On the agenda: AC Transit budget deficit, homeless outreach and policing proposals

Richmond City Council will weigh a wide-ranging agenda Tuesday that includes a warning about looming AC Transit service cuts, a $1.66 million expansion of homeless outreach services, an independent fiscal review of a proposed police funding charter amendment and a $120 million fire station bond headed for the November ballot.

AC Transit hits a fiscal pothole

AC Transit representatives are set to brief the council on a four-year, $200 million deficit that could force service cuts of up to 16 percent and layoffs affecting as many as 300 employees. The agency's pandemic-era emergency relief funding has run out, and a recent state bridge loan offers only temporary relief. A possible November ballot measure could provide additional funding, but without it, agency officials say cuts are unavoidable.

The presentation is informational only, with no vote required, and it comes as the fourth and final item in the council's Study and Action Session, behind the Budget Session, a lengthy 12-department consent calendar and three earlier discussion items.

According to the presentation, AC Transit connects riders across 13 cities and eight unincorporated communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, including 30,000 student trips systemwide on a typical school day.

How Richmond gets to work

Share of Richmond, California workers age 16 and older, by commute mode

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020–2024, Table S0801, Richmond city, California.

Census figures show only about eight percent of Richmond workers use public transit to get to work compared with 74 percent who drive or carpool and 14 percent who work from home. Still, more than three percent of Richmond workers report no vehicle available at all, leaving them with few alternatives if bus service is scaled back.

Putting a price tag on policing

The city plans to spend $24,500 on an independent fiscal analysis of a ballot initiative that would remake how Richmond funds public safety. The Public Safety Funding and Minimum Staffing Charter Amendment, filed by Richmond resident Michael Taylor Caine with backing from the Richmond Police Officers Association, would dedicate up to half of the city's locally generated unrestricted revenue to public safety and require the city to maintain a minimum of 187 sworn officers, a level well above where the department stands today.

The item sits on the consent calendar, meaning it's slated to pass without discussion.

Richmond doubles down on homeless outreach

Also on Tuesday, Richmond wants to renew and expand its contract with Contra Costa County's Coordinated Outreach, Referral, and Engagement (CORE) program, the county's primary field-based outreach system for unsheltered residents. The partnership dates to 2018, when it was created to satisfy a city ordinance requiring outreach to unhoused residents before any encampment abatement. Staff says the current service model doesn't meet growing demand, and some of the temporary funding backing it is set to expire.

The new three-year contract, not to exceed $1.66 million, would expand outreach coverage from its current schedule to six days a week, add a full-time outreach specialist and a full-time care coordinator, and set aside $100,000 a year in housing stability funds. Over the past year, CORE recorded 3,855 contacts in Richmond, reaching 1,153 unduplicated clients, including 927 individuals and 86 families. More than 61 percent of those served reported a disabling condition, and more than 27 percent had experienced homelessness for over five years.

Council writes its own rulebook, quietly

Another item would formally confirm an ad hoc committee, made up of Mayor Eduardo Martinez, Vice Mayor Doria Robinson, the city attorney, city clerk and city manager, to draft changes to the council's own rules of procedure. The agenda report does not spell out what those changes would involve, describing the committee's added task only as "other operational refinements."

The committee has 60 days from its formal appointment to bring recommendations back to the full council.

Salt, sugar, fat and a stalled checkout ordinance

Staff will also update the council on the city's draft Healthy Options at Point of Sale ordinance, which would set nutrition standards for checkout-area food and beverage displays in large retail stores. The ordinance, modeled after a similar Berkeley policy, was introduced in 2022 but has stalled since then; it would apply to stores larger than 2,500 square feet and limit high-sugar and high-sodium displays at checkout.

City staff has revised Richmond's draft to mirror a Contra Costa County ordinance adopted last October, a move that could allow the county to handle enforcement, something Richmond reportedly lacks the staff capacity to do on its own. Council will be asked for direction on the partnership before staff returns with a final ordinance.

Ciclovía's fifth act, still no ending

Rounding out the Study and Action Session, the 23rd Street Ciclovía Pilot Project returns for a fifth time, having been continued from the council's June 16, June 23, July 7 and July 21 meetings. Council will discuss the item without additional public comment, since input was already taken at the July 7 meeting.

Fire bond inches toward the ballot

Council will also give second-reading approval to a $120 million fire station bond measure headed for the November 3 ballot, along with a companion resolution setting the election's procedural details.

A side letter with the Richmond Police Management Association would adjust special compensation practices tied to the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

An after-the-fact construction agreement with NEMA Construction, for $236,258, would approve a traffic calming project the contractor already completed.

A construction agreement amendment for the Boorman Park revitalization project would add $590,000, raising the total payment limit to $4.41 million, with authority for change orders that could push the total as high as $4.85 million.

Staff is recommending the city manager extend the land use agreement for The Lot, the downtown Richmond food court, through December 2028.

Council will vote on a resolution opposing new coal and petcoke export facilities in the Bay Area and urging stricter regulation by the Bay Area Air District, sponsored by Councilmember Sue Wilson and Mayor Martinez.

A separate resolution backing SB 954, sponsored by Councilmember Cesar Zepeda, would support tightening state environmental review exemptions tied to habitat protections and industrial pollution.

The city wants to approve $350,333 in ECIA grant funding for 13 local organizations for the coming fiscal year.

A sole-source, three-year contract worth $144,000 with Logik Systems would fund e-discovery software to help the City Clerk's Office manage public records requests, subpoenas, and other regulatory matters.

Staff also want to accept an additional $800,000 in Caltrans grant funding for the Richmond Art and Lighting Project, bringing total funding for that grant to $1.1 million.

Council will also adopt, on second reading, zoning amendments governing accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units, updating city code to conform with state law.

A $350,000 contract would fund an economic revitalization strategy for downtown Richmond and the Macdonald Avenue corridor, with the city manager authorized to negotiate with the top-ranked firm.

The city wants to accept $204,505 in state grant funding from the California Highway Patrol's Cannabis Tax Fund program to address impaired driving.

A sole-source contract worth up to $165,000 with Jason Corburn would continue data system development and reporting services for the city's Office of Neighborhood Safety.

A $202,000 contract with Ground Works Consulting would analyze Richmond's Residential Rental Inspection Program and develop a plan to bring administration and inspections in-house, a shift away from the city's current outside management of the program.

A $63,000 amendment with Hatchuel Tabernik & Associates would extend project evaluation and reporting services for the Housing Division's Encampment Resolution Funding projects, raising that contract's total to $203,000.

The city wants to approve a $625,000 fleet management contract with Motive Technologies for tracking and software services across Richmond's vehicle fleet.

Council will also authorize temporary housing for two Richmond police recruits attending the South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Academy, at a cost of about $31,000.

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