Eleven candidates running for three seats on Richmond’s City Council in the June 2 primary gathered Monday night at the Richmond City Council chambers for the first in-person election forum of the season.
The forum, which was hosted by the League of Women Voters of West Contra Costa County and co-sponsored by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA), brought out a few dozen attendees and was broadcast live on KCRT.
The first part focused on the mayoral race, while the second hour was a mixed panel of candidates for the District 3 and 4 seats. District 2 council member Cesar Zepeda is running unopposed.
The five mayoral candidates are incumbent Eduardo Martinez, Ahmad Anderson, District 6 council member Claudia Jimenez, former council member Demnlus Johnson and Mark Wassberg, who has unsuccessfully ran for council seats in a handful of elections in the past decade.
Each candidate opened with a personal introduction then had a minute to answer a number of questions addressing: the current mayor’s decisions, the role of a candidate’s political alliances, regional planning, affordable housing, homelessness and the Chevron refinery.
Candidates assessed current mayor’s performance
The queries were pointed right from the start: Mayoral candidates were asked to state one decision they would have made differently than Martinez.
Jimenez, an ally of Martinez within the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), which has endorsed her, mentioned Martinez’s apology in the aftermath of the controversy where he shared conspiracy theories about the Bondi Beach mass shooting on his LinkedIn.
Though she said he worked “well” with her on the council, she would have handled his apology’s opening statement differently, specifically his statement that his critics were not “ready” to accept his apology.
“That one sentence, I would have taken it out because that was not OK,” Jimenez said. She added that she supported him finishing his term versus stepping down over the controversy. “As I said before, he should have a chance to finish his (term). Richmond has been doing better than before.”
Anderson, who is running for mayor for the first time, pointed out that Jimenez defended the mayor in the aftermath of the controversy, while adding that he would have handled Chevron financial issues differently than Martinez. He criticized the RPA-majority council in 2024 for using the Chevron settlement as an election “ploy.”
“That was tactful. It was a ploy just before the election like a dangling object to show, ‘This is what we are doing,’” he said. “They take credit for it. It wasn’t the credit of the mayor or city council but the (public employee) unions and the (city) attorney.” Anderson added that, if elected, he would make sure there is a “plan” in place to use the settlement money to help address air quality in the nearby Black and brown communities that have been most impacted by the refinery’s emissions.
Wassberg, who has long been a critic of Martinez’s pro-Palestine stance, including a speech the mayor gave in Detroit and other comments he’s made at council meetings, said that as mayor he would never “preach hate.”
“He lied about Israel and what happened in Australia,” Wassberg said. “This is not what our government is about and the city council stood by their man and all of them should have condemned him for that but they didn’t.”
Johnson said it’s less about Martinez’s apology and more that the situation “should have never happened to begin with.”
“As mayor, I would make sure that before I post anything, anywhere that it is read, researched before I say anything to exclude people,” Johnson said. “And to have individuals who purport to be for communities of color, stand by an individual who puts out such bigoted and hateful information without reading it, your job is to read.”
In response, Martinez said that he should have been more “circumspect” in regards to what he posted online, and that he should have realized that those who are actually spreading hate are those who haven’t taken the time to “actually listen to what I said.”
“When I made that statement before my apology, I should have realized that not everyone has experienced what I experienced,” Martinez said. “I should have given more examples of why I said that because in the way that I said it, some people took it as an excuse when it was, in fact, an explanation.”
Are political alliances helpful or detrimental to Richmond?
The second question was about political alliances and if they are “helpful or limiting” to Richmond and its future, specifically the RPA’s 20 years of influence over city government, where elected offices are officially non-partisan.
Anderson, who said that he would listen to all voices, was critical of the RPA, saying that residents, in the last decade, haven’t seen much “action.” Though he later said alliances can be a bridge and conduit, he added it doesn’t unify the community.
