately $700 per ride; the city manager acknowledged the per-ride cost was excessive and said staff would present options to continue, enhance or terminate the program during the June budget process.

• Multiple public hearings (P1-P4) and new business item Q2 were held over to the May 26 meeting due to time constraints.

• Public commenter Julie Freestone reported progress on illegal fireworks enforcement, including police PSA production, lawn signs, planned drone patrols and Richmond joining cities asking the governor to work with Nevada on fireworks imports.

• Public commenter Kimberly Graves requested body camera footage from a traffic stop and advocated for universal dash cameras and anti-bias auditing in Richmond police vehicles.