City Government

Richmond Town Hall Meeting on Eminent Domain

Published

11 years ago

January 3, 2014

By Jeff Wright

Stop Investor Greed sponsored a Town Hall Meeting on Dec. 1 a plan approved by the mayor and a majority of city councilmembers that could result in the seizure of “underwater mortgages” through the utilization of eminent domain.

The plan is highly controversial and has faced a tremendous amount of opposition in communities throughout California, Nevada and other states. Richmond’s mayor is aggressively promoting the program with the assistance of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA).

< p>Speaking at the town hall meeting, Councilmember Jovanka Beckles said that other cities would be joining with Richmond in the formation of a Joint Powers Authority to collectively move the plan forward.

At the meeting she was asked to identify the cities that will be participating with Richmond as part of the Joint Powers Authority but was unable to do so. The City of Richmond has reached out to other communities throughout the state of California and thus far not a single city has been willing to participate as a JPA partner with Richmond.

At its Dec. 17 meeting, the Richmond City Council passed a resolution that instructed city staff to continue searching for a JPA partner for Richmond.

Staff has already spent considerable time and effort over the past several months trying to secure a JPA partner for Richmond but to no avail. Is it wise for staff time to be consumed at the taxpayers’ expense on this unproven, controversial issue that has been rejected just about everywhere else?

Councilman Corky Booze said that he has repeatedly asked five basics questions that he can’t get answered that Richmond residents deserves to hear the answers.

What amount of interest will be charged to the citizens to re-do their loans?

How can the citizens of Richmond be protected if the city gets sued?

Will the lenders be able to loan citizens’ money living in a blighted neighborhood with bad credit?

Where are the blighted properties located?

What is the lowest credit rating required to get a home?

For information Councilman Corky Booze at (510) 501-0480 and Councilmember Jovanka Beckles at (510) 813-7008

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Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

5 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.