PNRC September 24, 2003
The Un-Minutes from My Point
Note: you can get the official newsletter by e-mail: contact Fred Frye at drfrye@sbcglobal.net. (At this month's meeting, Fred told me he's backed up on entering e-mail addresses.)
I counted 43 in the audience, plus board members and the beat officers.
I have some additional materials, including an aerial photo of the traffic corner in front of the Plunge; I'll upload them in a separate entry later this week.
The meeting began with extensive review and discussion of the minutes for the previous month; this concluded at 7:48, only after Jay Bett requested a change to the minutes regarding “spot zoning,” which he insisted he wasn’t doing; he said only one person had objected to his plans. This is technically correct if you account for the fact, as I reported, that I was not acknowledged when I asked to be recognized to comment, and I also joined that one other person in the vote.
It was reported that the wigwag money would be used to manage the wigwags. Good call! Now if we could get the federal government to use our tax dollars to provide services, we'd be in like Flynn.
Officer Lawson’s report
Officer Lawson is turning into a fine young police officer. He brought statistics and provided an excellent report. He noted that service calls were down, continuing a two-month trend.
On September 12, there was an incident on Scenic Ave I am completely clueless about, but it has something to do with local residents firing a gun in response to someone attempting to steal a car. Officer Joe Silva reported on this event. Some applauded, some castigated the vigilantes, and I sat with mouth open wondering about line of sight to our condo from the scene of the action.
Officer Lawson deserves style points for intoning, “You can replace a car, but you cannot replace a life." After an 8-year stint in the Air Force, few things scare me more than civilians with loaded pistols. Nothing more dangerous than camera phones should be hanging from the belt loops of local Dockers.
Note: need to contact Officer Silva? He informed us his cell phone is 510-774-6592. Thanks to Tom Butt, Officer Silva will soon be esconced near Starbucks—the other side of the olde-tyme jail. (Psst, Joe: Santa Fe Market carries nice donuts!)
Officer Silva is fed up with double-talking double-parking excuses. He “will not listen to a second one," nor should he. Whether in car or on foot, maneuvering around the Point during our version of "rush hour" is hairy enough without trying to crawl around double-parked cars.
The Safety Committee reported that October 15 , 7 p.m. is the next REACT meeting—7 p.m.—they are still looking for a meeting location. They asked me why I didn’t cover their activities! I apologized for my uneven reporting and encouraged them to submit more information. But y'know, folks, these aren't the official minutes, and this isn't the New York Times, either. It's just My Point.
Parliamentary Procedure
At some point in the evening we voted on a consent agenda! Still, better than average observance of the protocol. I've heard complaints after several meetings that so-and-so wasn't qualified to vote, and to settle this issue, at some point the PRNC might think about something like name badges or simple paper ballots to ensure that everyone present is a legitimate voting member.
WigWag Wonderful
On the actual details of what the plan is and what we voted on, I would like to see the PRNC's minutes, because it was confusing. I agree we need to straighten up the traffic nightmare in front of the Plunge, and the plan sounds good. We would gain 33 parking places, net, from this plan, it would preserve the wigwags, and straighten out the traffic mess in that part of town.
If the crowd was hesitant, it's partly because we didn't know what we were voting on and partly because some of us were concerned about delegating too much decision-making to the city. As the board prez said, “we’re troubled by the fact that what you refer to as ‘details’ loom big for us.”
I did glean that the city of Richmond placed a historical designation on the wigwags; Burlington Northern challenged the designation in superior court; the city filed with the court of appeals; and the Richmond city attorney knows a lot more.
In the midst of the confusion, the crowd laughed when the attorney commented, "As for the particulars, perhaps it would have been nice to have the drawing here today.”
Still, whatever we voted for--and I'd love to see folks tell us what that was--received 21 for, 4 against, 5 abstentions. So help me, I voted for it.
Note: the discussions about aggregate and the Port were tabled for a month.
Planning: Or So They Claim
Fred Arm reported about 130 Scenic, about a neighbor who brought an issue to the City Council regarding building on substandard lots. The gist of it had to do with poor notification, and that's not a new story. Good for Fred to pursue this issue. I'm hoping Fred shares his own thoughts with the Point.
The Environmental Justice Committee addressed the issue of Chevron taking over Point Molate.
Neighbors on East Scenic reported they were notified at 3 p.m. about street closings that day. They were encouraged to call Sergeant Silver, and to also call the Code Office, though at the second suggestion, at least two people sitting near me immediately muttered "good luck." It was noted that Tom Butt will be aware of this problem when he arrives home from vacation and can’t get to his house. Note: have a similar problem? Call Rich McCoy in Public Works, 620-6538.
RNCC—no report
The Safety Committee met in early September. Of interest: 2 fires on Nicholl Knob in the last two weeks; 2 incidents at Chevron; people called Chevron hotline and were told they couldn’t talk, there was a fire, and hung up. The REACT Web site has been updated, and can be accessed from http://www.pointrichmond.com. For incidents, tune in to 740 AM KCBS. A Safety Information Folder will be set up at West Branch Library.
It was now 9:30, and I couldn't keep my eyes open, so I left. I looked back to see light spilling on the dwindling group of citizens, watching over our needs, keeping the faith.
Posted by kgs at September 29, 2003 10:48 PM | TrackBack