22 Jan Richmond Chooses New Vice Mayor, Not to Buy Products Made With Prison Labor
Richmond Fire Chief Aaron Osorio spoke at Tuesday’s City Council meeting on the importance of educating residents to wildfire preparedness. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)
By Samantha Kennedy
The Richmond City Council on Tuesday selected council member Cesar Zepeda to serve as vice mayor for the next year.
Zepeda, who was first elected in 2022 to the District 2 seat, succeeds Claudia Jimenez in the role.
The decision, which Jimenez proposed, was unanimous.
“I think so, yes,” Zepeda said when asked for his vote on the nomination.
“I know so, yes,” Mayor Eduardo Martinez said.
In 2022, Zepeda initially tied with former Mayor Tom Butt’s son Andrew in the District 2 race, prompting a tie-breaker that Zepeda won. After a recount, Zepeda had three more votes.
His election made him the council’s first openly gay male member.
Zepeda also made runs for a council seat in 2016 and 2018 before the city made the move to district elections. Both times he lost while vying against a candidate pool of around 10.
Prohibiting products made with prison labor
Products created using prison labor, whether completely or partly, will not be bought by the city of Richmond going forward.
Alongside over 15 other consent calendar items, council members unanimously passed the change to align its “procurement practices with its dedication to social justice and economic equity,” according to the agenda report.
“There has been a growing concern about the use of prison labor in the production of goods,” council member Soheila Bana, who brought the resolution forward, wrote in the report, “which may not always meet the voluntary and fairly compensated labor standards that Richmond supports.”
It comes several months after California voters rejected Proposition 6, which would have banned forced labor in prisons and jails by removing language in the state’s constitution that allows involuntary servitude as a form of criminal punishment.
Four Bay Area counties were among those who rejected it. In Contra Costa, that was almost 52% of voters.
The use of incarcerated firefighters during the fires in Los Angeles, which has ranged between 700 and 1,100 within the last month, has also drawn some to criticize the practice for its high-risk to individuals and low pay.
Those firefighters, for example, are paid between $5.80 and $10.24 per day, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which co-operates the fire camps.
Though the ban applies to future contracts, current contracts the city has will be reviewed and “take appropriate steps to transition away from any agreements that do not comply with the values expressed in this resolution.”
It’s unclear how many of Richmond’s suppliers use prison labor, but the report says the financial impact could mean “higher rates” in the event alternative suppliers are chosen.
Wildfire preparedness
Richmond will conduct community outreach and create an ad-hoc committee made up of council members and city staff to improve wildfire preparedness following the fires in Los Angeles.
Bana, Zepeda and council member Jamelia Brown will serve on the ad-hoc committee.
“After the L.A. fires that have been devastating and killed many people, people are questioning our preparedness in terms of our ability to respond to a wildfire and save lives,” Bana said when introducing the item. “To that effect, I’m not asking our fire department or the office of emergency services to have all the answers or be prepared; I’m just asking what their needs and challenges are to be prepared.”
Bana initially brought the item forward for consideration, asking staff to present a comprehensive assessment of disaster preparedness and give recommendations on how to improve. But council member Doria Robinson said the ask felt like it was “sprawling.”
“I would really like to not not do this work,” Robinson said, “but maybe have a different process to focus in on the immediate response around wildfires.”
Richmond Fire Chief Aaron Osorio also recommended focusing on one aspect surrounding disaster preparedness. In the case of wildfire preparedness, he said, educating residents would be more beneficial.
“As climate change and the impacts of climate change progressed, we have obviously seen more significant wildfire activity in California,” he said. “But there are a lot of questions and concerns that members of the community may have that probably would be better answered by having some community meetings.”
Osorio said there has already been much done in terms of wildfire preparedness in the city, including a 2020 wildfire prevention plan and inspections of parcels in high-severity fire zones.
“A lot of what we want to get done is best by educating folks and trying to convince them that this is the best way to protect yourself,” he said. “At the end of the day, it has to be something that’s accomplished by the entire community. One person cutting their weeds, cutting their trees is not going to save the neighborhood.”
No Comments