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?”
Ben Bartlett and the Berkeley City Council Introduces Legislation on Group Violence Intervention (GVI) Program – to address Gun Violence in the Community
Berkeley – Berkeley has been experiencing an alarming rise in shootings throughout the City. This year alone, there have been more than 30 shootings, including one occurring on the night of October 21, 2020 that tragically left a woman gravely injured in a drive-by shooting on Prince Street in South Berkeley.
“The recent heartbreaking gun violence must come to an end, and I am ready to work collaboratively with our community in developing an effective program to achieve that goal,” Mayor Jesse Arreguin said.
Today, Councilmember Bartlett introduced urgent legislation and is calling on the City to establish a Group Violence Intervention Program (GVI), or “Operation Ceasefire,” which will assemble an inter-jurisdictional working group of law enforcement agencies, community members, and support services providers to address the cascading cycles of gun violence.
Co-sponsored by Mayor Arreguin and Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani, the item will be discussed at today’s City Council meeting if approved to be agendized. “By looking at the success of similar programs in other cities and catering it towards the needs of Berkeley, we can develop safe communities together,” Mayor Arreguin said.
Specifically, the program will identify young adults (ages 18-30) who are at greatest risk of being involved in gun violence, develop an intervention team to communicate directly and respectfully to at-risk individuals, implement an intervention plan to provide wrap-around and support services, and create a public education campaign to promote these efforts.
In cities throughout the country, GVI has proven to be an effective tool for reducing homicides and strengthening trust between community members and law enforcement. The City has the power to act now to develop its own GVI program to address the tragic rise in shootings and homicides plaguing our city.
In recognition of the interlocking geographic nature of those committing gun crimes as well as their victims, the GVI program will be centered on Berkeley. However, it should also be connected to and work in concert with community workers in neighboring jurisdictions including Oakland, Richmond, Antioch, and San Francisco.
“GVI aligns with our goals of reimagining policing, and is a more robust version of the Specialized Care Unit envisioned in the George Floyd Community Safety Act,” Councilmember Bartlett said. “The program also paves the way for greater regional collaboration, protecting communities from gun violence in Berkeley and across the Bay Area. People have put in years of work developing this model. Let’s raise up the community’s efforts and create lasting peace in the streets. Our children deserve to be safe.”
1ST AMENDMENT AUDIT DANVILLE PD!!!!
From YouTube Channel: October 25, 2020 at 05:39PM
ONN – DID A FIRST AMENDMENT AUDIT AT THE DANVILLE POLICE DEPT. AND REQUESTED AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CHIEF REGARDING HIS THOUGHTS ON 1ST AMENDMENT AUDITS.
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$peoplesauditor ON CASH APP [email protected] ON VENMO
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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 YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our 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 – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. 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. Through the Oakland CARES Arts Technical Assistance Fund, $193,000 has been allocated to provide technical assistance to help Oakland-based arts organizations and artists develop a robust online digital presence.
From November 9 to December 10, Youth Speaks, in partnership with YR Media and Zoo Labs, two Oakland artists-centered organizations, will offer 14 free, virtual workshops to train participants on available tools for programming and production; producing content utilizing low-cost tools and technology; the aesthetic associated with virtual presentations; social media and marketing strategies; and strategies on how to monetize one’s presence. For details on the workshop offerings and registration, please visit lifeisliving.org
“The County’s Shelter-in-place Orders to keep Oaklanders safer have prevented many artists, performers and arts organizations from enriching our community through performances and exhibitions,” said… “These workshops will help our cultural practitioners make the leap to online performances to share their artistic expression and generate much needed income.”
“With our desire to navigate and cross several artistic fields (theatre, poetry, production, music, and beyond), we felt it was important to sculpt bold and precise experiments to help our organizations and partners to navigate this moment in time,” said Joan Osato, Producing Director at Youth Speaks. “We’re thrilled to be able to pass on what we’ve learned to our beloved community through this project.”
Youth Speaks & Life Is living Cohort Workshops
Session 1: Monday, November 9, 4-5:30 p.m.
Grounding Rituals – Facilitated by Hodari B. Davis, and Joan Osato (Life is Living Cohort) Coaching Session that aligns and codifies shared understanding, language and connection to mission, strategy and content. Identifying your audiences and engagement strategy.
Session 2: Monday, November 9, 6-7:30 p.m.
Seeds – Transferring skill sets to virtual engagement and production. How to utilize, train up your existing staff and artists for virtual programming; a 101 tutorial on pre-production, production and post-production, as well as how to budget for it. Training on online tools and platforms including pros and cons of each system, costs and skill sets that are transferable to online programming and production.
Session 3: Wednesday, November 11, 4-5:30 p.m.
Zoomlife – 101 Tutorial on everyday use/user friendly platforms. Zoom world practical applications, tricks and tips. Tech Guide in safety, connectivity, equipment. Producing content and media assets utilizing low-cost tools and technology. Britt White, Life is Living’s Production Manager takes you through the backstage into organizing and running your show. Tech guides included.
Session 4: Wednesday, November 11, 6-7:30 p.m.
Advanced Tutorial on everyday use/user friendly platforms. Bringing the aesthetics of your organization, artists and engagement priorities into the design of your program. Defining aesthetics, goals, participants and barriers and how to address them. Setting your stage, capture process in the time of COVID-19. Editing, and Rehearsal and Tech. This training involves aesthetics, and innovative practice in virtual presentations and programming. Includes examples of presentations, process and technology by which they were achieved.
Session 5: Monday, November 16, 4-5:30pm
Open Broadcasting Software (OBS) & Wirecast Introduction and tutorials. In this session we’ll introduce you to advanced programs that help you capture, produce and stream your content for broadcast. Maximiliano Urruzmendi, Life is Living’s Technical Director takes you through the basics of how the programs work. Handouts Included.
Session 6: Monday, November 16, 6-7:30pm
Principles of Streaming, Wirecast, YouTube, Twitch platforms continued. Now that you have the basic outline of how the platforms work and are in communication with each other, it’s time to plot out your workflow and take it into broadcast. Maximiliano takes you through various streaming services and platforms and the pros and cons of each. Handouts included.
Session 7: Wednesday, November 18, 1-3 p.m.
Merchandising, Monetizing and Creating Earned Revenue Streams – Yavette Holts, founder of BAOBOB (Bay Area Organization of Black Owned Business, Life is Living Cohort) – high level overview of ecommerce platforms in order to support business owners and nonprofits who need help optimizing their online store(s) . We’ll take the participants through the platform WooCommerce.
Session 8: Wednesday, November 18, 6-7:30 p.m.
Pivoting your Organization and Practice (now what?) – We’ll facilitate a conversation about strategies and frameworks for a sustainable future for
organizations and artists and guide and support participants in visioning next steps. Breakout Sessions and Consulting on Scenarios will look at Social media and marketing strategies that apply to virtual programming, including Branding, Analytics and their use in fundraising and strategies for monetizing your platforms. Social Media Toolkit included.
YR Media Workshops
Tuesday, December 1 to Thursday, December 3, 6-7:30 p.m.
Social Circles: Building an Audience in Apocalypse (three-part series)
Now that your fans can’t experience you in a live venue, what do you do to retain and build an audience? How can artists create a personal brand? In this three-part conversation, YR Media’s social team and youth social contributors will show you how to start, and then nurture, an authentic social presence, with recommendations of which platform(s) to target depending on your demographic.
Zoo Labs Workshops (Recommended for Artists/Collectives working in music)
Session 1: Tuesday, December 8, 5-7 p.m.
Your Story Brand – Attendees will learn how to digitally tell a story that can sell and market their brand to their customers. Presented by Mashama Thompson of 510 Media.
Session 2: Wednesday, December 9, 5-7 p.m.
The Digital Roll Out Strategy – Attendees will learn how to strategically engage fans and create buzz around music, videos or other online content. Presented by Lance Coleman, Fuze the MC.
Session 3; Thursday, December 10, 5-7 p.m.
How to Get Paid and Follow the Trends – Attendees will learn how to collect money through their digital royalties and understand their data to know what is working in order to make future strategies. Presented by United Masters.
The workshops are for Oakland residents and reservations are required. Participation in the program is on a first come, first served basis.
This is the latest CARES Act-funded program launched by the City of Oakland. Previously, grant programs for small businesses, individual artists and arts nonprofits, home-based businesses, community-serving nonprofits, and low-income renters and homeowners were announced. Additionally, free legal advice webinars and consultations on lease negotiations are being supported by CARES Act funds. Learn more about the City of Oakland’s $36.9 million in CARES Act Funding at: oaklandca.gov/CaresAct
About Youth Speaks
Through the intersection of arts education and youth development practices, civic engagement strategies, and high-quality artistic presentation, Youth Speaks creates safe spaces that challenge young people to find, develop, publicly present, and apply their voices as creators of societal change. They are the producers of Life is Living is an eco-equity, interdisciplinary festival that centers historically underserved neighborhoods and communities with programming in public spaces that have been otherwise neglected. For the last 13 years, the Life is Living Festival has taken place at De Fremery Park in West Oakland
About YR Media
YR Media is a national network of young journalists and artists who collaborate with peers around the country and top media professionals to create content that matters. It is non-profit production company that builds critical skills in journalism, arts and media.
About Zoo Labs
Zoo Labs a not-for-profit accelerator that bridges art, entrepreneurship, and capital to conduct 3 high level workshops for musicians specifically around branding, music production and entrepreneurship.
Post based on press release from The City of Oakland to Zennie62Media.
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
Oakland – This year has brought more than its fair share of crises, but there is some great news from Oakland’s Blue Shield of California. The company and its employees stepped up their commitment to support the communities where its employees live and work.
Record-breaking fundraising by employees, together with Blue Shield’s corporate gifts, are supporting on-the-ground wildfire recovery efforts and helping people cope with the impact of COVID-19.
Blue Shield Total Donations, Volunteer Hours
“Blue Shield of California, headquarted in Oakland, Calif., and our employees continue to show how much we care for others” says Kimberley Goode, senior vice president of external affairs at Blue Shield. “For 2020, employee giving reached $1 million with our company match which is almost double employee giving in 2019.”
Blue Shield Corporate Gifts Announced
As California copes with COVID-19 the state is also facing the challenge of wildfires. Climate change, among other factors, is causing massive wildfires to happen more often, with greater ferocity and ever closer to our communities, towns, and cities. In response, Blue Shield announced a $25,000 company donation in October to the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief Fund to help communities recover.
“We recognize that these wildfires – and to a larger extent climate change – are public health threats for all of us,” says Goode. “We have to listen to the science and work together to take care of our fire-ravaged communities and are proud to support nonprofits that are leading this important work.”
A Banner Year for Employee Giving
In addition to Blue Shield’s record-breaking employee giving, the company reached another impressive milestone through volunteering. More than 1,000 employees took time to help their favorite nonprofits – either virtually or in person – contributing more than 10,000 volunteer hours so far this year.
“Like everyone else in this pandemic, Blue Shield and our employees had to pivot in unexpected ways to meet the needs of our employees, members, providers and the community,” Goode said. “We quickly adapted our approaches and our employees stepped up. We like to say, ‘We Never Stop,’ and that is certainly what happened here – with employees and leaders making sure we do our part to help those who need us most.”
In this story also covered by KRON TV’s Dan Thorn, Serenity Henderson (who’s spelling is Sereinat’e Henderson) is a 19-year-old mother of a 9-month-old child, and pregnant with her second baby, who was killed in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday. The drive-by shooting reportedly occured at Prince Street near Malcolm X Elementary School, at 1731 Prince St.. The suspect is still at large as of this writing.
On Thursday, Sereinat’e Henderson’s family held a vigil at the site in South Berkeley where the crime occurred. Family members and Berkeley Councilmember Ben Bartlett gathered to remember Sereinat’e and call for an end to the gun violence.
