LBNL CHOOSES RICHMOND 

I received a call this morning from Paul Alivasatos, Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, informing me that they have decided to make the Richmond Field Station and the City of Richmond the home for their second campus.

I would like to thank the Richmond City Council for their enthusiastic support for this important economic development project, the many City of Richmond staff members who worked to provide technical support in the decision-making process, and the Richmond community for providing the warm welcome mat that was undoubtedly a major factor in their decision.

I will provide more details as they become available.  In the meantime, please enjoy this great bit of news and let's look forward to continued success.

Bill Lindsay

City Manager

Thanks to all who helped make this possible through letters, presentations, your presence at Richmond's rally, and leadership from  Councilmember Jeff Ritterman, Bill Lindsay and the city staff.

See RPA Statement  

FREE Community Film Show

AT THE RIVER I STAND

Memphis, Spring 1968 marked the dramatic climax of the Civil Rights movement.  This documentary brings into sharp relief issues that have only become more urgent in the intervening years: the connection between economic and civil rights, debates over strategies for change, the demand for full inclusion of African Americans in American life and the fight for dignity for public employees and all working people. Stirring historical footage shows the community mobilizing behind the strikers and organizing mass demonstrations.

Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Memphis as part of his Poor People's Campaign to expand the civil rights agenda to the economy…The film captures the deep sense of foreboding that pervaded King's final "I have been to the mountaintop" speech. The next day, April 4, 1968, he was assassinated. Four days later, thousands from Memphis and around the country rallied to pull off King's nonviolent march. 

Monday, January 23, 7 p.m.

1021 Macdonald Ave. Richmond, CA
Richmond Progressive Alliance Office

Discussion Leaders:

Rev. Phil Lawson, Amahra Hicks

Bobby Bowens, Whitney Dotson

You

Discussion to follow, light refreshments will be available.
Sponsored by the Richmond Progressive Alliance, Black Alliance for Immigration Justive (BAJI), Librarians for Intellectual Freedom, and the Peace & Freedom Party – Contra Costa County Chapter

Click here to download full pdf leaflet

RPA Endorses Millionaires Tax

The RPA endorsed the proposed California State Millionaires Tax at its December 13 Steering Committee meeting and  committed to work hard  for its success.  Called  “MILLIONAIRES TAX TO RESTORE FUNDING FOR EDUCATION AND ESSENTIAL SERVICES ACT OF 2012,” the initiative is backed by the California Federation of Teachers  and community groups like ACCE  and coalitions like Courage Campaign.

The main point of the initiative is to raise taxes on people whose incomes are greater than $1 million per year.   It is the logical correction to the rapidly growing inequality that the RPA has highlighted these last years  and is an obvious continuation of the Occupy movement and its  banner for the 99% against the 1 %.

As it stands now it appears that there are 4 ballot measures in the offing.  The one by Governor Brown with the support of the SEIU state council over the objections of several large SEIU local unions  supports expansion of the regressive sales tax with a tacked on high income increase.  It will cause some confusion.  Essentially, Brown is substituting his call for “everybody to make more sacrifices” for the demand that “it is time to tax the rich and move toward restoring equality.”  

For full-sized pdf of comparison click here

For full text of initiative

For more information: http://millionairestaxCA.com or Courage Camapign

Richmond Council Takes Action on Childhood Obesity and Sugar Drinks

The Richmond council has taken the first steps in a campaign to significantly improve the health of children. Key to the campaign are a pair of measures to reduce the use of Sugary drinks and increase recreation opportunities for young people. The December 6 Council meeting approved (Booze opposed, Bates abstain) a resolution directing staff to prepare measures for the November ballot. One measure places an added fee on sugar drinks to discourage their use. The other measure directs that the money raised goes to recreation, neighborhood gardens, and other youth projects.

Text of Council Resolution

Sugary Drinks and Childhood Obesity
This month's Archives of Pediatric and  Adolescent Medicine  focuses on new research about childhood obesity. Being overweight is now the most common medical condition of childhood. Nearly 1 of every 3 children is at risk of being overweight. Complications of obesity include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and many other health and social problems.

Sugar is like crack.

Or at least, the threat it poses to the health and well being of people in Richmond, California, is not far off from the threat posed by crack cocaine or other harmful narcotics, according to a recent report by the Contra Costa County health department, entitled “The Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption on the Health of Richmond Residents.”
Soda, says the report, is particularly addictive given how effective our bodies are at absorbing sugar, which can lead to obesity, which in turn causes us to be more susceptible to disease.

See fulll article in Richmond Pulse

Chevron-Man says: 

"SOMEBODY HAS TO SUFFER...

YOU DON'T EXPECT US TO"

There are a some folks who ask why RPA doesn't publish Chevron's point of view.  It must be that Chevron's full time PR staff, the millions for "we agree" ads,  promotion of charity events,  and even those "targetted" ads on your Facebook page when you look up RPA are not enough.  So when the RPA ran into Chevron-Man on the streets of Martinez soliciting more cash for the corporation, we asked him to tell his side of the story:

           Chevron USA, Inc. needs help. Here's our hard-luck story.

            Everybody who owns a property, a home or rents, pays property taxes. So do we, only we need our money back 'cause we are hurting for dough.  

            Granted, we're the richest corporation in California. Granted our profits have soared for each of the past years. Granted for eons we've gotten the benefit of the loopholes in Proposition 13. Granted we sit on some of the most valuable real estate in the bay.

