Sallie DeWitt has a vision I think is worth a look.
She imagines the Point's center triangle cleared out. The fire station and community center have moved to a new site close by. In their place is a well-planned space that--thanks to the good design and other forces--is dominated by people most people would be happy to sit next to.
My interest is in creating a town center. I see the center triangle—all of it—as a park complete with a bandstand, lawns, gardens and park benches—a beautiful gathering space for our community, space for our art and music fairs, a farmers' market and the like.
On ordinary days, you may also imagine a free wi-fi hotspot where laptop-equipped office workers are scattered among locals on a lunch break, tourists, and others referred here by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.
Just as important will be the fact that we will be able to stand on one side of the triangle and actually see to the other side. This will be very unifying for our community. Not being able to make visual contact across our little town center—the present situation—fragments our community. We now have to literally walk around the triangle to put on our events.In addition to the center-triangle town center, I also see a new community center, library and fire department located outside the center triangle but close by. We need these, of course, and the plan to create a town center will include these—in addition to parking. It's a question of where these fit into the picture.
Once the ball starts to roll, I believe answers to these questions will be found. Nothing is impossible, in my view. It's a matter of money and attitude.
Naturally, skeptics like me have questions. "Great! Who's going to pay for all of that?," we might ask, followed by, "Who's going to persuade the city to sell the library?"
Yes, those are good questions, and I think Sallie might have an answer or two. But for now let's take another moment to shut up and dream. After all, her dream isn't even on any ballot yet. And if you ask me, the Vision Thing always comes first.
It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat, a Republican, or a Traditionalist for Puce. If you live in Earthquake Country, you could be troubled by yesterday's revelations in the front page story of the New York Times, "When storm hit, National Guard was deluged too."
Among other morsels, the story says the Guard has available for use just 34 percent of its equipment--in the whole country. The rest is in Iraq. So are 3,200 New Orleans guardsmen, leaving 5,700 ready for hurricane duty.
I wonder what would happen after a major quake here. It's all the more reason to get your supplies ready, your plans set, and the REACT training behind you.
Simple correspondent Walter Connolly has filed this report from his bunker overlooking the Point Richmond Gateway project and the controversy surrounding it.
The planning design review approved a park, but the permit set of drawings has replaced the park with parking. The parking there would count toward the required parking for the for-profit project (the "plunge parcel" project)!
Tom Butt has gone after people who have changed their plans after review and how he is doing the same thing??
I have asked the planning department about this change from design review to the permit set and they have not reponded...yet!!! It takes about two minutes to see that it has changed.
Point Richmond Gateway, LLC and a non-profit subsidiary control the blocked-off section of Cutting and the vacant triangular lot across from the Plunge. The company has big plans.
It took a lot of work--much of it in volunteer time by the Point's own Fred Arm--but the federally-mandated quiet zones may be here by early November.
See the Contra Costa Times story.
Now that Mother Nature has our attention, let's take a moment to think about crank-powered radios. The Wall Street Journal's personal-technology columnist Walter Mossberg likes the Eton Multi-Purpose Radio FR300, sold by Hammacher Schlemmer. The crank keeps the radio powered up and charges cell phones too (in case a cell-phone tower survives).
He also reviews other radios, and he offers suggestions to keep iPods and other essentials going. (I'd like to hear the people who look forward to the "peace and quiet" after an earth-shaking disaster say that after about the third day.)
Paula Asmus, leader of the first attempt to establish a business improvement district in the Point, has announced a meeting to organize a second attempt. The meeting is to be held October 25 at 5:30, and the location hasn't been set. Everyone's welcome to attend.
Wherever it's held, I plan to be there. As I've said before, I think the principle is good. But you know what they say about the details.
Watch for new hell fire rising over the Point Richmond Gateway plan. Walter Connolly posted this today as a comment to "Is Point Richmond Gateway, LLC a simple company?" He alleges the plan is illegal.
