June 17, 2025
City Council
DATE: June 17, 2025
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Councilmember Jamelia Brown
SUBJECT:
Develop and Launch a 6-month Pilot Program working-
titled, “Clean Richmond” Community Maintenance Crews
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The estimated $190,600 expenditure will require an appropriation from the General Fund or other available
funding sources as identified by City staff.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Across Richmond, particularly in historically underserved neighborhoods, residents have consistently voiced urgent concerns about the persistent accumulation of litter,
illegal dumping, graffiti, and unsafe conditions throughout our communities and in neglected public spaces. While
the City’s Public Works team remains dedicated and
responsive, the growing volume of day-to-day
maintenance demands has stretched available resources
thin, limiting the City's ability to address smaller, yet highly visible, issues in a timely and consistent manner.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: DIRECT staff to identify a funding source, and issue an Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify a nonprofit
partner to launch a 6-month pilot program working-titled “Clean Richmond” Community Maintenance Crew, which
will hire, train, and deploy Richmond residents to support daily cleanliness, blight reduction, and beautification of public spaces, particularly in underserved
neighborhoods, and report back to City Council with
quarterly progress updates – Councilmember Jamelia
Brown (510-412-2050).
AGENDA
REPORT
June 17, 2025
DISCUSSION:
Richmond’s neighborhoods are at a critical juncture. There is an urgent and growing need to address the daily accumulation of trash, illegal dumping, graffiti, and visible blight across communities, particularly in historically underserved areas. Although the City’s Public Works Department remains committed and hardworking, the rising volume of day-to-day maintenance needs has stretched available resources thin, making it challenging to address the increased visible issue with the frequency our communities deserve.
Environmental psychology teaches us a powerful truth: what we consistently maintain, we consistently value. This shows that consistent maintenance of public spaces not only improves aesthetics but also trains public behavior. Studies suggest that when residents regularly see clean, well-maintained streets and parks, they are less likely to engage in littering, dumping, or vandalism. This “broken windows” principle—originally coined by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling—demonstrates that clean, cared-for spaces reinforce positive community norms and expectations, while neglected spaces invite further neglect.
The Clean Richmond pilot program meets this moment. By hiring, training, and deploying Richmond residents to steward their own neighborhoods, we can immediately improve our city’s most neglected areas while transforming long-term community behavior. Clean Richmond is more than a beautification effort; it is a declaration that every neighborhood matters, every resident matters, and every block deserves to be seen, cared for, and protected with the intended purpose of:
Improving safety, cleanliness, and walkability of our neighborhoods, key corridors, parks, and alleys
Boost community morale and neighborhood pride
Provide meaningful employment opportunities, especially for residents traditionally marginalized from the workforce
Relieve Public Works from smaller daily maintenance tasks, enabling them to prioritize major infrastructure projects
This model builds on the proven success of initiatives like Urban Alchemy in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the Urban Compassion Project in West Hollywood, and Richmond’s own Pogo Park Maintenance Team— showing that consistent, community- driven stewardship can transform public spaces, reduce blight, rebuild trust in government services, and restore neighborhood pride.
By embedding visible, local maintenance crews, these initiatives have demonstrated lasting improvements in public safety, perception, and community engagement.
In addition to adult staffing, through our nonprofit management partner, Clean Richmond could offer high school students and youth on probation the ability to volunteer on weekends to:
Fulfill required community service hours
June 17, 2025
Develop a sense of civic pride and responsibility
Build positive connections with peers, mentors, and city leadership
This youth engagement component also supports the City’s maintenance efforts and empowers Richmond’s next generation by providing young people with meaningful opportunities to contribute to their community, develop leadership skills, and strengthen the City's investment in both its physical spaces and social fabric.
Through the Clean Richmond initiative, the City has the opportunity to immediately uplift our neighborhoods, restore visible pride in underserved areas, reduce blight across key corridors, and build a long-term behavioral shift where residents and visitors alike respect and care for Richmond’s public spaces—every day, on every block.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Proposed Clean Richmond Pilot Budget and Compensation Plan Attachment 2 – Proposed Timeline for Clean Richmond Pilot Launch