Richmond City Council candidates quizzed on Chevron, police commission, downtown blight

How can a Richmond City Council member directly improve the lives of their district’s residents? Candidates for the Richmond City Council District 1 race were asked that and more at a Wednesday night election forum.

The three District 1 candidates joined a forum co-sponsored by Richmondside to discuss topics from public safety and how to spend the $550 million Chevron windfall to the lack of affordable housing and economic vitality.

An audience of about 50 people, including a large contingent of UC Berkeley journalism graduate students, gathered at CoBiz to hear candidates Jamelia Brown, Mark Wassberg and incumbent Melvin Willis answer questions from journalists and audience members about how they’d solve various problems facing the district and the city. The event was co-sponsored by UC Berkeley’s Richmond Confidential, the Contra Costa Pulse and El Tímpano. Interpreters provided a real-time Spanish translation.

District 1 encompasses the Iron Triangle and Belding Woods neighborhoods, where residents have recently told Richmondside they are struggling to get by and not always as engaged in local politics as they’d like to be.

Willis, a candidate backed by the Richmond Progressive Alliance, is seeking his third term. He was initially elected in 2016 and reelected in 2020 — the year when the city switched from holding at-large elections to district-based voting for council seats. This is Brown’s first run for public office while Wassberg ran for mayor in 2020 but finished last.

Each candidate was allowed a two-minute introduction before moderator Christine Schiavo, editor of Richmond Confidential and UC Berkeley lecturer, presented questions submitted by Richmond residents and compiled by journalists from each publication.

Brown, who grew up in the Iron Triangle, emphasized safer streets, political engagement and economic vitality as her campaign’s focus.

“I’m not a politician. I’m a mom, a friend and a neighbor who is ready to ensure our community finally gets the investments it needs,” she said. 

She added that educating voters was a need she encountered while campaigning and meeting residents.

“In District 1, we have such a low propensity voting threshold,” she said. “It’s educating the public on this local political process and why there is such a huge importance that needs to surround local government.”

She said that if elected she hopes she can continue building relationships with constituents who are unfamiliar with the political process and help them better inform themselves about what is going on.

She said she believes a councilmember must be visible in their community.

“So often during election time, we have council members and candidates that are flooding our communities with these elevated promises and then afterwards we don’t see them anymore,” Brown said.

For Wassberg, the formula is simple: Get the RPA off the council. 

“Why should you vote for me? Have any of you watched the city council? I’ve been fighting the city council,” he said. “Ever since the RPA took office, Richmond has been a disaster.”

Wassberg, who regularly speaks at council meetings, accused the council of violating its Constitutional oath, for example by passing a Gaza ceasefire resolution in 2023, calling it a “Bernie Sanders” government.

“You people just don’t know what the RPA is doing,” he said. “They try to act like they are really nice people, but they have a trick up their sleeve. Believe me, I have been fighting these people for a long time. I know how they operate.”

What can be done to spruce up downtown business corridor?

Willis defended his track record, saying he is proud of approving $1.2 million in COVID small business relief funds and supporting the Measure U gross receipts business tax, which he said reduced the small business application fee, but he admitted that more needs to be done to address quality of life services such as road infrastructure, street cleaning and getting businesses excited about the area.

“We are in a better place where our budget is healthier than it was where we can start tackling our crumbling infrastructure needs,” he said. “We have only been able to provide services most of the time and deal with some of our higher traffic areas of infrastructure but never do a full makeup like we have been wanting, which is an issue that’s been around since before my time at the council.”

He also hinted that the city has plans for some of the large vacant lots at 12th Street and Macdonald Avenue — which Brown had criticized for sitting abandoned for decades — and pointed to an effort to create an arts corridor along Macdonald Avenue and 23rd Street. He said the city just purchased new street sweepers to revive its street cleaning efforts.

When asked by Wesley Alexander, CEO of CoBiz, what they would do to better support businesses in the district that are dealing with eyesore issues like dead landscaping, Willis said that there’s a need for improved marketing to challenge the longstanding narrative that the city is a crime-ridden area that should be avoided.

