JOINT STATEMENT FROM OAKLAND AREA CHAMBERS Five Chambers – One Oakland Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, Oakland Latino Chamber of Commerce, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce March 4, Oakland, CA- Standing together as crime rises in Oakland, the five Oakland multicultural Chambers of … Read more
This Oakland News Now post is based on a Facebook entry by famed Oakland Hip-Hop Journalist Davey D. His text forms Part One of this series, and which you can read at this link, then the embed of the multimedia content is below, along with the views of Kev Choice. Davey D note on the … Read more
This Oakland News Now post is based on a Facebook entry by famed Oakland Hip-Hop Journalist Davey D. What follows is his text, then the embed of the multimedia content. Davey D note on the featured photo: The gentlemen in the front is from Brooklyn.. He says he grew up in the projects.. His kids … Read more
KPIX Channel 5 Sports Anchor Vernon Glenn Gives Shout-Out To Zennie62Media CEO Zennie Abraham For The Most Influential African American / Black Sports Executives In The SF Bay Area List As we close Black History Month 2021, one question remains. Of all African American / Black sports executives in the San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose … Read more
The United States and the world face a profound climate crisis. We have a narrow moment to pursue action at home and abroad in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of that crisis and to seize the opportunity that tackling climate change presents. Domestic action must go hand in hand with United States international … Read more
Berkeley removes name from Kroeber Hall From YouTube Channel: January 26, 2021 at 06:11PM ONN – UC Berkeley Kroeber Hall Name Removed Because Of Alfred Louis Kroeber Treatment Of Native Americans For full story, visit: news.berkeley.edu Video by Roxanne Makasdjian Where UC Berkeley reports: UC Berkeley’s Kroeber Hall today became the fourth building on campus … Read more
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Announce Additional Members of White House Senior Staff Washington – Today, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced additional members of the White House senior staff. These diverse, experienced, and talented individuals demonstrate that the president and vice president-elect are building an administration that looks … Read more
Save The Alley! The Alley Cat Bar, the legendary local landmark at 3325 Grand Avenue in Oakland, and that’s so much a part of Oakland’s history, and is one of a few active piano bars in the World, needs our help to stay open during The Pandemic. So let’s save The Alley! As a long … Read more
Leaders from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® today made major show announcements including keynote speakers, Innovation Award honorees and conference program updates. In addition, a preview was shared of what audiences can experience on the CES 2021 digital venue. CES 2021 kicks off January 11-14, 2021. “CES 2021 will be making history, with our first … Read more
“I’ve spent countless hours with him, in the field and in the White House Situation Room. I’ve sought his advice, seen his command, and admired his calm and his character. He is the definition of a patriot.” Today, in an op-ed for The Atlantic, President-elect Biden announced his nomination of retired four-star General Lloyd J. … Read more
Port of Oakland closed first of two bond sales Dec. 3, 2020 Oakland – The Port of Oakland said today it is refinancing $544 million of debt with its new bond offerings. The public agency completed its bond pricing Nov. 19, 2020. Due to favorable market conditions, the Port expects to achieve net present value … Read more
Attorneys Seek Testimony from Universal Execs Adam Fogelson, Ron Meyer and Michael Moses Over Faizon Love’s Erasure from “Couples Retreat” Movie Los Angeles (December 6, 2020) – Film star and comedian Faizon Love has asked a California court to order three top current and former Universal executives to provide depositions about their roles in directing … Read more
Faizon Love: Actor’s Suing Hollywood Studio Universal Studios For Couples Retreat Racism Faizon Love, the Black actor and comedian (AKA Langston Faizon Santisima), filed a lawsuit this week against Universal Studios for discrimination and racism for removing him from the poster of the Vince Vaughn movie “Couples Retreat”. The actor said he was “aghast” when … Read more
Oakland – Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, OUSD Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammel, and non-profit Community Development Finance announced an innovative new pilot program that will provide affordable housing options for teachers and help keep educators rooted in Oakland. The pilot program offers ‘teacher-residents’ — graduate students training with mentor teachers while completing their teaching credential — the … Read more
Dr. Rudy Besikof appointed President of Laney College and Dr. Nathaniel Jones III appointed President of College of Alameda Oakland — The Peralta Community College District has appointed Dr. Rudy Besikof President of Laney College and Dr. Nathaniel Jones III President of the College of Alameda. Dr. Besikof served as Interim President at Laney and … Read more
The Oakland City Council calls for State Legislation to Give Affordable Housing Entities Priority to Purchase Residential Homes Up For Tax Auction The Oakland City Council (unanimously) passed a resolution, introduced by Oakland Council member At-Large Rebecca Kaplan, that would support the California State Legislature enacting legislation that would support affordable housing by requiring that … Read more
Oakland Harborside: Cannabis Is Diversity: Albert Valdovinos of La Familia Chocolates From YouTube Channel: November 4, 2020 at 02:26PM ONN – Oakland Harborside: Cannabis Is Diversity: Albert Valdovinos of La Familia Chocolates Oakland Harborside writes: Meet veteran Albert Valdovinos, co-founder of La Familia Chocolate, the first Mexican cannabis company. The brand that offers a full … Read more
Oakland “Ride Out to Vote” is a collaboration between Brianna Noble, Yoram Savion, and Kyla Searle, the film celebrates democracy as a collective act with nods to the Pony Express
Oakland – Today marks the release of Ride Out to Vote (ROTV), a short get-out-the-vote film for online audiences from Brianna Noble of Mulatto Meadows/Humble, director Yoram Savion, and creative producer Kyla Searle. ROTV inspires viewers to get their ballots to the polls and to post pictures of their experience using the hashtag #RideOutToVote.
In the lead up to this November election, Ride Out to Vote (ROTV) is a visual call to action. Taking its cue from Black equestrian activist and owner of Mulatto Meadows, Brianna Noble, whose iconic image went viral after she rode her horse through the streets of Oakland during the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations, ROTV brings together Northern California equestrians of color with a nod to the legendary Pony Express. The Pony Express was a California-based mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders during the 1800s, carrying mail all the way to Missouri. Leveraging Humble Heels Down Fists Up, the social activism arm of the Mulatto Meadows platform, ROTV builds on Humble’s work, inspiring positive change from the saddle. The idea for the video originated with Humble team members Nia Tahani Wilkes and Liz Rice and Liz’s father, Dr. Dan Rice.
“In the midst of a global pandemic, Americans are risking their health, braving long lines, and combating voter suppression to exercise their right to vote,” said creative producer Kyla Searle. “ROTV honors that effort; it uplifts voting as an epic act. It says: this moment is urgent, your vote is critical and we are riding with you.”
Ride Out to Vote follows a relay of diverse equestrians of color including a para dressage rider, a polo player, and western riders carrying ballots through ranches, grasslands, and mountains, across San Francisco to the Pacific Ocean, and landing in Oakland where a saddlebag full of ballots is dropped off at the courthouse.
Brianna Noble notes that, “Using the inspiration of the Pony Express really allows us to convey a sense of urgency to our audience to get out and vote. We wanted to show the diversity of our community in a fun uplifting manner.” ROTV includes community members on foot engaging with the riders and dropping ballots into their saddlebags. By illustrating democracy as a collective process, ROTV celebrates the great lengths that people take in order to vote in the United States.
Collaborating artists include Brianna Noble, director Yoram Savion, and creative producer Kyla Searle. ROTV features a diverse group of equestrians including polo player Dale Johnson, para-equestrian Andie Sue Roth, Humble volunteer Elizabeth Rice, and cowboy Brandyn Hartfield. Featured community members include retired cowboy Albert “Randy” Harris who starred in Larry Clarke’s Cutting Horse, dancer Johnny Lopez of Turf Inc., Samar Hmeidan of equestrian sportswear company Ariat International, and Richard Humphrey, acclaimed roller dancer and classic car owner.
On Thursday October 29th, at 3pm Brianna Noble and selected equestrians will participate in the ROTV call-to-action in real time, leading a local group of community members around Oakland’s Lake Merritt to the Alameda County Courthouse to drop off mail-in-ballots. Community members are encouraged to “ride” along on bikes, skateboards, roller skates, or scooters. The ride is co-organized by Molly Gore of “Fuck Talking, Go Vote.” Details and information for the ride can be found on both the heelsdownfistsup.com website and fucktalkinggovote.com. By leading voters in posting visual content of their own journeys to the polls using the hashtag #RideOutToVote, ROTV is creating an online community of voters engaging with the prompt “How are you showing up this election?”
Berkeley IGS Poll: Defeat For California Prop 16, Diversity, Prop 21, Rent Control, Unless Young Voters Show.
Was just passed a wake-up call press release on a UC Berkeley Institute Of Government Studies poll that, once again, points to the need for California to split into two states, something that may never happen in this blogger’s lifetime. Cut to the chase: Prop 16 and Prop 21 are in trouble unless young people get out and vote in large numbers.
Close Elections Forecast for Proposition 15 (Split Roll Property Taxes) and Proposition 22 (App-based Drivers)
Prop. 16 (Diversity) and Prop. 21(Rent Control) trail
by Mark DiCamillo, Director, Berkeley Institute Of Governmental Studies Poll
The final pre-election Berkeley IGS Poll finds that Californians are closely divided on two of the most contentious of this year’s state ballot propositions. These include Proposition 15, the “split roll” initiative to tax commercial and industrial properties based on current market value instead of its purchase price, and Proposition 22, the app-based drivers initiative whose aim is to classify such workers as independent contractors rather than employees. In both cases slightly more of those polled said they either already had or were intending to vote Yes than were voting No. However, neither initiative had reached the 50% plus one voter threshold needed for passage two weeks before Election Day at the time the poll was completed.
The poll found 49% of voters in favor of Prop. 15 and 42% on the No side, with 9% undecided. Yet, this lead was less than half the 15-point advantage found in a similar Berkeley IGS Poll last month. When comparing the two polls, the proportion of voters opposed to the initiative had increased 8 points, while support for Prop. 15 was stagnant. If history is any guide, when late campaign shifts toward the No side are observed in heavily contested and well-financed ballot measures like Prop. 15, its lead tends to reduce further in the closing weeks, resulting in a closer outcome.
With regard to Prop. 22, 46% of the voters polled were voting Yes to have app-based drivers be treated as independent contractors, while 42% were voting No to classify them as employees. A sizable 12% were undecided. The early mid-September Berkeley IGS Poll found 39% of likely voters intend to vote Yes on Prop. 22 and 36% are on the No side, with 25% undecided. The relatively large proportions of undecided voters in both polls suggest that many voters were having a difficult time reaching a final decision on this initiative. How these late-deciding voters ultimately come to judgment will likely determine its fate.
