Richmond, California
A civic pamphlet. Not a newspaper. No ads. Nothing for sale.
Publius
30 April 2026.
In the old stories, things happen in threes. The third brother finds the treasure. The third knock opens the door. Richmond has its own folklore, and in it the third time is when the Council finally approves what it was asked to approve the first time, at the same price, and then asks a new question.
On April 28 the SS Red Oak Victory came back. The contract was the same: Liftech Consultants, Inc., $299,797, for planning and preliminary design of the ship’s relocation, with a term ending June 30, 2027. It had been continued from December 16, from January 6, and from February 3, when the Council sent it back “in two months” and asked for a cost-benefit analysis of keeping the ship, moving it, or returning it to its owners. This time the National Park Service’s acting superintendent for the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front park presented alongside the Port Director.
The motion, from Councilmember Bana with Councilmember Brown seconding, was to approve the contract as written. It passed 6–0, Councilmember Zepeda absent. The minutes then record that “the City Council requested a funding plan and a cost estimate to move the Red Oak Victory Ship.”
I read that sentence with real pleasure. It is the sound of a Council discovering, after four agendas, the question it should have asked in December. A design study tells you how to move a ship. It does not tell you who pays to move her. Now the City has bought the first and asked for the second. In fairness, that is the right order. It just took the long way around.
The same evening produced a more consequential vote. Item P.1 was an update on community engagement about “limited-term revenue,” the settlement money, and authority for the City Manager and City Attorney to negotiate and sign a contract with Dalberg Advisors. Back in January the Council had voted 5–1 to hire a consultant to ask residents how the money should be spent, with a report due May 26. Here was the consultant. The motion, from Councilmember Jimenez with Vice Mayor Robinson seconding, passed 4–2. Councilmember Brown and the Mayor voted no. Councilmember Zepeda was absent.
Note the dates. The consultant would be hired at the end of April to deliver, under the January direction, a report in late May. Either Dalberg works very quickly, or the date was never meant to hold. I suspect the second. Engagement takes as long as engagement takes, and the money does not spend itself while everyone is being engaged.
Also on the consent agenda that night was a fourth amendment with Pogo Park for the Harbour-8 Park expansion and its operations, raising the payment limit by $3,275,000, to a total not to exceed $12,430,725. I mention it only for scale. A park amendment worth more than ten Red Oak studies went through on consent without, as far as the minutes show, a word.
So here is the Richmond rule of three, stated plainly. Small, odd, sentimental things, like a ship, get argued over four times. Large, routine things, like a $12 million park contract, go through once. Uncomfortable things, like how to spend settlement money, get a consultant.
The next regular meeting of the City Council is Tuesday, May 5, 2026.
— Publius