More than two years after Richmond struck a $550 million deal with Chevron to remove an oil refining tax from the ballot, the city council has selected a contractor to lead a public-input phase to help the city determine how to spend the money.
In a 5-1 vote, with councilmember Soheila Bana voting no and councilmember Jamelia Brown absent, the council approved an almost $300,000, one-year contract with Dalberg Consulting. The move comes almost seven months after the council had instructed city staff to move forward with the company.
The approval was delayed after former city manager Shasa Curl told the council in September that she was not comfortable moving forward with the Dalberg contract because city staff were uncertain how much money would remain from the settlement once labor negotiations had concluded with the police officers union (RPOA), and the police and fire management unions, which are still outstanding.
The proposed contract approved Tuesday lays out a seven-month schedule of work deliverables for Dalberg, with community meetings expected to start sometime in January. The contract is expected to be finalized within the next few weeks, city staff said.
Joe Dougherty, a Dalberg partner who presented to the council, told the body that the company is planning to hold at least six meetings around the city to gather input from community members, and up to four targeted focus groups. He said the company would work with city staff and the council to identify target populations for the focus groups, which he said could include nonprofits and small businesses.
”The idea is to delve a little bit deeper into questions, concerns, priorities, aspirations that we raise through the six town hall meetings,” he said of the focus groups.
When asked by council member Cesar Zepeda if more meetings could be added, Dalberg said it was likely, but the logistics would need to be worked out with the city.
“We’re contractually obliged to provide at least six, but I’m almost certain that we will have to do more,” he said, to accommodate residents working night shifts. “So you may do something in the morning or split the town hall into two shorter sessions in different parts of a district.”
Dalberg said there will also be an online portal where residents can submit views “anonymously or otherwise.”
Scott Nanos-Luz, a lead organizer with Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) who attended the meeting with a handful of other organizers, told the council during public comment that Asian migrant and refugee community members who pushed for the ballot measure “are ready” to have their voices heard. But he expressed concern about non-English speakers being included in the process.
“There are a lot of different languages amongst all of our immigrant communities in Richmond,” Nanos-Luz said. “Regarding the mobile portal, many of our migrant and refugee elders do not read or write. All this to say, we would have appreciated seeing the consultants presentation earlier in the days leading up to the meeting. Giving feedback on this plan is still an outstanding need for our community.”
Since Richmond settled with Chevron on the $550 million two years ago, environmental groups like APEN and Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) have called for the city to focus the new resources on “fence-line communities” near the refinery; on decreasing dependency on the refinery as Richmond’s main tax contributor; and the cleaning and repurposing of land currently occupied by the refinery, if Chevron leaves.
Vice Mayor Doria Robinson stressed the importance of being prepared for a post-Chevron reality. She said fears of the city being unprepared is what brought about the proposed refinery tax measure in 2024.
“How do we incorporate planning for market change and investing in our economy so that we’re less dependent upon that revenue?” Robinson asked. “Because this to me seems like a profound, once in a generation opportunity to not be — and I’ve said this bunch of times — to not be Detroit.”
Robinson said she hopes Dalberg’s community engagement will help the council gauge residents’ appetite for the scale and speed of economic development enabled by the settlement. For example, going slower so “our money lasts longer and grows more,” or moving faster even if it means “all the money is gone in 10 years.”
Later in the meeting, councilmember Sue Wilson asked how the firm would make clear to participants of the community engagement process that the council isn’t bound by what comes out of those sessions.
Wilson said that the council would take the input seriously but noted that some neighborhoods tend to show up to meetings more than others.
“This is a consultation. It’s not a referendum. It’s not a vote. It’s not binding. But there is genuine interest in understanding what the community wants,” Dougherty said. “There are going to be people who are not completely satisfied.”