The poll finds less support for two other, closely watched measures on the statewide election ballot. These include Proposition 16, an initiative to bring greater diversity into public employment, education, and contracting decisions and overturn a previously approved 1996 ballot initiative, Proposition 209, that banned such affirmative action programs, and Proposition 21, an initiative to expand the authority of local governments to enact rent control laws on residential property. Both measures trailed by double-digit margins in the latest poll, with each receiving less than 40% support.
IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler commented that “the fates of Propositions 15 and 22 will be important signals of whether the state’s Democrats can translate their electoral advantage into substantive policy changes in taxes and corporate governance.”
Berkeley IGS Data
Voters in conflict over competing arguments relating to Proposition 15
In an attempt to better understand voter motivations behind the vote on Prop. 15, the poll asked voters whether they agreed or disagreed with two statements that have been made about Proposition 15, one by initiative proponents and the other by its opponents. The results demonstrate the conflict that many voters face when making a final voting decision on this initiative.
When asked the statement that Prop. 15 will bring much needed revenues to the state’s public schools, community colleges and local governments, 47% of voters agree, while 37% disagree. Opinions about the need for these additional revenues were highly correlated with voting preferences on Prop. 15, with those voting Yes overwhelmingly in agreement (79% to 8%), while No voters disagreed 76% to 13%. Significantly, undecided voters were more likely to agree than disagree, 40% to 13%, although nearly half (47%) had no opinion.
On the other hand, an even larger majority agree that the proposed changes to the way commercial and industrial properties are to be taxed under Prop. 15 would only be the first step in bringing about similar changes to the way residential properties are taxed in the future. A 56% majority of likely voters agreed with this statement, while 19% disagreed and 25% had no opinion. Voters opposed to the initiative overwhelmingly concurred with the statement, 72% to 13%. And even a plurality of Prop. 15’s supporters agreed (47% to 24%), although many had no opinion.
Voting preferences on Prop. 15 vary across major segments of the electorate
The poll finds clear partisan and ideological divisions in voter preferences on Prop. 15. Democrats and self-described liberal voters were favoring the initiative by large margins, while Republicans and conservatives were one-sided in their opposition.
Homeowners were intending to vote No by 10 points, while renters were supporting Prop. 15 by 25 points. Regionally, support for the initiative was greatest among voters in Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Bay Area, while majorities of voters in Orange County and the Central Valley were opposed.
Opinions on Prop. 15 also varied by a voter’s age and educational background. Voters under age 40 were among the initiative’s strongest backers, while pluralities of voters age 50 or older were voting No, especially those age 75 or older. Majorities of voters holding a bachelors’ degree and those who had completed post graduate work were lining up on the Yes side, while pluralities of non-college graduates were voting No.
Subgroup variations on Prop. 22 (App-based Drivers)
Republicans were supporting Prop. 22, the app-based drivers initiative 71% to 21%, while Democrats were opposed, although not by as large a margin, 52% to 34%. No Party Preference and minor party voters were closely divided on the initiative.
Views of Prop. 22 also differed by political ideology as large majorities of conservatives were voting Yes and majorities of liberals were voting No. Significantly, the poll found self-described political moderates backing the initiative by thirteen points, 49% to 36%, with 15% undecided.
There were also big differences in voting preferences by age. The poll found majorities of voters under age 40 on the No side, while pluralities of voters age 50 or older were in favor, in particular, those age 75 or older, who supported it two to one.
On a regional basis, Yes side voters were outnumbering No voters on Prop. 22 across all regions of the state with the exception of the San Francisco Bay Area where it trailed by twenty points and Los Angeles County and the counties north of San Francisco where voters were divided.
While differences were also evident between voters living in union-affiliated households and those in non-union households, these differences were not as large as might be expected given the nature of the initiative and the fact that the state’s labor unions are among its strongest opponents. Voters living in union-affiliated households were opposing the initiative by 51% to 40%, while voters in non-union households were voting in favor 47% to 41%.
In addition, the poll found the state’s Latinos and Asian American voters closely divided on the initiative, while Black voters were backing it by 20 points and whites favoring it by 5 points.
Voting preferences on Prop. 16 (Diversity in Public Employment, Education and Contracting)
When asked how they would vote on Prop. 16, the poll found just 38% of voters backing the measure, while 49% were opposed. While Democrats were supporting the initiative by a nearly two-to-one margin (57% to 26%), Republicans were nearly unanimous in their opposition, with 86% voting No and just 6% voting Yes. Majorities of No Party Preference and minor party voters were also lining up on the No side.
Voting preferences also differed widely by a voter’s self-described political ideology, with more than eight in ten conservatives voting No, and large majorities of liberals voting Yes. However, political moderates, a major swing voting bloc, were opposing Prop. 16 by twenty-three points.
Opposition to Prop. 16 was broad-based across the state’s major geographic regions, with majorities or pluralities of voters in nearly all regions voting No. The lone exception was the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, where voters were narrowly in favor, 48% to 40%.
While Prop. 16 was being backed by the state’s Black voters by twenty-five points, the state’s Latino voters were about evenly divided. On the other hand, the poll found Asian American voters now joining whites in opposing the initiative.
IGS Co-Director Cristina Mora noted that “the absence of strong Latino support for Proposition 16 is surprising given that the community remains significantly underrepresented in higher education and public employment in California and would stand to benefit from the Proposition’s passage.”
Women voters, another key segment, were closely dividing their votes, with 41% voting Yes and 44% voting No. By contrast, men were heavily on the No side, 54% to 35%.
In addition, the poll found differences in voting preferences by education, with voters non-college graduates opposing Prop. 16 five to three, while voters who had completed post graduate work were backing the initiative by eleven points.
Voter preferences on Prop. 21 (Rent Control)
With regard to Prop 21, just 37% of the voters polled were on the Yes side, while 48% were voting No, and another 15% undecided. Just two years ago California voters rejected a similar rent control ballot initiative 59% to 41%.
The partisan divide in voter preferences on Prop. 21 resembles that of Prop. 16. While Democrats were supporting the initiative roughly two to one (53% to 29%), Republicans were overwhelmingly opposed, 83% to 9%. Pluralities of No Party Preference and minor party voters were also lining up on the No side.
In addition, conservative voters were solidly opposed, while liberals, especially those describing themselves as very liberal were voting Yes. Political moderates were also voting No by seventeen points.
As would be expected, big differences are seen between renters and homeowners on the rent control initiative, with renters backing the initiative 50% to 34%, but homeowners opposed by an even greater 61% to 26% margin.
Preferences on Prop. 21 were also tied to the income level of voters. Majorities of voters at the upper end of the income scale were voting No, while pluralities of voters at the lower end were on the Yes side. Middle-income voters, those whose households earned between $40,000 and $100,000 annually, were also narrowly on the No side.
The poll found the state’s whites opposing the rent control initiative by a wide margin. Black voters were backing the rent control initiative greater than two to one. Latinos were also supportive by a narrower 10-point margin; while the state’s Asian American voters were narrowly on the No side.
There were gender differences on Prop. 21 as well, with male voters opposed by seventeen points (52% to 35%) and women about evenly divided.
About the Institute of Governmental Studies Survey
The findings in this report are based on a Berkeley IGS Poll completed by the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at the University of California, Berkeley. The poll was administered online in English and Spanish October 16-21, 2020 among 6,686 California registered voters, of whom 5,352 were considered likely to vote or had already voted in this year’s election.The survey was administered by distributing email invitations to stratified random samples of the state’s registered voters. Each email invited voters to participate in a non-partisan survey conducted by the University and provided a link to the IGS website where the survey was housed. Reminder emails were distributed to non-responding voters and an opt-out link was provided for voters not wishing to receive further email invitations.Samples of registered voters with email addresses were provided to IGS by Political Data, Inc., a leading supplier of registered voter lists in California, and were derived from information contained on the state’s official voter registration rolls. Prior to the distribution of emails, the overall sample was stratified by age and gender in an attempt to obtain a proper balance of survey respondents across major segments of the registered voter population.To protect the anonymity of survey respondents, voters’ email addresses and all other personally identifiable information derived from the original voter listing were purged from the data file and replaced with a unique and anonymous identification number during data processing. In addition, post-stratification weights were applied to align the overall sample of registered voters to population characteristics of the state’s registered voters. Likely voters were identified based on a voter’s stated interest in and intention to vote in the election and factoring in their history of voting in past elections.
The sampling errors associated with the results from the survey are difficult to calculate precisely due to the effects of sample stratification and the post-stratification weighting. Nevertheless, it is likely that findings based on the sample of likely voters in the election are subject to a sampling error of approximately +/-2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
PROPOSITION 15: INCREASES FUNDING SOURCES FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, COMMUNITY COLLEGES, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES BY CHANGING TAX ASSESSMENT OF COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.
Taxes such properties based on current market value, instead of the purchase price. Fiscal impact: Increased property taxes on commercial properties worth more than $3 million providing $6.5 billion to $11.5 billion in new funding to local governments and schools. (If the election were held today how would you vote on Proposition 15?) (How did you vote on Proposition 15?)
PROPOSITION 16: ALLOWS DIVERSITY AS A FACTOR IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION AND CONTRACTING DECISIONS. LEGISLATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Permits government decision-making policies to consider race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in order to address diversity by repealing constitutional provisions prohibiting such policies. Fiscal Impact: No direct fiscal effect on state and local entities. The effects of the measure depend on the future choices of state and local government entities and are highly uncertain. (If the election were held today how would you vote on Proposition 16?) (How did you vote on Proposition 16?)
PROPOSITION 21: EXPANDS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS’ AUTHORITY TO ENACT RENT CONTROL ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Allows local governments to establish rent control on residential properties over 15 years old. Local limits on rate increases may differ from statewide limit. Fiscal Impact: Overall, a potential reduction in state and local revenues in the high tens of millions of dollars per year over time. Depending on actions by local communities, revenue losses could be less or more. (If the election were held today how would you vote on Proposition 21?) (How did you vote on Proposition 21?)
PROPOSITION 22: EXEMPTS APP-BASED TRANSPORTATION AND DELIVERY COMPANIES FROM PROVIDING EMPLOYEE BENEFITS TO CERTAIN DRIVERS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Classifies app-based drivers as “independent contractors,” instead of “employees,” and provides independent-contractor drivers other compensation, unless certain criteria are met. Fiscal Impact: Minor increase in state income taxes paid by rideshare and delivery company drivers and investors. (If the election were held today how would you vote on Proposition 22?) (How did you vote on Proposition 22?)
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? (order of statements rotated)
“The proposed changes to how commercial and industrial properties are taxed under this year’s Proposition 15 ballot initiative are only the first step to making other similar changes to the way residential properties are taxed in the future.”
“The additional tax revenues that Proposition 15 would bring to the state’s public schools, community colleges and local governments are needed given the large revenue losses these institutions are facing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.”
