On the agenda: a data center ban, Polluters Pay funds and new police cameras

The Richmond City Council's first regular meeting after summer vacation has a full agenda Tuesday, with a temporary ban on new data centers at the top.

The council will discuss how to spend money from the Polluters Pay settlement. Police want to replace the city's Flock license plate readers with a new system from Axon.

The city hits pause on new data centers

The council will consider adopting a 45-day urgency ordinance that would temporarily ban new data centers while the city studies how, or whether, to regulate them. If approved, Richmond would become the second Bay Area city to adopt such a ban, after Oakley.

According to the agenda report, the city says there are no pending data center applications in Richmond. But the proposed ban comes after OpenAI leased a 202,000-square-foot warehouse at 1411 Harbour Way South.

OpenAI signs lease at Richmond’s Portside Commerce Center

A county property record shows that OpenAI OpCo LLC signed a lease recorded on March 9, 2026, for space at 1411 Harbour Way South in Richmond, the address of the Portside Commerce Center, a 202,371-square-foot industrial warehouse on the Port of Richmond that has been seeking a

Grandview IndependentSoren Hemmila

The council first directed staff to draft moratorium language in April, after the OpenAI lease became public. That set up Tuesday's vote on the actual ordinance.

Richmond proposes data center moratorium to study their impacts

Richmond city officials are proposing a temporary moratorium on data center projects to study their long-term impact on the community. The proposal scheduled for the April 21 City Council meeting […]

Richmond StandardMike Aldax

Communities for a Better Environment is organizing a rally at City Hall before the vote, according to a media advisory sent by Shiva Mishek, the group’s NorCal program co-director and a former chief of staff to Mayor Eduardo Martinez.

The coalition includes the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Reclaim Our Power, ACCE Action, Food & Water Watch and the Center for Biological Diversity. CBE Action, the group's advocacy arm, is fiscally sponsored by Beyond Impact, formerly Tides Advocacy.

Settlement spending: show me the money

The data center debate comes as some of the same environmental groups push the city to move forward on how it will spend money from the Polluters Pay settlement. Richmond expects to receive $550 million from Chevron over the next ten years under the settlement.

Councilmember Jimenez and Vice Mayor Doria Robinson are asking the city manager and city attorney to give the council a public update on September 22 on how the city plans to involve residents in deciding how to spend the money.

They want the update to include a report on Dalberg Advisors, the consultant the council authorized in April to run the community engagement process, along with a timeline and the current status of the settlement funds. They want monthly updates to continue until the process is finished.

Flock out, Axon in? police seek new plate readers

Richmond police are requesting the council's approval to replace the city's Flock license plate readers with a system from Axon.

Richmond council to weigh replacing Flock license plate readers with Axon

Richmond police want to replace the city’s Flock Safety license plate readers with a new system from Axon, citing problems with Flock’s equipment, repairs, and data-sharing practices. The Richmond City Council will consider the change Tuesday, along with a $3.5 million increase to Richmond’s existing

Grandview IndependentSoren Hemmila

The seat at the head of the table

The council will discuss three matters related to finding Richmond's next city manager during Tuesday's closed session. The items cover hiring an interim city manager, hiring a permanent city manager, and evaluating the city manager position.

City Manager Shasa Curl announced her retirement earlier this year. She has said she planned to leave after renovations were completed at Boorman, Wendell and Shields-Reid parks.

City Manager Curl announces retirement

Sasha Curl has announced she will retire after four years as City Manager and more than 20 years of work with the City of Richmond. The announcement came at the April 21 council meeting when Curl told the council she plans to leave upon the completion of renovation projects at

Grandview IndependentLinda Hemmila

Two of those projects are on Tuesday's agenda as finished. The council will accept the Shields-Reid Park Improvement Project and the Boorman Park Site Remediation Project as complete. Curl also announced a Wendell Park celebration on Tuesday, September 15, in her city manager report.

The $9.8 million problem

Richmond's core, day-to-day operations ran $9.8 million in the red this fiscal year, according to the staff report. Staff points mainly to personnel costs: city staffing grew from 581 full-time positions in 2020-21 to an estimated 679 this year, a 17 percent jump, while pension, health care, and other benefit costs climbed faster than revenue. The budget also relies on an assumed 12 percent citywide vacancy rate, worth about $16.5 million in savings, which will shrink as open positions, including those in the Police Department, are filled.

Lawyers get another $840,000

Four items on the consent calendar would increase the city's legal spending by a combined $840,000.

The increases include $250,000 for Liebert Cassidy Whitmore for employment lawsuits, $250,000 for McNamara Ambacher for police-related lawsuits, $300,000 for Oppenheimer Investigations Group for confidential personnel investigations, and $40,000 for Chiari Law, also for confidential personnel investigations.

The closed session includes two claims against the city from Kay Maher and Lynette Parker, three unspecified potential lawsuits, and labor negotiations with all six city employee unions.

RPD wants more tools

RPD is asking the council to approve a $1.2 million Peregrine Technologies contract for continued data integration, analytics, and electronic case filing services.

A $103,000 contract with Police Strategies would fund use-of-force analysis and create a public use-of-force dashboard.

HR is asking the council to approve agreements with the Richmond Police Officers Association for field training officer assignments and special compensation tied to CalPERS.

Cleaning up for affordable housing

The council will vote on an $80,014 contract with the Community Housing Development Corporation of North Richmond for environmental cleanup work at the future Bob Dabney Plaza, a new five-story affordable housing project at 100 and 106 Macdonald Avenue. The work would be paid for through the city's Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund.

The council will consider accepting the city's 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report.

Bikes, streets and parks

Several other public works projects are on the consent calendar. They include a $50,000 preliminary engineering agreement with BNSF Railway for the Downtown Point Richmond Bicycle and Pedestrian Connectivity Project, acceptance of a $311,931 grant for the Barrett Avenue Improvement Project, an extension of the city's StreetLight Data agreement, and the July 2026 abatement report.

A few more names to add

Mayor Eduardo Martinez has selected Free Brown and Theophilus Little for the Macdonald Avenue Corridor Task Force.

Gay Timmons and Jon Harrison are being reappointed to the Planning Commission.

TriDuc Tran and Jennifer Early are being appointed to the Richmond Fund for Children and Youth Oversight Board.

The closed session includes a real estate negotiation involving DiCon Fiberoptics for a building at 1689 Regatta Boulevard, which houses the Richmond Police Department.