City Council — Tuesday, 20 October 2026
From the KCRT video of the meeting (about 7¾ hours), checked against the Council agenda, Oct 20. Minutes have not been posted. KCRT’s captions were posted after this digest was first written, and the digest was checked against them on October 22, 2026. Two points were updated (Housing Authority consent second; Y.4 roll call). Votes come from the clerk’s spoken roll calls on the video; the minutes will control. Times are approximate.
Attendance
- Open session before closed session (about 3:33 p.m.): Councilmembers Brown, Jimenez, and Wilson and Mayor Martinez present. Councilmembers Bana and Zepeda and Vice Mayor Robinson absent at roll call; Vice Mayor Robinson was noted present before the recess.
- Regular meeting (about 6:00 p.m.): all seven members answered roll call.
Closed session
- Labor negotiations (SEIU 1021, IFPTE 21, RPOA, RPMA, IAFF 188, RFMA) and existing litigation, Zhou v. City of Richmond, et al. One public speaker.
- City Attorney’s report at the regular meeting: “no final reportable action was taken,” and all items were heard.
Housing Authority (special meeting, about 5:55 p.m.)
- No conflicts declared; no Executive Director’s report; one open-forum speaker.
- Consent (M.1 Bay Hawk amendment, +$360,359 to $635,559; M.2 Net Electric amendment, +$100,000 to $200,000): approved, unanimous on the roll call, including the tenant commissioner. Moved by Vice Chair Robinson, seconded by Commissioner Jimenez, as announced by the clerk. Certified Resolutions 2232 and 2233 record the same eight ayes.
Agenda review
- No conflicts of interest declared.
- V.6.b (appointment to the Community Police Review Commission) was removed from consent at Councilmember Bana’s request; she said she had notified the Clerk by email the day before.
- Y.7 (Disaster Preparedness Commission) and Y.8 (armored-vehicle grants) were withdrawn by Councilmember Bana. She said Y.7 will return in a revised form after work with the interim City Manager and the Fire Chief, and that Y.8 was unnecessary because the Police Chief had already been authorized to pursue it.
- Y.2 (veterans housing at 338 Carlson Boulevard) was moved to November 17; the Council was told the presenters could not attend. It is the third meeting at which the item has been scheduled.
- Y.3 (Keller Beach sewer) was set to be heard directly after consent.
- Councilmember Bana’s proposal to move Y.4 (license plate reader study) onto consent was not taken up. The Mayor said new business would not be moved to consent, and a councilmember said moving agendized items to consent should not be the Council’s practice.
- Councilmember Bana’s proposal, which she said followed the interim City Manager’s suggestion, to move Y.5 and Y.6 (traffic safety) to November 17 was not adopted after a co-sponsor of Y.6 objected. The Mayor said the two would be heard together, with combined public comment and separate actions.
- A councilmember asked to pull V.7.a (PG&E fleet-electrification termination) but had not notified staff before the meeting, as the Council’s procedures require. It stayed on consent.
- Agenda changes approved, unanimous (moved by Bana, seconded by Jimenez, per the clerk’s correction on the video).
City Manager’s report
- Interim City Manager Mark Scott addressed prospective applicants for the permanent post and announced public input sessions on the recruitment: Zoom on October 21 at 5 p.m., in person in the Council Chambers on October 28 from 2 to 3 p.m., and Zoom on October 29 at 10 a.m. He also listed upcoming community events.
Open forum
- Eight in-person speakers. Topics included business attraction, police and crime figures, the Carlson Boulevard median, moving or combining agenda items, Council districting, a past proposal for an independently funded ethics commission, the armored-vehicle withdrawal, the Community Police Review Commission, and the Downtown Point Richmond connectivity (bike lane) project. The Mayor stopped one speaker from discussing a political mailer.
Consent calendar (about 6:43 p.m.)
- V.6.b was excluded from the vote.
- Approved, 7–0 on the roll call. Moved by Vice Mayor Robinson, seconded by Mayor Martinez. The certified resolutions for the equipment-rental contracts (172-26), the PG&E termination (171-26) and the Metrowalk bonds (170-26) record 7–0, no one absent.
- Items $100,000 and up as agendized: Liebert Cassidy Whitmore fifth amendment, +$475,000 to a total not to exceed $2,440,000 (term to June 30, 2027); Restoration Family Counseling Center, not to exceed $118,937.52 (Oct 25, 2026 – Oct 31, 2029); four on-call equipment-rental contracts, up to $500,000 per vendor and $2,000,000 in aggregate over five years.
- Also on consent: PG&E fleet-electrification termination, up to $80,000; Metrowalk at Richmond Station TEFRA bond resolution (150 affordable units); BiblioCommons, $76,500; September 15 minutes; five Mayor’s Office appointments and reappointments (V.6.a, c, d, e, f).
Y.3 — Keller Beach sanitary sewer feasibility study (about 6:44–7:55 p.m.)
- The Public Works Director and the consultant (BKF) presented. Staff said the Council adopted a 22-month moratorium on new connections to the line in April 2025, which expires in mid-February. The draft study’s 30-day comment period closed October 15, with about 26–27 comments.
- Consultant’s recommendation: build interim Alternative A1, a gravity diversion of about 16–17% of the line’s flow (about $800,000 on the slide; roughly nine to ten months to construct), and at the same time design a Group B final solution (replacement and rehabilitation of the shoreline pipe). Staff said the action required no immediate appropriation.
