MY PLAN TO CREATE A BETTER RICHMOND

By Gary L. Bell

• RESPONSIVE TO FAMILIES & NEIGHBORHOODS
• ATTRACT & RETAIN BUSINESSES FOR A STRONG & VITAL ECONOMY
• PREVENTION OF VIOLENT CRIME
• EDUCATION & CITY GOVERNMENT
• ENVIRONMENT & CITY GOVERNMENT
• NEIGHBORHOODS FOR ALL
• ARTS & CULTURE FOR STRONGER COMMUNITY
• AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The current City Council is dysfunctional and fragmented due to personal and partisan issues. As your new Mayor, I will build a united City Council by giving each Councilmember the respect they deserve as colleagues and focus on the individual skills and strengths that they bring. Once there is a unified Council, we can move forward to better serve the needs and concerns of Richmond residents.

My primary commitment as your new Mayor will be to keep the Council focused on the big picture of moving Richmond forward and advocating for you on the City Council. By having this focus, I can ensure that our City government will respond to families and neighborhoods in a way that increases the quality of life for all of us.

ATTRACT & RETAIN BUSINESSES FOR A STRONG & VITAL ECONOMY

Richmond has a long history as a business city, both nationally and internationally. Names such as Chevron, Kaiser, Jacuzzi, Safeway, and Pixar have called the city home. But recently Richmond has developed a reputation as a difficult place in which to do business. As your new Mayor, I want to reverse this unfortunate misconception. We must acknowledge that businesses are vital to the City of Richmond's ability to maintain infrastructure and services.

The City of Richmond should work to ensure that there will be an accountable and responsible economic development plan that will not only attract new businesses to relocate here, but also retain current businesses. This new economic plan will create local employment opportunity, and contribute to a strong and vibrant West Contra Costa County economy.

Attracting and retaining businesses in Richmond is central to generating revenue, and to addressing quality of life needs for residents. The best way to fight crime in Richmond is to develop and support a strong and vibrant business environment, which will produce jobs and strengthen our tax base. As a small business owner, I understand the value of a positive business environment as a tool to build a better community. I will invest your hard-earned tax dollars using the same no-nonsense practices that I have used to make my business a success.

PREVENTION OF VIOLENT CRIME

I am deeply aware and concerned that violent crime -- especially homicides and gun assaults -- is out of control in the City of Richmond. As your new Mayor, I will bring a new approach to alleviating crime.

There should be zero tolerance of the cowards who use guns to commit crimes, to hurt and maim. I am committed to getting these offenders and their weapons off our streets. I want the existing laws for gun free school zones enforced, and believe that we should consider gun free zones in other areas with high rates of gun crimes. I support the use of new technologies to enforce these gun free zones, and to seek out and identify offenders.

I support the enforcement of loitering, truancy, and curfew laws as ways to send a clear message of what is required to be a responsible citizen. Any effort on the part of myself as your next Mayor or the City Council to help the Richmond Police Department with ordinances should be explored.

The Richmond Police Department needs to have more special operations details at street level to directly confront gangs and organized crime. The Chief of Police and law enforcement personnel need all the support that I and the City Council can assemble.

I will work hard to direct State and federal attention to the formation of a multi-jurisdictional task force to work with RPD in the execution of warrants on wanted criminals. Combining assets will multiply our forces in fighting crime.

I will work closely with the City of Richmond's Department of Employment & Training. I will see to it that high-risk youth and adults are recruited, trained, and employed into long-term positions.

I will generate community support by seeking out other young, successful businessmen and women like myself who have improved themselves. They have the ability to reach the hearts and minds of high-risk youths who seek direction and hope from City Hall.

I will work to form a "High-Risk Youth Council" where youths and young adults can bring more focus and understanding to the problems they face in their daily lives. This High Risk Youth Council, in conjunction with the Mayor and City Council, can help assess where funding and services should be directed to better assist the needs of these youth and young adults.

EDUCATION & CITY GOVERNMENT

I am aware of the challenges that Richmond parents and students of the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) face. According to the California Department of Education, some of the lowest test scores in the WCCUSD are from students who attend schools within Richmond city limits. Meanwhile, some of the highest property taxes in the State with regards to WCCUSD infrastructure are paid by Richmond homeowners.

