Oakland Mayor's Race: Don Macleay Interview #2

Followers of this space will remember that this blogger interviewed Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Don Macleay earlier in the campaign, and for about 20 minutes in front of Merritt Station Cafe at 614 Grand Avenue. But Don wanted to talk again, and this space doesn't refuse such requests. The result is the funniest and most fun of all of the interviews I've conducted thus far.

It is so, because the Green Party candidate who calls himself the "People's Mayor," has a good, natural sense of humor that smooths over a wonkish tendency. That quality makes him accessible across race and class lines. Regardless of how the election turns out, Don Macleay has created a good foundation for his political future.

The Mayor Of 40th Street

Already, Don Macleay is arguably the Mayor of 40th Street, where he lives on 40th and Opal. He's right next to what he calls the "new Temescal Neighborhood." Don owns what could be called a compound on that corner, marked with his lawn sign and another in support of Measure BB. Don's tan building houses his East Bay Computer Services, his apartment, and several other tenant businesses. He moved there in 2008, and has what he calls a "Walk, Bike, neighborhood lifestyle."

Across 40th Street from Don Macleay's home is what he laughingly refers to as his entertainment: a green building housing a laundry business, where "you can buy crack on certain days...This candidate does not live on Skyline Drive." That's a friendly shot at Oakland Mayor's Race competitor Greg Harland, who does live on Skyline Drive.

Unlike the other mayoral candidates, Macleay does not have an office with an adress; he has a "virtual office" with cell phones being the communications and information exchange system. "We have our network in the cloud, Don says. "We work with smartphones. We keep both the company and the campaign on these smartphones."

Darth Vader On The Campaign?

In his first room, Macleay has an interesting collection of "stuff," like a UCLA cup (which should be a Cal cup) and including a Darth Vader helmet because his son's into Star Wars. But that doesn't mean Don thinks there's a Darth Vader in the Oakland Mayor's Race: "I think..A lot of people want to paint Don Perata as Darth Vader and I think he's the standard American politician."

The campaign has "just been great" for Don. He's having a lot of fun going from forum to forum (there were 30 of them) and spreading his message of reform. Don says Oakland Government is not "representative enough." He thinks the Oakland City Council is not accessible to the grassroots Oakland activists and wants to change that.

The Pension Reform Issue

Don says the way to reduce the Oakland Pension Deficit is to cash it out on a sliding scale. "It's the members money. What we have set aside belongs to them, first and foremost." What Don wants to do is to give the pension system members all of their money up front, and then start a new system of pay-as-you-go. He says Oakland's government and unions don't like the idea, but it's one he's ready to go forward with should he become Mayor of Oakland.

The People's Mayor

Our talk continued with a tour of his compound and home. It's a machinist's dream, with all kinds of drills and equipment appropriate for everything from bike repair to metal sculpture. He does all of the unlicensed work on his place himself. Don's also ran a number of businesses and says that his experience "puts me in touch with about 60 percent of the economy."

The Parking Issue And The Greens

This blogger originally met Don when we worked on what was to be an initiative to change Oakland's predatory parking laws and system. One that Oakland PUEBLO said was a violation of an Oaklander's civil rights. He reports that "got him into a lot of trouble with the Greens." But Don says he was able to convince many Green Party activists that the City of Oakland's measures didn't provide a public transit alternative, just worked to feed the city's coffers at the expense of the poor.

"We do not have the transit infrastructure we should," he says, and wants a moratorium on new roads; something he will push for even if he's not Mayor of Oakland.

Don's Mayor's Office and Morale

Unlike many of the candidates, Macleay says he will have the same size of Mayor's Office as present. Rearding organizational structure, Don says he's like to keep Mayor Dellums fundraising system and staff. Overall he sees no need to expand the office, and wants to leave the matter of policy advise to the Oakland City Council.

On Oakland city employee morale, which has been poor for years, Don says he will work to make it easier for Oakland employees to talk freely about what they don't like around them. He also wants to help Oakland employees succeed at their jobs.

Don Macleay Has Matured

In closing, Don Macleay has come a long way as a mayoral candidate. At first, I didn't think he was really serious about winning this thing. But over the past few months, he changed. Don became much more engaged, present, and active as a campaigner. He's honed and refined his message and deliberately positioned himself as more a "man of the people." Macleay's an excellent listener and perhaps has the smallest ego of any of the choices for Mayor. It will be interesting to see how he performs on election day in Oakland.

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Will Have New Patient Care Pavilion

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center held a ground breaking ceremony this week for its new 11-story Patient Care Pavilion on the Summit Campus. This milestone marks the next generation in a 100-year legacy of patient care in the greater Oakland community.

The ceremony was held Monday at 400 Hawthorne Ave., the former site of Samuel Merritt University’s Bechtel Hall.

Nearly a decade in the making, this project includes 238 new, private patient rooms, a new Emergency Department and a new 1,000-space parking garage - all designed to meet or exceed state seismic safety requirements.

The $350 million dollar project is funded completely by Sutter Health and Alta Bates Summit Medical Center - with no cost to local taxpayers - as a commitment to health care in the greater East Bay.

This project merges state-of-the-art technology in a what they call a "calming and healing environment" that will continue Alta Bates Summit’s 100-year tradition of providing quality patient care.

The new Patient Care Pavilion will become the focal point and the main entrance of the Summit Campus. The aesthetic of the building is representative of the health care within – modern, transparent and technologically advanced in a calming and healing environment.

"We're extremely proud that we can bring this important addition to health care in our community and very fortunate to be able to build this project" said Kyle Hansen, the Assistant Administrator at Alta Bates Summit. "This is a positive and new element to our Summit Campus – one the entire community can benefit from in its state-of-the-art technology, family friendly and healing environment."

The project includes a new 250,000-square-foot Patient Care Pavilion with 238 private rooms that are family-friendly and offer panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay, downtown Oakland and the neighboring hills. A team of patient care professionals helped design the rooms, the flow of patients throughout the pavilion and the integration and location of vital new technologies like electronic health record, patient monitoring and electronic registration.

The new 21,000-square foot Emergency Department will provide a new and improved location and entrance, replacing the current Merritt Pavilion main lobby. It will include 30 beds, is located adjacent to the new pavilion, is closer to critical care and surgery, is revamped to streamline patient flow and will enhance patient care.

"The Patient Care Pavilion will create 500 construction jobs and assures 2,000 health care jobs in Oakland," Hansen said. "Today celebrates our successes, our dedicated staff, our heritage and allows us to move forward in caring for our patients."

The project established a very early commitment to green design and sustainability by adopting the City of Oakland’s initiative toward the Green Guide for Healthcare as well as surpassing many of the energy and power regulations set forth by the State of California. Hallmarks of the project include a recycled demolished Bechtel Hall, energy efficient appliances, and more green space. 

2010 World Series Giants vs Rangers - Traveling Tips For Texans

Today is the first game of the 2010 World Series and I hope you're as excited as this blogger is. To you Texans from the DFW Metroplex, welcome to the San Francisco Bay Area. (For those of you who don't know, "DFW Metroplex" refers to the metropolitan area that includes the two large cities of Dallas and FTWorth Texas, with Arlington in the middle, all served by DFW Airport.)

 Here's some tips for you visiting Texans. (And a special welcome to anyone who attended the University of Texas At Arlington, where my undergrad degree was earned before going to Cal Berkeley for my Master's Degree In City Planning.)

Now, this: the San Francisco Giants are going to kick The Texas Rangers ass. Cliff Lee doesn't stand a chance against two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum. Still, it's a dream match-up. Here's my tips for enjoying your stay.

First, don't rent a car. I don't mean to take money out of their pockets, but you don't need a car to get around San Francisco. Take a cab. Use Yellow Cab. DO NOT USE the white LUXOR CAB - their service is awful. Yellow Cab's the best in San Francisco. Period.  Also, use a limo and transportation service.  I recommend San Francisco's Bauer's Transportation at 1-800-LIMO-OUT.

Second, there are a lot of restaurants in San Francisco and everyone has their favorites.  Next to AT&T Park is Momo's Restaurant on the corner of Second and King Street - you can't miss it.  The pastas and steaks are good as are the cocktails, but get there five hours before the game - it's going to get packed.  Plus, forget reservations.  Too late for that.

