Housing Element returns; police to get 2.8% raise amid cooling inflation data; city to ramp up police-recruiting efforts with incentive program; Old Train Depot negotiations; more refinery violations
It will be a few days before I can get out a post on last night's marathon council meeting, but a few quick notes:
1) The meeting was dominated by community outrage over the latest refinery incidents. MRC officials received a tongue lashing (to put it mildly) by the community and council members, who made clear that after 13 months of incidents, they've lost faith in the refinery's management. That said, the City Council has absolutely no oversight over the refinery (that's the purview of the county and regulatory agencies), and some very important items of community concern that the City Council does have power over were sadly pushed back to late in the night and received much shorter shrift and public engagement.
2) As expected, the City Council adopted the revised Housing Element for submission to the state. Council members, particularly Satinder Malhi, made some powerful comments about the need for bold action on housing after years of inaction and the housing crisis growing more severe, and committed themselves to doing all they can to make the goals of creating affordable housing in the city a reality.
3) The Cannabis Ordinance issues were postponed to January, as the City Council wasn't able to get to that agenda item until about midnight. Public comment was allowed, and county Health Officer Dr. Ori Tzvieli, who spoke earlier in the night about the health concerns related to the refinery's releases, called in via Zoom at midnight to offer comments about the growing concerns around teen cannabis use and the importance of crafting an ordinance that takes those concerns into account and is aimed at protecting the city's youths from cannabis exposure. He pointed out that Contra Costa County has a 1,000-foot buffer between dispensaries and schools, compared to the state minimum of 600 feet, which is the case in Martinez.
It will be a few days before I can get out a post on last night's marathon council meeting, but a few quick notes:
1) The meeting was dominated by community outrage over the latest refinery incidents. MRC officials received a tongue lashing (to put it mildly) by the community and council members, who made clear that after 13 months of incidents, they've lost faith in the refinery's management. That said, the City Council has absolutely no oversight over the refinery (that's the purview of the county and regulatory agencies), and some very important items of community concern that the City Council does have power over were sadly pushed back to late in the night and received much shorter shrift and public engagement.
2) As expected, the City Council adopted the revised Housing Element for submission to the state. Council members, particularly Satinder Malhi, made some powerful comments about the need for bold action on housing after years of inaction and the housing crisis growing more severe, and committed themselves to doing all they can to make the goals of creating affordable housing in the city a reality.
3) The Cannabis Ordinance issues were postponed to January, as the City Council wasn't able to get to that agenda item until about midnight. Public comment was allowed, and county Health Officer Dr. Ori Tzvieli, who spoke earlier in the night about the health concerns related to the refinery's releases, called in via Zoom at midnight to offer comments about the growing concerns around teen cannabis use and the importance of crafting an ordinance that takes those concerns into account and is aimed at protecting the city's youths from cannabis exposure. He pointed out that Contra Costa County has a 1,000-foot buffer between dispensaries and schools, compared to the state minimum of 600 feet, which is the case in Martinez.