About the Institute of Governmental Studies
The Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) is an interdisciplinary organized research unit that pursues a vigorous program of research, education, publication and public service. A component of the University of California system’s flagship Berkeley campus, IGS is one of the oldest organized research units in the UC system and the oldest public policy research center in the state. IGS’s co-directors are Professor Eric Schickler and Associate Professor Cristina Mora.
IGS conducts periodic surveys of public opinion in California on matters of politics and public policy through its Berkeley IGS Poll. The poll, which is disseminated widely, seeks to provide a broad measure of contemporary public opinion, and to generate data for subsequent scholarly analysis. The director of the Berkeley IGS Poll is Mark DiCamillo. For a complete listing of stories issued by the Berkeley IGS Poll go to https://www.igs.berkeley.edu/research/berkeley-igs-poll
Berkeley – A blog called “Friends Of Adeline” has a post that hits one right between the eyes with the title “For ‘Black’ Berkeleyans, There Are Only Two: Re-Elect Cheryl Davila and Ben Bartlett”, and referring to Berkeley City Councilmembers Ben Bartlett of District 3 and Cheryl Davila of District 2. Here it is, below. I’m posting it here, because absent this action, it’s not the easiest content to find in online search, yet it should be seen and read by many.
Here it is:
For ‘Black’ Berkeleyans, There Are Only Two: Re-Elect Cheryl Davila and Ben Bartlett
October 22, 2020 Friends of Adeline (Photo Courtesy Berkeley Tenants Union)
By Paul Lee
Friends of Adeline
Since I believe that the dangerous mythology of “race,” which has no basis in science, is the root of the even more dangerous reality of racism, I’ve enclosed all “racial” terms in quotes so as not to legitimize either. — PL.
I don’t know if African American Berkeley City Council members Cheryl Davila and Ben Bartlett are friends. Frankly, I don’t care.
What matters to me and, I could assert with confidence, most “black” Berkeleyans is that, more often than not, they can be counted on to do right by us.
This is more than could be said for their council colleagues and the rest of those in our city’s mostly-spineless, sellout, in-the-pocket-of-developers government.
‘Blackness’ Ain’t Enough
However, Ben and Cheryl shouldn’t be supported because they’re “black,” although this can offer the advantages of familiarity and personal investment. Fundamentally, it’s a question of character and commitment. We, as an oppressed people, have learned from painful betrayals that “all skin folk ain’t kinfolk.”
For example, it would be both obscene and terribly destructive if someone who looks like us were to run for office, but only did so at the behest and with the support of rich, “white” real estate interests. This would only facilitate and legitimize the complete colonization or takeover of what’s left of “black” Berkeley.
Forgotten Islands
I’m 60 years old and for all of my life and longer “black” Berkeley — that is, the historically “black” enclaves in the south and west of the city — have been islands of official, damnable neglect.
Indeed, the only branch of government to consistently pay attention to these districts has been the police department, but that’s not the kind of attention that anyone would want because it’s about containment and control under the cover of fighting crime.
‘Mississippi West’
But the real crime began when “black” and other non-“white” peoples were herded by redlining into these districts like cattle, then abandoned to their own devices to make them viable communities — without the supports accorded to the rest of the city, meaning the “white” parts.
With bravery, sacrifice, ingenuity and vision, we did this, despite the racism of Berkeley’s “Mississippi West” government, as many of us called it.
We recognized that it only differed from the infamous Southern bastion of “racial” segregation in how it structured its inequality, which was more urbane and less obviously violent — with the notable exception of the police, whose habitual brutality against us made believable the rumor that many of these officers were recruited from the South.
In another respect, Berkeley was worse than its Southern cousin because it didn’t begin to desegregate its schools, thru compulsory busing, until 1968 — that is, 14 years after the U. S. Supreme Court declared this U. S. brand of apartheid unconstitutional.
But there were also subtler, but not less damaging, forms of violence. Obligating these majority-“black” districts to have to create, from scratch, and sustain, without support, what others could take for granted was a psychic, emotional and material assault upon our dignity.
Unchanged
That’s why we need Cheryl and Ben to remain in office. That’s also why we and our allies must fight to put more people like them on the council and in other positions of authority — people who care about and work for all of Berkeley, not just rich, “white” Berkeley, including the entitled newcomers.
Most “white” Berkeleyans don’t have a clue about any of this history, which, for us, hasn’t fundamentally changed. We are where we began — at the bottom, ignored, isolated, not seriously considered in the councils of power, where we are occasionally spoken about, but rarely given the respect to speak for ourselves.
Only Two
But where we once survived, and even thrived, in “a place of our own,” as one longtime African American resident described “black” Berkeley, nourished and protected by businesses and institutions that we built, most of which collapsed under the weight of successive economic downturns and a drug scourge that hit us first and hardest, now we’re being forced out of all that we had left — our homes.
And who listens to us? Who fights for us? Only Cheryl and Ben, dependably. That’s pathetic and unjust, but it’s also par for the course in this faux “progressive” city, where, as usual, we’re compelled to mostly rely upon ourselves.
Of course, two reliable city council members, no matter how enlightened, can’t alone protect the interests of “black” Berkeleyans. However, as veteran politicians, they can and do occasionally sway, negotiate with or pressure their colleagues to do right by us.
Allies
However, in our long fight for recognition, equity and a justice that was never simple, we have real allies, most of whom don’t look like us and aren’t from here. Just as we couldn’t care less if Cheryl and Ben are best buds, we aren’t interested in what motivates our allies.
We simply accept them as comrades in the fight to make Berkeley in reality what it has fooled the world to believe that it is, but has never been — namely, an inclusive city, where everyone is given the dignity, opportunity, security and justice that should be the common lot of all people.
If you’re an ally, do whatever you can to maintain Cheryl’s and Ben’s positions.
If you aren’t, considered becoming one because — and I ask you to trust me on this because I’ve lived it — Berkeley’s greatest strength has always been its rich cultural diversity, even though our government has almost never supported this.
Perhaps, ironically, that’s what made it so unique and powerful — because the people themselves marshaled it as a resource.
Which Way, Berkeley?
Berkeley’s best future can and should be built upon its past — by learning from its mistakes and benefitting from its successes. Until we can increase their number, Cheryl and Ben are the best hope for this freer, fairer future, or at least a hedge against the obnoxious continuance of its ugly past.
We deserve better. Our children and grandchildren deserve still more. That’s why we’re asking you: Support and vote for Cheryl and Ben. Thank you.
Oakland District Two Councilmember Nikki Bas’ Digitized Newsletter
Last week, I was so moved to see #MomsHouse on Magnolia Street finally become community-owned as permanently affordable, transitional housing for unsheltered mothers.
Congratulations to Dominique Walker, Tolani King, Misty Cross, Sameerah Karim and Carroll Fife for leading this movement to end corporate speculation and house more Oaklanders. I am proud to have stood with them over the last year to call attention to making housing a human right, together with Council President Rebecca Kaplan, Councilmember Dan Kalb and Assemblymember Rob Bonta.
Moms 4 Housing
Sustainable, Healthy Use of Lake Merritt – Lake Merritt Vending Pilot Program Update
Coming out of the second weekend of our Lake Merritt Vending Pilot Program, we were excited to be joined by Parks and Recreation Advisory Commissioner Dwayne Aikens, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kev Choice, the Oakland Black Vendors Association and neighbors to:
• Promote health and safety during COVID-19,
• Support struggling small businesses and entrepreneurs in this difficult time, and
• Ensure sustainable, equitable and inclusive long-term use of the Lake.
This pilot program for merchandise vendors will take place through November 22nd on El Embarcadero and along Lakeshore to Beacon from 10am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
This weekend, Community Ready Corps (CRC) will be joining the pilot to promote public health during COVID. Volunteers will distribute COVID kits that have face masks, hand sanitizer and gloves to help promote compliance with the County Health Order.
My team is grateful for the collaboration of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission (PRAC), the Oakland Black Vendors Association, James “Old School” Copes, city departments, and the community to ensure access, safety and equity at the Lake for everyone in our city.
This is what an Oakland for all of us means to me — working with a coalition of diverse stakeholders to ensure the Lake, as our city’s pride, is an enjoyable public space that each of us can use.
Moms 4 Housing
TUESDAY 10/20: Oakland City Council Meeting Preview Homeless Encampment Management Policy and Community Safety
Tuesday, October 20th’s 1:30pm City Council meeting will include the following important agenda items:
Item 6: COVID-19 Emergency Response And The Creation Of Clean Air Buildings For Use Of The Community During The COVID-19 Shelter In Place Emergency.
Thanks to our awesome District 2 constituent and outgoing Cleveland Heights Neighborhood Council Co-Chair Rachel Broadwin for introducing us to Dr. Rupa Basu, Section Chief for the Air and Climate Epidemiology Section of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment at CalEPA. At our September Council meeting, I expressed concern that our air quality and temperature triggers were too high to fully protect the health and safety of our most vulnerable residents. At my urging, our Fire Department staff met with Dr. Basu to discuss recommendations for activating extreme weather Emergency Respite Centers (ERC) in Oakland. As an outcome of the conversation and further discussions with internal stakeholders and community feedback, the activation triggers for the City of Oakland have been lowered to an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 200 – Very Unhealthy (versus what was previously 250) and temperatures forecasted to reach/exceed 95 degrees for 2 consecutive days or 100 degrees in one day. We are grateful for Dr. Basu and Rachel’s important expertise as we navigate these challenging times!
Item 7: Gun Violence Top Law Enforcement Priority resolution from President Kaplan to prioritize the decrease in illegal guns and gun violence by increasing gun tracing, improving response time to shooting notifications, and prioritizing response to gun crime.
Item 8: Homeless Encampment Management resolution, which proposes to designate priority areas for encampment management and outlines actions including the criteria for assessing what locations will be prioritized for enforcement or other homelessness interventions from the city.
Item 14: Adopt either the resolution proposed by the Oakland Police Commission or Oakland Police Department banning the carotid restraint and all forms of asphyxia.
Item 16: I’m co-sponsoring with President Kaplan, a resolution Terminating the Oakland Police Department’s Participation In The Joint Terror Task Force to ensure compliance with our local and state laws and focus on threats based on evidence, not bias or racial profiling.
See details to join the meeting and provide public comment. You can also share e-comments here.
TUESDAY 10/27: Community & Economic Development Meeting – Impact Fees, Economic Recovery Recommendations
On Tuesday October 27th at 1:30pm, the Community and Economic Development Committee will discuss two important items:
Item 2: Informational report on Impact Fees for Affordable Housing, Jobs/Housing, and Transportation and Capital Improvements, and
Item 3: Informational report on the Economic Recovery Council’s Draft Recommendations.