There's also 24 Restaurant, also right at the Ballpark.  If you can't get in to Momo's, go here.

My favorites are also The Balboa Cafe on Fillmore and Union in the Marina District, where Brian's a Giant's expert of the first tier and should be working tonight.  The Brick Yard's on Union Street next to Union and Octavia.  Downtown is The Royal Exchange on Sacramento and Front Street - the best and classic San Francisco sports bar.  

Around the corner of Front Street on California Street is San Francisco's oldest restaurant, Tadich Grill.  And next to it, are the twin restaurants Barbaco and Prebaco with excellent food and wine.   As I stated, everyone has their faves, but I like those.

Then come to Oakland, and eat at The Lake Chalet on the waters of Lake Merritt - a cool setting for a meal after the game.  If anyone tells you anything bad about Oakland, laugh at them.

At The World Series, Behave

Finally, please be nice to everyone.  And male SF Giants fans, please do not throw beer bottles at people and be nice to everyone.  Don't get drunk and stupid.

GO GIANTS!

Oakland Mayor's Race: Joe Tuman Interview

Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Joe Tuman and this blogger met last Thursday at Merritt Station at 614 Grand Avenue for this interview. It came at a time when Tuman, like this week, is riding a high of name recognition thanks to Grand Lake Theater Owner Allan Michaan, and a powerful word-of-mouth campaign on the part of people who've met Tuman.

The kind, seemingly mild-mannered San Francisco State Professor of Communications has changed the climate of the race from what some have seen as a three-person battle in ten candidates, to a four-person contest among the same field.  Tuman did this even with a late start in the campaign.  He says the campaign  is still "going well.  We managed to get a co-endorsement from the East Bay Express, and a second-place endorsement from The Oakland Tribune.  It was a good boost," Tuman said.  "I don't think people vote on the basis of newspaper endorsements. But it has added to the buzz around the campaign."

Tuman vs. Matthai Kuruvila and The SF Chronicle

On the subject of newspapers, Tuman and I briefly talked about the little feud between San Francisco Chronicle "Reporter" Matthai Kuruvila. The issue from this blogger's perspective is that Kuruvila has upset a number of the campaigners with a form of coverage that reveals a bias not expected for a "reporter." He's only talked to some, not all, of the persons running for mayor, openly expresses his opinion even by body language as he did in the San Francisco Chronicle Board Meeting with Tuman, and when he does blog - in this case in an attack on Tuman, the effort is intellectually sloppy at best.

The best Oakland political reporter was The Oakland Tribune's Kelly Rayburn (who's in law school now), who kept his personal views to himself and was a consummate professional - such cannot be said for Mr. Kuruvila. Moreover, Kuruvila is crossing over into territory reserved for the legendary San Francisco Chronicle Columnist Chip Johnson. Tuman had enough.

While Joe will not say Matthai has a bias against him, he's "If not hard on me, maybe harder on me, and a little dismissive," Tuman said. But. I've talked to him about that and I take him at his word when he says he treats everyone the same. But, in all honesty, sometimes it hasn't felt that way."

The Campaign's Progress

Tuman says his numerous house meetings have "Gone great. I don't know what number we're at. Sometimes it seems like we do one every night or every other night. Sometimes we have several in one day, like on Saturday I did three." Tuman says the house meetings are all over Oakland, both the hills and flatlands, and the response has been "uniformly good."

Allan Michaan and Parking

Tuman got a real significant elevation in visibility from Grand Lake Theater Owner Allan Michaan, who  used his marque normally reserved for movies and anti-war announcements, to say that Oaklanders should vote for Tuman.  The reason is that Tuman's openly adopted Michaan's call for an end to Oakland's predatory parking enforcement system, even to the point of saying he would "phase it out" and do away with the parking machines.

Tuman observed, "I could run on a platform that says 'Let's do away with the boxes that spit out the white pieces of paper that fit in your dashboard,' and I'd get all the votes."  Tuman says he's not opposed to charging for parking, but he wants to make it, over the long term, free "only for a couple of hours," and says, again echoing Michaan, that the parking rates should be "around $20 or $30," and not the $60 to $80 they are at now.

Tuman Against Measure BB

Measure BB, if passed, would rehire the 63 neighborhood officers responsible for crime prevention on the Oakland police force. In Adams Point, Hong Bahn has served as one of those officers and has done an incredible job. This blogger's in favor of Measure BB; not Tuman. Tuman says he's in favor of the programs that BB puts money into, like Youth Uprising, but is in opposition to the measure because it does not address the reason Measure Y, which it modifies, was passed which was to serve both the desires of those who wanted more beat police, and those who wanted more money for after school programs.

Tuman says that Measure BB is a way for the Oakland City Council to get around the problems of Measure Y, where the City failed to meet its obligations to that program.

What happened was that Oakland did essentially raid Measure Y money and use it for other services - what Tuman calls a "bait and switch" - while police were laid off, and failed to conduct a good program audit. (While I disagree with the logic in not wanting Measure BB, the interview is Tuman's platform, not mine to disagree with him.)

Tuman objects to the idea of a "fix" and wants Oakland to live up to its obligations.

The Tuman Mayor's Office

The conversation turned away from that, and to what kind of Mayor's Office Tuman would have if he won. What I mean is style and structure. Anyone can talk about policy issues, but what separates the wonks from the leaders is a knowledge of how to form a managerial and organizational structure that can effectively push policy through to adoption, improve city service delivery, and fill the giant leadership vacuum that exists in the Office of The Mayor (and something Oakland City Attorney John Russo and I talked about in an interview earlier this year.)

Tuman says he does not want a large staff or for that matter a security detail. He says he'll drive himself around Oakland "or ride my bike."  Tuman wants to appoint a new city administrator, and bring that person into the Mayor's Office, essentially fusing the City Administrator's Office into the Mayor's Office.
He will then set times with the City Council - separate meetings where they bring "a punch list" of things they need to get done.  "I want them to let us manage the bureaucracy."  Tuman wants control of the city staff to get things done.

As to the City Council, as a note, Joe says Councilmember Desley Brooks (District 6) has endorsed him.  But in full he says he can "count to four" City Council votes, and in time will be able to "count to five."  Moreover, Tuman will attend all City Council meetings, much as Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris did during his tenure.

Should Oakland Sue The Oakland A's

Tuman's not in favor of using the legal process against the Oakland A's, which seems to be threatening to leave Oakland every year, as he thinks it just encourages them to try harder to do so.  But suing the City of San Jose is something Tuman's willing to consider, as that municipality has worked to try to take the A's away from Oakland, interfering with contracts between the parties in the process.

Tuman says he will be a friend to all of Oakland's sports teams, but does not want to give away public money to retain them.  But he does leave tax increment revenue as an exception because of it's market  generated nature.    

Tuman The Candidate

Overall, Tuman expresses a very good feel for the issues, politics and, management of The City of Oakland, and has come a very long way in a very short time.  Give his website - Joe4Mayor.com - a study as well as this video and learn about all 10 of the candidates, too, before you make a decision (if you've not voted already).

Oakland Mayor's Race: Marcie Hodge Sues East Bay Express

Oakland Mayoral Candidate Marcie Hodge is suing the East Bay Express over articles and blog posts the Perata Community College Board Member and her family asserts have been defamatory.

Prior to a wide-ranging video interview, where the Oakland Mayor's Race candidate talks emotionally about the East Bay Express coverage in addition to her run, Hodge explained and later confirmed for the record that her sister, a lawyer, filed a lawsuit in Alameda County specifically targeting the East Bay Express.

What triggered the lawsuit was "the last straw:" last week's entry by East Bay Express writer Robert Gammom asserting that Hodge had been violating campaign laws; Hodge told this blogger her campaign finance report would be filed this week. This is what Robert wrote:

Finally, it should be noted that mayoral candidate Marcie Hodge has yet to file a campaign finance report as required by law during the election. Hodge has spent significant sums on billboards, mailers, radio spots, and now TV ads. Several black leaders in Oakland believe that Perata supporters are bankrolling her campaign in an effort to siphon votes from Kaplan and Quan. Hodge has denied getting help from the ex-senator and said she loaned herself a large donation, but it’s unclear where she got the money, because she reported having no job, no income, and no investments on her official financial disclosures in August.