            Our expert "cost segmentation" experts from "corporate" in San Ramon will gladly tell you that our Richmond refinery is actually losing money.

            So we're asking for a refund on our property taxes for 2004 to 2010 that will only amount to only, say, $168 million dollars.

            If we win, the City of Richmond, Contra Costa County, the WCCUSD, and special districts like fire, health and Community College will have to cough up, I mean, contribute to our economy.

            Speaking of donations, do you realize that last year Chevron gave away $3.7 million to charities? What we're asking back from you is a measly 25 times that amount.

Here's the good news, our $168 million tax refunds will result in leaner, smaller government and many public workers will get to spend a lot more time at home with their families.

These are tough economic times and somebody has to suffer. You don't expect a world player like Chevron to, do you? You've heard the motto - too big to fail? Meet its friend - too big to pay.

So do not attend the tax assessment appeal hearings in Room 107, Board of Supervisors room. (It's closed to the public anyway.)

            Do not discuss layoffs with your union. (It's such a downer.)

Above all, I hope you ignore these resolutions and protests asking us to drop our appeal. (Bunch of whiners.)

And thanks for putting our CEO, John F. Watson, ($13,987,263) over the top.

Your Pal at the Pump,

Due Process or Legal Bullying

Defenders of Chevron ask what is wrong with Chevron appealing for a reduction using the rules just as you or I would.   The difference is that it is not a level playing field.  You and I cannot afford the lawyers and experts that Chevron can to make the rules work for them.  The result is a system of rules which has helped a massive shift of wealth from working people to the top 1% over the past 30 years. The sco-called neutral rules magnify and increase--in a vicious circle-- Chevron's power.

One way that the 1%, like the banks and Chevron, get an ever-expanding part of the pie is their ability to do legal bullying. How this works:

• First they lobby extensively to get technical loopholes in laws that slip under the radar when they are passed.

• Then, they can hire expensive lawyers, "experts," and huge staff to use these loopholes to challenge county or city governments which cannot afford for defense of the public anything close to what the corporations can spend to make their case.

• And if by chance they should lose in the first round in courts, the corporations can appeal. In the meantime any money that is involved is put in escrow so that neither side can use it. Of course the corporations can easily afford this but the county and city cannot afford to wait years for their taxes. 

So the legal bully does not have to win their case in court--just use their deep pockets to force the city and county to settle. And then they can use their PR staffs to spin and cover what they have done
.
Chevron is using the same techniques as the banks are using in resisting regulation. The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) is forced to settle most of its cases with a slap-on-the-wrist for the banks because "it does not have the money or the staff to battle the deep-pocketed Wall Street firms in Court.”

It is unlikely that Chevron has a just case for its demands for a property tax rebate. It is likely pursuing this case to get leverage on other issues. But we will never be able to judge for ourselves since virtually all of Chevron's case is closed to the public because it contains "proprietary information."

Chevron is relying on its ability to financially overwhelm the County Assessor's office and bring pressure from county officials for a quick settlement. We have to mobilize the pressure of public sentiment against Chevron so it drops its bully legal attack.

Click here for Text of Council Resolution

RPA Welcomes LBNL Campus to Richmond

Green Campus/ Green Jobs for Richmond

The RPA strongly supports the efforts by the city of Richmond  to promote Richmond as the best place to locate the proposed Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories second campus.
 
We believe that this is an excellent fit.
 
We in Richmond are on the cutting edge of the green economy already.  We have won the Contra Costa sustainability award for the government sector.  We are number 1 in the bay area for solar installed per capita.  We have over 50 core green businesses, dealing with green products and services and countless businesses ‘greening’ their business practices in one way or another.

We have an internationally-renowned green job training program that specializes in training our residents in solar installation, weatherization, and green building practices. 

We have been designated an official ‘Green City’ in California and we are part of the East Bay Green Corridor which has been officially designated as a “hub of green innovation” by the State of California.  We have cutting edge ordinances, policies and initiatives in place and many more to come.

Richmond has excellent connectivity to the region and state through I 80/580 freeways, and BART/AMTRAK The soon to be re-constructed Ohlone Greenway and the Bay Trail offers non-motorized connections with Berkeley. The Bay Trail provides for excellent recreation and access to beautiful shoreline areas. Richmond has created ambitious pedestrian and bicycle plans, which greatly aid mobility and accessibility around Richmond for all modes of travel.

The location of the LBNL in Richmond fits well with our attempt to transform our economy to one based on 21st century jobs and the new green economy.  Not only will it provide direct jobs for construction and operation, but it will provide many indirect jobs though services required, spin offs,  and most importantly,  green oriented businesses choosing to locate nearby, attracted by this research center.

Richmond has informed and engaged residents who are eager to work with the City, LBNL and all other involved parties towards maximizing everyone's benefits from having LBNL located here.  If the Richmond Field Station site is selected, LBNL would have the opportunity to collaborate with Richmond's Southeast Shoreline Community Advisory Group, which has been studying this area of the city for the last six years and is well-equipped to partnering with experts from LBNL in addressing issues of existing toxins at the site.

We believe the commitment of the city to welcome good paying jobs, in a healthy environment, that contribute to protecting the environment and improving the conditions for humanity will be enhanced in this process.

We welcome the LBNL to Richmond.

-RPA Steering Committee 2/4/11
-illustration: David Moore