Comment Archives: stories
Re: “Jerry Brown's Assault on Transparency”
Elie Rose,
Either Senator Hancock doesn't understand the legislation or she's trying to muddy the water or deflect blame. Under the proposed law, cities and counties who decide not to spend the money needed to comply with public records requests would not face any penalties. As a result, they could just decide to not spend the money and ignore public records requests.
Re: “Jerry Brown's Assault on Transparency”
When I phoned Sen. Lori Hancock's office to express my opposition to gutting the Public Records Act, I received an interesting explanation. Her Aide said that the state was simply trying to save money in its tight budget, and that the only change was that the state will no longer reimburse the communities for their activities under the PRA. The State will leave it to the communities to pick up the costs. I stated my strong belief in protecting the public's right to this info. I feel it is far more important that the state continue to cover the costs. Oakland is in far worse shape than CA, & I anticipate that communities would delay even longer or not respond to PRR, if not reimbursed by the state.
I stated my strong disappointment & opposition to this Democrat action.
Re: “At Oakland's Hutch, Southern-Style Grits Are King”
The Star and Hutch in the same column. Headline opportunity missed.
Re: “Jerry Brown's Assault on Transparency”
Jim,
This proposed law does not "require" local governments to pay or do anything. Instead, it allows them to ignore key aspects of the public records law without fear of penalty. As a result, this law would, in effect, gut aspects of the records act in jurisdictions in which public officials decide to not make public records public.
Re: “Jerry Brown's Assault on Transparency”
Requiring the local govts to pay for their own PRAs is not "gutting the CPRA." It's fair to require the locals to pay for their own costs.
Re: “Quickly Reshaping Oakland Politics”
I commend Mr Allen-Taylor for bringing attention to the issue of redistricting. As equal representation is the cornerstone of government, it's essential that council members represent similar numbers of residents. A few points of clarification on this story:
-Ms Santana's July memo stating that no council districts required redistricting was a product of faulty math. When calculating the difference between the largest (D3) and smallest (D2) council districts, her office divided the result by the population of the entire city, rendering a difference of 4% - under the 10% requirement. When dividing this difference by the average council district size, as her office should have, the difference was in fact 20%. Under the faulty math, one council district would have needed at least 20,000 more residents than the average council district size to qualify for redistricting. This should have been an immediate red flag to anyone reading the memo with a critical eye.
-Ms Santana's office worked off of this faulty assumption until late in 2012, when it was pointed out to them by multiple source. This placed the City well behind a typical timetable to do redistricting according to best practices. Berkeley, on a similar deadline, has been doing redistricting outreach since early 2012. This may partially explain the rush to approve a contract.
-Only 3 of the council districts (2, 3 & 5) met the threshold of a 10% population difference (+/- 5%), when compared to the average council district size. While such limited redistricting is hardly normal, it could technically satisfy the requirements of the City Charter. It's my understanding that the original decision to limit the redistricting to only these 3 council districts was an effort to spare the expense of a full redistricting - cost cutting also being a rationale in the July 2012 memo for not doing redistricting at all. But once the ball was rolling on redistricting, it doesn't surprise me that enough political pressure built up to expand to a citywide process.
I attribute this debacle to faulty math in the Administrator's office that wasn't questioned because it told them that they didn't have to spend money. As for council "not having input", they received the faulty memo in July of 2012. All it would have taken was some basic math and critical thought over the summer to ensure enough time for a standard council oversight process. They have only themselves to blame.
Re: “NLRB Rules in Favor of Oakland Airport Workers”
We know that Ken Meyer is a wingnut supreme, as he has taken the talking point currently loved by people like him who hate working people. Earlier this year, one of the nine Federal Circuit Courts ignored over a century of precedence by holding in a singular case involving a single employer/employee dispute that Obama is, in effect, barred from making appointments to the NLRB Board. No other Federal court has made a similar ruling.
Ken may be made sad by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, a Republican appointee who has rarely seen a corporate-restraining, worker-supporting law he didn't want to strike down. He joined the majority a couple of years ago in a Supreme Court judgment which invalidated hundreds of NLRB judgments because the NLRB Board lacked a quorum. When the Solicitor General explained that the Senate Republicans had made a mockery of the traditional "advise and consent" role of the Senate by opposing ALL of Obama's choices for the NLRB Board because they don't want the NLRB to function, Roberts responded to the Government's attorney by asking, "Well, why doesn't the President use his recess appointment powers?".