This lacks any study of the impact of the trainmaster's building on Washington School, the Plunge, Cafe Altura, Pratum Books, the Point Bar and all the other business in that area. It is crazy...There should a environmental study: parking, traffic and other concerns...This project did not go to the Planning Commissiom, and therefore the neighbors did not get any notice of what was happening...This is illegal. Any structure needs to go to Planning...More info to come...Walter (This version of his comment was slightly edited for ease of reading.)
As if the recent news from New Orleans weren't bad enough, on Saturday morning I thought all over again about disasters that will sooner or later fall upon us here.
I attended my first REACT class, taught by Sandi Genser-Maack. "Richmond Emergency Action Community Teams" training is all part of an ongoing program offered free by the city.
We thought all about personal preparedness. Hitting this point first reminds me of the instruction you hear before a flight: if the oxygen masks fall down and you're with a kid, put the mask on yourself before you put a mask on the kid. In other words, you're no good to anyone else if you're a victim.
I've got five more sessions on my way to being what the trainers call a "CERT," someone who responds to emergencies before the pros arrive. The delay could be hours, days, or weeks.
Walter Connolly, who reminds us he is not a "simple" architect, further wants to know what this means on the June 7 City Council agenda:
I-6. RESOLUTION - authorizing execution of a Disposition and Development Agreement and an assignment of the City's option for the purchase of the Plunge parcel to Point Richmond Gateway, LLC - Staff Recommendation: Adopt the resolution - Community and Economic Development (Steve Duran 307-8121).
Plunge parcel? Does that involve the the Plunge itself? Or is this description simple shorthand for the indescribable parcel now reserved for the Trainmaster Building? Simple Architect Tom Butt could speak up and save us more work, but let's not count on it. He's probably still not in the mood.
I happen to like the Point Richmond Gateway design. But not everyone agrees.
Archtect and Point landowner Walter Connolly asks good questions about it in his comments to "What's up with Tom Butt?" For one thing, Walter wants to know where his tenants will park, not to mention Plunge users when the pool reopens. I haven't counted, but he says the project reduces parking in the immediate area from a potential 60 spaces to a design for just 12.
He invites everyone to attend a protest this Monday at noon. Bring your lunch.
What visions Katrina brings. We in the Point gaze upon New Orleans and some of us see ourselves in a similar fix from the Hayward Fault, a Chevron release, terrorism, or who knows what else.
So it seems like a good time to finally take the R.E.A.C.T. training. I’ll be in the class that begins this Saturday and continues through October.
A new class opens tonight--and organizer Kathryn Gerk says there's still room. Call her at (510) 620-6866 to sign up. Each of the five class sessions is held both Wednesday nights from 6 to 8:30 and Saturday mornings from 9 to 11:30, your choice. For more details, see Point Richmond Online's page devoted to R.E.A.C.T.
I was talking to a long-time Pointer about Tom Butt the other day. He said, "I'm ambivalent about Tom. He's been courageous. He's often been the lone dissenter on the City Council. That takes courage. And then he does something like the email to Masquers."
And then there's the grouchy comment last week to "An aspirin for N.I.C.E." He wants me to simply shut up and fall in behind the N.I.C.E. boosters, who "know something about business," while he refuses still to avoid hard questions.
The man is frustrated, that's clear enough. Point business people, who do indeed know a thing or two about business, voted no on his cherished N.I.C.E., 70 percent of them!
Still he mocks my curiosity about how business improvement districts have worked elsewhere and what experts have to say about them. He calls Talk of the Point "negative" and suggests, "Try being a community booster for a change." And still, 40 days after his attempted extortion of Masquers, we've heard no apology. In fact, he told the Contra Costa Times he'd do it again.
It's strange behavior for a man who calls himself a leader. Any politician more worth holding office at least tries to persuade, to take opposing viewpoints and turn them around. I wonder if Tom knows just one style: sheer bullheaded stubbornness.
I hope he learns a sweeter tune in time for The Return of N.I.C.E. It would be too bad for the valiant efforts of other volunteers and for the Point--so much in need of a boost--if a good idea had to struggle again under the weight of such "leadership."