Records show that Hodge also has a history of not filing campaign finance reports disclosing her donors until several months after the election is over — a blatant violation of state and local law.

Marcie says that Robert has "never once" called her to confirm what he wrote, Gammon just wrote it. Moreover, Marcie angrily holds that Gammom's overall coverage of her has been sexist and racist, from asserting that her campaign was "baffling," to claiming that "black leaders" were questioning her campaign without naming a single "black leader" by name or providing Internet link evidence in the form of another article or blog post.

And before last week, on September 29th, Gammon ran a blog post that used a so-called quote by Oakland City Councilmember Desley Brooks (District 6 - Central East Oakland) saying Hodge was "dumb as dirt," but without a link to the interview or a video presenting the quote.

Indeed, in the overall review of Gammon's work on Marcie Hodge, it seems he's taken a line against her that walks on the edge of acceptability. If Brooks went on the record with Robert, that's different my miles. But she did not go on the record with him and Gammon presents no video or audio evidence, yet uses Councilmember Brooks to write a smear against Hodge. It's that kind of work that sent Marcie and her sister to court against the East Bay Express.

In our interview, which, to restate, will be out on video later today, Hodge says she does not know Don Perata well at all and has no ties to him, and resents the notion that she's a "plant for Perata."

Hodge said to me, almost tearfully, that it's as if Gammon's saying that she as an African American woman from an educated family can't be taken seriously in running for Mayor of Oakland.

Gammom's problem, in looking at this, is a really cavalier and brazen and unfortunate line he's taken that does not include actual quotes from people he actually got to go on the record.  

Gammon places himself and the East Bay Express in the position of possibly losing in court - and big. In the case of the "dumb as dirt" statement Gammon claims Brooks made, there's no Internet record of such a statement other than what he wrote and the angry reactions of Express readers.   Gammon should hope that Brooks comes to his defense.   Indeed, this blogger already called Councilmember Brooks office to confirm that statement.

Not a good situation at all.

Stay tuned.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Greg Harland Pissed Off With Jean Quan

In this installment of The Oakland Mayor's Race Chronicles, this blogger just received a call from Oakland Mayoral Candidate Greg Harland, and boy did he have a lot to say on the record.

First, Harland was really pissed with something he thinks was written by Bob Gammon of The East Bay Express, but appears on the The Anybody But Perata Website, which is written and managed by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor.  This is it:

Greg Harland Reverses Field, Now Says Perata Is His Second Choice For Mayor Of Oakland

Oakland mayoral candidate Greg Harland has suddenly changed his position on Don Perata, telling voters at a Thursday night candidates forum at Holy Names College that Perata is now his second choice for mayor of Oakland.

Harland said he felt Perata had the experience and was "well-qualified" to become Oakland's next mayor.

With all Oakland voters getting second and third choices for mayor this year in the city's new "ranked choice" voting format, candidates at the forum were asked who their second and third choices would be on the ballot.

Harland's position on Perata is a marked change from his position only a month ago. At the September 14 Oakland Climate Action Coalition mayoral debate at the Oakland Museum, Harland said that Perata was "not the candidate for Oakland," adding that Perata's front-runner status in the campaign was only due to "name recognition," which Harland implied was a poor way to pick a city leader. "If Charles Manson came to Oakland and ran for mayor, he'd beat us all out," Harland said.

Earlier in the campaign, Harland was one of the few mayoral candidates to offer specific criticism of Perata...

Harland has offered no explanation as to his abrupt change of opinion of Perata, or his change of tactics in now repeatedly attacking Perata's closest competitors in the mayor's race.

Ok, fine. Frankly, what appeared above is much ado about nothing to this blogger's view. But Harland wants you to know he's not altered his position and says that his ranked choice is Harland, Don Perata, and then Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan (At-Large). And in fairness to Greg, Perata was always his second choice, even with the criticism of him.

But again, so what. The big deal is Greg Harland just goes off about Councilmember Jean Quan (District 4 - Oakland Hills, Montclair) in his conversation with me. Greg said I could quote him on the record, so here it is and there's more: Harland thinks openly that Quan would be a disaster as Mayor of Oakland. He characterizes her as mean and vindictive, and uses an episode at the Oakland Rotary Club as one example.

About a month ago, Greg claims he was invited to The Rotary Club to speak, but as he said to me "there's Jean walking around with Sue Piper (her very good assistant) and placing things on the tables. Then a person representing The Oakland Rotary Club comes to me and says 'Jean Quan's here so we are going to give her a few minutes to speak.'" Harland said he was going to leave, but was encouraged to stay.   Quan talked for over her given time and into his, so he quietly protested and The Oakland Rotary tapped Quan on the shoulder to get her to give up the podium.  She did so.

Then Greg tells the story of how Jean, he claims, threatened to "come after him" if he failed to tell the truth about her impact on the Oakland Unified School District.  Harland writes this on his website:

I’ve been asked many times whom I would recommend for my second choice on the ballot. Jean Quan has said this is a contest only between her and Don Perata, and the other eight candidates are not even in the race. That might be true but for over thirty forums, I’ve listened to Jean Quan present her twenty years of service to the city, 12 on the OUSD School Board and 8 on the Oakland City Council. She says while on the OUSD School Board, she raised teachers’ salaries and hired more teachers to reduce class sizes. When I checked the records, I found that was true: she did raise teachers’ salaries, almost 24%, in addition to hiring more teachers to reduce class sizes.

And all of that would be laudable, except for the fact that it took the school district into such a deep bankruptcy that they couldn’t actually find the bottom. The result was they had to lay off 330 teachers and counselors, and 260 staff. To this day she refuses to accept responsibility for this and blames it on the state, which came in and rescued the district with a 100 million dollar loan. Jean then went on to greener pastures, and ran for City Council.

During her tenure on the City Council, in 2004 and 2005, she voted for the police and fire salaries and pensions that we’re choking on today. Now she demonizes them, saying the police should pay their pensions just like all the other unions. In addition, she showed up at the second Oscar Grant protest and participated in obstructing the police when they tried to disperse the crowd. In light of all of that, how could she possibly sit across the table in negotiations with the police, and ask them to do the right thing? Negotiations take credibility and good will.

The simple fact Harland spent that much time on Quan gives you a good idea of how he feels.  At one point in our talk this morning, I said "Greg, you're being mean to Jean."  Greg said, "Me?  What about her?  F-her."

This little feud has gone on for a while.  One time, Greg says that Jean came up and threatened to take down his lawn signs.  (Frankly, it's hard to write that without laughing.)  Harland says Quan bullies him, or at least tries to from his perspective.

Wild.  But lest you think Quan's not the only mayoral candidate he's got an issue with, he also mentions that Joe Tuman "steals the ideas of other candidates," and that's a claim which first came from Terrance Candell months ago.   Joe does have a habit of not attributing ideas to a source, but he's smart enough to at least adopt the right ideas.

For example, in my video interview, Joe says he wants to go back to chalking tires to mark parked cars, rather than the electronic crap we've got now and the predatory parking practice the city established.  That's awesome.  But the idea was  Grand Lake Theater Owner Allan Michaan's, not Joe's.   What I said to Greg on the phone is that as long as Joe's listening to the right ideas, who cares?  But that's me, not Greg or Terrance.  Heck, they can't take some of his ideas.

But he goes on.

Harland claims that Tuman's idea for police early retirement was originally Rebecca Kaplan's.  What's interesting is that some of Rebecca's supporters have massively hammered Joe for what was Kaplan's idea!

Too funny.

But guess who escapes this mayoral candidate infighting without a mark in Greg's view?  Don Perata.  Harland says that of all the candidates, Perata is the one who's not changed his position.  Now, Harland may not have paid attention to the whole Public Ethics Commission issue, where Perata first said he would abolish it, then said he would retain it.  But that's a little detail there of little importance, right?

Closing on the matter of Harland and Quan, the after the campaign is over, the two of them should tell their significant others to go on vacations, then get together and have great post-campaign sex. Considering the way they've screwed each other before the election, it's a great way to finish after it.

