Draft Housing Element

The Orinda City Council will continue discussion of the Draft Housing Element at its August 20, 2013 regular meeting which begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Orinda Library Auditorium. The City Council will not take any final action regarding the Draft document but will receive public comments and direct staff to make amendments as deemed appropriate.   The document, in its current form, is draft and can be revised to reflect changes per Council direction.

A schedule for the Housing Element adoption will be developed after the August 20th meeting pending further direction from Council. Additionally, there are no rezoning items on the September 3, 2013 Planning Commission or City Council agenda.

Traffic Citations  -  Orinda Police Chief  -  Scott Haggard

I understand how frustrating and inconvenient it is to be stopped for a traffic violation and issued a citation. As your Chief, I see traffic safety enforcement as vital for the overall safety and benefit of the community especially the children. Traffic violations can lead to collisions which are very violent events that happen rapidly.   We in public safety see the results of such violent acts all the time. I ask you to please drive safely.

I am often asked about issuance of citations and what citizens must do if stopped by an Officer. If you are stopped and issued a traffic citation, please note that citations used by law enforcement have distinct numbers on the top and bottom of the form and are actually court documents. Standard operating procedure is to ask for a signature when issuing a citation and to inform the citizen that the signature is not an admission of guilt, just a promise to appear in court.

Once a citation is signed by the citizen, if the Officer needs to make a correction by law he/she has to fill out a separate form with the corrected data to amend the citation. By law, Officers cannot alter a citation in any way once it is signed. If a citizen refuses to sign a citation, the Officer's options become very limited. Since the citizen has refused to sign a promise to appear in court, the courts have determined that the citizen must be taken in front of a magistrate. Since most magistrates have full calendars during the day and are unavailable after hours, that means the Officers must book the citizen into the county jail until a magistrate is available. (Reference California Vehicle Code 40302) Traffic court is the arena for disputing the validity of a traffic citation, not on the side of the roadway. Proof of innocence of a traffic violation is an issue to be worked out in traffic court.

We make every effort to persuade citizens to sign citations before resorting to taking them into custody. Only in very special circumstances would we allow the person to leave without signing the citation and it requires that we file a misdemeanor case against them with the district attorney's office.

For more information as always, feel free to call the Orinda Police at:

(925) 254-6820.

Tarabrook Drainage Project - City Council awarded the construction contract to Bay Pacific Pipelines upon completion of the contract, we plan to begin construction by the end of August.

 
 Lamorinda Presents, a partnership of Lamorinda Community Volunteers invites you, your family and your friends to gather for an "old fashioned" summer picnic.

Orinda Night Out

On Thursday, September 12th, from 5pm - 8pm, Orinda is celebrating our 6th Orinda Night Out. Last year more than 600 Orindans enjoyed events all around town. You still have time to plan an event in your neighborhood.

Some Orinda neighborhoods have a potluck, others party around the pool and still other bring in bouncy houses for the children and have an ice-cream party. There are so many ways to enjoy your neighbors, meet those you don't know and share information to make our town safe.

Orinda City Council Members, City Manager, the Police Chief, Police Officers, MOFD Fire Personnel and Orinda Citizen Corps Council members are available to attend your event.