Oakland Workers, Know Your Rights! COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave
Oakland Workers Rights
Thank you to East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE) for creating Know Your Rights materials on the emergency protections for Oakland workers passed by Council earlier this summer, which I was proud to co-sponsor.
The City’s Emergency Paid Sick Leave policy requires certain employers to provide leave to workers who test positive for COVID-19, present symptoms, are caring for family members who were exposed or present symptoms, or are at high risk from an infection. Check out and share the flyers in English and Spanish so that Oakland workers are aware of their rights!
City of Oakland; District 2 News and Resources
County Reopening Updates, Small Biz Legal Support, Grants for Home-Based Business
New County Health Orders Allow Additional Business Operations: Effective October 9, Alameda County now allows: hotels & lodging for tourism with their fitness centers and indoor pools restricted; museums, zoos & aquariums indoors at < 25% capacity; personal care services indoors with modification (services requiring removal of face covering still prohibited); gyms and fitness centers indoors at < 10% capacity with restrictions on aerobic exercise and classes. While the update allows partial reopening of libraries, Oakland Public LIbrary will remain closed for indoor services until plans are in place for safely reopening the buildings.
Beginning Friday, October 16, Alameda County will permit additional outdoor activities, including playgrounds, that follow the State’s guidance. Additionally, Alameda County is preparing to update the local Health Officer Orders to permit additional activities during the week of October 26. These activities will include: indoor dining up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people, whichever is less; indoor worship services up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people, whichever is less; indoor theaters up to 25% capacity or less than 100 people, whichever is less; expansion of indoor retail and malls at up to 50% of capacity and permitting limited food courts.
County Guidance on Safe Halloween Practices: Bay Area health officials recently released guidance on how to celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos safely. Gatherings, celebrations, events or parties with non-household members are not permitted unless conducted in compliance with local and state health orders. Please avoid participating in traditional trick-or-treating where treats are handed to children who go door to door and do not have trunk-or-treat where treats are handed from car trunks lined up in large parking lots.
Many traditional Halloween celebrations, such as parties and door-to-door trick-or-treating, pose a high risk of spreading COVID-19 and are strongly discouraged by CDPH
Not only do traditional celebrations pose a spread risk, they would also result in great difficulty in conducting appropriate contact tracing
Local Health Departments may have additional, more stringent restrictions
CDPH recommends that families begin planning for safer alternatives.
Legal Help for Oakland Small Businesses with Lease Negotiations: Oakland has allocated $150,000 of California CARES funding to the nonprofit Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the SF Bay Area to provide legal advice and assistance on lease negotiations to small businesses that have suffered revenue losses due to COVID-19. Business owners can access these free, multilingual legal services here, such as commercial leasing webinars through mid-December, 1:1 one-hour consultations and longer-term assistance which may include lease negotiation, pre-litigation and settlement negotiations or representation in a court proceeding.
$2-4K Grants for Home-Based Businesses: Income from a home-based business is often a big source of household income for our city’s entrepreneurs. The Oakland CARES Act Home-Based Business Grant program will distribute $500,000 to home-based, for-profit businesses. Apply here by 11:59pm on Monday, November 2 in 4 languages. Priority will be given to businesses representing a broad geographic diversity in Oakland, especially those located in low-income areas or otherwise historically vulnerable communities; those who have received $4,000 or less in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program; and those with annual gross business revenue under $150,000.
Several Grants Extended:
The Oakland CARES Act Small Business Grant Program will accept applications until 5 p.m. on Friday, October 23. This program will provide $10,000 grants to qualifying Oakland small businesses that have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 and have gross revenues under $2 million. Online applications and eligibility requirements in four languages are available at: mainstreetlaunch.org/oakland-cares-act-grant/
The application deadline for the Oakland CARES Nonprofit Grant Fund has been extended to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28. This program will award grants of up to $25,000 to qualifying community-serving nonprofits with annual budgets of less than $1 million that address the impact of COVID-19 and the needs of low-income residents and businesses in the following areas: Health & Human Services; Economic & Workforce Development; Legal Support; Food Security; Homeless and Renter Support Services; and Education. Online applications and eligibility requirements are available at: communityvisionca.org/oaklandcares/
The application deadline for the Oakland CARES Fund for Artists and Arts Nonprofits impacted by COVID-19 has been extended to 1pm Friday, October 23. The program will distribute awards of up to $20,000 to arts nonprofits with annual budgets of less than $2.5M, while supporting individual artists with grants of up to $3,000 each. Learn more here.
Oakland Parks & Recreation Foundation’s 1st Citywide Parks Workshop: Whether you’re an experienced community leader or a new volunteer, join this free workshop taking place on Saturday, November 14, from 9:00am to 1:00pm to collaborate and learn about strategies and tools to improve Oakland parks. Learn more and register here.
East Bay Community Energy’s Resilient Home Program: Oakland has partnered with nonprofit public electricity provider East Bay Community Energy to launch a solar + battery backup program for homeowners. EBCE has partnered with Sunrun to provide no-cost / obligation-free consultations and will provide a proposal for your consideration. If you decide to move forward, there is a $1,250 incentive to homeowners that enroll their battery in the program and share power with EBCE during peak times when there isn’t a power outage. Since launch in August, nearly 700 homeowners countywide have registered for consultations. Sign up for your consultation and learn more at upcoming webinars.
Voting Reminders
Vote Early!
Given the pandemic and the threats to our democracy, please vote early. All registered voters will be sent an absentee ballot automatically to limit COVID exposure. You must register to vote to receive an absentee ballot!
You can vote in person or drop off your ballot at the Alameda County Registrar of Voters: 1225 Fallon Street, Room G1, Oakland, or put it into one of the official, free 24-hour drop boxes anytime by November 3rd 8pm. If you use a USPS mailbox, postage is free, and it’s critical to vote early!
You can also sign up to track your ballot.
October 19th is the last day for regular online voter registration.
October 20th – November 3rd, you can do same day voter registration.
On November 3rd, you can vote in person or drop your ballot off at your polling place by 8pm.
With many measures on the ballot, my go-to guides are Oakland Rising’s Voter Guide and the CA AAPI Voting Guide in seven AAPI languages.
With Oakland Love,
Nikki Fortunato Bas
Councilmember, City of Oakland, District 2
Oakland – The City of Oakland received $36.9 million in State of California CARES Act funding. Of that amount, the Oakland CARES Act Home-Based Business Grant Program will distribute $500,000 in grants of $2,000 to $4,000 to home-based, for-profit businesses in Oakland. Working Solutions, a Bay Area nonprofit, is administering the application and grant-making process. The grant application period closes at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, November 2. Online applications in four languages are available at: https://www.workingsolutions.org/oakland-home-based-grants.
“We recognize that revenue from a home-based business is often a major source of household income for our entrepreneurs, and losses due to the pandemic are pushing vulnerable populations to the brink of economic and housing insecurity,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. “This grant program supports Oakland’s entrepreneurial spirit reflected in the wide variety of home-based businesses found in The Town.”
Priority will be given to home-based businesses representing a broad geographic diversity in Oakland, especially those located in low-income areas or otherwise historically vulnerable communities; those who have received $4,000 or less in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP); and those with annual gross business revenue under $150,000. The grant amounts of $2,000 to $4,000 will be based on gross revenue of the home-based business.
“Working Solutions is proud to partner with the City of Oakland to make grants to home-based small business owners in Oakland who are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sara Razavi, CEO of Working Solutions. “This grant program will provide immediate relief to local home-based business owners, who face their own unique challenges during this crisis, and is an important follow-up to our work with the City this spring and summer through the Oakland Small Business Emergency Grant Program.”
In order to be eligible for this grant program, the business must:
Be verified as a for-profit, home-based business in Oakland;
Have a valid Oakland business license;
Have been in operation prior to March 1, 2019;
Be able to demonstrate negative impacts to the business from the COVID-19 pandemic;
Certify that the home-based business income represents the majority (>50%) of the applicant’s total individual income; and
Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (due to restrictions associated with federal CARES Act funding sources).
Business owners who previously received a grant from the Oakland Small Business Emergency Grant Program (between April and July 2020) are eligible to apply for this grant program.
Grant funds may be used for COVID-19-related costs and losses, such as payroll; rent or mortgage payments; utilities or other operating expenses; or fixtures, supplies, and other non-construction site modifications needed to satisfy COVID-19 distancing and mitigation requirements. Funds may not be used for new construction or building improvements.
Other Grant and Support Programs Available
This is the latest CARES Act-funded program launched by the City of Oakland. Grant programs for small businesses, individual artists and arts nonprofits,
community-serving nonprofits and low-income renters and homeowners were announced in September. Additionally, free legal advice webinars and consultations on lease negotiations for small businesses were announced last week. Businesses may only receive a grant from one CARES Act-funded program. Learn more about the $36.9 million in CARES Act Funding at: oaklandca.gov/CaresAct
About Working Solutions
Working Solutions is a nonprofit microlender and the First to Believe in start-up and early-stage businesses. As a U.S. Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Working Solutions provides diverse entrepreneurs with affordable capital, customized business consulting, and community connections to increase economic opportunity in the San Francisco Bay Area. To date, Working Solutions has made over $27 million in microloans and grants to more than 1,300 local businesses and provided over 14,000 consulting hours.
This post based on a press release from the City of Oakland to Zennie62Media.
Earlier this week, I ended my 2020 State of the City address by recognizing that this November’s election is so consequential it could chart a new path for our state and our nation. I meant it.
I hope you’re as fired up as I am about this Presidential race, and how proud we can all be to vote for native Oaklander Kamala Harris for Vice President along with Joe Biden.
If you want to help turn out voters in critical states it is easier than ever to do right from home. Check out these easy phone banking options with SwingLeft or Indivisible. If you’re too shy to phone bank, www.voteforward.org is an easy way to send personalized, nonpartisan letters out to simply encourage folks to vote.
And there are some transformational California Measures on the 2020 ballot! I’m most excited to vote for Schools & Communities First – Prop 15! It will close corporate property tax loopholes to reclaim nearly $12 billion every year for schools and vital services for our local communities, while protecting residential properties and small businesses. (In fact, with Prop 19 seniors and disaster survivors will have more residential property tax protections than they have today). We also need Prop 16 to pass, so we can consider diversity and racial equity in public decisions and level the playing field. And to advance criminal justice reform, vote for Props 17 & 25 and against Prop 20.
I’m also super passionate about electing Derreck Johnson for At-Large City Council – as is Kamala Harris. A 3rd-generation, gay, African American Oaklander raised by a single mother in the Acorn housing projects, he graduated from an HBCU and started House of Chicken & Waffles in Jack London Square, where 70% of employees have been formerly incarcerated. He’s the former Chair of Oakland’s Workforce Development Board and in 2012 Congresswoman Barbara Lee presented him with the City of Oakland’s Citizen Humanitarian Award. His life experiences are particularly needed as Oakland meets this moment to advance racial justice and help our economy recover.
