Comment Archives: stories: Blogs: Seven Days
Re: “How the IRS’s Nonprofit Division Got So Dysfunctional”
Thanks for publishing this! I had been confused about this issue. But I still wonder how any non-profit that engages in political action, right or left, including churches that push for a particular party or candidate can have a tax exempt status. My father was a minister and when I was growing up, it was a no-no for him to opine on any party or candidate.
Re: “Friday Must Reads: FEMA Moves to Chop Down 82,000 Trees in Berkeley and Oakland Hills; Lead Ammunition Ban Clears Assembly”
Plenty of blame to go around, apparently. This shameless pandering to the native plant religionists who don't care how much mayhem, toxicity, or destruction of thriving ecosystems they cause in their crusade to stamp out everything that wasn't here before the first Caucasian set foot here has got to stop. It's bogus nativist bigotry, and it's no more acceptably directed at plants than people.
Re: “Friday Must Reads: FEMA Moves to Chop Down 82,000 Trees in Berkeley and Oakland Hills; Lead Ammunition Ban Clears Assembly”
Tim,
More than 80,000 trees will be chopped down if this proposal goes through as is. Currently, FEMA is leading this process, and is on its way to funding the clear-cutting. Without FEMA's cash, the trees will not be cut down. So, yes, FEMA is moving forward on a plan for chopping -- a lot of chopping.
Re: “Friday Must Reads: FEMA Moves to Chop Down 82,000 Trees in Berkeley and Oakland Hills; Lead Ammunition Ban Clears Assembly”
Mary,
I agree that FEMA has done a miserable job at publicizing these plans -- but some of the blame also falls on UC Berkeley, East Bay Regional Park District, and the City of Oakland, who are partners in the project and have failed to properly inform folks as well.
Re: “Friday Must Reads: FEMA Moves to Chop Down 82,000 Trees in Berkeley and Oakland Hills; Lead Ammunition Ban Clears Assembly”
This FEMA vandalism is obscene and must be stopped. And the stealthy manner in which this has been conducted to date is reprehensible, if not actually illegal.
Re: “Friday Must Reads: FEMA Moves to Chop Down 82,000 Trees in Berkeley and Oakland Hills; Lead Ammunition Ban Clears Assembly”
FEMA is not chopping anything. They are required by law to take public comments, and they are, on their draft EIS, triggered by the grant applications submitted by UC Berkeley, EBRPD, and City of Oakland to reduce fire risk (which, yes, means removing fuel loads, ie trees). By all means, weigh in via the public process, but read the EIS, not Randy Shaw's alarmist op ed in California Progress Report (which implies that FEMA is trying to sneak something by).
Re: “Sean Whent Appears to be the Right Choice to Lead OPD”
I probably like Sean Whent more than most people with an OPD background. I have had a lot of conversations with him over the years and I believe that he is a fundamentally good person with good intentions. I think he is better than people realize and I hope that he will surprise some people. He is certainly an upgrade over Tucker, Batts, Jordan & Toribio.
Re: “Sean Whent Appears to be the Right Choice to Lead OPD”
OpD now run by "went outlaw"?
Re: “Sean Whent Appears to be the Right Choice to Lead OPD”
We need a chief with years of successful experience managing a high crime city police department AND the willingness to cross the thin blue line.
Sean Whent only satisfies the second criteria with his mere 17 years experience, mostly at OPD, 4 of which consisted of working in Internal Affairs investigating cops.
Make Whent the head of IA but don't put him in charge of the entire department.
Re: “Sean Whent Appears to be the Right Choice to Lead OPD”
There is absolutely no hope for OPD and the City of Oakland. The OPD's hands are tied. The whole system is so screwed up. Officers are unable to respond to serious calls in a timely manner. The only hope for Oakland is Judge Henderson's retirement and the falsely appointed mayor Quan's resignation. Sean Whent is no good as well. He's merely a political charlatan looking out for his own good (aka: an ass kisser), and willing to do / say whatever it takes to get into a high ranking position. Good luck, Oakland. You're in for a long and arduous ride.