“We have had for the last 11 years a lot of talk but no action,” he said. “We don’t have jobs, we don’t have opportunities for workforce development and economic development that brings revenue to the city while taking care of the bread and butter relationships. One is potholes, one is safety, one is bringing housing to the community.”
Wassberg, who described the RPA as a “democratic, socialist, communist party,” said he disagreed with the group 100%.
“You don’t get into office to implement your own ideas,” he said, referring to the city council working on “ICE-free zones” to strengthen its sanctuary city policy. “There is no way that you are going to stop ICE from doing anything. You have to obey all constitutional laws.”
Johnson said his political philosophy opposes any one group “dominating” American citizens with their philosophies.
“I don’t think it’s helpful. Is representation needed? I think everyone deserves representation but to dominate and to run over and roughshod over this city and its residents and say that, ‘We know what’s best for you and to damn if you like it or agree with it or not and, as a matter of fact, if you don’t agree we are going to demonize you,’ ” he said. “Not only that but we are going to demonize those Black and Brown council members who came before us and laid the foundation for everything we have today. So, no, I don’t think it’s helpful.”
Martinez questioned the comments from Johnson, suggesting that it is the opponents of the progressives who are doing the demonizing.
“Talking about parties, we have a Democratic party who has ruled this county. They have made decisions but to say we (the RPA) impose is a bit strong,” Martinez said. “I think that organizing people around ideas is what makes America strong. To demonize any of the groups for what they do is wrong. I think we need to celebrate all of the groups.”
Jimenez pushed back on the criticism of the RPA, saying that the organization was formed by Richmond residents and is not some sort of big, outside organization.
“Before RPA, Richmond was on the list of the most violent cities in the country. Before people ran (for office) on not taking corporate money, Chevron was ruling this town. What we had was a corrupt government and even a corrupt police force,” Jimenez said. “They (the RPA) have been helping to elect some of us and the results we have is that we have gone from 12% to 20% of reserves. When I got here, there (was) $20 million deficit and now we have a surplus.”
Johnson disputed Jimenez’s corruption claims of the past during the next question.
“It was individuals like Irma Anderson, Jim McMillan and Mayor (George) Livingston who held this city up with spit and glue when everyone else had all but abandoned this city so to sit on this dais and call them corrupt and to say that everything they did was for nothing, I will not stand for it because I am part of that legacy and you will not disrespect them in front of me,” Johnson said.
6 candidates for 2 council district seats make their cases
In the second half of the forum, candidates for District 3 — incumbent Doria Robinson, Brandon Evans and intended write-in candidate Matthew Singh — joined District 4 candidates Soheila Bana, Jamin Pursell and Keycha Gallon on stage.
All six candidates answered some general questions about the Chevron refinery, homelessness and housing, as well as a number of district-specific questions about air quality in District 3 and fire safety in District 4.
When asked how they would help diversify the city’s revenue and lessen dependence on a single taxpayer like Chevron, Gallon said she would push for the city to support small businesses.
“Grow these mom-and-pop businesses and create workforce development that is for the citizens to actually grow their revenue and income so that they can afford to live in the city,” Gallon said, adding there needs to be more investment into training programs.
Robinson said the growth of both large and small businesses is needed to diversify the city’s revenue streams, but also said that the city needs to use the $550 million Chevron settlement funds wisely. She was on the ad-hoc committee alongside Martinez and Jimenez that negotiated the settlement.
“The money that we received that I helped to get, we cannot be that lottery winner who wins a whole bunch of money and blows it all on big-ticket items and shiny cars and then in five, 10 years we have nothing,” she said. “We have to invest it. We have to be smart. We have to be strategic and we have to use it so that when we come to lean times we have it to fall back on.”
Evans, though crediting the city council with being in a more secure financial position now, said that the city needs to look to the future in reevaluating and “reimagining” the city’s former large industrial sites and use that Chevron settlement wisely in possibly addressing the city’s unfunded pension liabilities.
“We need to use the $550 million from Chevron to shore up what is working, make improvements and then really plan for the future,” Evans said.