Councilmember Ben Bartlett (who authored a comprehensive police reform legislation called The George Floyd Community Safety Act) holds that The Pandemic is responsible for the uptick in gun violence in Berkeley. He and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín are forming a regional task force to address the problem. The KRON take left out mention of the role of the Pandemic, and Councilmember Bartlett’s comments; the video-blog above has his thoughts on the Coronavirus and Berkeley gun violence.
Link Between The Pandemic And Gun Violence In Berkeley And Nationwide
That there’s a link between The Pandemic and gun violence is now well-documented. Everytown Research and Policy reports:
As of June 4, 2020, there have been over 1.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US. While over 485,000 Americans have recovered from the coronavirus, nearly 108,000 have died.1 Since the onset of COVID-19, the country has seen a rise in gun violence: The number of gun deaths trended higher during the peak coronavirus outbreak period of March through the Memorial Day weekend in May than during the comparable time frame in 2019. This resulted in 354 additional firearm deaths.
Unprecedented increases in gun sales, combined with economic distress and social isolation due to COVID-19, are intensifying the country’s long-standing gun violence crisis. The pandemic highlights the deadliness of weak gun purchase and access laws that allow firearms to fall into the wrong hands, and also sheds light on existing structural inequity. The coronavirus puts vulnerable populations, including women, children, and communities of color, at heightened risk. The lethal impact of these crises, though devastating, helps point the way to laws, policies, and programs that can keep people safe and healthy—now and on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic. The collision of these two public health crises offers possibility amidst great loss.
Stay tuned.
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 YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our 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 – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. 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.
ONN – Association of Flight Attendants Hold Rally Near Rep Barbara Lee Office In Oakland
From the YouTube video:
This was at a rally or gathering outside the offices of Barbara Lee organized by the Association of Flight Attendants. The rally was held at California Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s office in Oakland. As the union officials say, Barbara Lee has been supportive but has “backtracked” a bit by suggesting passing the PSP extension, which would cover workers’ wages until the end of March, after the election but the unions want it passed before.
It would seem the time is ripe to raise this demand as workers or the US taxpayer has been paying the wages of these workers so far so why not make the industry public as a first step toward transforming such and important social need as public transportation.
I posted a piece to the Facts For Working People Blog on this issue in August. You can read it here: https://ift.tt/3dQG5io
Stay tuned.
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 YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our 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 – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. 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.
The video reported “Today marks 29 years since the deadly Oakland Hills fire. Here’s a look back at KTVU coverage of the 10th anniversary,” but for me, since I was in it, I have something to share, too.
That day of the Oakland Hills Fire was a Sunday morning. I met my friend from Skyline High School days (Class of 1980), Valerie Ostrom, for breakfast at Lynn & Lu’s Escapade Cafe Cafe on Grand Avenue near Elwood. We probably should have went to church, considering what was about to unfold.
We had an outdoor table on a bright, sunny, hot fall morning, and so were direct witness to what was unfolding. A group of people standing in the street, and collectively peering to our left – uphill, on Grand. As I recall, no cars were driving by at that specific time. Because of the way the street curved at that point, we could not see what they were looking at. Once we went out to join them, it became apparent what was happening: a giant-sized smoke plume from the Oakland Hills, and in the general direction of Valerie’s parents home on Proctor Avenue.
So, and because Valerie was concerned about her folk’s dogs (she thought her parents were away from home), we drove up to see about them. As it turned out, it got darker and darker, as we drove, and what started out to be a check-in, turned into an evacuation. I wound up driving Valerie and her parents out of the neighborhood and to another relative’s place – away from their home.
Talk about dark and scary. At one point, I wondered if we would get out of there, because we were also in traffic with others trying to escape. We made it, and thanks to what we then called the police, and now call “first responders”.
That Oakland Hills Fire changed Oakland, dramatically, and forever. It started because someone put out a cigarette in a giant brush and during a heat wave with no cool air to reduce the temperature. It damaged most of the homes in the Upper Broadway Terrace area. But, after some time, the area was rebuilt – but it lacked the woodsy charm of my youth. What it gained was a new set of politically-active Oaklanders, who never had to deal with City Hall, before.
That said, I give credit to The City of Oakland’s satellite permit response effort – something that emerged because so many people received insurance money to rebuild their homes. What came from that marked the area’s appearance today.
Stay tuned.
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 YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our 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 – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. 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.
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.
ONN – City of Oakland to enact new EMP Policy by Derrick Soo
City of Oakland City Council APPROVED a new Encampment Management Policy that will change current policy. Oakland Administrators did this before, FORCING people to live in close proximity to dangerous Street Gang Members, Rapist, Criminals and violent people without proper safety at those sites. Currently Administrators are going to COMPRESS 142 Homeless Encampments into a “Proposed” 40 Sanctuary Sites.
Oakland also has placed size Limitations on Shelter “Footprint” of 12’x 12’. Not possible in most instances, too small. City demanding that ALL of ones possessions fit into that shelter.
EMP now BANS, Propane tanks, appliances, grills, heaters, lights from ALL sites at all times. With Winter coming, Administrators tell us to wear extra clothing to keep warm. Very Unreasonable!!! Solar is discouraged and out of most peoples ability to buy. People begin dying on the streets during the winter, this camp has lost 3 to FREEZING to DEATH.
I’ve been working tirelessly to turn this CRISIS around! My PATH Program (Permanent Access To Housing) addresses our CRISIS with proven solutions to the Affordable Housing Crisis everywhere. But, Mayor Schaaf and City Council Members are negligent in at least looking into these viable solutions that are working in other parts of our country. These Programs deal with all issues of Housing Affordability across every income level, including ZERO income.
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 — Today, the Oakland City Council unanimously passed a resolution introduced by Council member Rebecca Kaplan in Opposition of Proposition 22.
Oakland stands with app-based drivers, gig workers and communities statewide who want a fair playing field. The proposition, funded by a consortium of gig companies, would deny their employees the benefits to which California workers are entitled.
In addition, the supporters of Prop 22, Uber and Lyft among them, spent approximately $184 million dollars to flood the airwaves with political advertisements to deceive the public with false claims about what the proposition would do for drivers. These companies spent a significant amount of money trying to influence the course of election that could have instead been invested in the well-being of their drivers.
At the Council Meeting, several of the speakers during Public Comment made statements and urged the Council to support the resolution. Some speakers were drivers for one of the companies supporting Prop 22, they spoke passionately of her opposition to Prop 22 due to the lack of labor protections and the economic insecurity that comes with being a gig driver. Many expressed their solidarity with drivers and their opposition to Prop 22.
As the pandemic continues, it is as important as ever that workers’ rights are protected. These gig workers are essential workers, and we must do our best to ensure that they have the benefits they need and want.
Tonight, the Oakland City Council voted to Oppose Proposition 22. We took a stand against corporate bullies and for the labor rights of the countless people statewide who value truth and fairness.
ONN – Trump New Tell All Book Details His Racism Toward Black Folks At Trump Tower – By Joseph Armendariz
Trump New Tell All Book Details His Racism Toward Black Folks At Trump Tower – By Joseph Armendariz
Photos courtesy of CNN
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.
ONN – Rock Legend John Fogerty Issues Cease And Desist Order To The Trump Campaign – By Joseph Armendariz
Rock Legend John Fogerty And Village People Issues Cease And Desist Order To The Trump Campaign – By Joseph Armendariz.
Photos courtesy of: CNN, NBC News, pinterest.com
#JohnFogerty#VillagePeople
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 – With the November 3 election now just 15 days away, people across Oakland are already casting their votes for everything from ballot measures to political offices all the way up to the President and Vice President of the United States. To help Oaklanders exercise their constitutional right to vote, OUSD is providing ten District-run schools and one charter school as polling locations. The schools are as follows.
OUSD is providing ten District-run schools
In the weeks leading up to the election, some of the schools have seen voters visit in an effort to drop off their mail-in ballots at what will likely be their November 3 polling locations. However, the schools are NOT serving as ballot drop-off locations. If you are voting early and want to drop off your ballot rather than put it in the mail, you can visit the Alameda County Registrar of Voters at 1225 Fallon Street or you can find a map of ballot drop-box locations here.
It’s also important to know that today, Monday, October 19 is the final day to register to vote in the November election. If you are doing it by mail – it must be postmarked by today – or if you are registering online, please do so here. If you don’t register today, you can still register in person at the county registrar’s office, but that is known as a Conditional Voter Registration.
“This is an incredibly important election for a whole host of reasons, and we are proud to support the democratic process by offering our schools as polling locations,” said Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “If you haven’t already, don’t forget to register to vote, and then make sure you cast your ballots. It’s critical that all of our voices are heard as we shape the future that we want for ourselves and our children.”
About the Oakland Unified School District
In California’s most diverse city, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is dedicated to creating a learning environment where “Every Student Thrives!” More than half of our students speak a non-English language at home. And each of our 81 schools is staffed with talented individuals uniting around a common set of values: Students First, Equity, Excellence, Integrity, Cultural Responsiveness and Joy. We are committed to preparing all students for college, career and community success.
To learn more about OUSD’s Full Service Community District focused on academic achievement while serving the whole child in safe schools, please visit OUSD.org and follow us @OUSDnews.
Post based on press release from OUSD to Zennie62Media
This was crazy, @Portland Andy caught this live as he was pushed back with other protesters and they had to move quick it was chaos.
Now, this was a was a protest against Twitter for censoring and flagging white supremacy and hate speech. A few counter protestors showed up. Reportedly, the white supremacy groups punched people and were armed. My question is who paid for this protest to happen? It seems like protests are a kind of career, today.
Moreover, the whole idea was stupid. No one works at Twitter Headquarters because we’re in the middle of The Pandemic. All of this was one media play – nothing more. If they wanted real impact, they’d have staged an online protest of some sort.
But, hey, they’re anti-tech, which means they’ll never figure out what the heck to do, anyway.
Stay tuned.
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 YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our 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 – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. 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.
Mr. Deweies Best Vegan ? Ice Cream ? In Oakland See why..
From YouTube Channel: October 17, 2020 at 07:35PM
ONN – Today we stop by Mr. Dewie’s vegan ice cream parlor in Oakland California so many great flavors you have to try it yourself . If you enjoy this video please make sure to like subscribe share and don’t forget to hit the notification button’s to get your weekly updates our goal on this channel is to help educate motivate inspire those in inner-city communities on the health benefits of plant-based nutrition and physical fitness we want to help lower the risk of people suffering from obesity high blood pressure diabetes cancer heart disease etc. if you’re interested in learning more please go to our website and get in contact with us at https://ift.tt/2UFmrON we appreciate all your support and thank you for tuning into another episode if you’d like to follow us on Instagram check us out at
@Catfitness3
@mrdewies
@theveganhoodchefs
@monk_eternal
@plantpoweredbrothaz
@Heal_the_hood_tour
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 YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our 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 – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. 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.
On Wednesday, Scott McKibben, now the former Executive Director of The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority and currently President Of The Oakland Panthers of The Indoor Football League, accepted a misdemeanor plea-bargain deal in the case where he was accused of violating a government law prohibiting self-dealing. The problem is, the case and the mainstream media reporting, masks a great deal of facts that, in total, show an organizational system beyond the control of McKibben, and where he was asked to be an actor in it, then burned by it.
Scott McKibben was accused of violating California Government Code Section 1090, which prohibits public officials and public employees from “making” public contracts in which they have a financial interest. The fact is, Scott was asked by the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority Board to secure a naming-rights marketing agreement with Ring Central. Scott was, contrary to the law, listed contractually as an independent consultant – just like the other marketing consulting firms the Coliseum JPA has hired over its existence, since its creation in 1996.