Re: “Thursday Must Read: Oakland Police Consultant Calls for 911 Overhaul; William Bratton Keeps Low Profile”
@Krista: I live in Oakland. My house was robbed twice. I was told by OPD to fill out a police report online, despite my wifi-enabled devices being lost in the heist, and was informed no one would be coming out to take the fingerprints or footprints I could see on my windows. While I understand your point, clearly from my experience, Oakland does not promise an officer for every call, unless you are bleeding.
Re: “Updated: Retiring Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan Said to Have 'Serious Medical Condition'”
National Institute of Justice: ~ Five Things Law Enforcement Executives Can Do To Make A Difference. http://nij.gov/five-things
DoD study on random polygraphs for personnel. http://t.co/Tr7uafTd
"the polygraph is the single most effective tool for finding information people were trying to hide." - DoD, NSA
Make policy that polygraphs for all new hires expire every 2-5yrs. http://shar.es/epfm2
Top Baltimore jail executives to be polygraphed following gang indictment. http://shar.es/lmevh
California laws strengthened wall of silence around officers. http://shar.es/lITUZ
The California Peace Officers Bill of Rights needs to be reviewed and revised. Especially section 3007.
The honest, brave police officers with integrity deserve more.
Let's get this done.
Never give up folks. Never give in. For the good of the collective whole.
RANDOM. ROUTINE.
Break the code. Break the culture.
And Walk the Talk.
Re: “Updated: Retiring Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan Said to Have 'Serious Medical Condition'”
He has a right to his medical privacy. We should respect that right even if we are dying to know what it is.
Re: “Updated: Retiring Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan Said to Have 'Serious Medical Condition'”
'Councilwoman Libby Schaaf said this afternoon that the 47-year-old Jordan really does have "a serious medical condition."'
Really!
When is "a serious medical condition" really "a serious medical condition?"
Answer: When it has some sort of name other than "a serious medical condition."
Re: “Hacking Oakland's Budget”
Thanks Leonard. Though we'd love to, there's no rushing any data that's confined to a PDF, which is where it is for now.
Also, creating a tool to consider different budget scenarios would require vastly more technical and research capacity than we now have as an all-volunteer group. We'd be happy to collaborate with folks that want to support that work though -- we meet every Tuesday at City Hall.
And to the city's credit, they have visualized the 5-year projection -- http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/c… -- what is lacking are opportunities to have a public dialogue about it, and ways to capture the best ideas that surface as a result. That's what we're working on.
Re: “Hacking Oakland's Budget”
The application is very helpful at demystifying the city's two year budget.
I hope the volunteers can rush out a version that gives the 5 year projection for the city's finances under different assumptions of police spending and of making payments to fund our huge retirement and infrastructure expenses that are projected to come home to roost big time in two to three years.
We need the 5 year perspective to see how decisions we make now will have large consequences just a couple of years out.
Re: “Tuesday Must Reads: Oakland Unions Denounce Quan’s Proposal; DeSaulnier Schedules Hearing on Bay Bridge Bolt Scandal”
Craig - I don't think there are any Green Party members on the Oakland City Council; the only Green Party candidate that I know of who ran, Don McLeay, lost to Dan Kalb for District 1.
Re: “Tuesday Must Reads: Oakland Unions Denounce Quan’s Proposal; DeSaulnier Schedules Hearing on Bay Bridge Bolt Scandal”
"The city is in better financial shape now because of the recovering economy"
A more accurate way of phrasing it would be to say "... is in less terrible financial shape...", but even that would be misleading because the long-term prospects are exactly the same: certain bankruptcy in a few years once retirement/medical benefits for a growing army of retirees overwhelm everything else in the budget...too bad all the Greens on Councils past didn't stretch their definition of "sustainability" to include finances.
Re: “Tuesday Must Reads: Oakland Unions Denounce Quan’s Proposal; DeSaulnier Schedules Hearing on Bay Bridge Bolt Scandal”
Sorry, public employee unions, it's time you dealt with the same reality as the people paying your salaries.
Re: “Tuesday Must Reads: Bridge Expert Says Bad Bolts Should Be Replaced; State Control of Oakland Schools Failed to Fix Financial Problems”
Can you please do some research on what worldwide what bridges cost in other country's and post a list. Already this seems incredibly long in terms of time, high in expense, poor in quality but I really would like to know where we fall in the continuum. Then maybe we should decide other massive projects like high speed rail.