So, Ken, the President must be allowed to use his recess appointment powers to overcome kneejerk, complete and irrational obstruction by the minority Senate Republican caucus, unless you believe that every single President going back to the mid-19th Century should not have been allowed to make any recess appointments. Or unless you want to disable the functions of agencies meant to uphold the law. Hey, maybe that's what you're up to,,,
It's funny how when you elect and appoint people who hate the government, we all end up with a government we hate.
Re: “Tuesday Must Reads: Oakland Goes Green to Fight Crime; State to Nearly Triple the Number of Refinery Inspectors”
Oakland Council member Desley "Lightbulb" Brooks says "you can't arrest your way out of crime."
I would add that you really can't lightbulb your way out of crime, either.
Re: “Tunnel Vision Part One: Delta in Peril”
Humans have done so much damage in the past 200 yrs to our California landscape. People can't see it, don't even know the damage we continue to inflict on our environment and on other living things. Industry has the money, the political influence to do what's best for themselves and what is harmful to our future and our children's. Our health is directly linked to the health of the bay and the ecosystem services provided by the Bay. SF Bay & Estuaries were named a Wetland of International Importance in April 2013. It's high time we stood up to monied and political interests--for the environment and our own well-being.
Re: “Is UC Berkeley's Plan to Cut Down 54,000 Trees Necessary?”
Had the author exercised a modicum of due diligence, she could have saved the East Bay Express a lot of paper and ink.
The letter cited by the " respected environmental engineering company" is over four years old. A trip to the Claremont Canyon or a visit to my blog, where I have shared hundreds of recent photos, prove the " respected environmental engineering company" was dead wrong!
http://ccfirestorm.blogspot.com/2013/06/ar…
The biologist was right, the contractor was wrong. The stunted riparian woodland recovers quite rapidly once the oppressive eucalypti are eradicated.
The alternative to eradication, Thin, limp, and scrape, is not best practice for the developed sections of the park.
http://ccfirestorm.blogspot.com/2013/06/eu…
It is totally unworkable in the steep, rugged, undeveloped forest.
http://ccfirestorm.blogspot.com/2013/06/he…
I don't know if Kathleen Richards has an agenda or not. Deliberately misleading, or just grossly misinformed, either way, this article is waster of paper and ink.
Re: “Categories We Didn't Think Of: Goods and Services”
Best affordable acupuncture: Oakland Acupuncture Project
Re: “Categories We Didn't Think Of: Arts and Culture”
Best acupuncture: Oakland Acupuncture Project
Re: “Sista Sandwich Allows Gluten-Free Diners to Grab and Go”
Here's hoping some more like-minded people will do this all over the country. It truly is hard to find a gluten-free snack when travelling around. Thank you to these sisters for taking this first step!
Re: “Is UC Berkeley's Plan to Cut Down 54,000 Trees Necessary?”
Oh oh - que the filthy hippie freakout!!!! Where is Dumpster Muffin?!? Get her on the scene, stat!!! I anticipate an incredibly drawn out and unnecessary 'argument.'
Hey Berkeley....this time, don't feed them!!!
Re: “Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0”
Beware of Yelp and their extortionist tactics to push you into advertising with them. After complaining that two of my reviews were being "filtered" and hidden from viewers, I called them out on Twitter. Within the hour, a Yelp salesman called and urged me to advertise with them ($300) and suggested that it would help my reviews from being filtered. (These reviews are from legitimately satisfied customers that happen to really like us.) After rejecting Yelp and calling the tactics "bullying to small startups", I've discovered that ALL my legit reviews are now concealed, giving my business a disadvantage to the other businesses when being searched locally. I apologize to those of you who gave us great feedback.
Re: “Best Buds: Harborside Health Center Reveals Entries for High Times Medical Cannabis Cup San Francisco 2013”
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Re: “Sean Whent Appears to be the Right Choice to Lead OPD”
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Re: “Is Berkeley's New Build Pizzeria More Than Just a Gimmick?”
I ate here last week, it was the best pizza that i have ever had. haters gonna hate.
Re: “Time Magazine: The Drug War Is Blocking Cancer, Alzheimer's Treatments”
It's easier to study heroin or LSD than cannabis, even though studies show the benign plant could treat Alzheimer's, diabetes, and PTSD.
This is the way the politicians want it......because if clinical trials were to happen all the government lies would be exposed