1 Richmond Recreation & Parks Commission
MINUTES
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 6:00 PM
To view a video of this meeting click on this link:
https://richmond.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=37
CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Meeting called to order by Chair Joey Smith at 6:11 P.M.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Joey Smith, Soheila Bana, Allison Blakeley, Brendan Havenar-Daughton, Maryn Hurlbut, Catalin Kaser, Pardip Saini, Eleanor Thompson
ABSENT: None
Vice Chair Brendan Havenar-Daughton requested that the Commission embrace a sincere acknowledgement that the City of Richmond was situated on land occupied for thousands of years by Huichin: Confederated Villages of Lisjan, Chochenyo Ohlone Territory, made up of the seven Tribes of Lisjan (Ohlone), Karkin (Ohlone), Bay Miwok, Plains Miwok, Wappo, Delta Yokut and Napian (Patwin) whose territory included Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Napa and San Joaquin counties. He invited everyone to contribute and explore a practice of acknowledgement to help lift up the needs, issues, and asks of indigenous community members and evolve in a way to stay relevant to the current struggle and goals of indigenous community members with a specific focus on exploring pathways to return indigenous lands to indigenous hands.
Chair Smith provided a brief overview of the meeting procedures and the Mission of the Recreation and Parks Commission.
AGENDA REVIEW
Motion by Commissioner Hurlbut to approve the agenda, as shown, seconded by Commissioner Kaser, and carried unanimously by a voice vote.
OPEN FORUM
Bruce Bayaert, Chair of Trails for Richmond Action Committee (TRAC), representing the Richmond Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, presented graphics for new signs and their proposed placement along the Bay Trail urging those using the trail to be kind and promote harmony on the trail.
Cordell Hindler, Richmond, reported that the City Council had continued the presentation of the reorganization chart to its November 16, 2021 meeting.
2 ANNOUNCEMENTS THROUGH THE CHAIR
➢ Chair Smith advised that the Next Commission meeting would be held on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 via Zoom.
➢ The balance in the Commission Trust account was reported to be $413.08, with an additional $1,000 in the Trust for the RTA Snow Ball account.
➢ Commission membership remained the same with no changes at this point.
➢ Anyone wishing to speak during this meeting was encouraged to send an email to [email protected] by 12:00 P.M. the day of the meeting with the subject line “rec&parks commission speaker.” State your comments as “Open Forum” or “Staff Reports” as an example of the topic to be discussed.
AD HOC COMMITTEE STATEMENTS
Urban Green Canopy Committee (Brendan/Catalin/Maryn)
Vice Chair Havenar-Daughton reported that the Arbor Day event had been held last month.
Commissioner Kaser stated that 23 trees had been planted; City staff and representatives from Richmond non-profits had participated; the event had been well-attended; and the Forestry Advisory Committee had taught everyone how to plant trees.
Vice Chair Havenar-Daughton advised of the Committee’s interest in looking at an update to the Parks Master Plan with a specific focus on the Richmond Greenway.
Willie Mays Day (Maryn/Eleanor/Joey)
Willie Mays Field Committee (Maryn/Eleanor/Joey)
Commissioner Thompson reported that the process was ongoing for the naming of Nicholl Field Diamond #2 for Willie Mays, with a meeting, details yet to be determined, to be set up with Councilmember Bates, Mayor Butt, and Willie Brown. The naming was expected to take place next year on Willie May’s birthday.
Commissioner Hurlbut advised that she had the original documents related to the original request for the field naming that she would provide to staff for the record.
Dominique Roache-Green stated that the Mayor was happy to sponsor Willie Mays Day and it would be placed on the City Council agenda closer to the date. She confirmed that a baseball diamond could be named or renamed for someone still living.
Associate Commissioner Committee (Maryn/Allison/Joey)
Chair Smith advised that a whole curriculum had been developed and submitted for the Associate Commissioner Committee.
LaShonda White, Interim Library and Community Services Director, explained that she had been provided a number of documents related to the Associate Commissioner proposal, had reviewed those 3 documents, thanked the Commission for all its work. She said she understood the objective of the program was to allow youth an opportunity to participate in city governance and community service operations. She explained there was nothing to prohibit young people from serving on the Commission and from being a voting member, and understood through Ms. Roache-Green that the current age limit was 16 years of age. She emphasized that other bodies already existed that may meet the Commission’s objectives.
