By Asha Ingram

With this October marking the 35th anniversary of the Richmond Review, Paul Kozakiewicz sure has a lot to look back on as the original owner. It is impossible to look back on the history of the newspaper without his insight. He was, and still is today, an integral part of the paper.

Kozakiewicz started the Richmond Review newspaper in 1988 to serve the community. For the next 30 years – with significant help from his wife, Sue – he would run the Richmond Review and the Sunset Beacon, the newspaper he and partner Chris Rivers started in 1991.

Since its start, the Richmond Review has covered just about every kind of news and feature story in the neighborhood. Throughout the years the paper has also been a vehicle for citizens and organizations to share their points of view and ideas.

Some of the important issues covered in the Richmond Review over the decades are: The University of California’s attempt to put “wet labs” at its Laurel Hills campus; extensive coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake; the conversion of The Presidio from an Army post to a national park; the rise of district elections; the fight over “Richmond Specials;” changes to a multitude of transit lines; the mural controversy at George Washington High School; the lack of adequate water lines for firefighting after an earthquake and fire;  numerous changes at Golden Gate Park, including the recent banning of vehicles along the eastern end of John F. Kennedy Drive; and the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on local businesses. 

“We have always been a training ground for budding journalists,” Kozakiewicz said. “We have been blessed with some really good photographers over the years, like Philip Liborio Gangi, and writers, including Thomas K. Pendergast, covering our neighborhood.”

One of Kozakiewicz’s biggest catalysts for taking on a monthly paper was the creation of desktop publishing around 1985. The new technology made publishing newspapers much quicker and more efficient. It also helped burgeoning business owners like Kozakiewicz to be able to produce the paper without a lot of traditional labor, like a typesetter and layout production person, expenses that were required with traditional publishing. 

“It was really the thing that catapulted the smaller guys in the business,” he said. “At one time in the late ‘90s, we had 17 neighborhood newspapers in the City. Now we’re down to seven.”

Even though the Richmond District to some people seems like a quieter part of the City, the paper was never short of stories to cover. Kozakiewicz said there was always something interesting going on in the neighborhood.

“When we first started the paper, they were like ‘What are you going to write about in the sleepy little Richmond?’ But there’s always been plenty to write about,” Kozakiewicz recalled. “We’re a melting pot of all kinds of people. It’s an ideal location and the commercial corridors are fantastic.”

It did not always come easy running two papers that were published monthly. With so many moving parts, Kozakiewicz had to be nimble to help the paper succeed. 

“Every day was a challenge, that’s why it was such a great job,” he explained. 

Getting advertisements also required a bit of effort. When the paper was first established, people were not always so eager to get their ad in the paper.

“I knocked on doors and walked up and down the streets, talked to people and built relationships,” Kozakiewicz recalled. “Our local businesses have always supported the neighborhood.” 

In 2019, Kozakiewicz retired and sold both papers to Michael Durand, the current publisher and editor of the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon newspapers and RichmondSunsetNews.com website. Kozakiewicz still copy edits both papers every month, but Durand has been carrying on the journalistic tradition. Kozakiewicz’s wife, Sue, is still handling the bookkeeping for both papers.

“Michael is a great editor. We’re lucky to have him covering all of the important news in the neighborhood.” 

While merchants have always supported the papers, the pandemic of the last three years has hurt the local business community. To offset the loss of advertising revenue, the paper launched a Patreon campaign. Patreon is similar to GoFundMe, except sponsors donate a little each month rather than one lump sum. The goal is to sustain the papers’ service to the community with the support of readers and donors.

The change in ownership led to some other changes for the paper as well. With the help of Durand, Kozakiewicz launched the Richmond Review website – RichmondSunsetNews.com – in 2019. This helped the paper keep up with the digitalization of modern newspapers. It has also led to a substantial growth in online readership. The website alone averages more than 20,000 views a month, up from 4,000 a month in 2019.

“We knew that it was the future, so I worked with Michael to get the website up and running,” Kozakiewicz said. 

Durand said he has benefitted greatly by having Kozakiewicz and an advisor and editor.

“Paul and I edit the final copy the days the papers go to the printer,” Durand said. “His institutional knowledge is very deep and his eye for even the most minor mistakes has sharpened over the last 35 years.” 

Durand said that he is very inspired by the feedback of readers.

“We recently asked our readers for some financial support, and the response was heartwarming,” he said. “The notes from readers telling us how much they love the papers is incredibly motivating. It’s very hard work keeping the papers going, but the gratitude and the love we get back from our community makes all the effort worthwhile.”

Durand is also enthusiastic about the Patreon campaign.

“With the help of our community, we hope to sustain the papers well into the future,” he said.

Durand recently launched the Patreon Businesses campaign, which offers affordable rates and an opportunity to have businesses listed in every issue of the papers to let the community know they are helping keep the beloved newspapers alive. Information about tiered sponsorship opportunities is detailed on the website.

Durand said he sees his job as helping San Francisco’s west side in many ways.

 “We aim to inform our readers about what’s happening in the neighborhood; to bring them feature stories about our exemplary neighbors; giving local residents a platform to share their ideas and opinions; and to help small businesses with affordable advertising opportunities,” Durand said. 

Kozakiewicz echoed the mission. 

“Serving the community, that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

Samples from 1988/89 issues of the Richmond Review: