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Council Corner - Dick Kassis

John VanLandingham
Emeryville Connection Staff
June 2008

Emeryville, with its many retail centers, is fortunate to be both a regional and local shopping destination. They have helped transform a once blighted city into an environmentally clean and prosperous community offering a high quality of life, says Council Member Dick Kassis.

That development has allowed the city to grow to over 9,000 residents whose average annual household income exceeds $80,000, according to state and regional government sources.

Emeryville residents like getting quicker police response on non-emergency calls than residents in neighboring cities get on emergency calls. That is the result of a tenacious effort by the city to fully staff the police department, he said.

But the prosperity conferred by that development didn’t just luckily fall onto the one-square-mile city. It is the result of complex negotiations with developers, expensive environmental clean-up both by developers and the city and a willingness to change to accommodate new development, Kassis said.

Maintaining that quality of life in the current economic doldrums is probably the most critical issue confronting Emeryville now, he warned.

“The same question was valid before the economy turned as a bad as it has. It’s not a recent issue; it’s been here for quite some time. We have to be realistic about what we are seeking. Whatever we put on the list we have to figure out how to pay for,” he said.

Emeryville has plans for over $3 million in capital improvements, for which there is no money, he said.

Kassis said the city already is adjusting its two-year budget to reflect rising costs of fuel and other necessities coupled with a revenue slump. “Our expenses are exceeding our income and we are making adjustments from the reserves, but we can’t keep doing that.”

“Our money comes from the general fund and from redevelopment. Most of the general fund (about 70 percent) goes for police, fire and public works. The rest goes for other city programs and services such as the senior center, child development center, recreation and every department in City Hall,” he said.

Sales tax revenues, about 25 percent of the general fund, are flat and Kassis expects them to decline as the economy worsens.

Harking back to his earlier comment about police services, Kassis said the city last month swore in seven new officers filling all of its vacancies, but at a cost. Competition for police recruits is fierce and as one of its benefits, Emeryville offers a retirement package that allows officers to retire at age 50 and a multiplier of three for every year of service. That means an officer could retire at 75 percent of his or her pay after 25 years. The city must set aside retirement funds and pay current salaries and health benefits.

“We wanted to get top officers, people who are into community policing. As long as we have to pay that to keep our ranks filled, then I’m OK with that,” he said.

“It’s clear that the general fund is not the answer to acquiring and maintaining more quality of life, so we have to look at the other source which is the redevelopment agency. Over the years it has been the vehicle we’ve used to make the biggest improvements—parks, greenway, the cultural center, traffic calming, beautification, trees, you name it.”

The agency, however, is scheduled to terminate in 2026, he said.

Emeryville must establish now future sources of revenue that will continue to support the city’s prosperity and quality amenities, Kassis said.

He named four proposed major projects critical for ensuring its financial stability. They are The Gateway at Powell Street and Christie Avenue, the Market Place expansion, currently pending final review before the Planning Commission, the Transit Center on Horton Street, and Site B, the proposed extension at the north end of Bay Street.

“It is essential we do things necessary to make these projects work and derive benefit from them,” he advocated.

Traffic studies have shown that these proposed developments will worsen traffic conditions only marginally if some streets are modified to accommodate traffic caused by the developments, Kassis said.

At an earlier study session in March, the council reviewed consultants’ reports of these traffic effects and, on a split vote, accepted the staff’s recommendations to select from each those recommendations most suitable for Emeryville, he said.

In some cases, that means widening some streets or otherwise modifying them to accommodate more cars, trucks and buses. Other streets are recommended to be modified for the benefit of pedestrians and bicyclists, he said.

Kassis disputed comments sent to some residents about the traffic studies by Councilman John Fricke, whom he described as a foe of the proposed development.

He accused Fricke of sending residents misleading information about the council’s vote on the traffic studies and accusing council members of reneging on promises not to widen streets. The allegations contend that the majority of the council had agreed to wait until an alternative transportation study was finished before taking action.

“All of us on the council are increasingly concerned by the amount of misinformation he puts out. It’s deliberate on his part. He’s got something he wants to advocate and rather than give a balanced view, he tends to give a one-sided view,” Kassis said.

“His style is to present a one-sided approach. That is dangerous in a city without any newspaper except the Chamber of Commerce’s newsletter (The Emeryville Connection),” he said.

Kassis accused Fricke of being dogmatic about his positions and pushing one side of the story when it wasn’t even half the full story,

“That’s fine when you are a community advocate. When you get elected to the City Council there’s a responsibility and it’s not to put out misinformation. It’s one thing to take a side saying ‘I believe the others didn’t do right and you should support me by calling them (other council members).”

Kassis criticized Fricke for a series of e-mails Fricke sent concerning the council‘s vote on the staff recommendations to move forward with the traffic proposals.

“He said the council broke its promise at a September meeting and urged us not to move forward and to reconsider and change our minds because of this promise.

“The meat of that study was complete,” Kassis said.

What remained dealt with such things as light rail, expanding the Emery-Go-Round and other possible alternatives. All the completed studies show that if Emeryville doesn’t go forward with these changes, commute traffic cutting through Emeryville from the Bay Bridge will only worsen and the city won’t have the benefits of development, he said.

But Fricke accused the council of breaking a promise to wait until a study of all the alternatives was complete, Kassis said.

Kassis said the staff received two reports from its traffic consultants. One report focused on ways to move vehicle traffic more effectively through the city while the other focused on pedestrians and bicycles. In some areas the reports’ recommendations overlapped and in others they disagreed.

Kassis said the city staff recommended taking the best of each report and moving forward.

“John (Fricke) doesn’t want the four developments. So what he did instead was put half the story out to people that the council members promised not to act on the recommendations of one study until the other study was complete. That’s a half-truth and deliberate misrepresentation. It wasn’t worth going out stirring up people into thinking the council broke its promise. There was no specific promise. We did not say we would not widen streets. We said we would wait for the one report (about bicycles and pedestrians). We got it and the staff came up with the best of both reports.

“Misleading the people about the reality of the situation was an irresponsible act that does not serve Emeryville well regardless of the (critic’s) perceptions. My hope is a majority of residents will understand that in order to move forward and continue to provide for quality-of-life services that it’s necessary for us not to stagnate and we have to make compromises,” he said.

John VanLandingham is a writer for

The Emeryville Connection. Contact him at ecocnews@gmail.com