Stay tuned.

Oakland City Council Election: Precinct Walking For Libby Schaaf

With just over one week before the election, this blogger went precinct walking for family friend Libby Schaaf, who's running for the Oakland City Council District 4 seat (Oakland Hills - Montclair). I told Libby she should run for Mayor of Oakland long ago, but she's taking the step-ladder approach. If elected, and she really deserves your vote, she's going to make an excellent Oakland councilmember, but we've got to go door-to-door to do it. I've got to admit, it was fun.

What was most enjoyable was meeting the people who make up the area around the Montclair Shopping District. We started with a coffee-table meetup at Montclair Park, led by Oakland Councilmember Jane Brunner, who gave us a good pep talk to get us going. More along the lines of what to say and not to say, than anything else. Meanwhile, a group of joggers went on their circuit, and people were just getting out to run errands. We were on our way.

A Lot Of "Joe Tuman For Mayor" Signs

This is just a fact: there were more "Joe Tuman For Mayor" signs around the area we canvased than for anyone else running for office at any level. Period. To write a blog post without noting that would be dishonest. On that note, Clinton Killian, Libby's challenger, also has some lawn signs visible, thanks to his supporters. It's great to see that Oaklanders are really engaged in this election, and even more so than I expected.

A Team Talk

We - Libby's parents Bob and Barbara Shock, and myself - had a strategy where Barb would take one side of a street, and Bob and I the other. Since Bob's more like your kindly grandfather, I felt it was better for him to do the knocking while I was on hand for background information. That teamwork succeeded in launching into conversations about what the voters wanted in a councilperson.

The best quality for the new councilmember is to be effective: to be able to take action to fix the streets and roads of the neighborhood. That calls for a feel for Oakland's City Hall and a knowledge of who to contact to handle a problem. The second quality is to be able to listen, and carefully, and for a long time. I can comfortably say Libby has both qualities and our job was to share that view with the people we talked to.

The Sprinkler

The Saturday walk was not without its interesting developments and mishaps.  There was the large live turkey in a person's backyard and visible from the road.  That thing must have been three feet tall!  Seriously.   That was one big turkey.

Then there was the sprinkler.  Someone had their sprinkler set such that when you walked up their walkway to ring their bell, the water sprinkler, pointed at the path, would shoot a spray of water at you.  That happened to me, and thank God I'm fast enough to dodge the stream or I'd have gotten pretty wet.  Check out the video!

Folks, if you are not home, turn off the auto-sprinkler, or if you don't want to be visited by precinct walkers, put up a sign. It will be honored. But the sprinkler in my face? Not cool, but one of the hazards of doing a good deed of that kind.

Stay tuned.

Michael Kilian, candidate for Oakland City Auditor, submits Conflict of Interest Complaint to Oakland Public Ethics Commission

Michael Kilian, candidate for Oakland City Auditor, submits Conflict of Interest Complaint to Oakland Public Ethics Commission

On October 10, 2010, Michael Kilian, who is opposing Courtney Ruby in the campaign for Oakland City Auditor, submitted a compl aint to the Oakland Public Ethics Commission alleging that Inspection Services Manager Antoinette Renwick failed to report a familial relationship with her department's primary blight abatement/cleanup contractor, Arthur Young Debris Removal Service, which constitutes a conflict of interest.

Kilian states this one example of nepotism appears to have cost the City more than $1 million each year in cleanup contracts.

Renwick, who became Inspection Services Manager in 2002, appears to have retired October 15, five days after Kilian's complaint was filed with PEC Executive Director Dan Purnell.

Courtney Ruby's nepotism audit does not appear to have detected or corrected this example of nepotism. A 2007 audit of Public Works bidding found that Arthur Young was also the #1 Public Works contractor.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Rebecca Kaplan On Joe Tuman And Voting

Sierra Club thinks Joe Tuman isn't "viable"

Oakland At-Large Councilmember and Oakland Mayor's Race candidate called this blogger regarding the blog post entitled "Oakland Mayor's Race: Rebecca Kaplan Fears Joe Tuman," where it was reported that Kaplan recommended that Joe Tuman not be the second choice for those voting for her.

That information came from the Bay Area Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club's email forum, where long time Oakland local business supporter, political activist, and friend Pamela Drake wrote this:

Rebecca Kaplan contacted me and said that she is NOT recommending Tuman and that she refers voters to the East Bay Express article to make their own decisions. I apologize for repeating an incorrect report,
Pamela

So Rebecca's phone call was puzzling, but as they say on the street, it is what it is. What Kaplan said to this blogger is that she encourages voters to make the selection they think is best. Also, Kaplan notes correctly that Drake is a supporter of Councilmember Jean Quan for Mayor. Even with that, it seems that Drake was just trying to get the right representation of who's backing whom.

For example, prior to the message above, Drake wrote this:

Interestingly, although Jean has publicly recommended that her voters put Rebecca as their number 2 choice, Rebecca has reportedly suggested Tuman as her number 2 choice and Quan as her number 3. Tuman is fairly conservative and does not even support Measure BB (the Measure Y fix). This is a disappointment to supporters of Jean (1) and Rebecca (2).
Pamela

Then, to clarify for those who may be lost at this point, Drake wrote this:

Rebecca Kaplan contacted me and said that she is NOT recommending Tuman and that she refers voters to the East Bay Express article to make their own decisions. I apologize for repeating an incorrect report,
Pamela

Okay?

Kaplan Loves Tuman

Councilmember Kaplan wants it known that she has love and respect for Tuman and the two have become friends.  She has nothing against him.

The intent of the original blog on this wasn't to imply that Kaplan disliked Tuman, just that she was reconsidering recommendations because of his rising popularity.

Kaplan Calls Grand Lake's Allan Michaan

True to her desire to mend fences, a rare quality in Oakland politics, Kaplan also said she did call  Grand Lake Theater Owner Allan Michaan.

Michaan, who supports Tuman, has been a critic of the draconian Oakland Parking Enforcement strategy Kaplan supported, and Kaplan herself because of it.  This is an issue Kaplan's sensitive to and needs to make an outright statement that she's no longer supportive of the efforts that have harmed so many Oaklanders.

More coming soon.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Oakland Tribune Prejudice Angers Greg Harland

Greg Harland

One big problem that's plagued the Oakland Mayor's Race and that apparently still exists is how some Bay Area media organizations ignore some of the candidates running for the office of Mayor of Oakland.

That practice has angered Oakland Mayoral Candidate Greg Harland because he wan't contacted by either the Oakland Tribune / Bay Area News Group or The San Francisco Chronicle.

Harland was upset to the point where he referred to one post as saying "that says it all," and it was a column by Mercury News / Oakland Tribune columnist Tammerlin Drummond which reads:

"We began by whittling down the list of 10 candidates to the four who actually merited voter consideration: Kaplan, Perata, Councilwoman Jean Quan and political analyst/university professor Joe Tuman." 

Ok, let's let loose here. That statement is a freaking joke. The only reason Joe Tuman was placed in the Tribune's "merited voter consideration" hopper was because Tuman's name recognition with Oakland's white Montclair / Oakland Hills region was high. Or to look at it another way, Terrance Candell is well-known in black and Latino East Oakland, where his prep school is located on 73rd Street, but the Oakland Tribune didn't even talk to him.

The Oakland Tribune and Tammerlin Drummond should be ashamed, but they're not. This space is not complaining about their selection of Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan to endorse, only the way they did it. The Tribune process was not open, and race and class prejudiced to boot.   Thus, unfortunately, it taints the selection of Kaplan.

That's right, race and class prejudiced. In other words this blogger can hear the Tribune's demons saying about Candell "He's a blowhard brotha who thinks he can be Mayor, so why talk to him?" and about Harland "Who? Never heard of him," and about Green Party Candidate Don Macleay, "Ah. Who? OK. Nice guy." You get the idea.

In other words, different kinds of prejudice applied to different Oakland Mayoral candidates. The real joke is that none of the Oakland Tribune or SF Chronicle reporters has any experience in working for a mayor in Oakland's City Hall, either. So how would they know how to evaluate a Mayoral Candidate? They don't.

