Council Comments

Here are some issues people were talking about during public comment at the City Council meeting on Jan. 21, 2025.

Richmond Street Petition

Residents who oppose the proposed redesign of Richmond Street submitted a petition signed by about 140 people asking the city to work with them to reconsider the current plan and work with residents to explore alternatives.

“The petition has received overwhelming support, demonstrating our community’s strong feelings on this issue,” said a letter from the Richmond Street Neighbors Association. Residents went to 205 homes on their street. Of those who were home 141 (90%) were against the project; 10 residents (6.5%) said they were in favor and 5 said they were undecided.

“We hope to engage in a constructive dialog to…better address the concerns of all involved,” the letter said.

Seven residents spoke passionately against the Richmond Street redesign plan.

Catherine Baca, who used a walker to get to the podium, said the proposal to remove half the parking on the street and switch the parking from one side of the street to the other hampers access for people with mobility problems and other disabilities. It must be revised to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), she said.

“ADA accommodations must be made for the entire length of Richmond, and accommodations must be in place on both sides of the street,” she said.

She said people who don’t have disabilities now might experience them in the future.

“Can you guarantee that you will never break a leg or have a stroke?” she asked.

Ted Dehan asked: “Are you here to serve the interests of taxpayers who actually live on Richmond Street 100 percent of the time?

Inge Brust said, “The vast majority of our Richmond Street community is against it. ... Yet we have not been heard. You have not responded to our letters and emails...Will you be democratic and work with us or will you be autocratic?”

When public comment ended, Mayor Carolyn Wysinger suggested that residents check the project web site.

Reached by phone the next day, Shelby Holguin said the web site does not answer residents’ concerns.

Asked about next steps, she said: “We haven’t met to debrief but we definitely are not done with making our voices heard. We want to get a response from the city. We want to have a meeting with the mayor and the City Council members to discuss our concerns.”

Fire Safety Action Ideas

Four residents who belong to Make El Cerrito Fire Safe asked the city to do more to improve fire safety in light of the destructive fires in southern California.

Sue Duncan said the city could inform people about what can be done to protect their homes against fires and provide incentives for home hardening. Clearing a “zero zone” of five feet around buildings is a very effective strategy. Creating zero zones around city buildings would reduce risk of buildings igniting and serve as a demonstration of how it can be done, she said.

Gary Prost urged the city to look into the issue of hydrant water pressure. “Look into whether we have enough pressure if a number of fire hydrants are used at the same time.”

Prost also asked the city to do more to put parking restrictions in place on narrow streets during Red Flag days to clear the routes for emergency vehicles. The approach was tried last year on three narrow streets.

Jim Dolgonas urged the city to implement a recent state law that requires a seller or a buyer to meet local or state vegetation code within a year of escrow. In El Cerrito, Fire Marshal Chase Speckman is developing a certification to be used to document compliance, he said. A new city ordinance may be required, Dolgonas said.

Fully Electric New Construction

Bill Barish, a member of 350 Contra Costa, asked the council to consider passing an ordinance to make new construction all-electric. Although a court struck down Berkeley’s law requiring all new buildings to be fully electric, Contra Costa County passed an ordinance requiring "electronic readiness requirements for all systems." Instead of requiring immediate compliance, the ordinance requires new buildings to “include the ability to be either now or at a future time fully electric."

To hear the full recording of this City Council meeting, visit this link.

For more information about the Richmond Street redesign see our post dated Jan. 16, 2025.