Hey Modesto!

Gobble Gobble! Who's ready for Thanksgiving? It's time for family, food, and football - Best holiday of the year. Your City Council isn't in a turkey coma yet though. Here's some updates:

• Homeless Bridge Housing Passed: The city just passed $3 million to help increase housing for the homeless. I expect construction to begin later next year. The RFP process is open now (Click for info).

• Modesto Flights to LA and Las Vegas: I am working to bring regular air service to hubs like LA and Las Vegas from Modesto. While saving hours for locals, it would also encourage business travel / investment in our ag and industrial sectors.

• Sideshows Dropping: Sideshows and other reckless driving offenses have dropped by 29% since the purchase of the MPD Plane (Sky1) and the council's passing of the city's sideshow ordinance.

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-312-3463 if you have any questions or thoughts!

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-312-3463

Hey Modesto!

Fall has arrived and with it comes Halloween decor, pumpkin spice, and your in-laws calling to ask where to spend Thanksgiving this year. Meanwhile your Modesto City Council is working hard to make our city better. Here's some updates:

• Preserve A&W Rootbeer Downtown: Preserving A&W Root Beer—built in 1957—needs to be a high priority for Modesto's Landmark Preservation Committee. I am advocating for this Modesto institution be protected.

• Park Renovations: City of Modesto is revamping parks! Graceada Park is getting new tennis courts that will open in November. Chrysler and Mancini Park now also have new basketball courts.

• Safe Camping Voted Down: Councilmembers Bavaro, Alvarez, and I wrote a plan to help get the homeless into Safe Camping. Unfortunately it was voted down by the City Council. I won't give up. I will continue to fight for homeless solutions.

• Car Theft is Dropping in Modesto: The Modesto area has dropped to #54 in auto theft. Every year since 2002 (except for 2017) we have ranked in the top five nationally.

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-312-3463 if you have any questions or thoughts!

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-312-3463

Modesto City Council Newsletter

Hey Modesto!

I can't tell you how excited I am about what's happening in Modesto right now. For real -- September is going amazing, here's an update:

• Modesto Children's Museum Opens on Sept 28th: I had an opportunity to tour the Modesto Children's Museum (aka MoChiMu) in the old Fat Cat building and it is going to be a beloved part of this city. The children of this city will be blessed for decades to come. Take your kids or grandkids. They'll be happy you made the trip!

• Kid Guitar Statue: Kid Guitar passed away last week. A life size statue of him will make everyone smile. We need just a little more to make it happen so click here to donate - Link. Celebrating Modesto's culture is critical if we're ever going to get over this city's self loathing doom cycle.

• Enslen Park Blight, Trash, and Crime: I am aware of the sliding conditions in Enslen park and I am also frustrated. Part of the issue is a good problem, we had rangers that were so talented they were promoted to Modesto Police Officers! However, this means we have more parks to cover with less rangers. Fortunately our PD did an active recruitment already and will have new staff online in the coming months.

• Homeless Day Center: Modesto City Council passed a homeless day shelter at the Salvation Army that will give people a place to charge their phones, use a bathroom, do laundry, and get a meal. We also see it as a place where churches and community groups can distribute food and essential items in one centralized location, eliminating the unintended consequence of blight and trash in our parks. It will open in the next few months.

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-312-3463 if you have any questions or thoughts!

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-312-3463

Modesto City Council Newsletter

Hey Modesto!

It's hard to believe school has started already. My youngest is at Fremont Elementary and my older son is at Beyer marching in the band. Life is pretty good, but there is a lot going on in Modesto so let's get to it:

• Suspected Arsons in District 3: Please keep an eye out for a person lighting fires in our neighborhood. Fires were lit on the west side of McHenry between Walgreens & MJC and then others near the canal banks east of McHenry. Update - MPD has a suspect in custody, but at this point we don't have confirmation it is the same person.

• Abandoned Building Ordinance Passed: City of Modesto just passed new rules to improve our abandoned commercial buildings. It increases inspections of vacant buildings and ensures they stay up to code. It should become effective in the next year.

