Showtime Tuesday!

Grab the popcorn and candy, Tazer Faithful! It's once again Meeting Night for the City of Richmond, and weekend developments may feature prominently...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TWO FIRINGS BY CITY ATTORNEY PERPLEX RICHMOND OFFICIALS

By John Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Several Richmond officials said they were shocked to learn city attorney John Eastman fired two of his assistant attorneys Friday for undisclosed reasons.

In an action that some city officials are calling "The Friday Night Massacre," Eastman fired assistant attorneys Wayne Nishioka and Rachel Dragulovich.

Nishioka was the acting city attorney during late 2003 and early 2004 after longtime city attorney Malcom Hunter retired. As the interim city attorney, Nishioka was considered to be forthright and accessible. Nishioka stepped down from the post in April 2004 for a medical leave. Most recently he had been working on the Quiet Zone project aimed at reducing train noise.

Dragulovich was assigned to the Department of Community & Economic Development and worked on the complex transfer of Point Molate from the Navy to Richmond.

Eastman, who came to Richmond from Redondo Beach in November, refused to comment on the firings Monday. But in an e-mail to Mayor Irma Anderson and the council members, Eastman said Nishioka and Dragulovich were not fitting in.

"As you know, I was hired by the Council to take the city attorney's office in a new direction," the e-mail reads. "After working with my staff for well over six months, I have come to the conclusion that despite my best efforts, two attorneys simply are not making, and cannot make, the transition from the 'old ways' to the new."

Eastman says in the e-mail that the firings were the result of close work with Cynthia O'Neill and that he followed her advice "to the letter." O'Neill is an attorney with the San Francisco-based law firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, which has been contracted to help Richmond with labor issues.

Redevelopment Director Steve Duran said he was surprised to hear of the firings. "Rachel was doing an excellent job," he said.

Contact John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or at jgeluardi@cctimes.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Tazer is likewise perplexed, and draws your attention to the phrases "transfer of Point Molate" and "not fitting in." As we like to ask around Tazerville: Is there money in it?

And with that prelude concluded, we take you to the main attraction known as The Agenda, which we'll start off with the usual howler...

"The City Council's adopted Rules of Procedure recognize that debate on policy is healthy; debate on personalities is not. The Chairperson has the right and obligation to cut off discussion that is too personal, too looud, or too crude."

In closed council session, the seemingly usual array of labor negotiations, but then Item #3 is new and unusual: "Liability Claims" against the City. Wonder what that could be all about...

Open session starts with a "Study Session" to explore the "development of proposed November ballot measure updating business license tax structure - Vice Mayor Viramontes". The Tazer wonder if "updating" means "to put the squeeze on," especially in terms of small and medium size businesses. For this, there's no need to ask: there's $$$ in it!

Next up, Redevelopment. First (and only) item: "ADOPT A RESOLUTION – authorizing the expansion of the current Façade
Improvement Program boundaries..."

No dictionary should be required to know that a "façade" is the front of a building, usually superficial and decorative. The Tazer finds this oddly fitting work for an entire agency of the City of Richmond...

Only once the agency as a whole meets do we seem to get to some "meat": "Direct staff to release a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and Home Investment Partnerships Act (HOME) Program funds for the 2007-2008 program year..." Sounds functional enough, and the Tazer hopes that funding is put to good use on more than just "façades."

In redevelopment agency/city council joint session, the Tazer spies $: apparently, A&B Construction might be getting a raise of $110,000 -- from $496, 808 to $606,808 -- which will come out of the North Richmond Street Improvement Project's fund for "Potential Improvements." Are these the same "improvements" that the Tazermobile got to experience yesterday? If so, the Tazer recommends aluminum siding over your windshields.

Later, in public hearing, there will be discussion of "Purchase and Sale Agreement with Labor of Love LDC for properties proposed for the development of Macdonald Place Senior Housing." The Tazer likes the sound of resources being used to help seniors, who are sometimes overlooked or neglected, and that doesn't sit right in Tazerville. Still, we'll be keeping an eye on "Labor of Love LDC" just the same...

Finally, there comes the core climax, the city council meeting itself: A proclamation for 31 years on the Redevelopment Agency...contract for legal services to RPD...construction contract award for 2006 Pavement Rehabilitation project with Bay Cities Paving & Grading, Inc. for $7.2 million --

Tazermobile shudders at the prospect.

-- Cutting Blvd. engineering project...crosswalk warning lights...extension of "pavement design services"...Office of Violence Prevention --

HERE WE GO!

"APPROVE – a contract with The Mentoring Center to provide consulting assistance
in establishing the Office of Violence Prevention in the City Manager’s Department
– City Manager’s Office (Bill Lindsay 620-6512)."

The Tazer is intrigued, and will predict an appearance by David Muhammad, executive director of The Mentoring Center. We should see some very interesting interaction with the council on this matter.

Then there are a bunch of Memorandums Of Understanding (MOU) with unions, followed by "classifications" of job titles and establishment of "wages, salary, and compensation." Tazer asks: Bend or break?

And lo, what have we here? Under Part J: Ordinances...

"INTRODUCE AN ORDINANCE – amending Chapter 15.04 of the Richmond
Municipal Code (Zoning Ordinance) pertaining to cemetery, crematorium,
columbariums and mortuaries – Planning Department (Richard Mitchell 620-6706)."

This is another one we've all been waiting for, the possibility of the Neptune Society building a crematorium near North Richmond. The Tazer wants to know: Anyone for more mercury in their air? Well, how about just a little government slip 'n slide?

Nice try. Now that candidate filing season opened yesterday, the hunt is on and there's nowhere to run. Between now and November, the Tazer is keeping the lights on. Don't sleep.