The WCCUSD should have an aggressive stance on learning standards that will elevate all students from K through 12 within the next 5 years in Richmond.

As your next Mayor, I will propose the formation of a Commission on Education, which 7will be the official liaison between the City of Richmond government and the Cabinet of the WCCUSD and the School Board of Trustees. The Education Commission will help shape school policies to ensure that our high school students are being prepared for college or university entrance and job readiness standards prior to graduation.

To ensure that the WCCUSD is more accountable and responsible in spending the tax monies of Richmond property owners, I will also propose that two City Council members from the Finance Committee and one City executive from the Finance Department sit on the WCCUSD Bond Oversight Committee.

ENVIRONMENT & CITY GOVERNMENT

As your new Mayor, my Administration and the government of the City of Richmond will meet the challenge to clean up past pollution, and bring an environmentally sound and `green' approach to how industries and corporations operate within Richmond.

I will work with State and federal environmental agencies to apply for the funding and technology to assist in cleaning up identified "Superfund" sites in the City of Richmond.

I will also work closely with business to help develop practices that will contain and reduce contamination into water, land, and air. At the same time, I will move for the City of Richmond to do likewise, taking the lead for other cities to follow.

While on the City Council, I was one of the main advocates in bringing solar energy to the City of Richmond. My Administration will place a strong emphasis on developing an even broader use of solar and other alternative energy sources. From the use of energy providers that utilize renewable resources to fueling diesel city vehicles with biodiesel, the City of Richmond will do its part.

NEIGHBORHOODS FOR ALL

For the past 100 years, the City of Richmond has been successful due to the families that have lived here. Strong, vibrant, and close, Richmond's working-class families are central to Richmond's history. Children, their parents, and their elders are the very essence of Richmond's social backbone, the neighborhood. However, over the past 25 years, the City of Richmond has neglected the wants and needs of everyday citizens in these neighborhoods. Unless it is election time or tax time, families remain generally ignored.

Now is the time to re-establish and reconnect with the families of Richmond, to hear their concerns and learn what their expectations are. Families must be brought back to the table with city government, as equal partners and stakeholders, because without them, the City of Richmond is no city at all.

As your next Mayor, I will initiate a massive outreach to all 39 Neighborhood Councils, the Richmond Neighborhood Coordinating Council (RNCC), and community advocates, activists, and organizers to listen to the goals for their respective neighborhoods. Once identified, I will direct City of Richmond infrastructure to fulfill both short-term and long-term objectives in a timely fashion.

Every voice has value, and every idea has merit. From child to parent to elder, male or female, young or old, I want to hear what you have to say. Your input can be the difference.

ARTS & CULTURE FOR STRONGER COMMUNITY

Richmond is an old California city with a long tradition in arts and culture. Over the years, we have witnessed an amazing colony of painters, photographers, actors, dancers, writers, musicians, and other creators call Richmond their home. We have outstanding artistic and cultural venues, such as the Richmond Art Center, oldest of its kind in the Bay Area, as well as the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts.

Arts and culture are alive and well in the City of Richmond, but the city government needs to place more emphasis on the promotion of arts and culture, now and well into the future, if we want them to thrive. We must take advantage of our National Historical Park designation as a way to showcase to the world the true character of pride and purpose in our city.

As your next Mayor, I will propose increased funding from the city's budget to both the Richmond Art Center and the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, so that they may continue to advance arts and culture in Richmond.

To better advise the City of Richmond government, I will move for a stronger Arts & Culture Commission. I will also enable the City of Richmond's Department of Parks & Recreation's division of Arts & Culture to play a leadership role. Combined, these commissions will be able to determine the best manner in which to better serve residents, change or expand programming, and thus best support arts and culture for Richmond.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Affordable housing is vital to building strong communities. Statistics prove that in areas of Richmond where crime is home ownership is low, crime is high, and vice versa. Thus, home ownership -- and the pride and responsibility that goes with it -- can be an effective tool to controlling crime.

As your next Mayor, I will work to direct resources into communities affected by low income and crime to promote home ownership. Other cities that have done so have witnessed decreases in crime and boosts to educational performance, and I believe that it can provide the same benefits to Richmond. Helping Richmond residents to achieve the American dream is one way to restore the pride and purpose that has faded from our city.