RICHMOND – A vote on a tax measure that would have forced Chevron to pay tens of thousands and thousands of dollars more annually into Richmond's general fund has been placed on hold as a part of a $550 million settlement, a choice that drew disappointment from the measure's supporters but support from city and Chevron staff.
“The community of Richmond has started a movement that will resonate across the country,” Mayor Eduardo Martinez said during Wednesday's special meeting. “This is just the beginning.”
Council members met twice this week, in closed session on Tuesday and in open session on Wednesday, to debate the longer term of the ballot proposal. They ultimately decided to follow legal counsel's advice, withdraw the proposal from the Nov. 5 ballot and accept the $550 million payment from Chevron.
The payments might be remodeled the subsequent ten years under an agreement negotiated by an ad hoc committee consisting of Martinez, Vice Mayor Claudia Jimenez and Councilwoman Doria Robinson.
The decision reverses an initial vote in June that will have put a refinery tax measure, dubbed the “Poluters Pay Initiative” by activist groups, on the November ballot. Had the measure been approved by a straightforward majority of Richmond voters, it could have raised an estimated $60 million to $90 million in taxes per yr, depending on what number of barrels of raw material come to the Richmond plant for processing.
Proponents of the measure, the Poluters Pay Coalition, have argued that the tax would force Chevron to pay its fair proportion of taxes and compensate residents who’re among the many states most affected by asthma, in response to government data. The funds would even have helped finance a cleanup plan if the refinery ever ceases operations.
“Richmond voters deserve the opportunity to vote on this simple and groundbreaking measure, the Poluters Pay Measure, which would have held Richmond's biggest polluter accountable for over a century of health and climate damage,” Connie Cho, a senior policy adviser at Asian Pacific Environmental Network Action, said Wednesday. “It is unfortunate that the council caved in at the first whiff of a lawsuit.”
Kerry Guerin, an attorney with Communities for a Better Environment, also said supporters wouldn’t have brought forward the refinery tax in the event that they didn’t consider it could withstand a legal challenge. She urged the council to reject the agreement on Wednesday so voters can determine.
“Our campaign did not approach the city with this concept just to get Chevron to make a deal that would cost them pennies. I did not write this ballot bill and this tax ordinance just to get the city to settle for it,” Guerin said.
But on Monday, Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge John P. Devine partially agreed with arguments from the recently formed nonprofit Coalition for Richmond's Future and Chevron worker Daniela Dickey, who argued that the language on the ballot was misleading since it claimed that taxpayer money would fund various city projects without mentioning that a big portion of the final fund would pay for worker salaries and advantages.
The ruling would have forced the town to rewrite a part of the ballot proposal before it might be presented to voters.
Cho noted that the legal challenge doesn’t concern the validity of the tax measure. The Poluters Pay Coalition, made up of Communities for a Better Environment and Asian Pacific Environmental Network Action, also claimed that the measure has strong community support, and Chevron offered to pay the town half a billion dollars “rather than lose at the ballot box.”
“For generations, Chevron has reaped billions in profits while spreading disease and death in Richmond communities. Chevron has not only polluted our air, but our politics as well,” Megan Zapanta, Richmond organizing director for APEN Action and the Polluters Pay Coalition, said in a press release Wednesday. “We are disappointed that Richmond voters did not have the opportunity to vote on a measure that would have held Richmond's largest polluter responsible for over a century of health and climate damage for the next 50 years, not just the next 10.”
Meanwhile, members of varied city unions that when supported the tax initiative, in addition to Chevron employees, got here to each council meetings to praise officials for what they saw as a good compromise.
“The health problems caused by pollution in Richmond harm all of us, whether we live or work in Richmond or, like so many of our members, both. The way the workforce and residents of this city have had to go without has been shameful, and that's why it's so important that we were able to avoid lengthy litigation and reach this settlement,” SEIU Local 1021 President Greg Everetts said in a press release. “Together, we are paving the way for a cleaner, healthier and more equitable future for all who live and work in Richmond.”
The agreement calls for Chevron to pay $50 million into the final fund annually for the primary five years and $60 million for the subsequent five years. The city reserves the fitting to impose recent taxes on Chevron and other firms, however the settlement payments might be applied to the refinery's debt. Chevron must proceed to comply with the agreement even when the location near Point Richmond is sold to a 3rd party.
The city's legal team advisable that the council accept the settlement, noting that the town would likely face years of pricey litigation if it moved forward with the ballot measure. An outside attorney hired by the town pointed to a years-long legal battle within the Los Angeles County city of Carson, which passed a refinery tax in 2017.
Council members agreed and voted unanimously for the resolution, accepting the deal and killing the tax measure before Wednesday's ballot deadline. They also signaled support for the Poluters Pay Coalition's calls to form a community oversight committee to oversee the usage of the brand new funds and to make use of a few of the money to develop a just transition plan for the location's future.
“We need to put this money to work now. We need to start implementing just change now. There is so much work to be done,” said Councilmember Robinson, who noted that she grew up within the shadow of the refinery.
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