Since Oakland created the At-Large seat 40 years ago, it has never been held by an African American. Its current incumbent Rebecca Kaplan has made budget proposals deemed “reckless” and “designed to appease special interests.” She tried to kill Oakland’s Department of Transportation, which not only is fixing Oakland’s broken and dangerous streets, but is nationally recognized for its commitment to equity. And the East Bay Express criticized her for a “shady political campaign” and “poor decision-making” which “raises concerns about her ethics.”
Here’s my complete Voter’s Guide:
I’m supporting all of Oakland’s Congressional, State and Special District Board incumbents, with the exception of challenger Jean Walsh for AC Transit.
Here’s where I stand on State & Local Propositions & Measures:
Yes on Prop 14 to expand stem cell research.
Yes on Prop 15 to permanently increase public school and local services funding by closing a big corporate property tax loophole.
Yes on Prop 16 so our public institutions can consider diversity and racial equity in our work to lift-up ALL Californians.
Yes on Prop 17 to restore the right to vote for parolees.
Yes on Prop 18 to let 17 year-olds vote in primaries if they’ll be 18 before the general election.
Yes on Prop 19 to allow seniors, people with disabilities and disaster survivors to maintain their tax base on a replacement home.
NO on Prop 20 sentencing reform rollback because over-incarceration don’t work.
Yes on Prop 21 to expand rent control options for cities.
NO on Prop 22 to protect new hard-earned rights for gig workers.
Yes on Prop 23 to improve standard of care at Dialysis Centers.
You decide Prop 24 RE: Consumer Privacy. There are pros & cons.
Yes on Prop 25 to end the unjust money bail system.
Yes on Measure V to extend a utility tax on unincorporated Alameda County for their services.
Yes on Measure W to increase sales tax by a half-cent to fund county services, especially public health and homelessness.
Yes on Measure Y to upgrade & repair our classrooms.
Yes on Measure QQ to allow youth to vote for School Board members.
Yes on Measure RR to allow city fines to exceed $1000.
Yes on Measure S1 to strengthen Oakland’s Police Commission.
Oakland City Council Races
You know I love Oakland. Please trust my careful assessments in these Oakland City Council Races:
At-Large: Derreck Johnson – deeply-rooted Oaklander and small business & workforce leader made for this moment.
District 1: Dan Kalb – ethical, progressive hard-working legislator and environmental champion.
District 3: Lynette Gibson McElhaney – grieving mother & grandmother herself, a powerful advocate for violence prevention & community development.
District 5: Noel Gallo – with deep roots & decades of public service, a tireless worker for clean streets and public education.
District 7: Treva Reid – East Oakland couldn’t ask for a more competent, deeply experienced & compassionate new leader. Marchon Tatmon has my #2 for his Budget Advisory Commission & homeless services experience.
Oakland School Board
You know I’m passionate about public education and OUSD’s success. Please support these Oakland School Board candidates:
District 1: Austin Dannhaus – former teacher, focused on educational equity, quality schools for all students and results; Board and finance experience critical for during this time. Sam Davis has my #2 due to his past experience with families in Oakland and commitment to dialogue.
District 3: Maiya Edgerly and Mark Hurty (Dual Endorsement)-
*Maiya-founder of an non-profit that supports students to get into HBCUs, that is aligned with Oakland Promise’s vision to support students be first in their family to complete college.
*Mark-former Oakland teacher, passionate about educational equity; kind and open to dialogue, presently helping to lead an non-profit aligned with #OaklandUndivided’s vision to close the digital divide.
District 5 – Leroy Gaines and Jorge Lerma (Dual Endorsement)-
*Leroy- a former teacher and OUSD principal for >10 years – selected OUSD principal of the year, kind, demonstrated leadership, strong relationships with educators, students & families, history of results.
*Jorge- a former Oakland teacher, principal and leader for decades, founded Latino Education Network; a gentle soul, committed to equity, pre-K, K12 experience, and a champion of Oakland Promise.
District 7: Cliff Thompson -a teacher and principal for >40 years with deep roots, Oakland education experience; kind soul who cares deeply for equity & quality schools for all students, demonstrated leadership.
So much is at stake this election! As I said in my State of the City, we must vote — and volunteer — like our lives depend on it.
Oakland – Alameda County’s emergency 911 ambulance provider Falck Northern California has offered an improved pay and benefits package to its 450 Alameda County EMT and paramedic employees represented by the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) Local 510.
Falck and union representatives are negotiating a new agreement, currently proposed for three years. The previous contract expired August 31, after an extension from April 30. The parties have been in negotiations since February.
The company offered union employees annual step increases and cost-of-living adjustments that, together, provide employees with wage increases ranging from approximately 2 percent to 6.7 percent per year.
“At a time when the pandemic and recession have challenged the well-being of our county, state and nation, we want to ensure that our first responders are compensated fairly,” said Carolina Snypes, Director and Chief of Falck’s Alameda County operation.
She noted that:
· The average salary and benefits of a Falck first responder in Alameda County is approximately $100,000.
· The top 10 percent of Falck first responders earn an average of $189,000 in pay and benefits annually in Alameda County, more than 3 times what a full-time paramedic starting today would earn.
· Falck has not furloughed or laid off any of its 911 paramedics or EMTs in Alameda County, even as hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers nationwide remain jobless because of COVID-19.
Falck was awarded the Alameda County contract more than a year ago. The company immediately worked closely with County leaders to improve the system to ensure residents could be confident that when they call 911, ambulances arrive quickly, are fully staffed and comply with County requirements for response times. The company provides services to all cities in the County with the exception of Alameda, Albany, Berkeley and Piedmont, where local fire departments provide the service.
Falck has added 40 new paramedics and EMTs in Alameda County since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company and its emergency medical teams have been part of the response to wildfires throughout the state. Falck has also worked closely with Alameda County officials to staff skilled nursing facilities during the pandemic, and has provided emergency medical coverage to police and protestors during the recent protests.
“We are pleased to have helped communities, firefighters, and law enforcement around California,” Snypes said. “We value the first responders who work for us, and we continue to offer competitive wages and benefits to ensure that we take good care of our employees and assist the cities and people we serve.”
“We’re proud of the diversity of our workforce and how closely it mirrors the demographics of the community we serve,” Snypes added.
Oakland’s Red Bay Coffee champions diversity and “fourth wave” of coffee
From YouTube Channel: September 28, 2020 at 12:15PM
ONN – Red Bay Coffee, a black-owned coffee brand based in Oakland, California, is roasting “Beautiful Coffee to the People.” Owned by Keba Konte and his wife, Rachel, their roots are planted in what the company calls the “fourth wave” of coffee. CBSN spoke with Rachel Konte, Red Bay Coffee’s chief of design, about their mission to bring diversity and equity to the coffee industry.
Note from Zennie62Media and Oakland News Now: this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.’s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call “The Third Wave of Media”. The uploaded video is from a vlogger with the Zennie62 on YouTube Partner Channel, then uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours. Now, news is reported with a smartphone: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.
Cannabis Is Diversity Featuring Oakland Extracts Founder Terryn Buxston
From YouTube Channel: September 23, 2020 at 07:39PM
ONN – Meet Terryn Buxston, CEO and Founder of Oakland Extracts, a company that was started for the community. In Terryn’s words, “Because we believe that our Town should have access to great quality hash at a price we can all afford. We learned that success begins with high quality starting material from small, local farms. Over the years we fine-tuned a proprietary technique that allows for maximum terpene retention. Our signature Cookie Crumble wax—and everything we do—focuses on natural flavor and high potency. We never add terps, THC or any other flavorings or additives, and everything we make is single source.”
When cannabis became legal, Oakland Extracts almost didn’t make it. As a Black-owned business, OE struggled to raise enough capital to get licensed and stay in the game. Now partnering with Jetty Extracts, we’re back and bringing out the “Terps from the Town.”
Quality over quantity. People over profits. Culture over commerce. That’s Oakland Extracts.
music: bensound.com
Note from Zennie62Media and Oakland News Now: this video-blog post demonstrates the full and live operation of the latest updated version of an experimental Zennie62Media , Inc. mobile media video-blogging system network that was launched June 2018. This is a major part of Zennie62Media , Inc.’s new and innovative approach to the production of news media. What we call “The Third Wave of Media”. The uploaded video is from a vlogger with the Zennie62 on YouTube Partner Channel, then uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective is smartphone-enabled, real-time, on the scene reporting of news, interviews, observations, and happenings anywhere in the World and within seconds and not hours. Now, news is reported with a smartphone: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary. The secondary objective is faster, and very inexpensive media content news production and distribution. We have found there is a disconnect between post length and time to product and revenue generated. With this, the problem is far less, though by no means solved. Zennie62Media is constantly working to improve the system network coding and seeks interested content and media technology partners.
Oakland – The City of Oakland received $36.9 million in State of California CARES Act funding. More than $4 million of those funds will go to the Oakland CARES Act Small Business Grant Program to support Oakland small businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program anticipates distributing $10,000 grants to 402 Oakland small businesses.
Grants may be used to cover day-to-day operating costs, such as worker payroll, rent and fixed debts. The application period for the small business grants opened today (Tuesday, September 22) at 1 p.m., and ends at 5 p.m. on Monday, October 12, 2020. Online applications in four languages are available at: https://mainstreetlaunch.org/oakland-cares-act-grant/
“Many Oakland small businesses that employ our residents and provide vital goods and services for us all have suffered greatly during the closures to combat the spread of COVID-19,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. “These CARES Act-funded grants are meant to help sustain the local, independent merchants that add so much to our community as they pivot to new business models for the pandemic and post-pandemic economies.”
Eligibility requirements:
· Be an existing for-profit business since March 1, 2019 with a commercial location in Oakland
· Be able to demonstrate adverse business impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic
· Have gross revenues under $2,000,000 in 2019
· Have a current City of Oakland business license
· Have no City of Oakland life safety code violations
· Be in compliance with all County Health Orders and State Regulations
· Have not received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan of more than $10,000
· Have not received a grant from the Oakland CARES Fund for Artists and Arts Non-profits
· Have at least one, but no more than 50 full-time equivalent employees, including the business owner(s)
The following businesses are not eligible for funding through this grant program: Nonprofits, passive income real estate businesses, cannabis-related businesses, adult entertainment businesses, franchises, any business involved in bankruptcy proceedings or religious organizations (See FAQs for complete list).
Disbursement of grants funds to the selected recipients is anticipated to be completed by Friday, October 30, 2020.