- Four public speakers.
- Motion: receive the presentation, direct staff to proceed with interim A1 and work on Group B for the final solution, and return to Council with the design “when we have a plan to fund the project.” Passed, 7–0 on the roll call. The mover and second are not clear on the video.
W.1 — Financial condition and Polluters Pay settlement funds (informational; about 7:55–9:03 p.m.)
- Finance Director Emily Combs presented audited General Fund results: revenues exceeded expenditures by about $13.1 million in FY 2022–23 and $8.65 million in FY 2023–24; FY 2024–25 ended with a deficit of about $820,000. Reserves were 25%, 26%, and 24% against a 21% Council target, about $62.8 million at the end of FY 2024–25. The FY 2025–26 audit is expected by late February or early March 2027.
- Settlement: two $50 million payments received (July 2025 and July 2026); $3 million allocated to Kids First; about $2.7 million in interest. Estimated combined balance as of September 30, 2026: $99.7 million, held in the General Fund pending Council direction. No allocation framework was presented.
- Asked by Vice Mayor Robinson whether settlement money had been spent to cover budget deficits, staff said not in the audited years, and that the current year cannot be certified until the books close.
- Dalberg Advisors: staff said the Council authorized negotiation of the contract in April 2026, that staff received a revised scope at about 2:30 p.m. on the day of the meeting, and that the contract and Dalberg’s community engagement plan will return on November 10. NHA Advisors is assisting with the independent financial review.
- Speaking first after public comment, Mayor Martinez said the settlement money is General Fund money and that calling it “polluters pay” funds is “misleading.”
- Five public speakers. No vote (informational item).
X.1 — Data center moratorium extension (public hearing; about 9:03–9:54 p.m.)
- Staff said the original 45-day urgency ordinance (No. 13-26 N.S., adopted September 15) expires October 30, that no data center applications are pending, and that extension requires a four-fifths vote.
- About ten public speakers (seven in person, three online). Those who spoke to the moratorium supported it.
- Councilmember Zepeda asked why the Council needed another urgency ordinance. Staff said the 45-day window did not allow time for Planning Commission review and two readings of a regular ordinance, that without an extension the City would lack rules for reviewing a data-center application, and that the extension takes effect immediately. Staff also confirmed the ten-day published notice for the hearing.
- Urgency ordinance extending the moratorium to September 15, 2028: adopted, 7–0 on the roll call. Moved by Councilmember Zepeda, seconded by Councilmember Brown.
- Confirmed by the Clerk’s certified copy, Urgency Ordinance No. 14-26 N.S.: adopted October 20, 2026; ayes Bana, Brown, Jimenez, Wilson, Zepeda, Robinson, and Martinez; no noes, abstentions, or absences. It extends the moratorium for 22 months and 15 days from October 30, through September 15, 2028.
Meeting extension
- Extended to 11:00 p.m., unanimous on the roll call. Mover and second not clear on the video.
Y.1 — On-street accessible parking (“blue curb”) program (about 9:55–10:48 p.m.)
- Public Works and its consultant (Fehr & Peers) presented a draft request-based program, including an illustrative application fee with a low-income waiver; staff said any fee would need a separate resolution after a hearing. Staff said more staffing would be needed to run it.
- Councilmembers spoke against charging a fee; Councilmember Bana supported a fee with a waiver. Councilmember Zepeda asked staff to post the updated presentation online (the version online did not match), to set a process for perpendicular parking, and to account for nearby bike lanes; he said he did not think the City should charge. Staff said it would work with the Clerk to post the presentation.
- Motion to receive the update and give direction, with the mover stating the direction as no fee: passed, 7–0 on the roll call. Mover and second not clear on the video.
Y.4 — Police Strategies LLC, license plate reader analysis (about 10:49–10:57 p.m.)
- As agendized: appropriate $20,000 to the Police Department and amend the contract by $20,000 for an analysis of license plate reader effectiveness, data retention, and sharing.
- Three public speakers.
- Motion (Councilmember Wilson): approve the item, amended so the consultant first sends the full Council a short “research design” stating how it will answer the questions, before doing the analysis. Passed, 7–0 on the roll call. Every member, including Councilmember Wilson, answered yes. The clerk did not name the second.
Not reached
- V.6.b (Community Police Review Commission appointment, pulled from consent).
- Y.5 (23rd Street safety measures) and Y.6 (citywide traffic-safety plan).
- Z, reports of officers.
Adjournment
- About 10:58 p.m., in memory of Mike Kinney, whom the Mayor described as a reporter and activist. Dates stated on the video: November 10 (Dalberg contract and engagement plan) and November 17 (Y.2).
Not yet confirmed
- All votes except X.1, pending minutes (checked against KCRT captions). X.1 is confirmed by the certified ordinance.
- Movers and seconds on Y.1, Y.3, and the meeting extension, and the second on Y.4. The clerk did not name them, and the captions do not identify the speakers.
- Whether V.6.b, Y.5, and Y.6 will be agendized again, and when.
- Whether November 10 is a regular or special Council meeting.
- The cost estimates for the Group B Keller Beach alternatives.
Sources
- KCRT video and captions, Council Oct 20
- Council agenda, Oct 20
- Urgency Ordinance No. 14-26 N.S., certified copy
- Certified resolutions, Oct 20: 170-26 · 171-26 · 172-26 · Housing Authority 2232 · 2233
- Council minutes archive (no Oct 20 minutes yet)
- Granicus meeting video archive