That Scott asked for, but did not receive, a $50,000 fee from a $4 million deal with Ring Central, should not have raised any eyebrows considering that the Coliseum JPA Board asked him to do the deal, he’s an independent contractor, and the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda at no point at all gave Scott any instructions regarding the law. Indeed, the persons who should have done that are Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker and Alameda County Counsel Donna Ziegler.
Moreover, the other persons who should have done that comprise the same Board of Directors of The Oakland Coliseum JPA, and many of whom are friends of mine, and should not have let Scott take a fall like that, and they know it. Folks like Alameda County Supervisors Scott Haggerty and Nate Miley, Oakland City Councilmembers Larry Reid and Loren Tayor, and JPA Commissioners Yui Hay Lee (famed Oakland architect), Ignacio De La Fuente (himself a former Oakland Councilmember), and Chris Dobbins (everyone’s favorite local lawyer), and Christine Smith, both who are no longer on the JPA Board.
And I add myself to that list, because, in 2019 for the NBA Finals Game 4, Scott gave me a ticket – way up in the damn rafters, but it was a ticket. When he invited me to visit the Coliseum JPA Box, my friend Chris was there, as was Barbara Parker, among others.
“California Government Code Section 1090 (“Section 1090”) – which prohibits public officials and public employees from “making” public contracts in which they have a financial interest – is notoriously vague, broad, and malleable. Section 1090 provides that California’s elected and appointed public officials and public employees may not be “financially interested” in “any contract made by them in their official capacity. California courts have interpreted these terms broadly, making it dangerously easy to violate the statute without even knowing it. Most troublingly, Section 1090 does not require bad intent for a conviction or a fine. A public official, public agency, or employee may violate the statute if they act knowingly – that is, knowing about their financial interest and knowing what they are doing in connection with the contract – even if they don’t realize that their conduct is prohibited. In fact, because of that low general intent requirement, California courts have rejected the defense of “advice of counsel” or that they obtained prior approval from an attorney. In other words, a California official or employee might violate Section 1090 even if the public entity they work for, and its attorneys, told them that their conduct was lawful and not a violation of Section1090.
And in Scott McKibben’s case, no one told him about Section 1090 to start with. For Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley to seek to charge McKibben for a felony makes me wonder if her office was aware of how poorly the law was written and just decided to go ahead and go after Scott, anyway? And why? Well, to answer that question, read on.
The Warriors Playoffs And Coliseum Sports Ticket Distribution Scandal That Should Not Be, But Is
And in addition, the JPA Board was served by the Oakland Chief Administrator’s Office, and I attended a meeting where then Oakland Chief Administrator Sabrina Landreath served as the secretary for the meeting. But did you know Sabrina Landreath scored a Warriors playoff ticket valued at $5,000 in 2016? And did you know Yui Hay Lee was signed up for and received $35,000 in Warriors playoff tickets? And before you say Scott McKibben signed off on them, I instruct you to look online at the many Form 802 filings going back to 2016, because Councilmember Reid, and Yui Hay Lee signed off on some of them, too. http://oraclearena.s3.amazonaws.com/doc/OACCA-Form-802-May-2016-5576c104a9.pdf
Yui Hay Lee Warriors 2016
And did you know Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker scored $840 worth of Oakland A’s tickets in 2016, as did my friend Coliseum JPA Commissioner Chris Dobbins? (And this is something Barbara Parker herself admits too, so there, but its wrong for some news media to blast Oakland Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney for the same perk that Barb Parker herself obviously enjoyed. Moreover, its wrong for Reid and Parker to make Scott McKibben look bad, when they could have defended him, and put him in the bad position to start with.)
Barbara Parker got $9,250 worth of Golden State Warriors regular season tickets for free, March 2016.
Barbara Parker Gsw Tickets
And I happened to randomly find that information about Yui Hay Lee in opening the link to the Form 802 page. I wasn’t going on a witch hunt against Yui Hay Lee (even though he did use part of my Oakland City Hall Plaza Design Concept I made at Skyline High School in 1979 for the actual plaza). I’m only demonstrating that the truth is the entire Coliseum JPA culture, and that of the City of Oakland and The County of Alameda, is to blame for what the Alameda County Coliseum District Attorney accused Scott of doing with respect to Ring Central. You can see all of the ticket request reports here: https://www.theoaklandarena.com/about-us/coliseum-authority/public-information
Now, I have long argued that the law should allow for public officials who run a giant sports complex should, to enjoy some small benefit of doing so, like occasionally scoring tickets to events – just don’t sell them. Look, how the heck is any official to see how their facility is managing a large sports event it that person can’t even attend the event? Logical, right?
Anyway, here’s a newsflash: doing that – getting sought-after-tickets – failed to become an big issue for years – or until The Golden State Warriors got real good at NBA Basketball. Prior to that, the Oakland Coliseum had not enjoyed a team that won so much, tickets to their playoff games were valued over gold.
Then, when Golden State became the daring of the NBA, those who did not score Warriors playoffs tickets and were somebodies, were railing over those who did – particularly public officials. Moreover, the public officials were getting seats so good that Alameda County Administrator Susan Muranishi wound up on national television during the 2016 NBA Finals.
And she too had an appetite for $8,650 worth of regular season Warriors tickets, all in March of 2016…
Susan Muranishi Gsw Tickets
Then, while the Oakland Public Ethics Commission was formed in 1996, it did not became the new cultural tool for use against elected officials that the folks in control of it did not want to protect, until the last seven years. So, rather than defend themselves and explain the rationale for having tickets, the officials who were enjoying that ability to get tickets went into hiding.
And then had no problem trying to remove the one person they went to for tickets: Scott McKibben. Think about that. Rather than help their “ticket friend”, if you will, they stabbed him in the back, in my humble opinion.
The trouble with the mainstream media is its institutionally racist and when its not that, it’s myopic. One news organization was all too willing to try and take down Scott because some of its editors remember him from when he ran ANG Newspapers and they worked for him in the early 2000s. So, for them, making Scott look bad was a just reward for low pay they received as journalists, back then. Fact is, they did not tell you that, and it masks the truth I’m telling you. (And why I am a blogger and not a journalist.)
The real truth is that public governance in Oakland and in California has degenerated into a culture where someone is always looking to use poorly written California laws to take down someone else, for whatever reason. It chases away good people like Mr. McKibben, my friend who ran The Rose Bowl, and was the one reason the Oakland Coliseum managed to land rent agreements with the then-Oakland, now Las Vegas Raiders that put the organization in the black after years of red ink. And it covers up the truth: that when something like Warriors playoffs tickets are to be had, the culture will figure out a way for someone to land them, and then blast someone like Scott.
You know the saying that rules are made to be broken? Well, in California, the rules are made to be used against those people who were set up by others to break them. The Coliseum JPA Board of Directors set Scott McKibben up to fail, and is the worst for it.
Scott McKibben Was The Best Sports Business Negotiator In Oakland’s History
In Scott McKibben, the Coliseum JPA lost the best sports negotiator it ever had. And, starting in 1996 when I represented Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris as his Economic Advisor, I have worked with and advised to some extent all of them since 1996: Ezra Rapport, Denna McClain, Mark Kaufmann, Ann Haley, Doug Thornton, Denna McClain again, before Scott McKibben came in (and even though the original first choice was a former elected official who had zero experience in the business of sports).
Moreover, I defend Scott because he bailed out the City of Oakland’s 2005 Super Bowl Bid in May 10th of 2000. I was the head of the Super Bowl XXXIV Bidding Committee and Executive Director of the Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission, which I formed in 1999.Paul Tagliabue, then The NFL Commissioner, had invited us to give a presentation at NFL Headquarters in New York. After showing up 20 minutes late, then-Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown left our meeting with then NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue early, and unexpectedly.
Commissioner Tagliabue, who budgeted two hours of his valuable time for us, was fuming.
Thus, we were left with just Scott McKibben and two other board members from the Oakland-Alameda County Sports Commission to be there, in addition to me, as head of the meeting. At the other side of the room and for the NFL were Tagliabue, Executive Vice President Of Football Operations Roger Goodell, then-NFL Head of Special Events and Mr. Super Bowl Jim Steeg, and then-head of NFL Legal Derrick Haggens, Jennifer Gonsalez, and Sue Robichek. Scott spoke up for the Oakland / East Bay business community and saved our meeting with Paul. A good thing, because Tagliabue was so upset over Jerry Brown’s actions, he threatened to stop the meeting. An action that would have killed our chances to land the Super Bowl Game.
Just 10 days after that meeting, The NFL selected Oakland as one of three finalist cities (the other two Jacksonville and Miami) for the right to host the 2005 Super Bowl. As then-Oakland District One Councilmember Jane Brunner told me later that year “none of us gave you a chance.” Ultimately, we lost to Jacksonville.
On the way to that NFL meeting, I had to create the damn Oakland sports commission from scratch, and because then Oakland City Attorney Jane Williams had stood in Oakland City Administrator Robert Bobb’s way (as did McClain) with roadblocks explaining why Oakland could not even do a bid! On top of that, the Coliseum was managed by SMG and Sally Roach, who, with Deena McClain, famously told Mr. Bobb that a former employee of the Coliseum I was working because he was the architect, had stolen the facility’s drawings. Everyone believed them but me. As I told Bobb then, how can we operate the Coliseum without the drawings? The whole claim just smelled bad to me.
So, I went on my own investigation and found the drawings (which we needed for our NFL Super Bowl Bid) via an engineer with HNTB in Marin County, Ca.. That same person then said “Sally Roach says you can’t have the drawings”! I hit the ceiling, called Robert Bobb, and Sally was removed from running the effort, and Bobb told her to work with me. I wanted her fired.
Point is, Oakland had many stories of people trying to stop other people from making government work for the people, and doing great things (take Phil Tagami, Insight Terminal Solutions, and the whole Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal coal issue, for example). Scott McKibben is the latest casualty in this.
Stay tuned.
Post script: The giant list of $139,013.50 worth of sports ticket issued by the Coliseum JPA and that (I was told by a source who does not wish to be named) claimed were approved by the Oakland City Attorney’s Office, but the docs show the Coliseum JPA did as well:
2016-137 events=$139,013.50 + ???