Chair Smith stated the process had been proposed prior to some of the youth organizations referenced by Ms. White. She clarified there had been no intent to restrict voting; there had been challenges with administrative support and there was a desire to identify the process of getting the work done.
For next steps, Ms. White explained that staff time was limited; she recommended ways to meet the objectives through existing programs with staff assistance for outreach and potential mentorship to interested youth.
On the discussion, it was clarified that since the proposal had yet to be submitted to the City Council, it could be modified. The City Attorney’s office would also have to approve the legality of the proposal prior to making recommendation to the City Council.
Chair Smith stated that the Associate Commissioner Committee would re-discuss the proposal.
CONSENT CALENDAR
APPROVE minutes of the October 6, 2021 meeting.
Motion by Vice Chair Havenar-Daughton to approve the minutes of the October 6, 2021 meeting, as submitted, seconded by Commissioner Saini, and carried by a voice vote with abstentions from Commissioners Blakeley and Hurlbut.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS FROM STAFF
Library & Community Services Department – an oral and visual report was provided by Ranjana Maharaj, Community Services Administrative Manager, who responded to comments from the Commission.
Public Works Department – an oral and visual report was provided by Greg Hardesty, Superintendent, Parks and Landscaping, who responded to comments from the Commission.
Bruce Bayaert referred to a comment about signs to warn of potential coyotes in parks and stated the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) had a sign at the Dotson Family Marsh Trailhead to warn owners to keep their dogs on a leash because of coyotes, which sign could be used as a model.
PRESENTATIONS
There were no presentations.
DISCUSSIONS & ACTION ITEMS
4 Approve the Juneteenth Freedom Mural Project at the South 37th Underpass and Approve a request to rename the South 37th Underpass to Juneteenth Freedom Underpass – Stephanie Ny
Stephanie Ny, Community Services Department, presented the item on behalf of the Pullman Neighborhood Council to request approval of a proposed Juneteenth Freedom Mural Project and to rename the South 37th Street underpass to the Juneteenth Freedom Underpass. The mural project had already been approved by the Public Arts Advisory Commission (PAAC) and the Richmond Arts & Culture Commission (RACC). She presented photographs of the site, described the design process, noted the project had been expected to be completed by October but the timeline had been extended, and the mural would also honor Jerrold Hatchett, instrumental in the City of Richmond’s Juneteenth celebrations.
Michelle Milam, a member of the Juneteenth Committee; Jan Mignone, President of the Richmond Coordinating Neighborhood Council and the fiscal sponsor for the proposal; Madalyn Law, President of the Park Plaza Neighborhood Council; Jonas Juhlin, a member of the Pullman neighborhood committee; Naomi Williams, President of the Pullman Neighborhood Council; Clarita Griffin from the Pullman Neighborhood Council and a member of the Beautification Block Party and the Mural Committees spoke in favor of this item describing efforts put forward by Jerold Hatchett to keep Juneteenth alive, and to acknowledge Richmond’s rich history to Juneteenth. The speakers also suggested the shaded area and the opposite side of the underpass should also be addressed in the future.
Winifred Day, Arts and Culture Manager, stated the project had been approved by the PAAC in September for the concept design and no other parts of the project had been discussed.
Jerrold Hatchett was available to speak but could not connect with the Zoom meeting.
Motion by Commissioner Bana to approve the Juneteenth Freedom Mural Project at the South 37th Underpass and to approve a request to rename the south 37th Underpass to Juneteenth Freedom Underpass, seconded by Commissioner Kaser. Motion failed since the Commission had not received and reviewed a copy of the initial renaming documentation. Chair Smith expressed concern moving forward with that action and recommended moving forward with the mural. She said as soon as the documentation on the renaming was available for review, then the Commission could pursue the renaming portion of the proposal.
Motion by Commissioner Bana to approve the Juneteenth Freedom Mural Project at the South 37th Underpass, seconded by Commissioner Kaser, and carried unanimously by a voice vote.
The renaming portion of the request was moved to the December meeting.
Receive an update regarding the City’s Parks Master Plan – Staff
Ms. Maharaj noted that Mr. Hardesty was no longer at the meeting to report on the item, although she was aware that funding would be needed to hire Marcia Vallier as the landscape architect to conduct the Master Plan upgrade, which involved a lot of community input.