You have to have experience in the office in order to evaluate a candidate that is running for office, so you can recognize the qualities that person has which are appropriate for the office.  The Oakland Tribune and the SF Chronicle lack that experience.  By contrast, this blogger has worked for two Oakland mayors - Elihu Harris and Jerry Brown, and sat on the Sports Task Force for Ron Dellums before quitting in protest.  (I'm still proud of that.)

It's one thing to pretend to be a policy wonk, crunching numbers over a local legislative idea. But it's quite another to understand that when a developer contacts the Mayor's Office and wants to build in, say, a location that happens to be in Councilmember Nancy Nadel's District Three (Downtown and West Oakland), it's a good idea to know to contact her office to get them in the loop.

It's one thing to know the population of Oakland, and another to know how to dig through Mayor's Office files to find projects that were of importance, but were left undone. That's one thing I did when I first worked for Elihu Harris on the first day on the job - it's something every mayoral candidate should consider doing.

That's why I ask each candidate what kind of office they're going to have, and how will it be ran. The Tribune and Chronicle people don't have the experience to even think of asking that kind of question. It's a question that of the candidates I've talked to thus far, Don Perata gave the best answer to, but not by much.

It's also why I asked about Tax Increment Financing at one forum, only to find that of all of the candidates, Marcie Hodge, who I didn't expect to get it, actually had a good general answer.

The point is, you as media person have to talk to each candidate, because in doing so you learn something about that person's abilities for the office that you didn't know before.

Look at it this way: Lionel Wilson was a judge before he was elected Oakland's first black mayor.  He went on to serve for three terms and is arguably the best mayor Oakland's ever had.  If Tammerlin Drummond had her way she may have delayed Oakland's election of its first black mayor.

Stay tuned.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Rebecca Kaplan Fears Joe Tuman

The Oakland Mayor's Race is heating up, and with Joe Tuman in the spotlight, yet again. All of this because Tuman has become a serious threat to Mayoral Candidates Don Perata, and Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Jean Quan, the elected officials considered front runners in the Oakland Mayor's Race.

Yesterday in this space it was reported that Tuman so frustrated San Francisco Chronicle Reporter Matthai Kuruvali that he placed his head in his hands and on the table in a photo that, until closer inspection, looked like Kuruvali was banging his head.

While the full report on the "heated discussion" is coming soon, knowing Tuman and the overall landscape, as well as what information's come in, the tone of the conversation between Tuman and Kuruvali was undoubtedly shaped by Kuruvali's desire to prove that when it comes to Oakland politics and policy, he thinks Tuman's a novice. Knowing Joe, he never relented to Kuruvali's dogged attempt to trip him up.   (Note to Kuruvali: relax, brotha!)

Now comes Rebeca Kaplan.

Kaplan is openly recommending that Joe Tuman not be anyone's second choice, and for good reason: it seems every time Rebecca gets an endorsement, Joe's name is mentioned next.  Thus, if some pick Don Perata, the next person may be Joe Tuman; now with Rebecca's rise, Tuman has two camps to grab from - Perata's and Kaplan's.  Joe's star is rising almost because of Rebecca Kaplan. So Rebecca's trying to shake Joe as best she can before a constant stream of second choice votes pushes Tuman into the Mayor's Office on election day.

What could happen is with the third choice.  If that choice is solidly one person, say, Councilmember Jean Quan, or Greg Harland or Don Macleay or Terrance Candell, that person could win.   That's the possibility Ranked Choice Voting presents, especially with the game playing going on.

The Oakland Mayor's Race is so tight now, that a little thing like where the candidates stand on the repeal of the Oakland anti-cross-dressing law or a big thing like the Oakland Gang Injunction effort may turn the election for one and against the other.

Stay tuned.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Joe Tuman, Matthai Kuruvali, Marcie Hodge

If you think the Oakland Mayor's Race can't get under the skin of some people who say they're not "getting involved," try looking at this photo of San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Matthai Kuruvali, who placed his head on the table of the board room at the San Francisco Chronicle as if he'd had enough of something.

 In the background is Oakland Mayoral Candidate Joe Tuman, who seems just calm and collected.

What's interesting is that Matthai Kuruvali tweeted on Twitter..

matthai matthai kuruvila - Just to be clear, I'm not on the ed board and I'm not involved in the decision, but I'll be there for the interview and will ask questions.

Yeah. Right. According to SFGate.com intern Ali Thanawalla, Matthai Kuruvali got into what Ali calls "a heated discussion" and a "funny moment" and Ai reports on both Flickr and on Twitter:

After a heated discussion with Oakland mayoral candidate Joe Tuman, writer Matthai had had enough. Funny moment. http://flic.kr/p/8Kit5P

While Matthai may claim he has no involvement in the Chronicle Editorial Board's decision, he's clearly working to influence it just by his body language. Moreover, some observe that Matthai has been hostile to the idea of any one of the candidates other than Don Perata and Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Jean Quan receiving any media attention.

Moreover, of all of the candidate photos Ali took, this was the only one he took of Matthai's reaction to Tuman.  Nothing of his reaction to the other candidates at the SF Chronicle Editorial Board meetings, specifically Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan and Former State Senator Don Perata.

Additonally, Matthai has been less than respectful of current Mayor Ron Dellums, even to the point of repeating what the Mayor asked him to do - be respectful - on Twitter as if he was mocking Mayor Dellums:

matthai matthai kuruvila
At same time, Dellums always talks about how being mayor is 24/7 job. I guess not when you're w/ your wife (his "senior adviser")
4 Aug Favorite Retweet Reply

matthai matthai kuruvila
I told Dellums he was mayor of Oakland & he ought to answer questions. Dellums: "I'm with my wife. Please, respect that, brother." 4 Aug

If you're going to treat people that way as a media person, it's better to be a blogger than a journalist. What this blogger can't stand is for journalists to use that badge to hide their real feelings. More on this soon. It must be reported that Marcie Hodge has something special: a lawn sign.

Marcie Hodge Has A Lawn Sign

While driving up Oakland Avenue away from Whole Foods and toward the 580 Freeway, a shocking image flashed by: a lawn sign for Oakland Mayoral Candidate Marcie Hodge. That well-placed sign, visible by thousands of people each day, is one indication of how the sheer number of candidates coupled with Ranked Choice Voting could combine to produce an unexpected outcome.

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan leads in media endorsements while Former Senator Don Perata leads in television commercials. Meanwhile, Tuman's name recognition grows in the Oakland Mayor's Race. The end result and the wild card is just how much on-the-ground walking is being done by the candidates.

Stay tuned.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Kaplan Scores, Tuman Rises, Perata Falls

The Oakland Mayor's Race becomes even more fun. Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan (At-Large) got the endorsement of The Oakland Tribune, much to the surprise of some, not here, but how much help it will do is questionable. The Trib's not the power it was in the past, but hey, we're talking about it, right?

Indeed, that, combined with the giant Grand Lake Theater sign ads for Joe Tuman, may have boosted him to near-front runner status. Why? Because Tuman was the Tribune's second choice (and The East Bay Express as well), and the same pub trashed Former Senator Don Perata, saying his lack of knowledge of key Oakland issues was "appalling."

Not sure the Tribune, and that would be it's editor Martin Reynolds, is correct when he bashes the field of Oakland mayoral candidates as "weak" because when compared to past years, it's actually rather strong. Now, if Marty has some kind of wish list of candidates for this round, he has yet to present it. That written, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums avoiding a reelection run was damaging to both the field and himself to say the least.

And one aside, at a time when people who are both Gay and Lesbian are being attacked and the young considering killing themselves or doing so, backing Rebecca because she's Lesbian and a good candidate is something worth mentioning.  The Tribune backed away from that, sadly.  But people need to know that it' OK for them to be who they are, whatever they are, and they can even become Mayor of Oakland.   That's not an endorsement of Rebecca as of this writing, but the point must be noted.

Some seem to not want to say, for example, "I voted for Barack Obama because he's black and the best candidate" - hell, I did.  It was about time, and everyone knows it.  This SF Bay Area passive-agressive crap is sickening.  Just be honest.