January-0 events
February-3 events=$2,500.00
02/06/2016-Warriors v OKC=$1,100.00
02/09/2016-Warriors v Rockets=$1,100.00
02/14/2016-Charlie Wilson Concert=$75.00 x 4
March-16 events=$13,074.00
03/01/2016-Warriors v Hawks= $700.00
03/03/2016-Warriors v OKC =$1,100.00
03/04/2016-Prince: Piano and a Microphone=$600.00 x 4= $2400.00
03/05/2016-Festival of Laughs Comedy Show=$93.00 x 4= $372.00
03/07/2016-Warriors v Orlando=$600.00
03/09/2016-Warriors v Jazz=$700.00
03/11/2016-Warrior v Portland=$600.00
03/12/2016-Warriors v Phoenix=$600.00
03/13/2016-Bruce Springsteen= $158.00 x 4= $632.00
03/14/2016-Warriors v New Orleans=$800.00
03/16/2016-Warrior v Knicks=$1,100.00
03/23/2016-Warriors v Clippers=$1,300.00
03/25/2016-Warriors v Mavericks=$700.00
03/26/2016-Andre Ward v. Sullivan Barrera=$105.00 x 4= $420.00
03/27/2016-Warriors v 76ers=$350.00
03/29/2016-Warrior v Wizards=$700.00
April-23 events=$20,608.50
04/01/2016-Warriors v Celtics= $700.00
04/02/2016-Oakland A’s= $112.50
04/03/2016-Warriors v Portland=$500.00
04/04/2016-Oakland A’s= $100.00
04/05/2016-Oakland A’s= $80.00
04/05/2016-Warriors v T’wolves=$600.00
04/06/2016-Oakland A’s= $80.00
04/07/2016-Oakland A’s= $80.00
04/07/2016-Warriors v Spurs=$1,200.00
04/10/2016-Carrie Underwood Concert= $134.00 x 4=$536.00
04/11/2016-Oakland A’s= $80.00
04/12/2016-Oakland A’s= $80.00
04/13/2016-Oakland A’s= $80.00
04/13/2016-Warriors v Memphis=$650.00
04/15/2016-Oakland A’s= $80.00
04/16/2016-Oakland A’s= $80.00
04/16/2016-Warriors v Rockets (Game 1)=$5,000.00
04/17/2016-Oakland A’s= $90.00
04/18/2016-Warriors v Rockets (Game 2) )=$5,000.00
04/23/2016-The Class Reunion Concert= $75.00 x 4= $300.00
04/27/2016-Warriors v Rockets (Game 3) )=$5,000.00
04/29/2016-Oakland A’s= $80.00
04/30/2016-Oakland A’s= $100.00
May-24 events=$37,568.00
05/01/2016-Warriors Playoffs=$5,000.00
05/02/2016-A’s v Seattle= $90.00
05/03/2016-Warriors Playoff)=$5,000.00
05/03/2016-A’s v Seattle= $80.00
05/04/2016-A’s v Seattle= $80.00
05/04/2016-Hill Song United= $32.50 x 4= $130.00
05/07/2016-Rihanna=$157.50 x 4 = $630.00
05/11/2016-Warriors Playoffs=$5,000.00
05/16/2016-Warriors Playoffs=$5,000.00
05/16/2016-A’s v Texas= $80.00
05/17/2016-A’s v Texas= $80.00
05/18/2016-Warriors Playoffs=$5,000.00
05/18/2016-A’s v Texas= $80.00
05/19/2016-A’s v NYY= $90.00
05/19/2016-The Who= $149.50 x 4= $598.00
05/20/2016-A’s v NYY= $100.00
05/21/2016-A’s v NYY= $100.00
05/22/2016-A’s v NYY= $100.00
05/26/2016-Warriors Playoffs=$5,000.00
05/28/2016-A’s v Detroit= $80.00
05/29/2016-A’s v Detroit= $90.00
05/30/2016-Warriors Playoffs=$5,000.00
05/30/2016-A’s v Detroit= $80.00
05/31/2016-A’s v Detroit= $80.00
June-17 events = $41,130.00
06/02/2016-Warriors v Cavaliers=$10,000.00
06/05/2016-Warriors v Cavaliers=$10,000.00
06/08/2016-Warriors Watch Party=$20.00
06/10/2016-Warriors Watch Party=$20.00
06/12/2016-KMEL Summer Jam=$62.50 x 4= $250.00
06/13/2016-A’s v Texas= $80.00
06/13/2016-Warriors v Cavaliers=$10,000.00
06/14/2016- A’s v Texas= $80.00
06/15/2016- A’s v Texas= $80.00
06/16/2016-Warriors Watch Party=$20.00
06/17/2016- A’s v Angels= $90.00
06/19/2016-Warriors v Cavaliers=$10,000.00
06/19/2016- A’s v Angels= $90.00
06/21/2016- A’s v Brewers= $80.00
06/22/2016- A’s v Brewers= $80.00
06/29/2016- A’s v Giants= $120.00
06/30/2016- A’s v Giants= $120.00
July-11 events = $1,080.00
07/01/2016-A’s v Pittsburg= $90.00
07/02/2016-A’s v Pittsburg= $90.00
07/03/2016-A’s v Pittsburg= $80.00
07/09/2016-Louis C.K.= $60.00 x 4+ $240.00
07/15/2016-A’s v Toronto= $80.00
07/17/2016-A’s v Toronto= $90.00
07/18/2016-A’s v Houston= $80.00
07/19/2016-A’s v Houston= $80.00
07/20/2016-A’s v Houston= $80.00
07/21/2016-A’s v Tampa Bay= $80.00
07/23/2016-A’s v Tampa Bay= $90.00
August-11 events = $2,962.00 + ?
08/02/2016-Adele= $274.00 x 4 = $1,096.00
08/03/2016-Dream Team= $156.50 x 4 = $626.00
08/05/2016-A’s v Cubs= $90.00
08/06/2016-Andre Ward v. Alexander Brand= $165.00 x 4 = $660.00
08/07/2016-A’s v Cubs= $90.00
08/08/2016-A’s v Orioles= $80.00
08/11/2016-A’s v Orioles= $80.00
08/14/2016-A’s v Mariners= $80.00
08/22/2016-A’s v Cleveland= $80.00
08/23/2016-A’s v Houston= $80.00
08/27/2016-Raiders v Titans = ?
September-18 events= $2,821.00 + ??
09/01/2016-Raiders v Seahawks=?
09/02/2016-A’s v Boston= $90.00
09/03/2016-A’s v Boston= $90.00
09/04/2016-A��s v Boston= $90.00
09/05/2016-A’s v Angels= $90.00
09/06/2016-A’s v Angels= $80.00
09/07/2016-A’s v Angels= $80.00
09/09/2016-A’s v Seattle= $80.00
09/11/2016-A’s v Seattle= $80.00
09/15/2016-Black Sabbath= $205.00 x 4 = $820.00
09/18/2016-Raiders v Falcons= ?
09/19/2016-A’s v Houston= $80.00
09/20/2016-A’s v Houston= $80.00
09/21/2016-A’s v Houston= $80.00
09/24/2016-A’s v Texans= $90.00
09/24/2016-Sonu Nigam & Atif= $88.00 x 4 = $352.00
09/25/2016-A’s v Texans= $90.00
09/30/2016-Bad Boys Concert= $137.25 x 4 = $549.00
October-10 events= $6,623.00+ ??
10/01/2016-Sia=$149.50 x 4 = $598.00
10/04/2016-Warriors v Clippers= $675.00 x 4 = $268.00
10/07/2017-Dixie Chicks=$89.50 x 4 = $358.00
10/09/2016-Raiders v San Diego= ?
10/10/2016-WWE Raw=$99.75 x 4 = $399.00
10/14/2016-Golden State Music Fest=136.50 x 4 = $546.00
10/16/2016-Raiders v Kansas City=?
10/21/2016-Warriors v Trail Blazers= $675.00 x 4 + $2,700.00
10/25/2016-Warriors v Spurs= $1,350.00
10/26/2016-Disney on Ice= $50.50 x 8 = $404.00
November-0 events
December-4 events= $10,657.00
12/03/2016-Warriors v Suns= $1,000.00 x 4 = $4,000.00
12/18/2016-KMEL Hip Hop Holiday House of Soul= $125.00 x 4 = $500.00
12/24/2016-Raiders v Colts= $275.00 x 4 = $1,357.00
12/30/2016-Warrior v Mavericks= $1,200.00 x 4 = $4,800.00
Here’s the record of who approved what tickets; there are 62 results:
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
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California delivered the Weekly Democratic Address. In this week’s address, the Congresswoman discussed the disturbing disparate impact of the COVID-19 health and economic crisis on communities of color and House Democrats’ demand for COVID relief that crushes the virus and helps working families. Video and audio of the Weekly Democratic Address can be downloaded here.
Below is a full transcript of the address:
“Hello, I’m Congresswoman Barbara Lee. I’m privileged to represent California’s thirteenth Congressional District, which includes Oakland and the East Bay area.
“I serve on the Appropriations Committee in the House of Representatives, Co-Chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and I serve as the Chair of the Majority Leader’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity.
“Today, I’d like to talk to you about what House Democrats are fighting for in order to crush the COVID pandemic and provide Americans with much needed economic help.
“Over 215,000 people have lost their lives to this pandemic, and unemployment rates are reaching record highs.
“This pandemic isn’t impacting everyone equally. If you are poor, Black, Latinx, Asian American, Pacific Islander or Indigenous, you know you’re at much greater risk – both from the virus and from the disparate economic impact. Indeed, while the stock market continues to deliver value for wealthy Americans, many working families are struggling.
“A recent study shows eight million more Americans – many of them Black and brown – have been forced into poverty since May, which can be directly linked to Republican inaction. And contrary to the talking points from across the aisle, the majority of working-age adults on SNAP have employment. This pandemic has made an even bigger impact on America’s working poor.
“American families are in desperate need of leadership. The Trump Administration has utterly failed in its response to this crisis. The President and Mitch McConnell have stalled negotiations, played politics with people’s lives and refused to compromise.
“House Democrats have risen to the occasion and passed two pieces of legislation to achieve two goals: save lives and assist working people and their families, especially for our most vulnerable communities.
“This pandemic has had a terrible impact on communities of color. Black people are dying at two and half times the rate of white people in the United States. Indigenous and Latinx people are both 50 percent more likely to die from COVID than white Americans. Mortality rates within the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are also so high. Between January and July, the AAPI death rate rose 35 percent, compared to an increase of 9 percent for white Americans.
“Alongside Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, our Native American Democratic Members, and my House Democratic Colleagues, I have worked diligently to ensure that this does not go overlooked.
“We are fighting to ensure the COVID-19 testing and tracing efforts, which were included in the Heroes Act, are made specifically available for medically underserved communities and communities of color. It’s crucial that these communities receive support from organizations and non-profits that have experience and relationships with the people living in the communities they serve – people that live in their neighborhood and speak their language.
“But we know that this is an economic crisis just as much as a public health crisis. Families need direct payments, Unemployment Insurance, small business loans and much more to weather this catastrophe. As more time passes, the relief millions and millions of Americans have relied on to keep them afloat has dried up, and the White House and Senate Republicans have looked the other way.
“One way to reduce poverty is to expand the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which provides critical support for working families. However, Republicans and the Trump Administration would rather continue providing tax benefits for some of the wealthiest in America than give relief to those most in need.
“The latest White House coronavirus relief proposal takes one step forward but two steps back – it is not only insufficient; in many cases it would make matters worse.
“We urge Republicans to get serious about the health and economic crisis devastating millions, and join us to save lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy.
“Thank you for listening, and please continue letting your representatives know how you feel. We are in this together.”
Post based on press release from The Congresswoman to Zennie62Media.
Eight Months After Discovery of TCE Under the McClymonds High Campus, the School has been Deemed Safe for Students and Staff to Occupy
Oakland Unified School District OUSD
Oakland – Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) leadership will hold a news conference on Friday, October 16, 2020, to discuss the final determination about the safety of McClymonds High School, which had to shut down during the spring semester because of a toxic chemical that was found in the groundwater under the school. One month before the world radically changed because of the Covid pandemic, OUSD decided to close the McClymonds campus to students and staff because of the discovery of trichloroethylene, or TCE, under the school. Now, eight months later, the school has been deemed safe to return to for all students and staff.
In the weeks that followed the February closure, McClymonds students were divided up and moved to several different campuses. In the meantime, District staff, along with a group of experts from Alameda County and the State of California worked to take samples all across the campus, especially inside the school buildings. On Friday, the District is publicly sharing that the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) says the testing shows the campus is safe for the school community to return to once everyone is able to go back to in-person teaching and learning at all schools.
District staff will also discuss the environmental injustices that have been perpetrated on the people of Oakland and all urban areas for far too long, and how the TCE situation at McClymonds is emblematic of those injustices.
Stay tuned for the news conference livestream here.
About the Oakland Unified School District
In California’s most diverse city, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is dedicated to creating a learning environment where “Every Student Thrives!” More than half of our students speak a non-English language at home. And each of our 81 schools is staffed with talented individuals uniting around a common set of values: Students First, Equity, Excellence, Integrity, Cultural Responsiveness and Joy. We are committed to preparing all students for college, career and community success.
To learn more about OUSD’s Full Service Community District focused on academic achievement while serving the whole child in safe schools, please visit OUSD.org and follow us @OUSDnews.
