Sail America boat show April 19-22 at Marina Bay and Craneway Pavillion

   RICHMOND - The Pacific Sail and Power Boat Show this year will run from Thursday, April 19 through Sunday, April 22 at the Marina Bay Yacht Harbor and the Craneway Pavilion.
     New boats - power and sail - will be on display both in and out of the water for show attendees to check out.

Marine products such as engines, solar panels, life jackets and electronics will be available at the show for review - and on sale - too.
     "We are pleased to welcome so many exceptional exhibitors this year, Katie Kelly, Sail America Associate Manager said.
     "They are showcasing the latest marine products, boats, technology and services."
     There will also be seminars on a variety of topics including how to prep for a cruising adventure and understanding the basics about tropical cyclones.
     This the third year of the boat show in Richmond. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Sunday the show also opens at 10 a.m. but closes at 5 p.m.
     For full information about tickets, events, social events and registering for seminars, check the Pacific Boat Show website here: BOAT SHOW.

RPD police captain says Pt. residents need to 'harden' homes to protect against theft

   POINT RICHMOND - A Richmond Police Captain Tuesday night told a Point Richmond audience that to protect against the property crimes that have seemingly been plaguing the community for months, residents will need to "harden" their homes and properties to make it more difficult for thieves to steal items.
     "We can't arrest our way out of the problem," Capt. Louis Tirona said.
     Tirona's comment came during an hour-long question and answer session with approximately 75 people gathered at the Point Richmond Community Center.
     The meeting with Tirona and RPD's Lt. Tim Gray was organized by Point Richmond resident and activist Jessie West to get answers from the police about a perceived uptick in property crimes as well as to put together a Downtown Point Richmond Neighborhood Watch.
     Tirona, who heads up the Southern District policing area of the city, said part of the problem is that it's likely the criminals now stealing items and breaking into homes are not local to Point Richmond or even necessarily Richmond itself, but coming in from other areas.
     "Criminals no longer stay in their own neighborhood," Tirona said. "They have gone regional."
     In response, Richmond Police are taking a regional approach to apprehending thieves, too, he added.
     But the exception to that might be the influx of homeless people, Lt. Gray said. In the last few weeks, the RPD cleared one homeless encampment adjacent to the Plunge.

Homeless encampment, since removed from The Plunge

     While the RPD hasn't officially concluded the increase in Point Richmond crime can be directly attributed to more homeless people in The Point area, Gray said there seems to be a "correlation."
     Several audience members cited instances in which they believed the RPD was not sufficiently responsive to calls to police for help - either in timeliness or in investigating and/or arresting suspects.
     Tirona urged community members to contact him or Gray directly with their concerns about any cases - an offer several residents took him up on during a break midway through the meeting.
     (Phone contact information and email links for Tirona and Gray follow this story.)
     Tirona also said part of the problem is that the "consequences are fairly light" even if a person is arrested and convicted for property-related crimes.
     Gray suggested that the group ask for a meeting with a representative of the Contra Costa County District Attorney's office to explain the process and court outcomes for persons arrested and convicted.
    Tirona said he would ensure that a DA's office representative would come to The Point for such a meeting. RPD Crime Prevention manager Michelle Milam made the same pledge after Tirona and Gray's session ended and the group met for another hour organizing a new Neighborhood Watch.

RPD CONTACT INFORMATION:

Captain Louis Tirona: EMAIL LINK
Tirona telephone: 510-620-6940

Lt. T. Gray: EMAIL LINK
Gray telephone: 510-620-6926

Uptick in local crime the subject of 7 p.m. meeting tonight at the Community Center

   POINT RICHMOND - A community meeting to talk about ways to combat the recent uptick in crime in Point Richmond will be held tonight in the Community Center on Washington Ave. beginning at 7 p.m.
     The event was organized by community resident/activist Jessie West.
West invited Captain Louie Tirona of the Richmond Police and Michelle Milam of the RPD Crime Prevention Department to attend and to hear concerns of residents.
     Tirona heads the Southern District (which includes Point Richmond) and allocates police resources.
     The meeting comes in the wake of numerous reports of crimes - many of which have been detailed on the social media site Nextdoor.
     The crimes have included an armed robbery, burglaries, auto thefts, bicycle thefts, computer thefts and other property crimes.
   

Michelle Milam

 Following the discussion with Tirona, residents are invited to stay and talk with Milam from crime prevention about organizing a Downtown Neighborhood Watch.
     West said she also hopes that existing Neighborhood Watch groups in the entire Point will send a representative to the meeting so the various units can determine how best to share information.

Parking & traffic in Point Richmond topic of April 10 meeting at Community Center

   POINT RICHMOND - A special two-hour meeting - specifically to discuss parking and traffic issues in Point Richmond - will be held Tuesday, April 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Point Richmond Community Center on Washington Avenue.
     "The meeting is just to talk about parking and traffic," Denée Evans of Richmond Transportation Services said. "Prior meetings have been too short."
     Evans made her comments during a presentation at the Point Richmond Business Association luncheon Thursday at the Hotel Mac.