The grants will help prevent displacement and closures of small businesses that contribute to the City’s diversity, vibrancy and character. Distribution of the CARES Act grants for small businesses is through a partnership between the City of Oakland’s Economic & Workforce Development Department and Main Street Launch. A trusted intermediary focused on equitable economic development, Main Street Launch is administering the Oakland CARES Act Small Business Grant Program.
“Main Street is looking forward to helping Oakland’s small businesses at this critical moment in the city’s recovery from the pandemic,” said Jacob Singer, CEO of Main Street Launch. “By helping the City provide these grants to support Oakland’s dynamic small business community, we collectively envision a time when we will all be able to gather together again in support of the businesses that make Oakland a unique and lively place to work and live.”
To assist applicants, answers to frequently asked questions have been posted at: https://mainstreetlaunch.org/oakland-cares-act-grant/ Support for technical questions is also available by emailing [email protected].
To align with the Oakland City Council’s direction and equity goals, the funds will be allocated to prioritize both geographic diversity throughout Oakland, and districts containing vulnerable communities, as represented by the Opportunity Zone-qualified and Opportunity Zone-designated census tracts. $2 million of grants have been specifically earmarked for businesses located in Opportunity Zone-designated census tracts. These historically vulnerable communities were selected based on aggregated demographic characteristics of each tract’s resident population as reported by the U.S. Census.
This is the latest CARES Act-funded grant program launched by the City of Oakland. Grant programs for low-income renter and homeowner relief and artists and arts nonprofits as well as an RFQ to fund support for low- and moderate-income renters and homeowners were announced earlier this month. Learn more about the $36.9 million in CARES Act Funding at: https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/coronavirus-aid-relief-and-economic-security-cares-act-funding
Oakland, CA – The City of Oakland received $36.9 million in State of California CARES Act funding. Through the Oakland CARES Fund for Artists and Arts Nonprofits, $1.425 million of those funds will go to support individual artists and arts nonprofit organizations that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Oakland CARES Arts Organizational Grant will award grants of up to $20,000 to arts nonprofits, while the Oakland CARES Individual Artist Grant seeks to support individual artists with grants of up to $3,000 each. The application period for both grants opened today (Monday, September 21) at 9 a.m., and ends at 1 p.m. on Friday, October 9, 2020. Online applications in four languages are available at: cciarts.org/Oakland_CARES_Fund.html
“Our vibrant arts and culture community is a vital part of our community and contributes immensely to our collective sense of belonging, which is what makes Oakland a unique and special place,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. “We know Oakland artists and arts nonprofits are struggling, and these CARES Act-funded grants offer financial help as we collectively work to help them survive this crisis.”
Individual Artist Grants
Current, full-time Oakland residents who make their primary income as freelancers or employees in the arts sector may apply. Applicants must make the majority (50%+) of their individual income from the arts sector through any combination of sales of art, freelance work, and/or employment. This includes fine artists, including literary, visual, and performing artists; musicians; teaching artists; culture bearers; artist members of collective-based or cooperative creative social enterprises; and specialized artist workers (e.g., lighting or sound designers, fabricators, and the like). Grants of up to $3,000 will be awarded to approximately 160 individuals.
Nonprofit Organizational Grants
Oakland-based 501(c)3 arts nonprofits; fiscally sponsored arts organizations; or 501(c)3 incorporated cultural land trusts with a primary function of arts and/or culture activities and services may apply. Eligible organizations must have a yearly budget under $2.5 million based on the most recently completed fiscal year that ended before March 1, 2020.
Grant amounts will be based on nonprofit’s actual budget size of the most recently completed fiscal year using the following tiers:
For budgets up to $999,999, grants will be up to $10,000
For budgets of $1 million-$1,499,999, grants will be up to $15,000
For budgets of $1.5-$2.5 million, grants will be up to $20,000
The arts nonprofit must not have received more than $20,000 through the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program or received a National Endowment for the Arts (CARES) award. Additionally, applicants, and employees or board members of applicant organizations, who have a conflict of interest (family or financial relationships) with the boards, staff, or directors of CCI or of City of Oakland’s elected officials and their employees are ineligible.
Both Grant Programs
Applicants for both grants will be asked to provide a detailed explanation of financial losses or incurred expenses due to COVID-19. Notifications to grant recipients are anticipated on Friday, October 30, 2020.
The grants will help prevent displacement among artists and closures of arts nonprofits. Artists and public-benefiting arts organizations are the backbone of the City’s diversity and vibrancy of cultural identity and expression. Distribution of the CARES Act grants for the arts is through a partnership between the Economic & Workforce Development Department’s Cultural Affairs Division and the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI), a trusted intermediary focused on the economic security of people in the arts.
“Artists, culture workers, and arts nonprofits need our support but are all too often overlooked. We are delighted to partner with the City of Oakland, with the knowledge that they understand how important the arts are to the civic life of communities,” said Laura Poppiti, Center for Cultural Innovation’s Grants Program Director.
To assist applicants, FAQs have been posted at: cciarts.org/Oakland_CARES_Fund.html Support for technical questions is also available. English-speaking applicants are asked to email [email protected] with the subject line “Oakland CARES Fund Tech Support” and provide your full name and telephone number for assistance. For those completing applications in Spanish, Chinese (Traditional), or Vietnamese, please email [email protected] or call (510) 238-4949.
The Oakland CARES Fund for Artists and Arts Nonprofits will distribute support to reflect the cultural and geographic diversity of the city of Oakland – including those in historically underserved communities that are especially vulnerable financially due to this economic crisis.
Although not factors in grant decisions, we strongly encourage the following with financial needs to apply: individual applicants of, or organizations that primarily serve, historically marginalized communities, which may include, but are not limited to, African and African American, Arab, Asian and Asian American, Latinx, Middle Eastern, Native American and Indigenous, Pacific Islander; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Transgender, and Gender-Variant people; people with disabilities; women; and those who are low-income, have high debts, have difficulty obtaining or retaining sources of income, or live in immigrant and refugee communities.
This is the latest CARES Act-funded grant program launched by the City of Oakland. Grant programs for low-income renter and homeowner relief and an RFQ to fund support for low- and moderate-income renters and homeowners were announced earlier this month. Learn more about the $36.9 million in CARES Act Funding at: https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/coronavirus-aid-relief-and-economic-security-cares-act-funding
Post based on a press release from City of Oakland to Zennie62Media.
Vallejo, Calif. – The Vallejo Police Officers’ Association today urged the City of Vallejo to join together in making important changes and reforms to improve policing, public safety, bring the department into 21 Century policing, and to build trust and credibility for police officers, the City and future generations.
“In light of the fact that VPOA members are typically the only representatives of the City directly interacting with the community on a daily basis, we urge the City to prioritize implementing these changes as soon as possible to advance public safety and to ensure our police force is at the forefront of improving and enhancing community relationships, openness, fairness, and public and police safety,” the VPOA letter says.
Specifically, the VPOA called upon the City to work together to adopt the vast majority of recommended reforms and changes from two independent studies commissioned by the City of Vallejo.
The first independent study by Police Strategies LLC in June on use of force concluded that Vallejo police officers are racially unbiased and equitable in their application of force. The second independent report by OIR Group in May offered 45 recommended changes and reforms to VPD.
“As the use of force is a critical component in the national discussion on policing, this is something we should all celebrate and take great pride in as we discuss local reforms,” the VPOA letter to the city states. The VPOA said it believes the report’s data is import in guiding positive changes.
The second independent report by the OIR Group offered 45 recommendations to improve policing in Vallejo. The letter to the city states that VPD has implemented a handful of the recommendations, but overall, it notes that “progress has been slow, sowing doubt as to the City’s commitment to improving and modernizing the Vallejo Police Department. As the VPOA has stated on numerous occasions, the members support the vast majority of the OIR Group’s recommendations.”
The letter to the City and Chief says that despite the shared objectives of the Chief and VPOA officers, the Office of the Chief of Police has rejected the VPOA’s repeated requests to collaborate on implementing these reforms in a timely manner.
“While we in the midst of a national discussion on the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve, it is critical that we inform before we reform, as any meaningful discussion must be rooted in fact to avoid politicizing public safety,” the VPOA board of directors wrote in a letter to City leaders and the Vallejo Chief of Police.
The VPOA letter urges the Chief and City leadership to meet and confer on the handful of recommendations that require more evaluation and consideration.
“As Chief Williams has publicly professed his belief in the tenets of 21st Century Policing, it is appropriate to remind the City of two principles of this important philosophy,” the latter states:
“First, 21st Century Policing recognizes that in order to achieve internal legitimacy, law enforcement agencies should involve employees in the process of developing policies and procedures. As the elected representatives of the sworn personnel of the Vallejo Police Department, this letter of support and collaboration from the VPOA should be recognized as an incredible opportunity to move the Department forward in a positive direction.
“Second, 21st Century Policing acknowledges that law enforcement agencies should proactively promote public trust by initiating positive non-enforcement activities to engage communities. To achieve this goal, we must significantly enhance our staffing. The City of Vallejo needs to immediately hire more highly qualified police officers and focus upon increased diversity of race, gender, and ethnicity in its recruiting effort.
“We need these officers now. As the Chief noted in his Exceptional Policing Model, the City of Vallejo needs 180 police officers. Right now, we have roughly 60 percent of the staffing necessary to protect Vallejo. This must change to ensure the safety of the public and our police officers. In summary, the VPOA wants to see positive change for the community, for the City, for ourselves, and for future generations. We urge the City to work with us to make these substantive changes as quickly as possible to the benefit of all stakeholders.”
The VPOA letter urges immediate action and cooperation from the city because the VPOA is “deeply concerned by the current rise in crime, including rape, robbery, and assault, as well as the escalating murder rate which is on pace to make 2020 the deadliest year on record.”
“As guardians of the City and its residents, our members are not currently afforded the staffing, tools, and equipment that are necessary to stem the tide of violence that is overtaking our beloved community. As we struggle to protect our residents’ homes and businesses, it is time to acknowledge that an understaffed and ill-equipped police force is destined to fail in its mission to keep the community safe,” the letter says.
The Vallejo Police Officers’ Association (VPOA) is the recognized bargaining unit between all Vallejo Police Officers and the City of Vallejo. Members include all ranks of Officers. The VPOA is committed to the safety and security of the citizens of Vallejo and the protection of life and property. For more information please visit www.vallejopoa.com
Sanpete County Utah has a population of over 27,000 people, and is located 122 miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah. Of late, in the ongoing push to build the much-needed Insight Terminal Solutions Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal and replaced the lost low-skill, well-paying jobs that went away with the closure of the Oakland Army Base in 2000, Sanpete County has come into focus.
The reason is that Sanpete County is one of four Utah counties (which are Sevier, Carbon and Emery), which intend to provide financial support of $20 million from a $53 million state economic development fund.