ONN – Las Vegas Stadium Authority Meeting On The Boring Company People Mover – October 15, 2020
Elon Musk’s The Boring Company is in the middle of building an innovative take on The People Mover concept first introduced in America at Disneyland. It’s seeking approval to build a stop at Allegiant Stadium, as part of a route that starts at The Las Vegas Convention Center and serves the Las Vegas Strip.
As stated earlier, the project would benefit from a tax increment financing zone.
Stay tuned.
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 YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our 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 – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. 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.
ONN – Oakland Police Update: Homicide Investigation In The 1900 Block of 84th Avenue
Deputy Chief Leronne Armstrong gives an update on the homicide investigation in the 1900 block of 84th Avenue. Around 12:47 pm today, three people were shot in the 1900 block of 84th Avenue. One person was pronounced deceased at the scene and another died at the hospital. The third victim is listed in stable condition.
Stay tuned.
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 YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our 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 – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. 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.
ONN – Amy Cooper Charged By Manhattan DA With Racist 911 False Report Of Crime Against Black Chris Cooper
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance issued this press release:
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. today filed charges against AMY COOPER, 41, in New York County Criminal Court. Ms. Cooper is charged with Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree, a misdemeanor, for falsely reporting an assault in the Central Park Ramble on May 25, 2020. [1]
“Our Office is committed to safety, justice, and anti-racism, and we will hold people who make false and racist 911 calls accountable,” said District Attorney Vance. “As alleged in the complaint, Amy Cooper engaged in racist criminal conduct when she falsely accused a Black man of trying to assault her in a previously unreported second call with a 911 dispatcher. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed in the police response to Ms. Cooper’s hoax. Our Office will pursue a resolution of this case which holds Ms. Cooper accountable while healing our community, restoring justice, and deterring others from perpetuating this racist practice.”
As alleged in the Complaint and as stated on the record in court by Executive Assistant D.A. Joan Illuzzi, Ms. Cooper called 911 and told a NYPD dispatcher that a Black male was threatening her inside the Central Park Ramble. In a previously unreported second phone call, Ms. Cooper repeated the accusation and added that the man “tried to assault her.” When responding officers arrived, Ms. Cooper admitted that the male had not “tried to assault” or come into contact with her.
Executive Assistant D.A. Joan Illuzzi (Chief of the Trial Division) is handling the prosecution of this case.
D.A. Vance thanked the members of the New York City Police Department’s Central Park Precinct and Communications Section for their assistance with the investigation.
Defendant Information:
AMY COOPER, D.O.B. 6/10/1979
New York, NY
Charged:
Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor, 1 count
This should send a powerful message that white folks must stop the practice of making false reports to law enforcement because they don’t like someone black being in their presence.
Stay tuned.
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.
On Thursday, October 15th, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, which owns the $2.2 billion Allegiant Stadium that’s home to the Las Vegas Raiders, will take up an exciting project: Pay Pal founder Elon Musk’s tunneling and transportation startup The Boring Company’s Las Vegas People Mover To Allegiant Stadium.
Specifically, the Las Vegas Stadium Authority will give thumbs up to the eventual building of a station stop at Raiders Stadium. But the question is, how did we get here?
The project started last May 19th, 2019, when The Boring Company landed a $48.7 million project to shuttle people in an underground Loop system around the Las Vegas Convention Center. But, as happens with this ever changing project in a city that likes to jump on futuristic transportation ideas as early adopters (like the Disney-style Monorail system that is now a bankrupt organization with miles of unused track over and around the Las Vegas Convention Center), casino executives, and now the Raiders, want in on what The Boring Company’s working on.
All of this, while there’s no news on any increase in project funding!
Las Vegas People Mover Proposed Route Tree
And just what is it? Basically, it takes the Disney People Mover concept and puts it underground – except it does not use small cart style cars propelled by linear-induction motors. Rather, it uses what are best described as electronic guide wheel cars. If you see the proposed route, and consider that, for events like CES, the Las Vegas Strip can be and has been paralyzed by cars and taxis and ride-share vehicles taking people everywhere throughout the town, then you automatically see the potential for what Elon Musk’s building.
And that’s why I believe the routes off the Las Vegas Convention Center and to and Allegiant Stadium will dramatically increase real estate activity in the parcels of land that are along the underground tracks. Right now, there’s no way to literally capture the increased real estate land value that is already happening because of the twin developments of Allegiant Stadium and the Las Vegas People Mover. But a tax increment financing zone would allow such revenue to be captured.
The way tax increment financing (TIF) works is that the Nevada Legislature would have to approve an adjustment in Senate Bill One, allowing the designation of a TIF zone around Allegiant Stadium. The reason for this, is that the direction of the collection of property tax has to be shifted to a special organization tasked with using the TIF revenue by legislation – here, that would be The Las Vegas Stadium Authority on behalf of Clark County. The Las Vegas Stadium Authority has to approve the proposal before it can move on to the Nevada Legislature.
Once the Nevada Legislature approves the addition (or re-addition) of the TIF zone since something like what I am referring to was in the original Senate Bill One of 2017, the matter of ratifying the TIF zone then goes to Clark County (if I recall how municipal governance is done in Nevada).
Of course, prior to all of that, Clark County has to draw up the TIF zone around Allegiant Stadium. The property tax collected from that zone can be used, in part, to help finance the Las Vegas People Mover Allegiant Stadium Station.
Hopefully, Clark County does some kind of action to help pay for the station, as well as the other off-site infrastructure improvements needed so that patrons can easily get to the Raiders new NFL stadium.
Santa Clara – The Santa Clara Stadium Authority Board tonight will consider the San Francisco 49ers’ request to purchase LCPtracker, a software system for certified payroll reporting, construction site compliance management and workforce reporting. These are critical elements of reporting to the Department of Industrial Relations for compliance with state worker wage laws (e.g., prevailing wage). Sadly, this request is more evidence that the San Francisco 49ers have not been properly complying with State Prevailing Wage Law for the first six years as the manager of Levi’s Stadium.
“The exploitation of workers is especially egregious when committed by wealthy corporations who prioritize profits over people. We have a collective responsibility in Santa Clara to protect and pay low-wage workers who are employed by a billion-dollar industry.” Jean Cohen, Interim Executive Officer of South Bay Labor Council, commented.
The Stadium Authority’s review of the 49ers’ request found significant errors and omissions to enter into a contract to comply with the prevailing wage law, such as:
– Mismanagement of a public contract by requesting 90% above contract value without explaining the need for additional funds;
– Removing, without any disclosure, their duty to comply with federal and state laws, including transparency laws, e.g., Brown Act or Public Records Act; and,
– Lack of fiscal transparency.
“We are concerned that the 49ers Management Company is still committing wage theft and the City and State need to stop it,” Mayor Gillmor added. “Over a year ago, we discovered that the 49ers had not been complying with the State’s Prevailing Wage law. A year later, the 49ers submit a request to purchase a software system commonly used to comply with the prevailing wage law, but they have removed from the contract their requirement to comply with California’s Ralph M. Brown Act and the Public Records Act, and any other federal or state laws that may apply. This is not acceptable!”
This situation raises additional concerns by the Stadium Authority with how the team has managed prior contracts. In September 2019, the Stadium Authority Board rescinded the Executive Director’s delegated purchasing authority. As a result of the Board’s action, effective Nov. 8, 2019, the 49ers must now seek approval from the Board and demonstrate properly and legally procuring goods and services before contracts may be executed.
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.
ONN – Rep Emanuel Cleaver Says Oakland Raiders Fans, Not Las Vegas,Are Struggling On Fox News
Rep Emanuel Cleaver Says Oakland Raiders Fans, Not Las Vegas,Are Struggling On Fox News
On Cavuto on Fox News, the Democratic congressman was talking about the stimulus package and the reason it was needed, now. He then pointed out the number of people who were suffering and blurted out “Oakland Raiders Fans” forgetting the team is now The Las Vegas Raiders.
It’s another example of the power of the brand name Oakland Raiders.
Stay tuned.
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.
The Oakland Unified School District sent this press release to announce a press conference held last Friday on a new campus at Glenview Elementary. As that even was missed by this space, here’s the information that was sent, which will be augmented by additional news presented here at Oakland News Now:
OUSD to Unveil New Campus at Glenview Elementary at Friday Press Conference
School is Ready to Welcome Students When District Reopens for In-Person Learning
Oakland – On Friday, October 9, OUSD is celebrating a major milestone in the form of the completion of a rebuilt school. The freshly completed Glenview Elementary, which sits at the corner of La Cresta Avenue and Hampel Street, is now ready to welcome students back to class once conditions related to the pandemic allow the District to reopen for in-person instruction. The school was almost entirely torn down in 2016 for the rebuilding project. The only thing that remained was the facade on the front of the school. And there are lots of other amazing features.
New Glenview Elementary Campus in OaklandNew Glenview Elementary Campus in OaklandNew Glenview Elementary Campus in Oakland
The old school building had undersized and under-equipped classrooms, but those are history. The new building has high-performance classrooms that are right-sized, healthy and comfortable, and achieve 21st century goals for learning environments. The retention of the iconic porch and portico element was pivotal in the design of the new building. The architect said that while it was challenging, it anchored the new building in the same location as the original building and allowed for the cherished stairs, outdoor terraces, and architectural landmark to remain.
The new multi-use room with a stage and a basketball court will be enjoyed by students, parents and the community, and the roll-up doors allow larger indoor/outdoor gatherings. The library’s location and design with its built-in amphitheater seating, flexible layout, and restroom support school and community use.
Multi-use room with stage & basketball court.
The school was also built with sustainability as a major driver of the design. The school is resource conscious, consumes less energy, and provides natural lighting throughout. It is well-insulated, has efficient radiant heating systems and LED lighting, ceiling fans are used for cooling and comfort, windows are operable and energy management systems were installed to manage energy consumption.
“This is a moment we have all been waiting years to see,” said Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “A time when we get to celebrate the rebirth of a beloved school. The newly rebuilt Glenview Elementary will serve generations of Oakland children, as a warm, welcoming and supportive environment for learning. It is beautiful inside and out, and any Oakland student would be proud to call Glenview their school. Likewise, the campus will serve as an important community center for residents in the Dimond Park area. We thank the taxpayers of Oakland for supporting this important work to ensure our students have the kind of learning environment that all young people need and deserve.”
In the 2020 Oakland Elections, Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan is facing a major challenge from friend and perennial campaigner Nancy Sidebotham, and newcomer Derreck Johnson.
Nancy is an incredible member of the Oakland political world, but her main advantage is in pointing out problems, less than offering solutions. I like Derreck Johnson, and his run represents a need for more black male participation in Oakland politics. That said, he has no previous Oakland political experience at all, and no knowledge of municipal governance. As much as his efforts and his errors in business are good teachers for him, and for anyone entering politics, and draw media racism he’s not ready to lead Oakland at this point in time, Moreover, he’s the latest manchurian candidate offered up by my godsister Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. Libby should just work to make friends with Rebecca. I’ve said that before, I’ll say it again.
Anyway, when I think of Rebecca, I think of what I contend is her signature, lasting effort. The one that shows good Oakland City Council work in action: The Broadway Free Transit Shuttle that’s now an Oakland institution.
I also think of the many ideas she’s formed to help Oakland’s budget, as well as the many, many small efforts she has made to ease the lives of Oaklanders. It does not matter if it’s a City Council motion that passes, or co-authoring legislation to get Oakland’s speeding problem under control, the fact is, the total number of legal changes she has made for Oaklanders has not been effectively chronicled. The point is, experience matters.
The Oakland City Council faces the very real prospect of having a membership consisting of no one with over one year of experience. And that’s in the middle of a Pandemic. Rebecca must be re-elected to assure the maintenance of institutional memory, so that current political biases don’t cause a misunderstanding, and there fore a mishandling, of government. How to work with Oakland City Staff is more important than anything. Hiring the right people to represent the councilmember is equally more important than anything. We’re in the dark with Derreck Johnson, and even my friend Nancy Sidebotham – but not with Rebecca Kaplan, the Oakland City Council President.