“That narrative has been plaguing this city since before I was on the council, and we’ve come a long way,” he said, adding that the city needs to identify what types of businesses the community wants.  He said he will make sure to meet regularly with community members and make sure their wishes are considered during city budgeting sessions.

For Brown, the conversation about the economic vitality of the district starts and ends with public safety and using the Chevron settlement money to hire more public works staff.

“There are still stop signs and stop lights that I don’t sit at for too long,” she said. “I’d rather get the ticket. That should speak to the safety here in this district. We have to beef up our public services. I’ve spoken to public works, and they are overworked and understaffed. That’s why the lawns are overgrown and the weeds are as high as your waist.”

Audience asks: What will you do with the Chevron money?

Richmond resident Joe Puleo came to the forum wanting to know what the candidates would do now that the city has a $550 million agreement with Chevron.

“It’s a lot of money. What are your plans for more than a half billion dollars over the next 10 years?” he asked.

Brown was adamant that there is a need for a community oversight committee and advisory board since the incoming money will go into the General Fund and be spent however the city council sees fit.

“We need a comprehensive assessment of the pressing needs that everyone is talking about in our community to identify those pressing needs so those funds can be allocated appropriately,” she said. “Creating those conversations around what are the needs of the community and not allowing someone to tell us what they need.”

Willis said he agreed with Brown that there needs to be a resident-focused mentality when looking at the settlement money and that community budget sessions would be crucial in gauging needs.

“Even right now during the campaign as I’m talking to people I’m letting them know about that $550 million and how to sign up during (city council meeting) public comment, making sure we are getting a good needs assessment in the community on what are those things that have been neglected for years so we make sure that we are prioritizing it,” he said, adding that the city needs to maximize the money and not “blow it like someone winning the lottery.”

If residents can’t get involved in community budget sessions or city council meetings, Willis said he hopes to bring the issues to them.

“We work with local community-based organizations, local community groups and find centralized areas where everyone feels safe enough to come out and give their input and vision on how they want this money to be spent,” he said.

Wassberg called the  Chevron settlement a hoax and doubted that Richmond residents would see any of the money.

“Don’t let the city council fool you and tell you that it is going to go straight to Richmond, it doesn’t happen like that,” he said. “When I see a written contract between Chevron and the city then I’ll believe it. Right now, for me, it is all a bunch of hearsay.”

Will they make changes to the police review commission?

Last week, as Richmond’s Community Police Review Commision (CPRC) investigator Jerry Threet resigned, he said he no longer had confidence that the oversight group could make unbiased decisions on police misconduct cases. He also said that some of those on the commission have ignored the facts.

When asked how they would keep police officers and the commission accountable, all candidates called for increased transparency.

Willis pointed out that the last time the CPRC was updated was in the aftermath of the police shooting death of Pedie Perez in 2014 and said the commission’s complaint system should be more simplified for residents.

“Since then the state has actually passed laws that allow community review commissions to have more authority and that means even having subpoena power as well,” he said, adding that he recently learned that not just any occurrence of bodily harm triggered an automatic review by the CPRC.

“I found out that there are more specific circumstances that need to happen before an automatic review should happen,”Willis said.

Wassberg said that he has attended CPRC meetings and believes the body has no power.

“All they do is fill out their reports, have their meetings and hand it over to the chief,” he said. He claimed the police violated his rights when he was recently removed from a city council meeting on Aug. 14. “The Richmond police department is notorious for corrupt cops.”

Wassberg said he doesn’t support defunding the police, saying that “a few bad cops doesn’t mean all cops are bad.”

“We need cops but don’t trust them,” he said, as some of the audience members laughed. “Believe me, it’s true. I had my dealings with cops and don’t trust them at all.” 

Brown said that the CPRC should continue ensuring that community members know the Richmond Police Department’s policies are being followed accordingly but also believes that the police department should be more transparent.

“We shouldn’t have to keep fishing for answers or trying to demand this or that,” she said. “The quickest way to isolate a community is to keep telling them, ‘It is still under investigation.’ That’s the fastest way to isolate a community and lose trust.”

However, Brown added, disrespect for law enforcement and the profession has grown in recent years in District 1 and she feels  city leaders should push for a cultural change in how the community views police.

“We need to retrain this culture to start respecting law enforcement officers as well,” she said.