Vice Chair Havenar-Daughton referred to the goals associated with the Master Plan and asked for an 5 update on the progress that had been made with those goals in the last ten years.
Commissioner Kaser recommended that items associated with City staff be clustered together early on each agenda to be more respectful of staff time.
The agenda was taken out of order at this time.
Create a Kiosk concept paper for a “Walk of Honor” to be installed as part of the Yellow Brick Road Commissioner Hurlbut provided a detailed background to the request to honor people with a walk of honor. She explained that because the Yellow Brick Road project had received approval and funding in the millions, Toody Maher had been contacted because she had been thinking of the same kind of honor. A concept paper had been proposed and the Recreation & Parks Commission had supported pursuit of an honors project.
Winifred Day, Arts & Culture Manager, sought more information prior to submittal to the PAAC and the RACC. She suggested that a member of the Recreation & Parks Commission attend those meetings to make a presentation when ready to do so.
Cordell Hindler, Richmond, liked the idea of a Kiosk and invited Commissioners to the Neighborhood Coordinating Council where a walk of honor had previously been discussed.
Commissioner Hurlbut clarified that no concept paper had been developed at this point and she recommended the designation of a Kiosk Committee to finalize the concept and explain the history of a potential walk of honor.
Chair Smith verified the formation of a Kiosk Committee, to be comprised of Commissioners Hurlbut, Thompson and Chair Smith.
Receive an update on the Statement of Policy and Guidelines for Naming or Re-naming of Parks, Facilities and Streets – Ranjana Maharaj
Ms. Maharaj presented the Statement of Policy and Guidelines for Naming or Re-naming of Parks, Facilities and Streets document.
Commissioner Hurlbut commented that the document being presented was not the latest that had been developed.
Ms. Maharaj described the changes that had been proposed and stated that once the document had been approved by the Recreation & Parks Commission it would go to the City Council. She said the changes will be incorporated with the most up to date version of the document and resubmitted for Commission review.
Update on Park Signage to include the following information – Greg Hardesty
Ordinance regarding dog leash and waste pick up by park users Posting multilingual signage (English/Spanish)
Signage regarding illegal dumping
6 Signage with QR Codes
Mr. Hardesty was not available but he had earlier advised that he had ordered park signage.
Coordinate open conversation on how the city can support the native stewardship of Ookwe Park
Recreation and Parks Commission
Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
Arts and Culture Commission
Planning Commission
Vice Chair Havenar-Daughton explained that Ookwe Park was under the stewardship of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and community. He recommended a conversation with the entities listed as to how to support the native stewardship of the park lands with the intent of exploring ceding the land to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust or other indigenous entity.
Ms. Day described what the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust was currently doing as part of Adopt a Park to maintain Ookwe Park along with the City’s maintenance efforts, and the RACC’s plans to finish the directional and didactic signage along with a plan to pursue some educational activities - a partnership that had been working well. She also noted that public schools were using the park as a field trip location.
Vice Chair Havenar-Daughton clarified that the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust had not made the request but he recognized a strong movement to return land to indigenous communities and described this proposal as a first step.
Update on Commissioners Term Appointments – Ranjana Maharaj
Ms. Maharaj advised that term appointments had been corrected for Chair Smith and Commissioners Hurlbut and Thompson at the October 19, 2021, City Council meeting.
Cordell Hindler, noted that there were two vacancies and he had two folks in mind to fill those vacancies. Chair Smith verified that the names offered by Mr. Hindler had yet to submit applications to the City Clerk.
COMMISSIONER LIAISON REPORTS
The Commission discussed the process for submitting Commissioner Liaison Reports and Comment and some Commissioners read their reports.
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
There were no other Commission comments.
AGENDA SETTING FOR NEXT MEETING
1. Request to rename the South 37th Underpass to Juneteenth Freedom Underpass; Commissioner 7 Hurlbut would provide color coding for the naming document to Ms. Maharaj.
2. A Kiosk Committee meeting would be scheduled to develop a concept presentation to be taken to the RACC
3. The status of potential traffic bumps outside Cheese Park would be clarified
4. Open discussion on the item related to supporting indigenous stewardship at Ookwe Park.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 9:44 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Anita L. Tucci-Smith
Minutes Clerk