Pointing to infrastructure and unfunded liabilities, Bana said that the city could lower those costs in the future if the city invests in them.
“We need to plan for increasing revenue all the time. My idea would be to hire an economic development manager to bring more businesses, more jobs and revenue to the city. Even hire an events manager to bring more events to the city to have more revenue. Similarly, having more housing adds to our tax base,” Bana said.
Singh, who missed the regular candidate filing deadline but can file during the write-in period, between April 6 and May 19, said that the Chevron funds should be put into a community investment fund.
“It would definitely help during downturns,” he said. “Investing in local businesses that would create more jobs in the city (would help) as well.”
Pursell, a former RPA member who split with the group in the last year, said that the city hasn’t been business-friendly and could reexamine its permitting process to make it easier for those who want to do business here.
“The only way that we are going to be able to bring people in is by making sure that we are going to be attractive as a place for businesses,” Pursell said, adding that the city must invest in the downtown and Hilltop areas. “Looking at what other cities around us have done to be able to help and revitalize those commercial areas that have languished and have not been attended to. Invest in infrastructure so that people know that it is safe, walkable and enjoyable to spend your money and time in Richmond.”
Air quality a topic for District 3 candidates
Related to District 3, Singh, Evans and Robinson were asked how they would address air quality in the district which sits the closest to the Chevron refinery.
Evans said that there are other sources of particulate matter beyond the refinery, which is near Interstate 580 and the BNSF railway. He suggested that more detailed monitoring should be done to include those other sources of particulate matter.
“The monitoring is taking place through different organizations that are usually focused on the particulate matter only coming from the refinery so I would expand that and broaden the scope,” Evans said, adding that the conversations around environmental justice are typically “white washed” compared to those who the issues actually impact. “Most communities that are environmentally impacted are Black and Brown. How do we re-center lifting up those voices versus an adversarial relationship with our local industry partners.”
Robinson said that supporting reliable public transportation services will help address air quality concerns in the district.
“We have so much that we need to do to improve our transportation systems especially right now with the complete collapse of public transportation. That is actually a huge threat to the quality of our air quality. The more people who are in individual cars who are driving on their own, the more air pollution there will be from the roads,” she said, adding that helping individual homes improve air quality should be a focus.
Singh said that there must be a balance between protecting air quality and jobs.
“Environmental health is public health for everyone. I would support stronger monitoring, faster reporting of violations that would occur and investments into cleaner energy and green spaces,” Singh said.
Fire safety addressed by District 4 candidates
District 4 candidates discussed fire safety, given that the district abuts the wildfire-susceptible areas of May Valley and El Sobrante Valley, and how they would improve it.
Gallon said that she would want fire inspectors to visit residents prior to fire season.
“Making sure that we have a way to keep our weeds hydrated and working with the local fire departments and inspectors to make sure that if a fire did break out, it would not become a wildfire because we have the resources to stop it,” she said, adding that she would work on evacuation plans for the district.
Pursell said he would advocate for investing more into the Richmond Fire Department’s fire stations while working with Contra Costa County.
“A lot of the areas where we are going to have wildfires are in the county and are adjacent to the city,” Pursell said. “We can be looking at preventative solutions now like natural fire breaks and transitioning from a lot of the western grasses to the native grasses which are able to make it through the drier periods.”
Bana, who has advocated for fire safety in the first during her first term as council member, pointed to her role as the founder and chair of the West Contra Costa Fire Safe Council. She also said that, through her efforts, the city hired four arborists during her term.
“Basically it has been the preparation and planning of all the stakeholders and residents. Stakeholders like the city, county, East Bay MUD, East Bay Regional Parks and PG&E, we hold them accountable and residents, we educate them,” she said. “I’ve had the city and county install fire danger signs to educate the public on red-flag days, initiated the fire-wise (program in) communities in the El Sobrante Valley, brought Measure X vegetation services to the city and provided guidance to public works regarding the role in wildfire safety and preparedness.”