The media consistently gets what the Utah PCIB does completely wrong. In all of the explanations I have read from traditional news organizations, they express surprise that the Utah Legislature (at least the Republican side) would think of using funds from the Utah Permanent Community Impact Board for the ITS Oakland Bulk and Oversize Terminal.
Without spending more time on revealing those words from traditional media, let’s jump right to the real explanation of what the Utah Permanent Community Impact Board does – right from its own grant and loan program page:
The Permanent Community Impact Fund Board (CIB) is a program of the State of Utah authorized in Section 35A-8-301, et seq. The goal of the CIB is to maximize the long term benefit of funds derived from these lease revenues and bonus payments by fostering funding mechanisms which will, consistent with sound financial practices, result in the greatest use of financial resources for the greatest number of citizens of this state, with priority given to those communities designated as impacted by the development of natural resources covered by the Mineral Leasing Act. TheCIB’s source of funding is a portion of federal mineral lease royalties returned to the State by theFederal Government. https://jobs.utah.gov/housing/community/cib/documents/cibreport.pdf
And the real reason the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal has come into focus is because the words “greatest use of financial resources for the greatest number of citizens of this state, with priority given to those communities designated as impacted by the development of natural resources covered by the Mineral Leasing Act” translate to “we need the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal to help save coal industry jobs, by allowing businesses in our counties a better way to get their coal product to the overseas markets that demand them.” If you understand that, then you do understand why the fund was tapped.
On The Supposed Reason For The Opposition To Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, Climate Change, And System Dynamics
Before I continue, let me get this out of the way: climate change is not something new, and because the fact is that climate change has been with us as a problem for most of my 58 years on this planet. I was born August 4th, 1962, in Chicago. That year, we had an estimated 180 million people in America and about 2.6 billion on the Earth, as a whole. Since then, the United States has expanded to 330 million people and the Earth is just over 7 billion people – we’ve added 4.4 billion more people in my 58 years.
There’s one fact in all of this: as we add more people to a room, the temperature in that room increases.
In 1979, and via a family friend, I was introduced to The Limits To Growth: a book by Dennis and Donnella Meadows, and The Club Of Rome-financed MIT Project on the Predicament Of Mankind (that was the title). It was written in 1971, and introduced to me the problem-framing concept called System Dynamics (I am now an expert in System Dynamics). System Dynamics was originally created by MIT Professor Jay Forrester and introduced in a book called Industrial Dynamics. But that was based on one kind of model made in a programming language called DYNAMO.
What the The Limits To Growth presented was a much more advanced System Dynamics model called World 3. As Magne Myrtveit put it in his paper “The World Model Controversy”:
Limits To Growth MIT Team
In 1971 Jay Forrester published his book World Dynamics, where he presented a high-level simulation model of the socio-economic-environmental world system. The main purpose of the model and the accompanying book was to encourage an open debate about the long-term future on our planet. The World Model was created in a time where pollution and other negative effects of industrialization and economic growth started to become recognized. Forrester made the assumption that life on earth is bounded within certain limits, such as available space and resources. Based on this he concluded that exponential economic growth cannot continue forever; sooner or later one or more limits will be reached. The question, then, is how mankind can manage its own future in ways that can avoid an unpleasant encounter with the limits to growth.
Since then, a number of researchers have concluded that constant increases in population growth have caused global warming. The World Models forecast that, eventually, population will fall. Indeed, the World Models presented in the book The Limits To Growth, and then Beyond The Limits in 1993, both originally predicted that would happen in the year 2000 and then the forecast was adjusted for 2010; this is 2020. We’re 10-years into living on borrowed time, because the World’s population is still growing, and with it the rate of change in the climate.
The scientists who have emerged to publish on this and point the finger singularly at traditional energy as the cause of climate change are not trained in system dyanamics. Thus, they collect data, but lack the right paradigm from which to think about what numbers they gathered. World modeling using a system dynamics approach consistently shows population growth to be the problem. Moreover, The Limits To Growth models and books, introduced the concept of climate change decades ago. And in this, a number of scientists who are more focused on ecology have said this:
The largest single threat to the ecology and biodiversity of the planet in the decades to come will be global climate disruption due to the buildup of human-generated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. People around the world are beginning to address the problem by reducing their carbon footprint through less consumption and better technology. But unsustainable human population growth can overwhelm those efforts, leading us to conclude that we not only need smaller footprints, but fewer feet.
And to bring the point home, zero-emissions will not stop climate change pressures unless population growth slows. The good news, from every indicator, is that the gradual lessening of the rate of growth of population slowed from just over 2 percent 50 years ago to about 1.05 percent, today. So, from this, we have another 50 years of time. The “10 years from now” forecast of climate change impact should have happened in 2000, but it did not. But, the cold fact is the result, a reduced rate of growth in population, is the desired one. The point is, low emissions operation is the focus of the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, but the opposition to it, as well as the reasons for it, are unrealistic.
To better understand the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, listen to then-Oakland Economic Development Director Fred Blackwell talk about it with me in 2012:
Note that, at the video’s 3:14 mark, Mr. Blackwell says that the use of rail rather than trucks supports the West Oakland Environmental Justice Movement (which he shorthand refers to as “things going on there”).
If Climate Change Due To Global Warming Is Here, And OBOT Is Low Emissions, Why Stop People From Working?
Now, the opposition to the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal has made a lot of wild and completely baseless comments about it. For example, some claim that it will cause coal in open hopper cars to go through poor neighbors in Oakland. Not true. First, OBOT will use covered hopper cars. Second, the rail lines used run through Port of Oakland land and Jack London Square, where the dwellings are for middle to high-income residents for the most part. Third, still others say that they don’t want coal to be delivered to China and other nations that rely on traditional energy.
The fact is that traditional energy is still cheaper to produce than renewable energy at this point, and efforts are being made to make it more environmentally friendly. Our focus should be in encouraging increases in rates of education as a way to cause a reduction in world population growth, faster. But robbing the workers in Sanpete County, Utah from jobs today because of a future that’s already here in climate change, and one that’s going to come in reducing rates of population growth, is nothing less than evil.
Indeed, Robert Stevens, Managing Editor Of The Sanpete Messenger, wrote this in support of the Insight Terminal Solutions Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal:
The four counties invested in this project all have strong economic ties to coal. With the demand for domestic coal dropping all the time, but booming in countries like Japan, the coal industry in Utah could stand to benefit a lot from access to an export terminal like the one ITS is developing.
The unique location of the port, which is being built at a former Army base on the Port of Oakland, has the two important components to make it all happen—a deep water bay for heavy coal ships, and a rail line connection. If the terminal is realized, 10 million tons of Utah coal could come in via rail each year, get loaded on ships and be exported to Asia.
Yet, with that, we have some in Utah, at the Salt Lake Tribune, openly saying that coal workers in Sanpete County should be transitioned to other supposedly “cleaner” jobs. The problem is we are in the middle of a Pandemic that has caused the elimination of many service jobs, while manufacturing and transportation positions largely remain. The Salt Lake Tribuneseems more interested in driving support for businesses that the Huntsman Family has an investment in (they own the news organization), than saving the coal industry jobs in Sanpete County, Utah.
The reason I sought Insight Terminal Solutions as a client for Zennie62Media was not just that I have a history with OBOT that goes back to 1991, or because I have a network of 100 blogs and hundreds of social media and YouTube platforms, but because my formal training is in economic development. In other words, job creation for an urban area.
Sanpete County, Utah needs the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal for jobs, just as the homeless in West Oakland do. To deny both for flimsy reasons that crumble when someone asks why 18-wheel trucks are still running through West Oakland neighborhoods is criminal, or should be considered that.
Los Angeles – Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars® eligibility in the Best Picture category, as part of its Academy Aperture 2025 initiative. The standards are designed to encourage equitable representation on and off screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience.
Academy governors DeVon Franklin and Jim Gianopulos headed a task force to develop the standards that were created from a template inspired by the British Film Institute (BFI) Diversity Standards used for certain funding eligibility in the UK and eligibility in some categories of the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) Awards, but were adapted to serve the specific needs of the Academy. The Academy also consulted with the Producers Guild of America (PGA), as it presently does for Oscars eligibility.
“The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them. The Academy is committed to playing a vital role in helping make this a reality,” said Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry.”
For the 94th Oscars (2022) and 95th Oscars (2023), submitting a confidential Academy Inclusion Standards form will be required for Best Picture consideration, however meeting inclusion thresholds will not be required for eligibility in the Best Picture category until the 96th Oscars (2024).
For the 96th Oscars (2024), a film must meet TWO out of FOUR of the following standards to be deemed eligible:
STANDARD A: ON-SCREEN REPRESENTATION, THEMES AND NARRATIVES
To achieve Standard A, the film must meet ONE of the following criteria:
A1. Lead or significant supporting actors
At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.
• Asian
• Hispanic/Latinx
• Black/African American
• Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
• Middle Eastern/North African
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• Other underrepresented race or ethnicity
A2. General ensemble cast
At least 30% of all actors in secondary and more minor roles are from at least two of the following underrepresented groups:
• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
A3. Main storyline/subject matter
The main storyline(s), theme or narrative of the film is centered on an underrepresented group(s).
• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
STANDARD B: CREATIVE LEADERSHIP AND PROJECT TEAM
To achieve Standard B, the film must meet ONE of the criteria below:
B1. Creative leadership and department heads
At least two of the following creative leadership positions and department heads—Casting Director, Cinematographer, Composer, Costume Designer, Director, Editor, Hairstylist, Makeup Artist, Producer, Production Designer, Set Decorator, Sound, VFX Supervisor, Writer—are from the following underrepresented groups:
• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
At least one of those positions must belong to the following underrepresented racial or ethnic group:
• Asian
• Hispanic/Latinx
• Black/African American
• Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
• Middle Eastern/North African
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• Other underrepresented race or ethnicity
B2. Other key roles
At least six other crew/team and technical positions (excluding Production Assistants) are from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group. These positions include but are not limited to First AD, Gaffer, Script Supervisor, etc.
B3. Overall crew composition
At least 30% of the film’s crew is from the following underrepresented groups:
• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
STANDARD C: INDUSTRY ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES
To achieve Standard C, the film must meet BOTH criteria below:
C1. Paid apprenticeship and internship opportunities
The film’s distribution or financing company has paid apprenticeships or internships that are from the following underrepresented groups and satisfy the criteria below:
• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
The major studios/distributors are required to have substantive, ongoing paid apprenticeships/internships inclusive of underrepresented groups (must also include racial or ethnic groups) in most of the following departments: production/development, physical production, post-production, music, VFX, acquisitions, business affairs, distribution, marketing and publicity.
The mini-major or independent studios/distributors must have a minimum of two apprentices/interns from the above underrepresented groups (at least one from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group) in at least one of the following departments: production/development, physical production, post-production, music, VFX, acquisitions, business affairs, distribution, marketing and publicity.
