Petition to Reconstitute the Pt. Molate Community Advisory Committee

We, the undersigned residents and community leaders of Richmond, believe this selection of appointees to be fundamentally flawed and unrepresentative of our city, and call upon you to reconstitute the Committee in a manner that is transparent and absent of political, economic, and ethnic bias.

The Mayor's office claims it engaged in "broad outreach" to the community in the search for candidates. Unfortunately this appears to have been limited to handpicked residents and a one-sentence announcement to the Richmond Neighborhood Coordinating Council (RNCC). The new committee is even today not listed on the City website, nor is there any information about a search for candidates.

More importantly, there doesn't appear to have been any outreach to the 33 registered neighborhood councils in our city, making this “broad outreach" for Committee candidates better described as “incredibly narrow”. Our neighborhood council (NC) system is an indispensable part of our representative government and City outreach efforts typically involve them directly. Department heads, City Council members, even the Mayor’s office, all make presentations at individual NC meetings to ensure the public is as informed as possible. Controversial topics such as Pt. Molate are likewise presented at the NC level to ensure widespread community buy-in, and a committee that will significantly influence the outcome of this project is certainly no exception.

This absence of community outreach is best illustrated by the attached map which shows the Committee appointees residing in the wealthiest enclaves of our City, leaving enormous swaths of Central and North Richmond without a voice at the table. Insufficient outreach has furthermore resulted in a Committee that is overwhelmingly White, leaving the African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians of our diverse City grossly under-represented.

Questions of representation, race and class are not the only concerns with the Committee appointments. A full one-third of the 19 appointees are activists in the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), the Mayor's core political accomplices. Many are listed as her political supporters. Nearly one-half the appointees are members of Citizens For a Sustainable Point Molate (CFSPM), an organization that has the admirable but not impartial goal of preserving open space at the Pt. Molate property. And finally, one-half of the appointees have either endorsed each other or live at the same address.

These political and personal ties reveal an enormous risk for bias and collusion in a process that should represent all residents of Richmond fairly and independently. Some appointees have already declared a predisposition on this issue which suggests they will not be open to other ideas. The imbalance of race, class, and the lack of widespread community representation only serve to further alienate our citizens from a decision-making process that will define Richmond's future. This is discriminatory and it is unacceptable.

This must be a Committee of the community and reflect a true cross-section of Richmond's population. Our ethnic diversity and neighborhood councils must be properly represented so that underserved residents stand equal with the elite. Political factions and their ideologies must be balanced and their advocates obliged to work side-by-side.

The appointees should possess unique skills and experiences to enrich and inform the decision-making process. This includes key individuals from the previous Restoration Advisory Board, specialists in historic preservation, enterprising leaders from our business community, and advocates from the blossoming environmental alliances in our city. Only by combining these diverse groups and individuals can we forge a consensus for Pt. Molate that is truly representative of us all.

We call upon you to reconstitute the Pt. Molate Community Advisory Committee in a manner consistent with these highest aspirations.

Analysis Of PMCAC Appointees

Map Of PMCAC Appointees