Doria Robinson On Responsibility for Richmond's Future

After more than a decade leading Urban Tilth, third-generation Richmond resident Doria Robinson mounted a campaign to represent her southside neighborhood home as the City Council member for District 3. Her campaign priorities were housing, community schools, economic development, healthy neighborhoods, and climate justice and disaster preparedness. Robinson beat Oscar Garcia and Cortland “Corky” Boozé with 39.62% of the vote, according to Contra Costa County. She began her term Jan. 10. Robinson spoke with the Pulse ahead of her inauguration. This conversation has been edited.

Richmond Pulse: Tell us more about the priority projects you're planning for District 3.

Doria Robinson: There's five areas. Within those, there will be specific projects. One is housing for all. That breaks out into low-income housing, opportunities for first-time home buyers, and services for people who do not have a home. We have to stop turning our heads when we see encampments and treat it like a disaster.

Being on the Greenway all these years, you understand the depth of the mental health crisis. We have to offer transitional housing and humane, comprehensive resources. [We need] a better safety net so that people who were maybe evicted and had no family — we can get them back on their feet before they get dropped down that rabbit hole and traumatized and it's even more difficult to pull them out of it because of the mental health issues that come with long-term homelessness. We need to develop a comprehensive plan for Richmond, for West County. I don't feel like we should wait for the county. I love working collaboratively, but we shouldn't wait for someone else. We should put forth ideas. We should convene meetings. We should go after resources and research. The same thing with first-time homebuyers and renters who want to be homebuyers. I want to understand what exists, what could exist, what should exist and support policies that make sense.

RP: What economic development ideas do you have for District 3?

DR: There's big opportunities for economic development in District 3, in particular, with the Macdonald corridor. I'd love to convene meetings with small business owners along Cutting Boulevard and Macdonald Avenue and see what their needs are, what they feel like the pulse of the city is, and how support has been from the city. Do they know about existing programs? Are they helpful? What do they need to help their businesses grow? Again, it's research, checking on development projects. There's a few in motion. A few are stuck. A few have different issues. I want to understand what those issues are, so I can help get things unstuck and push back on things that maybe are not in the best interests of the community.

RP: As a council person, how will you approach Chevron?

DR: Chevron has a lot they could do to have the least impact on the people who live here. I think there's a lot they don't do, because it doesn't make it in their costbenefit analysis — like fixing that pipe that burst and caused the 2012 fire. I assume there are more pipes they could fix and upgrade to make things safer and healthier. They could think about a petroleum-free future. If we're going to really move toward saving the planet, we have to phase out burning fossil fuels. We just have to. They could be transparent about what it would take to decommission the refinery and have an exit strategy that doesn't leave us with a toxic mess.

My hope would be that they would be responsible tenants and clean up before they exit. Being entrusted with looking after a longer-term vision for the people of Richmond, it's our responsibility to make sure that happens. My role is to hold not just Chevron — because there's a number of polluting industries in Richmond — but to hold industries responsible for this longer-term understanding and vision of Richmond.

RP: What does your being on City Council mean for Urban Tilth?

DR: We've met with the city attorney on when and how conflict of interest could arise, [and] if it does, that I recuse myself. We've shifted our leadership structure within Urban Tilth. Directors can lead without me. Decisions can be made without me. I have to be careful about conflicts of interest. I think it means we won't apply for some grants that would normally be open to any nonprofits, because of the trouble it could cause, even though we should have full right to apply for them. We probably won't apply for any of those over the next four years while I'm in office, and that's fine.

RP: What opportunity comes with being a council member?

DR: There's opportunity to bridge gaps. I like to focus on projects. What are people concerned about? What do they need, and how do we get it to them? If we can listen to everyone's concerns and make progress and make sure people know we're making progress, then you can get out of your silo a bit. A lot of the silo has come from people not being heard, not being listened to. It's our jobs as new