• Safe Camping / Safe Spaces: I am continuing to advocate for spaces for the homeless. We need to continue to build capacity to handle the growing scope of this problem.

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-312-3463 if you have any questions or thoughts!

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-312-3463

Modesto City Council Newsletter

Hey Modesto!

Our summer is heating up, but between 4th of July BBQs and the Modesto Marching Brigade in Washington DC at the National 4th of July parade I think we're doing alright. Here's some updates:

• Green Can Weekly Pickup: After a 7-0 council vote last week, your Green Can will be picked up weekly beginning in August.

• Graceada Park Safety: We are finally starting to see real safety improvements in Graceada and Enslen Parks. Special thanks to MPD's Park Rangers and City Parks & Recreation Staff for their dedication.

• Car Theft Drastically Reduced: Car Thefts in Modesto have been reduced by more than 20% since 2020. This dramatic improvement has pushed Modesto out of the top 20 in auto thefts in the country. We're not done.

• Chris Ricci Council Re-Election Launch July 21st: I am launching my 2024 re-election campaign on July 21st and you're invited! Join the fun at The Terrace at 521 McHenry Avenue at 5:30PM. There is no cost and you can RSVP by responding to this email, texting 209-312-3463 or getting more info at the event link - Click here!

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-312-3463 if you have any questions or thoughts!

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-799-7647

 Homelessness Discussion at Modesto City Council

May 9th

Council Meeting begins at 5:30PM

Hey Modesto!

On Tuesday, May 9th at 5:30PM at the City Council Meeting we are having a discussion about homelessness. This discussion will include the city's solutions and give people an opportunity to share solutions they may not be pursuing yet.

The conversation is the last thing on the agenda so I estimate it will come up at around 6:30PM, but it could be earlier or later.

Please come and advocate for homeless solutions.

You can also attend and speak live via Zoom - Click Link here. Code is 84326.

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-799-7647

 Hey Modesto!

When Modesto approved Measure H, the city promised to increase police to reduce crime, help fire reduce response times, invest in homeless solutions, address forestry challenges. and others. Here's a quick overview.

Planned Measure H Budget Items:

• Police: Adding 15 Police Officer Recruit Positions, 1 Police Lieutenant, 5 Community Service Officers, 4 Rangers, 1 Police Investigator, Downtown Camera Upgrades, and an Emergency Communication Center. Measure H PD Allocation for 2023-2024: $6,289,336

• Fire: Modesto fire arrives first on the scene 71% of the time. Adding 7 new Fire / EMS positions will decrease response times and save lives. Also budget will execute critical repairs at Fire Station 1 and replace the station runner vehicle. Measure H Fire Department Allocation for 2023-2024: $4,107,920

• Forestry: Adding customer service staff, a full time pruning crew, an additional forestry crew, and additional forestry contractors to make scalable improvements in forestry management. Measure H Forestry Allocation for 2023-2024: $2,735,127

• Homelessness: Adding Downtown Streets Team funding for park cleanup team, 6 CHAT officers, 4 Rangers (see police budget), homeless day shelter, safe parking, and investigating a dignity moves solution. Measure H / ARPA / Stan County Funding for 2023-2024: $2,900,000 (estimated - final number coming)

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-799-7647 if you have any questions or thoughts!

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-799-7647  

 
Hey Modesto!

Cities always have challenges, but Modesto taking them head on and making moves every day to address them. Here's some of the things we've been up to in February.
Council Updates:

• McHenry Mental Health Facility: The former Sundial may become a mental health facility. Modesto requires more such facilities, but we also need to balance location and have a better overall plan for McHenry's future.

• Martone Tot Lot Repairs Approved (Measure H): After years of neglect, the Martone Tot Lot is getting much needed upgrades. Looking forward to the children of Woodland West having a better place to play.