Oakland Mayor's Race Stock

What's interesting is that we're starting to see a kind of stock market of candidates develop. Right now, Kaplan has the lesd, followed by the hard-charging Tuman, then a tie between Don Perata and Councilmember Jean Quan, who got the endorsement of the Welstone Democratic Club and Councilmember Nancy Nadel recently, then Greg Harland and Don Macleay, Terrance Candell, Marcie Hodge, Larry L. Young, and Arnie Fields.

What could slip this up is some bit of news or scandal that slips out and into the open. There are people who have strong feelings both for and against the candidates, and one of them is Oakland Grand Lake Theater owner Alan Michaan. Having Tuman up on his outside marque is a signal that he could use the space to do some real damage as we head toward election day.

If I were Rebecca, I'd at least try and get a meeting with Allan, because he's of the opinion that Kaplan's anti-business in the wake of the Oakland Parking Scandal.  Regardless of his actions in endorsing Tuman, she needs to cover that base.

Closing Note: No Camcorder Repair Services In Oakland

I can't find a single camcorder repair shop in Oakland. There used to be Denevi's but they closed. From my research, the shops seems to ring around Oakland. Do I have to go to San Francisco again?

Zennie62.com Hits A Mark

Slowly returning to a regular blog schedule, but Zennie62.com had it's best traffic and revenue day Wednesday, with 43,000 page views because of the Chilean Miners Rescue. That's a performance equal to what has been normally done by this blogger at the San Francisco Chronicle website SFGate.com.  Frankly, stewarding the successful development of the blog's coding system has been a bit of a drug that's kept this video blogger up late a lot of nights. But that's slowly coming to an end.

Oakland Children's Hospital's Own Head Nurse Attacks Nurses Union

Oakland Children's Hospital is being plagued by a nurses strike as this is written. As a fan of Children's Hospital and its staff, the current situation does not reflect how hard they've worked to keep the establishment a going concern in a tough economy.

This blogger is not anti-union, but some unions need to be called out when they're not playing to work with administration, but against it. Such is the California Nurses Association.

Someone's paying attention. Namely, Nancy Shibata, RN, MSN, Chief Nursing Officer, Children’s Hospital Oakland, who sent this opinion piece to be ran in this space:

CNA Nurses Union Out of Touch With Current Economic Realities At Children's Hospital Oakland

By Nancy Shibata, RN, MSN

Chief Nursing Officer, Children’s Hospital Oakland

Ironically, the high cost of health insurance is a difficult problem for hospitals today. Over the past 5 years, health insurance benefit costs have risen for Children's by 80 percent or over $17 million dollars. That's a hefty increase for any institution, especially one that is the primary provider of children's healthcare services for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

Children's Hospital Oakland is now facing a three-day strike by members of the California Nurses Association (CNA), the union that represents 700 of our nurses at our 190-bed hospital, over our health insurance benefit and pay proposals for the next three-year contract that we are attempting to negotiate with them.

Despite the fact that we are offering our nurses pay increases during the life of the contract and two healthcare plans that are 100-percent paid for by the hospital (and a third "premium" plan that they can chose with a monthly contribution), they are demanding higher pay and no benefit changes as part of a new three-year contract.

We value our nurses. They are vital and essential to our hospital and every patient. They provide the expertise and care, which combined with their personal skills and nurturing abilities, help make our young patients' experience a better one in every way.

The CNA union, which represents the nurses, unfortunately is out of step with both the economic realities facing Children's Hospital Oakland, but also with the broader economic climate nationally.

The three-day strike, which started today, is reflective of the CNA's inability to acknowledge and accept the changes that are occurring throughout the country related to wages and healthcare. A full-time nurse at Children’s earns, on average, $136,000 per year. A new graduate nurse on the day shift earns $95,000 per year. And this is without including what Children’s pays in addition for benefits.

At this time when our region, our nation and our people are struggling with the economic challenges of this difficult economy, this union is demanding no changes in its benefits (negotiated during a different economic climate) and increases in pay when they are not supported by the market or by Children’s ability to pay for them.

In our negotiations, Children's is proposing a wage freeze in 2010 with modest pay increases in the following years. We are asking the union to accept one health plan where members contribute a small percentage of the premium cost, while still offering two 100 percent employer-paid HMO and PPO health benefit plans for nurses and their families. The third, cost-share option, is a premium PPO that requires a pre-tax employee contribution ranging from $111 - $311 a month, depending on individual or family coverage.

A mix of employer-paid and contributory plans have been rolled out to other Hospital employees already. Currently, more than half of our employees have this type of healthcare benefit program and this bargaining session is our first opportunity to negotiate the change with the CNA.

The last CNA union contract, negotiated in better economic times in 2007, provided raises of 6% in 2007, 5% in 2008, and an additional 5% in 2009. These large increases are the basis for the Hospital's wage freeze proposal for the first year of the contract.

Earlier this year, Children's Hospital announced that it has lost more than $69 million over the past four years, of which $22 million was lost in 2009 alone. Since that time, the hospital has been restructuring its services, developing new business opportunities, and actively renegotiating private insurance and government reimbursements to cover patient care costs. As a not-for-profit regional pediatric medical center, our financial challenges stem from the poor economy, low reimbursement rates, increasing healthcare costs and a lack of public hospitals with pediatric inpatient beds.

Children's Hospital is on the road to financial stability, and we hope to reach it in 2012. We have made many changes to help secure our future and our ability to provide healthcare to the most vulnerable of patients, babies and children. Other industries have been crushed by the burden of labor contracts that were negotiated during prosperous times but could not be sustained during an economic downturn. We cannot let this happen to our vital hospital for children. We need the leadership of the CNA to step up and recognize that their members are highly valued, well-compensated and that 100-percent paid by employer healthcare benefits are a good package for everyone. Our children and our community deserve nothing less.

San Francisco Antique Oriental Rugs and Textiles, Tribal Art Shows Next Week

San Francisco is fortunate to be hosting not one, but two separate international art shows, one featuring antique, textile and oriental carpets and the other focusing on tribal arts from Africa, Oceania, the Americas, and Asia during this next week October 12th to 17th.

It's the 2nd annual Antique Rug and Textile Show at The Motel Capri, at 2015 Greenwich St., in San Francisco’s Marina District. The event features more than 40 internationally renowned rug and textile dealers who will set up their wares in a bazaar-like setting in the Motel Capri.

Show Starts Next Week

Opening night of the rug and textile show begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12th, and the show continues Wednesday – Sunday, Oct. 13 - Oct, 17, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The show and sale is free. For more information on this event, visit: www.artaa.org. A number of daily special exhibitions on Tibetan, Chinese and oriental carpets will be held as well as daily lectures for beginners, all offered free.

The 6th annual Tribal Art Show is hosted by San Francisco Tribal, an association of the top Bay Area-based tribal art dealers, will be held Oct. 15 to 17 in Building "D" at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center.

The Tribal San Francisco show will feature an extraordinary selection of African masks and figures, Oceanic ceremonial and ritual objects, Pre-Columbian sculptures and ceramic vessels, Tribal Asian textiles and carvings, Native American art and artifacts, as well as shields, hats, jewelry, masks, and figurative sculpture from diverse cultures all over the world. Exhibition dealers are available to answer questions from beginners to sophisticated collectors and knowledgeable scholars.

A preview reception will be held Friday Oct. 15 from 6-9 p.m. and feature champagne and sushi and an advance opportunity to view the exhibits and sale of tribal art on sale. Preview tickets are available at the door for $30 per person. Included in the price are champagne and sushi and re-entry on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets Are Just $10 Per Person

Tickets for the exhibition and sale during the rest of the weekend are $10. Hours on Saturday are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Visit the SF Tribal website www.sftribal.com for more information.

In past years, both the Antique Rug and Textile Show and the Tribal San Francisco shows gave collectors, dealers, novices and fans of ethnographic and tribal arts the opportunity to spend time discussing, viewing, learning and purchasing rare artworks from around the world from leading expert dealers.

This blogger thinks it's a wonderful treat to be able to learn and buy textiles and sculptural artworks from some of the world’s leading dealers at the two San Francisco shows. Dealers bring some of their best works to exhibit in San Francisco because of The City’s (and the Bay Area's) large appetite for textile and tribal arts and its worldwide reputation as a center for ethnographic art aficionados.

