April 2025 Updates

April 2025 Updates

Hello, District 6 residents! I hope you are all doing well. This month, I want to update you on recent developments in Richmond, including street sweeping enforcement, upgrades on McBryde Avenue, and upcoming research to save $117 million in our city’s budget.

Street Sweeping Enforcement is Returning

After being temporarily paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, street sweeping enforcement will be returning later this month, which means ticketing will be beginning soon for vehicles blocking street sweeping paths.

Please check out this resource to find information on when street sweeping will pass your street so you can prepare to move any vehicles from the curb. 

For more information on general parking enforcement, please check out the Parking Enforcement Divison.

McBryde Improvements Funding Approved

(Click here for full March 11th agenda. Larger photo is on page 294)

Last month, the Richmond City Council approved funding for the McBryde Avenue Improvement Project, which will transform the avenue and add long-needed changes such as protected bike lanes, buffered zones, upgraded pedestrian infrastructure, and a traffic circle to enhance safety and access for all users. This project also includes lane reductions, curb ramp upgrades, high-visibility crosswalks, sidewalk extensions, and the addition of street trees to improve both aesthetics and the environment.

These improvements will help create a safer, more accessible McBryde Avenue, connecting neighborhoods to Wildcat Canyon Regional Park and enhancing multimodal transportation for everyone. I am excited for construction to begin soon so that McBryde can be safer for all forms of transportation. Thank you to the Public Works Department and the City of Richmond for helping acquire funding for this project. As your councilmember, I will continue to advocate for street improvement projects so that we can have the safe and green streets of the future that our community deserves.

Potential to Increase Funds from $550 Million Chevron Settlement

As your City Councilmember, I’m committed to ensuring that our city’s financial future is stable and sustainable. Recently, the City Council voted unanimously on my request to research an exciting opportunity to improve Richmond’s financial health and better serve our community. 

The City of Richmond currently has an unfunded actuarial liability (UAL) of $392 million for our two CalPERS retirement plans. Under the current plan, the city would pay off these liabilities over 20 years at a total cost of $652 million, including $260 million in interest. However, with the $550 million in Chevron tax settlement funds we’re set to receive over the next 10 years, we have the chance to pay off this debt much faster, reducing the total cost to $535.7 million. This would save us $117 million in interest payments alone.

By using these funds to pay down our pension liabilities in just 10 years, we can redirect the money that would have been used for these long-term costs into vastly expanding the services and investments from the Chevron settlement money. In other words, we have the potential to turn the $550 million of this settlement into $667 million in spendable resources. These funds could go toward enhancing staffing, improving infrastructure, and investing even more in projects that will make Richmond less dependent on fossil fuel industries.

As city staff continue to research this proposal, I am confident that this strategy to reduce long-term financial burdens and invest in Richmond’s future will create lasting benefits for our residents. This is a key step in securing a strong and sustainable Richmond for years.

Immigrant Advocacy Spotlight

I want to take time to highlight some of the amazing work happening in our city to advocate for and protect our immigrant community every single day.

Catholic Charities East Bay has been providing low-cost immigration services in Richmond, and over the last months has been a valuable resource for community members seeking support in navigating complex processes like naturalizations, green card applications, and other types of legal situations that are often inaccessible for our communities. 

Reimagine Richmond is a local movement advocating for alternatives to community safety in Richmond, including empowering our community against ICE through Know Your Rights training. So far, Reimagine Richmond has educated almost 1000 people on their rights and are in the community every day making sure that Richmond immigrants know how to protect themselves and their families in the case of an ICE interaction.

These are just some of the groups and people in Richmond fighting for our immigrant community. In these unprecedented times, the fight must continue every single day. As your councilmember, I am committed in this fight for our immigrants as well, especially as we begin to allocate $1 million towards immigration legal services in Richmond. 

Tiller Park Improvements

Finally, I want to thank our amazing D6 residents for organizing and inviting me to a community event last week to discuss improvements needed at Tiller Park. 

I am proud of the work already done to support our public spaces here in Richmond, and I am committed to making sure that green spaces across our city like Tiller Park are improved and upgraded. I am so grateful to everybody who showed up for this event, as well as everyone across District 6 sharing their vision for green, open spaces!

Contact Claudia Jiménez 

Richmond City Council District 6

I always welcome communications from constituents. The best way to reach me is via my city council email address: Claudia_Jimenez@ci.richmond.ca.us