Irene Hightower (L) with Denée Evans

     Her appearance had been scheduled to discuss a wide range of parking matters relative to the Point and also to explain the mysterious appearance - and quick disappearance - of four parking kiosks installed on Park Place several weeks ago.
     The kiosks were part of a planned paid parking pilot program that had been under discussion for months at both the PRBA and the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council.
     But Evans said that particular idea has been taken off the table.
     "There will be no paid pilot," she said.
    The sudden installation of the kiosks was the result of what Evans called a "perfect storm" of miscommunications - as well as "liberties" taken by the vendor, a company called Parkeon.
     "That will never happen again on my watch," she said.
     Evans also lined out some ideas being considered by the city - all of which will be up for discussion at the April 10 community meeting. One is to standardize the parking stall sizes on Park Place, Washington Avenue and Richmond Avenue. The slots now are different sizes - some as large as 24 feet.
     Another is to strategize how to deal with the anticipated big influx of vehicles - and people - as various approved residential developments are completed in the next few years.
     Outgoing PRNC President David Schoenthal is helping organize the April 10 meeting. He said there will be a professional facilitator helping run the meeting.

PRNC set to discuss Pt. Richmond homeless issue at Wednesday meeting

A homeless encampment near The Plunge in February

   POINT RICHMOND - The Point Richmond Neighborhood Council is set to hear from three people about homelessness Wednesday - a report from city crime prevention officer Michelle Milam,  at 7:40 p.m., Richmond Police Officer Vincent Martinez at 8 p.m. and Daniel Barth, a homeless community advocate at 8:30 p.m.
     The PRNC meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Point Richmond Community Center on Washington Avenue and is open to the public.
     "The Richmond Homeless Task force ... has been working diligently and tirelessly to figure out action-oriented solutions to homeless in Richmond that can be implemented now," Outgoing PRNC President David Schoenthal said in his agenda comments.
     Milam will be talking about the city's Homeless Task Force.
     Martinez will speak about working with homeless encampments.
 
   The PRNC was also supposed to hear a report about the four parking kiosks that suddenly appeared on Park Place in the downtown business district several weeks ago. The kiosks were removed only days later after a flood of citizen questions and complaints.
     That report was canceled last week.
     However, Denée Evans of Richmond Transportation Services is expected to attend the Point Richmond Business Association meeting Thursday at noon at the Hotel Mac to update attendees on city plans for a paid parking pilot program that - if implemented - will include use of kiosks.
     (To read a commentary on parking in the point, see: The elephant in the parking space.)

Paid-parking kiosks being removed, parking meetings planned for April

Friday by The Farm House

   POINT RICHMOND - The parking kiosks installed on Park Place late last Thursday are slated to be removed today.
     As of 1:30 p.m., one had been removed from in front of The Farm House.
     Richmond Mayor Tom Butt reported (via Nextdoor) that he had been informed by Lori Reese-Brown of the city manager's office today that the kiosks would all be pulled out.
     "The parking meters for the Residential Paid Parking Permit Pilot have been removed and the Pilot placed on hold for the Point Richmond Neighborhood pending additional community outreach to discuss strategies to reduce parking impacts," Reese-Brown wrote to the mayor.
     "I have conferred with numerous Point Richmond residents and we will convene meetings in April 2018 to resolve the issues around parking."
   The four kiosks were installed as part of a paid parking experiment that had been discussed on and off since last fall at both the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council and the Point Richmond Business Association.

Tuesday afternoon

      The experiment was to be limited to Park Place for 90 days.
     But within hours of the kiosks' installation, resident complaints began piling up about a lack of notice that the machines would be installed along with a wave of criticism about paid parking in general in The Point.
     Later this month Denée Evans of Richmond Transportation Services will be attending both the PRNC and PRBA meetings and is expected to discuss how the city will proceed with the parking issue.
     She is scheduled to speak at the Wednesday, March 28 PRNC meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Pt. Richmond Community Center. The following day she will be speaking at the PRBA at noon at the Hotel Mac.
   Links to previous kiosk stories published on the Point: PRNC President and Parking Kiosks installed

PRNC president proposes removal of the new parking kiosks in Point Richmond

   POINT RICHMOND - The outgoing president of the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council proposed Monday that the parking kiosks installed on Park Place late Thursday should be removed.
      In a posting on Nextdoor, David Schoenthal offered a six-point "road map" for calming residents who have nearly unanimously reacted negatively to the parking machines.
     His first bullet point says,"Have Parkeon immediately remove the kiosks."

One of kiosks was vandalized sometime Sunday
(Photo by Catherine Montalbo)

     The newly installed parking kiosks touched off a lengthy (and continuing) set of comments and responses on the social media site. Most of the commenters take issue with the unannounced installation of the machines as well as the idea of paid parking at all on Park Place, Washington Avenue and Richmond Avenue.
   The kiosks were installed only on Park Place as the first step in a paid-parking pilot project that has been the subject of discussions at both the PRNC and the Point Richmond Business Association since last fall. (See Point Richmond paid parking pilot - Oct. 27 2017)
     Although the kiosks are in place, they are not dispensing actual parking permits yet.
     The kiosks were installed by the Parkeon Company, a multi-national corporation that provides similar equipment worldwide for off and on-street parking as well as transit stops.
     Neither the PRNC or the PRBA formally endorsed the kiosks, though they have been mentioned by city staff at various public meetings as being part of a paid parking experiment. The installation came as a surprise to a number of city officials, including Richmond Mayor Tom Butt - a resident of Point Richmond.
     Schoenthal's other five road map points were:

     • Convene a new neighborhood colloborative solutions workshops focused on parking

     • Generate ideas

     • Recommend ideas to Planning Commission/City Council

     • If there are pilots/studies to be done, collect data

     • Come back and agree what should be done

     "There was a mistake done, let's learn from it," Schoenthal said.

   Deneé Evans of Richmond Parking Services is scheduled to speak at the PRNC meeting Wednesday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Pt. Richmond Community Center. She will also be speaking at the Point Richmond Business Association the following day at noon at the Hotel Mac.