These two shows display some of the finest textiles and sculptural works of tribal art that the Bay Area has the opportunity to see. The events are growing in popularity, continuing to draw the best pieces at reasonable prices for serious collectors, decorators, enthusiasts and people with a beginning interest in oriental rugs and tribal arts.

And the event organizers say it's not too early to start your Christmas, Hanukkah and holiday shopping at these events.

The Antique Rug and Textile Show’s 40 plus dealers have flown to San Francisco from as far away as Turkey, China, German, Austria, Italy and from all over the U.S.

Noted textile art dealers who will be displaying and selling in the Antique Rug and Textile Show at the Capri Motel include: Alberto Levi - Milan, Italy; Ali Aydin - Germantown, MD; Amin Motamedi – Hamburg, Germany – Andy Lloyd – Bath, England; Ben Banayan – San Francisco; Bertram Frauenknecht – Istanbul, Turkey; Chuck Paterson – Sante Fe, NM; Craig & Nina Hatch – Nomadic, USA; Davut Mizrahi – Vienna, Austria; De Witt Mallary – New York; Ed Koch: Herat Gallery – Miami, FL; George Fine – Sante Fe, NM; Hamid Rafatpanah – Bryn Mawr, Penn.; Hagop Manoyan – NY; Hans Homm – Oberusel, Germany; James Cohen – Milan, Italy; Jeff Dworsky – Stonington, Maine; John Ruddy – Sante Fe, NM; Mark Berkovich – Galilee, Israel; Mete Mutlu – Chicago; Michael Craycraft – Stuttgart, Germany; Michael Phillips – Arvada, Colo.; Mohammad Tehrani – Hamburg, Germany; Nick & Dianne Bendas – St. Louis, MO.; Nick Wright – Williamstown, Mass.; Nunzio Crisa: Urobura – Milan, Italy; Owen Parry – London, England; Patrick Pouler – Santa Barbara, Calif.; Reyn Staffel – Springfield, Oregon; Rob van Wieringen – Nijmegen, Netherlands; Rodney McDonald – Rochester, N.Y.; Rudolf Geissman – Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.; RugBooks: W. Marquand – Culver City, Calif.; Rupert Smith – Hong Kong; Sarah Haberkern – Stuttgart, Germany; Seref Ozen: Cocoon – Istanbul, Turkey; Singkiang: Linda Pastorino – Chester, NJ; Stolp D. Fraser – East Hampton, NY.; Thom Mond – New Hampshire; Udo Langauer – Vienna, Austria; Ulrike Montigel – Stuttgart, Germany; Wayne Barron – Cambridge, Mass.

Renowned Bay Area tribal art dealers exhibiting and selling at the Tribal Show at Fort Mason Building "D", include:

Robert Brundage--Himalayan Art; Erik Farrow--Tribal Art, Weapons & Shields; Wenhua Liu--Asian Art; Thomas Murray--Asiatica--Ethnographica; David F. Rosenthal--Oceanic Art; Vicki Shiba--Asian & Tribal Art; Frank Wiggers--Indonesian Art; James Willis-- African, Oceanic & Tribal Art; Michael Auliso--Ethnographic Art; Joshua Dimondstein-- Tribal Arts; Robert Dowling--Pre-Columbian & Tribal Art; Zena Kruzick--Oceania, Indonesia, Asia & Africa; Joe Loux--Asian & Tribal Art; Dave DeRoche - Art of Africa, Oceania & The Americas; Andres Moraga--Textiles & Ethnographic Art.

Check it out!

Oakland Pican / Grand Marnier / Zennie62 Female Bartender Event A Success, BUT!

The first Oakland All Female Bartender Competition at Pican and by Grand Marnier and Zennie62 was held Tuesday night, and by all accounts, was successful. Well, except for this blogger, who's Zennie62 name was given as a sponsor - online marketing work was provided - yet, from the impression I received, no one at the event knew that I sponsored it.

That even with the emails exchanged where I did agree to sponsor it, and also agreed to put up the Grand Manier logo on the blog posts.  Plus, I agreed to make a blog about the event and did so.

But for all this, didn't even get a bottle of Grand Marnier.

United 747 Flight Delayed

What was vexing was that my United 747 Flight 973 from Chicago was delayed over three hours, which hampered my plan to show up at 6:30 PM PDT, which was when the event started. Instead, the flight was delayed two hours, then we sat on the tarmac at the gate for another hour. I called and emailed Josh at Pican to explain I would be late; I guess he got the message.

At any rate, I arrived at Pican at 9:15 or so, and to find the Oakland All Female Bartender Competition was history. A duo from Luka's won, followed by Pican's Britt Peterson, and then I later learned a bartender from Era Art Bar. Great.

But what was not great was it seems my blog's name wasn't even mentioned during the event. Also, when I arrived, it was as if I was some Joe who walked in, and not the event sponsor. I had to pay for what I ordered; there was no dinner, as we agreed I would receive.

And Michael Le Blanc, the owner of Pican, didn't even bother to come over and thank me for my sponsorship. And when I mentioned this to him (uh, I had to walk over to him) he said thanks for "helping."

Helping. Helping.

Helping. Like I'm the bus boy or something.  

And Josh, who contacted me about the idea for the event,  just came over and gave me a pat on the shoulder.  

Nice.

So by the end of all of that crap, I wondered what the hell I was doing there. It would have been better to have just went home or even not to have tried to return on Tuesday. Everyone - Pican, Grand Marnier, the event participants - were helped. And now, Pican shows up in Google News searches because of this blog and my work. My sponsorship. What Michael Le Blanc calls "my help."

Sponsorship Is A Business

Folks, I'm not taking comments on this. Not interested in snarky responses from rude people who don't get that sponsorship is a business. Sponsorship is a business or person lending their name and efforts to help promote an event. For that, they expect their name to be mentioned, to get what's called "logo exposure," and to have special treatment as the sponsor. That's business.

The only logo and name exposure, it seems, was what this blogger generated on his own. That's it. I'm really unhappy with Pican Restaurant. Moreover, I'm even more unhappy that the people I was around who I thought were my friends, but turned out to be anything but that.

I'm glad the event went well, but that's not how it was supposed to go for this sponsor.

Tired Of Rude People In Oakland

Maybe this experience is related to the overall epidemic of rudeness that's plaguing Oakland. People doing things to you without regard for your opinion or permission. Like the guy at the bar The Layover, who, even though I'm standing up over my chair with my cocktail on the bar in front of it, walks over and tries to sit down in the chair as if I'm not even there!

I asked him what he was doing and explained that he was being rude. He said "Well, you weren't sitting in the chair." And it never entered his head to ask if he could sit down!

Or how about the woman on the right, who decided to start talking past me to the guy on the left, without saying excuse me and as if I wasn't there. I pointed out that she was being rude as well.

Or how about the really ass-hole people who insist on walking over from your left to pass you on the right, even if you happen to be next to a wall, only to have no explanation for what they did when asked. (Note: stay on your right, and leave me alone!)

In all cases, people are just thinking about themselves without regard for anyone else, in this case me.

Just like at Pican. No one thought about anything other than themselves, and certainly not me. Maybe now, they will. It seems people only pay attention to bloggers when the blogger is upset, never when the blogger does something good for them.

Sad.

My Plan for Oakland's Police Force by Joe Tuman

There can be no question that the greatest obstacle to rectifying Oakland’s public safety crisis is our grossly understaffed police department. There is a direct correlation between a decrease in the visibility of police officers on our streets and the disproportionate incidences of violent crime that plague Oakland. Simply put, greater police presence decreases the willingness of people to engage in violent crime; less police presence increases that willingness.

This is particularly true among those individuals involved in criminal enterprises, such as drug-dealing and other gang-related activities. For these individuals, crime is a business and, like all rational capitalists, they seek the greatest return for the least investment, while attempting to avoid regulatory oversight. In terms of the street-level criminal capitalist, that oversight is provided by patrol officers. A consistently visible police presence inhibits the ability of these criminals to conduct their business by increasing their cost, through higher rates of confiscation and arrest. Simultaneously, a visible police presence reduces their opportunity to generate profits by forcing them to conceal their efforts, thereby lessening their accessibility to casual customers.