• Modesto Media Center: Modesto exists in a media desert. Our newspaper is collapsing, we have no network TV, and most of our radio is simulcast. We need a wider variety of reliable media outlets that don't hide behind a paywall. I am working with my fellow Councilmembers to create strong local solutions.

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-799-7647 if you have any questions or thoughts!

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-799-7647 

Hey Modesto!

After ringing in the new year we're back to work at City Hall! We're getting into budgeting and that means a lot of planning regarding Measure H spending. This council is dedicated to making Modesto better.
My current priorities:

• Modesto Police - Hiring More Traffic Officers (Measure H): Modesto's roads are dangerous. We had more traffic fatalities than homicides last year. This is directly connected to police understaffing. It is my goal to double traffic and DUI officers in the 2023-2024 budget.

• Modesto Police - Homeless Action (Measure H): Increasing MPD's tools to manage our homeless crisis is critical. I am asking to increase our successful Park Ranger program from 4 to 10 and support the expansion of CHAT (Community Health and Assistance Team), our first line of response on homeless calls, from 4 to 10.

• Trees (Measure H): I'll be requesting proper funding for forestry so we can continue to chop away at this big neighborhood problem. As many of your know a tree branch even crushed my car causing $6000 in damage. This problem impacts us all.

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-799-7647 if you have any questions or thoughts!

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-799-7647 

Hey Modesto!

The holidays in Modesto sure aren't disappointing. Down here at city hall your council is connecting with all those elves to make Modesto better.

Here's what I am working on:

• Homelessness (Safe Camping): Like you, I am frustrated beyond words at the Homeless crisis in our parks and businesses. Safe camping gives the homeless a place to be, to stay dry, and most importantly be found so we can connect them to services to get out of homelessness. There is no time to waste.

• Library of Things: In lots of cities you can check out tools, sewing machines, cameras, and musical instruments just like a book at the library. In a city like Modesto expanding our library of things would just help people and make our city a little better.

• Abandoned Commercial Property Ordinance: Rundown properties like OSH on Sisk or the old gas station on Needham are havens for blight and crime. It’s time to compel landlords to take responsibility for their properties.

What We've Got Done This Month:

• Community Review Board and Police Auditor Approved: The new community board and the independent police auditor gives our Police Department valuable insights on incidents, builds trust, and provides a space for residents to talk about how to make our city safer.

• Dumping Policy Results and Changes: After making policy changes that have resulted in a reduction of dumping that is forecast to be 30% less than 2020, our Waste Department put together a Multifamily Dwelling Bulky Item Pickup Program, which passed the Finance Committee this week. This program is projected to reduce dumping by another 10-30%.

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-799-7647 if you have any questions or thoughts!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, 

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-799-7647  

Hey Modesto!

The election is finally over and we have some wonderful new members joining the council including Eric Alvarez in District 2, Nick Bavaro in the currently vacant District 4, and Jeremiah Williams in District 5. While we wait for them to join us in December, your current council is working hard to deliver on things that you care about. 

Here's a few things that we've been working on.

• Dealership Parking Ordinance Approved: This ordinance grants the city new enforcement options to stop dealerships from parking inventory in our neighborhoods. Please contact me or the city if it continues near your residence. This is especially important in the Geer and Helen neighborhoods.

• Pickleball Courts Open: After 2000 hours of volunteer labor the new Pickleball Courts are open at Graceada Park. It's a real party down there so grab your racket and join in daily from 8AM-Dark!

• Homelessness:

• Current Programs - CHAT and Rangers are functional and growing. These programs are beginning to make an impact. I want to see significant additional progress over the next 24 months.
• Approved Programs - Safe Parking has been approved for homeless living in cars, but needs to become active. I am pushing to get the doors open ASAP.
• Future Programs - We need more right now solutions. My vision is three stages - 1.) Safe Camping 2.) Shelters including Pallet options 3.) Supportive solutions including programs like Downtown Streets Team and permanent housing options

Feel free to respond or drop me a call or text at 209-799-7647. 

Chris Ricci

City of Modesto

City Council District 3

p-209-799-7647