With all of that, why is Rebecca opposed? Well, I will say that she gained the backing of the Democratic Party, as well as a list of notables the party pointed to: “SEIU Local 1021, the Sierra Club, Block by Block Organizing Network (BBON), Former State Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, California Nurses Association (CNA), Firefighters Local 55, Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, Black Women Organized for Political Action PAC, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), Alameda Labor Council, Alameda County Building Trades Council, Sprinkler Fitters Local 483, Former Mayor Elihu Harris, Vice Mayor Larry Reid, President Pro Tem Dan Kalb, Councilmembers Sheng Thao, Nikki Fortunato-Bas and Noel Gallo, Oakland Port Commissioner Michael Colbruno, Founder of She the People Aimee Allison, Pastor J. Alfred Smith Sr., Reverend Harold Mayberry, California Young Democrats National Committee Representative Igor Tregub, Cat Brooks, and many more endorsing Rebecca Kaplan.”
I add myself to that list, and I am proud to endorse my long time friend. Rebecca and I have three things in common: first, we’re both ostracized to some extent for being ourselves, me as a straight, black, tech-oriented guy with a Jewish last name who “talks white”, she for being butch lesbian and Jewish. Then, we’re both urban planning and economics grad school grads from MIT for her and Berkeley for me, and we both love Oakland.
ONN – Oaklandside’s Attack On Derreck Johnson In The Oakland City Council Race Was Racist
The Oaklandside, a new online publication by the person who owns Berkeleyside and that has a $3 million grant from Google, owes Derreck Johnson, a candidate in the Oakland City Council race for the At-Large Seat occupied by Rebecca Kaplan (who I endorsed), an apology (and just maybe a chunk of that 3 million). It’s recent post attacking him for filing bankruptcy was nothing short of racist in my view as an Oakland black media entrepreneur in the time of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
In this case, some who are white, just could not accept that my actions were out of anger for the racist Oaklandside post, and first assumed that I was backing Derreck Johnson, when I openly said I was supporting Rebecca Kaplan, and then, on their own, guessed that Derreck, Mayor Schaaf, and I all went to Skyline High School together.
When a friend of mine who’s white texted me with that question about Skyline High School (where I am Class of 80 and Libby is Class of 1981), I called and let him know how upset with him I was. I said “You can’t accept the fact that my concern for what was written about him was purely because I perceived it as racist, huh? Do you realize that’s racist?”
As my friend is prone to do, he laughs nervously and tries to change the subject, but this time I kept focus. The problem was the Oaklandside post was truly institutionally racist, and it doesn’t matter what a person thinks to the contrary, even if they’re black. In Oakland, too many of us black folks are too willing to put down someone else black anyway – it’s a crabbarrel problem of massive proportions that helps no one.
The fact is that, according to Derreck himself, he went to Bishop O’Dowd High School, not Skyline High School. And so that leads back to my point: the desire to not see a racist act and deflect eyes from view keeps it as justifiable. That’s what my friend was trying to do, and he needs to stop doing it. As I said to him “We can’t allow a point of view like yours to fester because, little by little, these racist stories build up, until we get George Floyd all over again.”
No more racial profiling in media. If Derreck’s run has done anything, it’s shown a spotlight on that problem. It has to stop.
Donald Trump’s Businesses Have Filed For Bankruptcy Many Time Yet He’s Considered Successful
The Washington Post reported that Donald Trump’s businesses filed for bankruptcy six times. In all of the media coverage, no reporter or columnist ever blasted Donald Trump for bragging about his success. By contrast, Derreck Johnson’s business filed for bankrupcy and here is the Oaklandside’s Darwin BondGraham (and its editors hiding behind him) to say he’s not successful. Johnson is black. Trump is white. There should be one standard of fact: both started and ran businesses that employed people. And in Johnson’s case, he gave black men and women out of prison another chance at life. That’s successful.
Derreck Johnson Oakland City Council At Large 2020 Candidate Interview
And, as a momentary aside, I’m proud to report that Zennie62Media’s OaklandNewsNow.com that you’re reading is twice the size of Oaklandside in online traffic, and with a fraction of it’s budget. And it’s black owned and operated, whereas Oaklandside has a black editor, but is white owned, and the person who wrote the post is white and male.
Oaklandside’s Attack On Derreck Johnson Reflects A Classic Pattern Of Media Racism
Anyway, Oaklandside accused Derreck Johnson of being so proud as a black man to run television commercials saying he’s “successful”, that he needed to be taken down a notch by getting out “the truth”. The truth as Oaklandside saw it. The truth as Oaklandside was presented with by a source. I say that because I know where the information came from, and who gave it to Oaklandside, regardless of what it claims. Moreover, it’s no secret: bankruptcy information is publicly available, folks.
What Oaklandside did was simply make phone calls around town to form a story around the information it was given. If Oaklandside were truly interested in “the truth” it would have produced an article with information about the businesses of all of the candidates, without sensationalism. If Oaklandside was were truly interested in “the truth”, it would have worked with Mr. Johnson to run a positive story about what problems he experienced as a black man keeping his business going.
The story Oaklandside’s racist lens caused it to miss was one that needs to be told at a time when everyone from Facebook to Google has some kind of initiative focused on financing black businesses, in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Think about it. As Marcus Burke put in for The World Economic Forum “Following the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and many other Black people at the hands of police, companies have started to take a stand against systemic racism.” Obviously, Oaklandside showed itself to be completely tone-deaf to the times.
In the paper “Media Representations and Impact on the Lives of Black Men and Boys”, by the Topos Partnership with The Opportunity Agenda, the authors observe:
A robust body of research documents how the overall presentation of black males in the media is distorted in a variety of ways, relative to the real-world facts. While individual studies tend to focus on a single genre or medium — such as TV fiction shows, magazine advertising, or video games — the research taken as a whole reveals broad patterns, including:
Negative associations exaggerated — particularly criminality, unemployment, and poverty. The idle black male on the street corner is not the “true face” of poverty in America, but he is the dominant one in the world as depicted by media.
Positive associations limited — particularly, sports, physical achievement in general, virility, and musicality. While the media’s version of America is populated by some black males intended to inspire, they tend to represent a relatively limited range of qualities to the exclusion of a variety of other everyday virtues.
The “problem” frame — Due to both distortions and also accurate and sympathetic discussion, black males tend to be overly associated with intractable problems.
Missing stories — Many important dimensions of black males’ lives, such as historical antecedents of black economic disadvantage and persistence of anti-black male bias, are largely ignored by the media.
In Derreck Johnson’s case, Oaklandside missed a great chance to have him tell his story of what led to the problems he experienced with his business. Moreover, Oaklandside worked to, as the authors wrote about media bias against black men, “Negative associations exaggerated — particularly criminality, unemployment, and poverty.” In other words, the Oaklandside’s seems to be upset that Johnson didn’t say he had been in financial trouble. Note, Johnson didn’t break any law, so that was the best it could do in attacking Derreck Johnson.
The Times Are Changing – The LA Times
In these times, America is beginning to wake up to the media racism that has worked to constantly paint blacks in a negative light. The kind of media racism that has been active in Oakland and San Francisco Bay Area media for far too long. And, let’s face it, the kind of media racism that was served up to feed the desires of some in Oakland who are white for the most part, and just don’t want to believe anything positive about anyone black who dares say they’re successful, or holds a title. Those persons want to push blacks into the familiar image of being poor, downtrodden, and criminally inclined. The kind of media The Oaklandside produced makes them oh so happy. Sad stuff that must stop.
In that, I must say it’s great The Los Angeles Times called out its own history of racism.
But, even then, The Los Angeles Times leaves out the racist lens that’s still applied today, and one that Oaklandside uses. Moreover, one would think that other mainstream media news publications would follow the Los Angeles Times’ lead, (like The San Francisco Chronicle, which has its own problems with racism as one can see here, and here, too.) but to this date, crickets. For many who are white, racism only exists when the n-word is used or a black person is physically harmed. But real racism is evident in all aspects of life, and in many ways, and in media, it’s expressed in how blacks are portrayed.
As I saw it, here’s the truth: Derreck Johnson did establish and run a business in Oakland that employed people, most notably black ex-prisoners who needed help. Stop it right there: that’s the success story that should be told, and that Derreck has the right to crow about. It’s clearly a story Oaklandside didn’t even think to try to tell, even though it was starring them in right in the face. Oaklandside was way too focused on putting a cyber-knee in Derreck Johnson’s online neck.
I got wind of this via a phone call from a friend. I called Derreck Johnson and we talked extensively. I told him that my first introduction to him was from an email from Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. I said it wasn’t the first time my godsister advanced a candidate to challenge Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan. I also told him that, for those reasons, I thought of him as a Manchurian candidate. He laughed and understood and because I gave him a video platform to talk about running for office and about himself. I never sought to put him down. Blacks in America have had enough of media racism.
Unlike Oaklandside, I asked and gave Derreck Johnson a chance to tell his story:
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.
The Pandemic has broken the very fabric of our economy and in Oakland and San Francisco its impact is acutely felt in Chinatown. The need to close to follow shelter-in-place guidelines created to slow the spread of the coronavirus ignited a giant negative economic impact. That caused Jocelyn Tsaih to start a fund-raiser called “Save Our Chinatowns”.
Here’s what she wrote in explaining the need for the fundraising effort:
Since the very beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, SF and Oakland Chinatowns have seen a steep decline in business.Racially-motivated fears have caused a lot of people to keep their distance from both Chinatowns. Restaurants have had to lay off staff members, cut working hours short, shut their doors completely, and ask for lowered rent. The decline in foot traffic for the restaurants are also hurting other local businesses in the area, such as tea shops and markets, that usually rely on these customers for business.
The funds will be going to two specific nonprofits – Chinatown Improvement in Oakland and Chinatown CDC in San Francisco. In Oakland, we are using the funds to make large weekly orders at specific restaurants and having that food delivered to homeless shelters and essential workers in the area. In SF, we are funding Chinatown CDC’s food delivery program where meals from local restaurants will be delivered to seniors and residents in SROs and public housing. Please consider donating in order to save some of your favorite spots – ones that fed you while you were hungry and ones that brought you priceless joy when you took a bite of that sesame ball, egg tart, or pineapple bun.
Oh, and that racially-motivated fear Jocelyn Tsaih pointed to came from President Donald Trump, who worked to call the coronavirus The China Virus, not so much because of reports of where the virus originated, but as part of his ugly overall strategy of racial division to gain votes.
Since then, and on the way toward raising over $38,000, Save Our Chinatowns reported on news events:
May 8, 2020 by Jocelyn Tsaih, Organizer
Hope everyone’s been safe and healthy! Just wanted to update you all on how funds have been utilized recently. We’ve been supporting Chinatown CDC’s Feed & Fuel program where meals are being delivered to seniors and residents of SROs and public housing in SF Chinatown. We’ve also been working with Good Good Eatz to order food from Oakland Chinatown, and this week the food was delivered to the construction crew working on affordable housing at Brooklyn Basin.
Please follow them both on IG for updates and to see how your help has an impact: www.instagram.com/goodgoodeatz
www.instagram.com/chinatowncdc
Thank you all so much for your support. Take care!
June 29, 2020 by Jocelyn Tsaih, Organizer
We reached our $25k goal! We’re upping it a little to $30k as a last increase. After we reach $30k, we will be focusing on alternative methods of raising funds for our Chinatown communities.
For example, we’re starting a new project where artists create limited edition merchandise for local businesses, with all proceeds from the sales of the products directly supporting the businesses they’re designed for.
Our first product is a tote bag for The Fortune Cookie Factory in Oakland Chinatown, designed by SF-based artist Katie Benn. You can find the purchase link here: https://saveourchinatowns.bigcartel.com/.
The Fortune Cookie Factory has been operating since 1957 and is one of the last places in America to make fortune cookies by hand. Learn more here: https://www.oaklandfortunefactory.com/.
Thanks again as always, and please follow us at @saveourchinatowns on Instagram for updates!
September 17, 2020 by Jocelyn Tsaih, Organizer
Hi everyone,
We hope everyone’s been doing alright during these times. While we are getting close to our final goal, we wanted to share an update that all donations from here on out will be directed towards aiding two Oakland Chinatown restaurants that have been unfortunately destroyed by a dumpster fire this week. We are working with Good Good Eatz to raise funds for this effort.
Here is an article that shares more details about the incident: https://sf.eater.com/2020/9/17/21444041/rang-dong-huangcheng-noodle-house-oakland-chinatown-fire-closed
Please share this with others if possible, we’d really appreciate it!
Thank you all for your continuous support and generosity.
The fund-raiser is still going. You can donate here https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-our-chinatowns/donate
Former President Bill Clinton has come under intense attack for his full-throated defense of the crime bill of 1994 what is really called the violent crime control and law enforcement act of nineteen ninety four. It seems to me that the people who are talking (even the pundits on for example MSNBC Joy Reid, for example, and others) either weren’t really paying attention then, or and didn’t read the crime bill, or perhaps read the crime bill and forgot what it consisted of, and forgot the events that gave rise to its creation and passage.
Let me share with you but one of those events. July 1st 1993 was really a bright sunny day in San Francisco and afternoon about one o’clock and i went to the Royal Exchange to hang out early at the great Cal bar (for University of California at Berkeley students like myself, I got my master’s degree in city planning from Cal was on the Alumni Board from 98 2001 1998-2000 actually 2003 but I digress).
Bottom line is it was a great day but the television / switched to KTVU Channel 2 because just around oh three o’clock or so at that time there are reports of a shooting at 101 California Street.
Now to give you an idea where 101 California Street is with respect to wear Royal Exchange is. Royal Exchange is on Sacramento at Front Street here. If you go down Front Street, this is California. 101 California is right there, so basically just go down the block across California over here and the giant skyscraper that is 101 California is right there designed by Phillip Johnson – a steel and glass, iconic skyscraper that , when it was proposed, was unlike anything San Francisco had seen before. That’s another story.
A man by the name of Gian Luigi Ferri went up to the 34th floor to a law firm called Pettit and Martin. He got off the elevator and started to randomly shoot people using assault weapons.
There was a woman that I knew from Cal who worked at Pettit and Martin as associate. Just started, did Terry Presite, and I was worried for Terry. I was able to call her but couldn’t get a hold of her. Gian Luigi Ferri walked through her office and eventually killed nine people, injured seven others, ruining the lives of many, and impacted lives of countless people forever.
Pettit and Martin closed in 2001. That event, and others like it, gave rise to a call for a sweeping crime bill in 1994. A 363 page document that was sweeping far-reaching in scope – so for anyone to say that it negatively impacted the black community like the black folks all did did all this stuff really doesn’t know what they’re talking about to begin with.
For example, do you realize that the Violence Against Women Act started with a 1994 Crime Bill with a with the same bill that many are criticizing? Do you realize that the start of funding for halfway houses for escape places for victims of domestic violence started with the crime bill? Do you realize that the 1994 Crime Bill had an assault weapons ban that we have not had the collective will to establish today in an era of mass shooting after mass shooting after mass shooting?
Do you realize that? Do you realize that the that same bill that Bill Clinton is getting so much negative publicity for is the same bill that put 1,000 cops on the street? That funded and gave rise to community policing? They had a provision within it that said the US Justice Department was supposed to give an annual report on the use of excessive force by police programs around the United States – something that was never done.
So have you ever bothered to read the damn bill? No, you have not.
Do you realize what was going on at the time? No you don’t.
It made Oakland a safer community. It allowed us to hire more cops. It allowed us to get assault weapons off the street. We had gun buyback programs – including that, it was really effective.
The main overarching problem then in the 90s drugs were considered to be a problem of the black poor okay particularly heroin drugs weren’t thought of as being a white problem, even though all we knew we knew white folks did drugs and marijuana, but it was thought of as being a black problem.
Today, drugs are thought of, particularly heroin, as being not just a black problem but a white problem – which means it’s everybody’s problem. So now the 1994 crime bill that was so good then, because it only focused on drugs and you know black and the idea was that holy focus on black folks is now today thought out by some is being bad because hey white people new use drugs and right folks have a problem.
So now we’ve got to decriminalize everything.
You see what I’m getting at? It was okay to criminalize it when it was focused in the black community, but now that it’s a white problem oh we have to decriminalize it. Think about it. Think about what I’m saying to you. Think hard about what I’m saying to you, and at the same time we don’t have an assault weapons ban.
And you know something else that came out of the Violence Against Women Act which is still active: The Cyber Crimes Act, the act to prevent cyber bullying, which is installed in 2005 as a rider provision,
Do you know what you’re talking about when you criticize this bill? Yes there are parts of it that should not have been there, but given the climate of the times they were appropriate. Given what was happening in then they were appropriate. And again, it did sunset.
The real problem we have not solved since then is we still have an assault weapons problem. In fact, it’s enormous. We have open carry laws that people are openly defending in Georgia, walking around airports with their assault weapons saying oh this is okay at a time when terrorism is a concern, a big one, including domestic terrorism.
So in this context you’re going to tell me that the 1994 crime bill was this terrible thing? I think you need to reassess what you’re talking about, you really do.
OAKLAND, CA – Yesterday, October 5th, at 10:30AM Oakland City Councilmember at-large Rebecca Kaplan, held a press conference together with a coalition of leaders, to denounce the lies of billionaires who are trying to buy our elections – both in the City of Oakland, and throughout California. Large corporations, including Lyft and Uber, are spending big in this election, seeking to undermine our democracy, harm workers, and undermine our communities, while demanding sweetheart deals and special loopholes for themselves. In this upcoming November election, they are spending big, at the local level in Oakland and Statewide in California — where they also recently gave large sums to the State Republican Party.
Rebecca challenged them to “put their mouth where their money is” and debate her. Kaplan demanded they tell the voters directly why they think they should not pay their fair share for the roads and infrastructure they rely on every day.
Said Kaplan: “Locally they are demanding special treatment, tax loopholes, and monopoly power. The big money they are spending to attack me is less than the millions of dollars they could cost the people, if billionaires get to hurt workers and community. These huge corporations are trying to undermine our democracy, for California, and locally in Oakland.”
Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez added: “We can’t allow billionaire corporations to buy politicians and policies, either directly or indirectly. I’m standing up with Rebecca Kaplan because I know she will stand with regular folks against corporate greed. She’s already proven that, and that’s why they are targeting her.”
Gary Jimenez, Vice President of SEIU 1021 stated: “We are living in uncertain times and working families remain under attack. We cannot let large corporations continue to dump tons of money into our elections supporting anti worker politicians. I support Kaplan who supports working families.”
Sam Davis, Candidate for Oakland Unified School District Board said of this overreach, “We’ve seen how the huge expenditures by billionaires in our Oakland school board elections have corroded our democratic process, and we need to take a stand and say this stops here and now. Only by building a truly grassroots campaign, with thousands of voices, can we drown out the money megaphone that we are up against. I support Rebecca because she stands with our teachers and students.”
And Art Pulaski, CA Labor Federation Executive Officer, said: ““Oakland voters aren’t going to stand for Lyft’s brazen attempt to strip workers of basic rights, smear a champion of working people and buy elections.”
Randy Shaw, journalist and housing advocate, sent: “A company spending tens of millions of dollars to deprive workers of benefits via Prop 22 is now targeting a councilmember who has fought for increased affordability in Oakland. Prop 22 would make Oakland’s housing crisis much worse.”
The Facebook Live link can be found here and: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=371874683949862
HIgh resolution video of the event can be found here and: https://click.email.vimeo.com/u/?qs=f6c83dd7bbe8a3047149e1e50c76c819213151acf43d4d7dc859afdf277a41ce0741598c316ed686d86a25cacfbdffc48a9400cd91b6042e3b5ac4fe84cbacae
ONN – Carroll Fife Wages Class Warfare In 2020 Oakland City Council District 3 Race
Carroll Fife Wages Class Warfare In 2020 Oakland City Council District 3 Race
I am all for progressive taxation but this is the first time I have ever seen an Oakland City Council District Elections Candidate use class warfare as part of her campaign strategy.
In other words, from this Twitter post, the idea is to go after those perceived as wealthy to fund healthcare. Forget about using an creative financing tools like tax increment financing to get the job done.
Ok, since you asked, the simple explanation of tax increment financing is property tax is collected from building owners within a pre-determined boundary, added in a formula that causes a doubling function, and that projected annual revenue is used to retire a bond issue. In the case of Oakland, it could be a bond that pays for local health care, but in a way that does not call for class warfare.
Remember where you saw this first, because Carroll never called me. All I am providing is an example of understanding how to make government work for people. You gotta know what levers to pull and buttons to push.
Well, let’s see how a message more appropriate for a run for Congress works here in Oakland.
Stay tuned.
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.
Vallejo, Ca – The Vallejo Police Officers’ Association today slammed a proposed “declaration of emergency” by the City of Vallejo and its Chief of Police calling it “illegal and dangerous to citizens, public safety, police and the rule of law.”
The City has called a special meeting and placed a “declaration of emergency” on the City Council agenda for Tuesday, Oct. 6, that seeks to give unprecedented powers to City Manager Greg Nyhoff to circumvent state and local laws and regulations.
The City claims the declaration is necessary to deal with the current crime wave, which necessarily concedes that the City’s neglect and mismanagement has resulted in conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of all residents, the VPOA says.
“The City does not need to declare an emergency to hire more police officers to protect citizens and businesses. It just needs to hire more cops, which it has been unable to do for years because it refuses to provide competitive wages and benefits to attract candidates – either entry level or laterals,” said members of the VPOA.
While the lack of effective City leadership is not in doubt, the VPOA said it will challenge its declaration in court and pursue all legal and administrative remedies. The proposed declaration “would allow it to bypass all civil service rules and other regulations to give the City Manager authoritarian powers until the City itself declares that the so-called emergency is over,” VPOA members added.
“This so-called declaration of emergency should cause everyone grave concern. The City effectively seeks to set aside due process, Civil Service Rules, and established law to create a dictatorship in response to its own administrative failures. This is a dangerous, illegal power grab concocted by the City’s administration that violates laws, public safety and everyone’s rights as citizens and employees of the City of Vallejo,” the VPOA warned.
They pointed out that City Manager Greg Nyhoff has been with the Vallejo for three years and Police Chief Shawny Williams has been onboard for a year.
“They are trying to pass this ’emergency’ as being necessary due to past administrations’ decisions. The reality is that Nyhoff and Williams have been, and are at, the helm, and should be held accountable. Accountability does not mean that we cast aside the checks and balances that are required of democracy,” VPOA members said.
The VPOA says the City’s and Chief’s admitted mismanagement, neglect, and incompetence for the past decade are to blame for the City’s current condition.
The City has failed to prioritize the police department. Instead of taking funds away from budgeted police officer positions to hire a $500,000 a year Assistant Police Chief to sit behind a desk, the City should be focusing their efforts on hiring highly qualified officers and developing actual strategies for a sustainable police force.
The VPOA says the so-called ‘state of emergency’ “opens the door to cronyism and is an excuse to hire more unaccountable administrative bureaucrats that will do nothing to help citizens impacted by crime.” The declaration itself says that the City wants to hire more administrators, even noting that there “is a vacant Assistant Chief position” which the City created in July without increasing the Police Department’s budget.
The VPOA said the Vallejo’s leadership is citing its own failure to implement police reforms as a ruse to justify its unprecedented action. After repeated attempts to meet with Assistant Chief Joe Allio regarding the OIR Group’s recommended reforms, the VPOA sent the City a letter on September 16, 2020 formally encouraging City leaders to work with the union to make progress on the recommendations.
Despite the VPOA’s public support of the OIR Group’s recommendations, the City did not reach out to schedule a meeting until October 1, 2020, only hours before giving notice of this proposed declaration of emergency.
“The reason Vallejo is awash in crime is that the City has starved the department of necessary funds to hire patrol officers to protect citizens,” said members of the VPOA.
“The City can’t declare an emergency when they are the one that caused the emergency. The City’s incompetent leadership has mismanaged Vallejo for the past decade. Now their solution is to declare an emergency and give unprecedented powers and authority to themselves, the people that created the situation,” members of the VPOA said.
The VPOA has offered to work with the City and Chief to implement recommendations from two independent studies of the Vallejo Police Department. One study found the VPD was unbiased and non-discriminatory in its use of force and the other study provided 45 recommendations for changes and reform. The VPOA support both studies and their reform initiatives.
“The OIR Group recommendations are important steps for the future of the Vallejo Police Department, and the VPOA maintains its commitment to work with the City toward implementing those recommendations. Nothing in the OIR Group’s report suggests or the principles in 21st Century Policing requires the City to circumvent state and local laws and regulations,” they added.
The Vallejo Police Officer’s’ Association (VPOA) was incorporated in 1957. The VPOA is the recognized bargaining unit between all Vallejo Police Officer’s and the City of Vallejo. Members include all ranks of officer’s – Captains, Lieutenants, Sergeants, Corporals and Officer’s. The VPOA does not represent the Chief of Police or the Assistant Chief of Police
The business function of the VPOA is to protect the collective interests of the members of the Vallejo Police Department and provide benefits to its members.
The VPOA is also 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.org
Walter Reed attending physician calls out Trump’s irresponsibility
From YouTube Channel: October 5, 2020 at 09:35AM
ONN – Dr. James Phillips talks to “GMA” about the threat the president’s move posed to the people who were in his car and called it “political theater.”
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 YouTube channel. When the video is “liked” by Zennie62 YouTube, then it is automatically uploaded to and formatted automatically at the Oakland News Now site and Zennie62-created and owned social media pages. The overall objective here, on top of our 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 – is the use of the existing YouTube social graph on any subject in the World. Now, news is reported with a smartphone and also by promoting current content on YouTube: no heavy and expensive cameras or even a laptop are necessary, or having a camera crew to shoot what is already on YouTube. 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 City Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney has served the residents of perhaps the most complicated Oakland City Council District in our city very well. Understand that while District Three is commonly thought of as being only West Oakland, in reality it’s also Downtown Oakland, Uptown Oakland, and Adams Point / Lake Merritt, where I live.
So, Lynette has a big job, and on balance has served all of the residents well. She deserves to be re-elected, and particularly at a time where Oakland, Alameda County, California, America, and The World is in the clutches of The Pandemic. Changing horses in the middle of the stream is never a good idea, so why do it now? Besides, the reasons I’m hearing why some are not voting for Lynette are such that I’ll bet no one else will fair better.
The specific reasons are these:
1) Lynette is not accessible, and her aide responds rather than her – As one who represented Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris from 1995 to 1999, I find that aides to elected officials get treated like crap by Oakland residents far too often. The job of the aide is to represent the, in this case, Oakland City Councilmember. And Lynette’s aides have done that very well. News-flash: she can’t be everywhere, and her representatives help her.
2) She wasn’t present for Moms4Housing – As Lynette told me during our interview of 10 days ago now, the Moms4Housing Representatives did not approach her ahead of time with their plans, even though the entire matter happened in her council district. The full interview:
The ultimate sign of disrespect is for someone to launch a campaign around the issue of housing that focuses on a property in an Oakland City Council Member’s district and not consult them. The reasons can’t be good ones, because, by design, they are assumptive. How does anyone know she would not have been receptive to their objectives of a type of taking of property, and tried to help so that they would not be framed as criminals?
Lynette believed that, because they did not approach her, to then show up at their events uninvited would cause her to be seen as trying to steal their message. My take on Moms4Housing was that their effort pointed to a giant problem, but did nothing to solve it: the market failure that’s still with us in super-high-housing-costs and illegal evictions of black Oakland residents that a sustained California Redevelopment Law would have thwarted.
Instead, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan allowed former Mayor of Oakland Jerry Brown to get rid of California Redevelopment Law, and now Oakland’s once formidable affordable housing construction budget of over $100 million annually was cut off in 2011, never to return and at the time of SF Bay Area Tech Boom II, from 2012 to 2019.
In the middle of this, Moms4Housing tried to pick sides prematurely. For example, from my perspective, it’s minders failed to respond to my request to run their press releases or interview them, so I had to end-run them many times using tech. Their idea seemed be to try and paint me as against them, when my thoughts were the opposite. That said, I did run press releases from their opponents, and because they sent them. It’s called news. Moreover, I’ve never been a fan of what’s called a “taking without just compensation” (and the U.S. Constitution doesn’t allow it either), and that, in effect, is what Moms4Housing tried to do.
Their assumptions amounted to a type of picking of fights that are not there, and their words, more often than not, were hurtful. And, on top of that, we’re talking about a black-on-black affair, where folks like Lynette and myself were the focus of wrongheaded derision, and by some other folks of the same skin color. And on top of that, many of the folks are ones I really like, just to be real here. In my view, anyone white was treated better, for the most part – even those who openly opposed them.
The fact is that in Oakland, we as black folks are far too willing to assume something negative about someone else who’s black, but not in what’s perceived as that person’s group. It’s a horrible crab-barrel social problem that has plagued Oakland for decades, and with no end in sight. Moms4Housing spotlighted that problem that the white media missed, even as it was in their face.
What Lynette Did Was Spot Light The Violence Problems Black Women Face In Oakland
What Lynette does not get credit for is spotlighting the problem of violence against black women. That was the focus of her push to establish the Oakland Office Of Violence Prevention. And while I remain assertive that the real problem is lack of good jobs and an economic development effort that’s dead, I have seen the advantage of the Oakland Office Of Violence Prevention: it gives a much-needed place in Oakland government for people, and again in particular black women, to go for real, comprehensive help. That this is forgotten that Lynette created the Oakland Office Of Violence Prevention is one more example of the many actions that, collectively, caused a performer like Megan Thee Stallion to get on Saturday Night Live and point to the consistent disrespect and disregard black women receive in America, and that includes Oakland.
It’s worse when other blacks in Oakland don’t give Lynette that credit. That’s got to stop.
Lynette Makes Her Case For Re-Election And It’s Worth Reading
In her most recent campaign newsletter, Lynette made her case for re-election. It’s worth a read, even though she left out the Office Of Violence Prevention. But, overall, one has to ask, what does she have to do? It’s as if some people want to find some reason to oppose her.
For example, some will mention the Oakland Public Ethics Commission’s recent investigation not of her, but mentions alleged laundered money given to her campaign in the past, as well as that of Oakland councilmembers Sheng Thao and Dan Kalb. Well, I challenge any candidate to prove that they know anything about who gives them money, why, and where they got it from to give. Moreover, why would the Oakland Public Ethics Commission choose an election period to release news about a lawsuit and investigation that’s not primarily focused on Oakland councilmembers, but names some? That action, alone, is illegal in several states – it looks like the Oakland Public Ethics Commission and the Oakland City Attorney are trying to influence voters. Not a cool look.
What does Lynette have to do? Well, she’s done this, from her newsletter:
Partnered with our County Supervisor Keith Carson to pioneer the Compassionate Communities initiative
Co-authored Measure JJ – expanding Just Cause Eviction and Rent Increase protections
Secured 10s of millions of dollars in new homelessness funding by pushing to include $150 Million for Affordable Housing in the Infrastructure Bond (Measure KK) and the Parks Measure (Measure Q) – offering amendments that guaranteed set asides for no and extremely low income housing
Engaged Congresswoman Barbara Lee and led the effort to turn back draconian reductions in Section 8 vouchers
Pushed to protect single room occupancy transient hotels – housing of last resort that does not discriminate for credit worthiness or for lack of substantial deposits
Demanded increased coordination to respond to encampments and improve service delivery to the unhoused.
As your representative on the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) I have:
Helped pass AB1487 (2019) the bill that established the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA). BAHFA, and the expanded regional housing portfolio, is rooted in the “3Ps” framework that comprehensively addresses the housing crisis through a combination of production, preservation and protection. Specifically:
Production of rental housing for lower-income households (at or below 80% of the area median income or AMI)
Preservation of affordable housing for low-or moderate-income households (up to 120% of AMI)
Protecting tenants from displacement and preventing homelessness
Stopped an effort to impose a regressive sales tax on Oakland households, demanding that large employers pay their fair share to fund housing and relieve transportation stress caused by job growth
I am currently working with OUSD on a plan to house all homeless students and their families and this year I was selected by ABAG President Jesse Arreguin to serve on the newly established Regional Housing Committee. In this capacity I make sure Oakland’s needs are at the center of identifying regional solutions. And now, after five years of persistent advocacy, the Council is now positioned to take action on many of the efforts I have championed.
COVID19 lays bare the dire needs for housing security and hunger – two issues that have begged for attention amongst the organized campaigns for many good causes. By partnering with my Council colleagues that represent Oakland’s flatlands, I was able to direct nearly $30 million of CARES ACT funds to addressing these critical needs in the flatlands, allowing the City to purchase hotels and an abandoned dormitory to house more of our houseless constituents.
If the challengers think they can match her, I would offer that we as Oaklanders would have to sit and wait for that person to learn the Oakland legislative ropes before they could be effective, whereas the saying “been there, done that” applies to Councilmember McElhaney.
Re-elect Councilmember McElhaney for District Three.
ONN – Bill Caroll’s COVID19 And College Football Series: Indiana And Michigan’s 1st College Football Games
If you’d like to win a bar bet, bookmark this. How many people know that, in front of 720 spectators the Trine University Thunder defeated Adrian’s Bulldogs? They were the first teams in Indianan and Michigan to play a college football game in the 2020-21 academic year. The Bulldogs have three scheduled games this fall, followed by a full conference slate this spring in conjunction with the MIAA.
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.
ONN – North Carolina Dem Cal Cunningham And Arlene Guzman Todd’s Affair, Steamy Texts, Made Public
North Carolina Dem Cal Cunningham And Arlene Guzman Todd’s Affair, Steamy Texts, Made Public
If the success of Paris Hilton is any indicator, Cal Cunningham, the North Carolina Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate might just win.
The sexy text messages between Cal and Arlene Guzman Todd were made public and wound up in a publication called National File.
In all he admits the affair and is not quitting the race. Good for him.
“I have hurt my family, disappointed my friends, and am deeply sorry. The first step in repairing those relationships is taking complete responsibility, which I do. I ask that my family’s privacy be respected in this personal matter,” Cunningham said in a statement sent to The News & Observer.
“I remain grateful and humbled by the ongoing support that North Carolinians have extended in this campaign, and in the remaining weeks before this election I will continue to work to earn the opportunity to fight for the people of our state.”
And that Arlene Guzman Todd is one randy woman, that’s for sure. While this space does not condone extramarital affairs, he admits the error.
On the campaign trial, Cal has an impressive list of endorsements including the news organizations of North Carolina, and a who’s who of elected officials.
He is not taking a dime from corporate PACs, and lists low cost health care and economic opportunity for all as his priorities. In all, he is sizing up to be a good choice. Let’s help Cal, Dems, by donating!
Stay tuned.
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.