C2. Training opportunities and skills development (crew)
The film’s production, distribution and/or financing company offers training and/or work opportunities for below-the-line skill development to people from the following underrepresented groups:
• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
STANDARD D: AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
To achieve Standard D, the film must meet the criterion below:
D1. Representation in marketing, publicity, and distribution
The studio and/or film company has multiple in-house senior executives from among the following underrepresented groups (must include individuals from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups) on their marketing, publicity, and/or distribution teams.
• Women
• Racial or ethnic group:
Asian
Hispanic/Latinx
Black/African American
Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
Middle Eastern/North African
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
Other underrepresented race or ethnicity
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing
All categories other than Best Picture will be held to their current eligibility requirements. Films in the specialty feature categories (Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, International Feature Film) submitted for Best Picture/General Entry consideration will be addressed separately.
Academy Aperture 2025 is the next phase of the Academy’s equity and inclusion initiative furthering the organization’s ongoing efforts to advance inclusion in the entertainment industry and increase representation within its membership and the greater film community.
After some controversy regarding a majority-white pool of candidates, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb (District One) introduced the City of Oakland’s first independent redistricting commission. This is what Schaaf and Kalb said in their statements, released today, and sent to Zennie62Media:
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
“Congratulations to the fifteen commissioners selected to serve on Oakland’s first-ever independent Redistricting Commission (link). This citizen’s commission will draw Oakland’s very first set of new election borders free of political influence, based on 2020 Census Data to apply to the 2022 City Council and School Board elections. I’m grateful to my co-authors Councilmember Dan Kalb, the League of Women Voters and Oakland Rising who worked with me way back in 2014 to write Measure DD, which passed with 61.45 percent of the vote and established this independent process that finally debuts this year. Oaklanders, be proud we’re one of the only cities in the country to use this transparent, public process that keeps politicians from getting to draw their own election boundaries. It’s a great advance for democracy.”
Dan Kalb: Oakland District One Councilmember.
“I’m thrilled that our Redistricting Commission is getting started and will do the hard work necessary to ensure equitable representation throughout Oakland,” Councilmember Dan Kalb said. “As one of the authors of the ballot measure that created the Commission, I’m glad the voters agreed that elected officials should not draw their own district lines. I know the Commission will fulfill its commitment to an Oakland where all can participate in the political process and where everyone has a voice.”
Dan Kalb
This was the ballot measure that Libby and I authored in 2014 to make sure local elected could not draw their own district lines.
Here’s the City of Oakland’s presentation of the final 15 commissioners (although, this time, they avoided including a breakdown by race and sex, for some reason):
On August 27, 2020, the first six Redistricting Commissioners selected nine Oakland residents to join the Commission. Those selected include: Tracy McKnight (District 1); Shirley Gee (District 2); Amber Blackwell (District 3); Paul Marshall (District 4); Masoud “Matt” Hamidi (District 5); Martha Hernandez (District 6); Daniel Chesmore (District 6); Gloria Crowell (District 7); and Tejal Shah (District 7).
The first six Commissioners were announced on July 22, 2020, after their names were randomly drawn by Acting City Clerk Asha Reed from a 30-person applicant pool. They were tasked with selecting seven additional voting members and two alternate members from the remaining applicant list. The first six Commissioners include: Jan Stevens (District 1); Benjie Achtenberg (District 2); Lilibeth Gangas (District 3); Diana Miller (District 4); Stephanie Goode (District 5); and Mary Velasco (District 6).
All members were vetted through a three-person Screening Panel prior to their selection to the Redistricting Commission. The Redistricting Commission is comprised of 13-voting members and two alternate members, with Commissioners Chesmore and Hamidi serving as the alternate members. The alternate members will actively and fully participate in the Commission’s work. The Commissioners are tasked with setting new district boundaries for City Council and School Board of Directors districts upon conclusion of the 2020 U.S. Census.
“We prioritized geographic location, racial, ethnic and economic diversity as we reviewed the applicant pool and thoughtfully made our selections,” Commissioner Gangas said. “We strived to represent the dynamic demographic characteristics of Oakland based on the applicant pool.”
“Our job is to ensure a fair and equitable process in determining the new district boundaries for Oakland,” Commissioner Velasco said. “We have Commissioners of different backgrounds and experiences from across Oakland, and who all indicated a willingness to set aside our own self interests in accomplishing our work.”
“We encourage residents, groups, and organizations to get involved in our work,” Commissioner Stevens said. “As a new Commission, we want the community to know of the work we are doing and will strive to make the redistricting process as open and transparent as possible.”
The Redistricting Commission will begin its work in the fall of 2020 and will approve the new district boundaries by December 31, 2021. The Commissioners are eligible to serve one term, which concludes when the final district maps are approved.
For additional information on the Redistricting Commission, or to receive email notifications on the Commission’s work, visit: www.oaklandca.gov/redistricting and select the ‘Register’ icon.
The largest single threat to the ecology and biodiversity of the planet in the decades to come will be global climate disruption due to the buildup of human-generated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. People around the world are beginning to address the problem by reducing their carbon footprint through less consumption and better technology. But unsustainable human population growth can overwhelm those efforts, leading us to conclude that we not only need smaller footprints, but fewer feet.
Oakland, Utah, Wyoming, and other parts of America involved in the debate over coal need a wake up call. In the ongoing policy debate about the Insight Terminal Solutions’ Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, the words of America’s Power President Michelle Bloodworth are a sober reminder of the need to maintain the reliable and affordable source of energy provided by coal.
In The Washington Times (sad that Michelle has to go to a conservative publication to address a problem that should not be a political issue), she wrote:
Policymakers know that our nation’s fleet of coal-fired power plants play an indispensable role in powering our lives, helping ensure that the electricity grid is both reliable and resilient. The coal fleet contributes to the nation’s fuel security and diversity, and serves as an insurance policy against electricity shortages and price spikes.
These are the functions of critical infrastructure during the best of times. In the face of the current, unprecedented crisis, the role of the coal sector assumes even greater importance.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has jurisdiction over the criteria that most of these policymakers rely upon to determine which segments of our economy represent essential enterprises, listed coal power as “uniquely critical” in guidance issued in March. Essential critical infrastructure like coal, DHS said, is “imperative during the response to the COVID-19 emergency for both public health and safety and community well-being.”
And while the nation’s power grid is diverse, no fuel source is more resilient than coal in the face of unexpected or extreme events. During the Bomb Cyclone of 2018, for example, more than 60 percent of incremental electricity demand was met by coal, while natural gas, wind and solar power faced outages.
Today, our fleet of coal power plants are playing an essential role in our nation’s response to the pandemic.
The Real Climate Change Problem Is Not Energy But World Population Growth
What is bothersome right now is that mob rule has come to have some say over America and the World’s energy future. What the mob should pay attention to is the very growth of, well, the mob. And by that, I mean world population control.
The simple fact is that climate change is due to a large and increasing Earth population density. Few want to pay attention to the real truth: we have to control future population growth. That has not been done, or pushed – reducing coal production and dreaming of a shift from traditional energy will not solve the problem; population growth control will. Calling for the “end of coal” is a silly pipe dream advanced by those who fear to see the real truth.
Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the environmental groups that addresses the link between population and climate change in its work, said: “If we don’t address population growth, our efforts to reduce that pressure on the climate and habitat and water resources will always be an uphill battle.”
Areas of high population growth and high vulnerability to climate change impacts overlap. Evidence suggests that the poorest countries and poorest groups within a population are most vulnerable to climate-related hazards such as floods, droughts, and landslides.2 Many developing countries are currently experiencing rapid population growth, increasing the number of people who will be exposed to projected impacts of climate change. Other demographic trends, such as urbanization in coastal areas and encroachment of populations into ecologically marginal areas, such as hillsides or degraded land, can exacerbate climate risks.
Zennie62Media is proud to have been commissioned by Insight Terminal Solutions to use its vast media platform and technology to get out the truth about climate change, and de-politicize energy economic development so we can maintain an affordable and safe standard of living. Further, I am personally committed to an effort to change the argument to save the World. The current over-politicized energy policy environment dooms the World to an uncertain energy future amid constant climate change, completely undisrupted by decline in the use of transitional energy sources.
It’s possible to have what we are already creating: a cleaner traditional energy industry. But killing traditional energy will not solve the climate change problem – population control will. Any claim to the contrary is baseless. The simple fact that a room gets warmer with more people in it is all of the model evidence one needs to show the larger global problem. We have to stop dooming traditional energy jobs and start saving them via improving the plant and equipment used.
In closing, if you have never seen the 1973 movie Soylent Green starring Charlton Heston, that film provides a more realistic model of a future we don’t want than any other popular culture has provided:
Soylent Green is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Charlton Heston and, in his final film, Edward G. Robinson. The film overlays the police procedural and science fiction genres as it depicts the investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources, poverty, dying oceans, and a hot climate due to the greenhouse effect. Much of the population survives on processed food rations, including “soylent green”.
Tuesday’s program kicks off with the a united call to action from the future of the Democratic Party MILWAUKEE—Reimagined for a convention that will look and feel different than anything ever before, tonight’s Keynote Address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention wove together powerful and diverse voices from the next generation of party leaders into … Read more
Delegates will cast their nominating votes from cities, locations, and landmarks all across the nation MILWAUKEE—The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today the Americans who will cast their official nominating votes for president of the United States during tonight’s “Roll Call Across America.” The roll call vote will take place under tonight’s theme, “Leadership Matters,” and spotlight those who … Read more
MILWAUKEE—The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today announced the faith leaders who will give the invocation and benediction during each night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the convention—which will take place over four nights from August 17-20 and air from 9:00-11:00 PM Eastern—Democrats will celebrate our nation’s collective strength, diversity, and humanity and prepare to unite … Read more
MILWAUKEE—Reimagined for a convention that will look and feel different than anything ever before, this year’s Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention will weave together powerful and diverse voices from the next generation of party leaders into a unified pledge to step up and lead in this critical moment for the nation, convention organizers … Read more
Washington – In a letter sent to all members of Congress, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today formally endorsed more than a dozen individual bills in Congress that would help close longstanding opportunity gaps that exist for Black Americans and people of color. The move is part of the Chamber’s national Equality of Opportunity initiative … Read more
Los Angeles – Racquel Gates and Rebecca Prime have been named 2020 Academy Film Scholars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Their respective book projects, Hollywood Style and the Invention of Blackness and Uptight!: Race, Revolution, and the Struggle to Make the Most Dangerous Film of 1968, explore in depth the topic … Read more
The Tuesday July 21st, 2 am attack on Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s home was done by around 30 vandals dressed in black and with black masks, and complete with what were said to be projectiles fired at the Mayor’s home, along with fireworks, and graffiti. The fact that it happened just one day after Trump … Read more
