I was the only person who showed up on Monday evening, so this will be relatively easy. Officer John Goodner joined me, although he mentioned that he was unprepared, without statistics or information regarding the last few months of activity in Promenade and Baywood, but that was alright, since I was the only one there.

John and I got to talking. First we talked about vagrants along the railroad tracks. John mentioned that this has long been a problem, that the problem has decreased significantly since the development of Promenade, and that the vagrants make themselves only visible at night. So please, if you see any activity, along the railroad tracks or in and around the boarded-up houses along Railroad, report it to the police.

John and I also discussed two calls that I made the night before. One was about the silver trailer on Bayfront (John tagged it the same night), and the second was about a group of youths coming out of the fenced-in brick building at Sycamore and Railroad. I mentioned to John that the fence is unlocked, and John said he would look into it.

And then John and I veered off-topic. We talked about the history of Hercules (the red brick building is the old hospital), and all the treasures that are stored in the yet-to-be-reopened clubhouse on the top of the hill. John knew a lot about the waterfront’s past dynamic glory, and I told him he should run a booth at the historical society when the clubhouse opens again (where the Hercules historical society is located). Did you know that the clubhouse, the big white building all boarded up, has a dance floor, a stage, a bar and a catering kitchen, and even a bowling alley in the basement? It does.

I told John that it is unfortunate that the clubhouse’s reopening has been delayed, and that it is most likely the unknown fate of Wal-Mart that is hampering all development in the district. He responded with what can be inferred as a cautious approval of the proposed Wal-Mart, with the argument that “there already is a Big Lots,” which is an absurd argument, so that was a bit disappointing (although one can understand why a police officer would support a store like Wal-Mart, since they need the funds from the tax revenue). However, Wal-Mart is bad for Hercules because it doesn’t mesh with the development plan established by the City, does not suit the demographic of Hercules, and is a waste of valuable waterfront property. Big Lots or not.

I then asked John about whether the City plans on building a new police department any time soon. John said that they’ve been discussing this for years, but nothing is concrete. He mentioned that they had even once thought of leveling City Hall and building an entire new City Hall with a new better-equipped police department.

And then John and I shook hands, talked about the apparent Father’s Day fracas at 1015 Baywood, which I had not been aware of, and called it an evening.