Our new police chief should be commended for making some initial in-roads towards decreasing violent crime in Oakland; unfortunately, there is still much to be done. Shortsighted fiscal dereliction by our elected officials created the inflated cost-structure under which we currently employ Oakland’s police officers. The City no longer has the financial ability to maintain even our insufficient police force, let alone hire the additional officers necessary to solve our public safety crisis. Chief Batts has warned the City Council of the dire consequences to public safety that will accompany any further reduction to our already minimal police protection; I heartily agree with his assessment. Despite the Chief’s warning, the City Council has chosen to rely solely on the passage of several ill-conceived revenue measures this November, rather than seek a true, long-term solution to their fiscal irresponsibility.

For me, this is where I depart from the thinking of those on the City Council and with others seeking the Mayor’s position in this election. The Council views the “cost” of policing as fixed – an average of $180,000 per year per officer. Their solution to this problem is either to raise taxes (revenue) to pay more officers at their average cost or to lay-off officers, and pay fewer police at this average cost. One of my opponents, former Senator Perata, believes we should approach this by simply eliminating other city jobs and use this to fund police positions. On numerous occasions, he has said he would do this to hire back the 80 officers the Council foolishly laid off earlier this summer.

None of these approaches, however, addresses the root of the problem: the assumption that the cost of policing must be $180,000 per officer. As a former small business owner – and as a member of a large bureaucracy in the California State University (CSU) system – I look at that number and ask: does it have to be that particular amount? Can it be less?

It is my judgment that Oakland can gradually increase the size of its force by reapportioning what we pay for the cost of policing. I can do this by implementing a voluntary early retirement program for senior officers and creating a new second-tier of recruits who will enter our force at a lower base pay than we offer today. The fatal flaw in the Council’s assessment is that it ignores the fact that some officers cost the City more than others. Simply put, senior officers cost more than those recently hired. My plan works within the actual cost framework, rather than relying on some inaccurate “average” cost. In order to maximize the number of officers that we can put on the streets with existing revenues, I will work to both remove the highest costs from the department while also reducing the inflated starting salaries we currently pay to new recruits.

First, I will institute a voluntary early retirement program for officers within 2-3 years of retirement. That is approximately 10-15% of our current force. Any eligible officer who elects to retire early will be offered the opportunity to be rehired at less than half-time status. State law allows this, and it is a practice used in other entities, such as the CSU system. Early retirement eliminates the highest costs of overtime and pension contributions (not to mention health care) for those officers from our budget, while also allowing the City to continue to benefit from the experience of those same officers when hired back for the limited time period.

Additionally, I will renegotiate starting salaries offered to new recruits down from the current $85,000 to a level more in keeping with both the starting salaries of comparable jurisdictions and Oakland’s economic reality. New York and Los Angeles start their officers at a lower base (in the mid-forty thousand dollar range) and allow them to progress through step increases, phased in over time.

After utilizing the savings acquired through early retirement, rehiring and applying this to more reasonable starting salaries, we can actually take one existing FTE (full time equivalent position) for a senior officer and convert it to two or three positions in the short run. This will allow us to incrementally grow our police force without the need to increase taxes.

My plan will not touch existing officers’ compensation; instead, I am addressing the issue of cost by dealing with at the edges—before new officers come in, and when senior officers are within two to three years of retirement. I believe this approach will be acceptable to the OPA because I am not touching the benefits or compensation of current officers; early retirement will be voluntary. I will have to negotiate with OPA regarding new salaries for future recruits, but I am confident we can reach accord.

Think about the logic of this from their perspective: I am offering an approach to hire more officers. I will grow their numbers. I will give them more back up.

Unlike our career-politicians, I know that Oakland needs to take a common-sense approach to providing public safety. This approach must challenge the status quo, while operating within the restrictions imposed by the negligent policies of the past, and increase the ability of Oakland to combat violent crime. My plan does exactly that. It will reduce violent crime in our City and grow our police force to the level necessary to ensure Oakland’s public safety for the long-term, without the need to continually raise taxes on our already overburdened residents.

--Joe Tuman

Oakland Mayor's Race: The Passionate Attack On Don Perata

In the Oakland Mayors Race, no one person brings out more passions than Former State Senator Don Perata. Everyone has some kind of opinion about Perata. Everytime the subject of the Oakland Mayor's Race comes up, someone says to this blogger "Perata's going to win," as if they're watching a horse race, rather than participating in an election.

But for those who have seen Oakland's mayoral future, and it's Perata, there seem to be many more who are set to attack him or just proclaim their hatred for him. It's a level of dislike that has led to the creation of one website and two Twitter accounts, all against him.

For example, there's the website Anybody But Perata, which reads as follows:

The purpose of this website is very simple: to present reasons why former State Senator Don Perata should not be elected mayor of the City of Oakland, California.

While the election of Don Perata as Oakland mayor would probably be very good for Mr. Perata and his friends and family and a few of his associates, we believe that it would be very bad for most of the residents of the City of Oakland.

The website is a collection, mostly, of articles from The East Bay Express, where Robert Gammon has paid his bills writing about Perata, and largely in the negative. As befits it's title, you're not going to find fair and balanced coverage of Perata.

Even more negative are the twin Twitter pages The REAL Don Perata and Fake Don Perata. Their tweets were the stuff of another World during the Kaiser Center Forum of two weeks ago. Here's a sample of their tweets, some of them to me as I was tweeting about the forum:

RealDonPerata The REAL Don Perata
#oaklandforum @fakedonperata You may have won this one but I WILL HAVE ReVENgE!!!!!!!!!!!!
23 Sep

RealDonPerata The REAL Don Perata
@zennie62 #oaklandforum @fakedonperata STFU!!! You fat bald bastard! I am the only Fake Real Don! There can only be ONE!
23 Sep

RealDonPerata The REAL Don Perata
#oaklandforum WTF! @fakedonperata is stealing my style! Dawg! You should know nots ta mess with da REAL!
23 Sep

RealDonPerata The REAL Don Perata
#oaklandforum @zennie62 MY budget experience includes going over the campaign spending limit with 2 months left in the race.
23 Sep

RealDonPerata The REAL Don Perata
@JeanQuan you call that a video? I just hired Spike Jonez! Sending limit, shmending shmimmit!
23 Sep

RealDonPerata The REAL Don Perata
@fakejeanquan Damn right we've got your precious microfilm! And if you want it back it will cost you dearly. Muhahahahahaha!
20 Sep

East Bay Express Helps Perata

Why does Don Perata have so much Internet exposure relative to his Oakland Mayor's Race competitors? The East Bay Express. Proving once again that Old Media people just don't get New Media, Robert Gammon has generated or caused the generation of 17,000 items of content regarding Don Perata. In shaping Perata's current image, that of a behind-the-scenes power broker who helps his friends at the expense of the public, Gammon has single-handedly formed the foundation for Senator Perata's neme recognition.

The good news for Perata is he didn't have to spend a dime. Because Gammon's view is so unbalanced, it causes some to think about Perata and consider that the Express could be wrong. Robert's material has also made Perata look like an operative who can get things done.

So, contrary to my initial take, Robert Gammon has been Don Perata's best friend. Gammon's almost psychotic-level of attention to Perata hs caused him to ignore the other candidates beyond those in the Oakland City Council, and even then they're not mentioned so much.

Robert Gammon has caused or catalyzed or been associated with more generated online content about Perata than even current Mayor Ron Dellums: 13,000 for Dellums versus 15,300 results for Perata.  (And 11,000 for Kaplan and for Quan each, 2,770 for Terrance Candell, 2,570 for Joe Tuman, 2,260 results for Don Macleay, 1,550 for Greg Harland, 673 results for Marcie Hodge, 89 for Larry Lionel Young, and 72 results for Arnie Fields.)

If Perata should win the Oakland Mayor's Race, his first course of action should be to thank Robert Gammon.

Oakland Mayoral Race

This is the big one. I've not liked an Oakland Mayor since Elihu Harris, whose politics I did not agree with most of the time, but who had the courtesy to actually answer the phone and speak to citizens. (Unlike Ron Dellums, whose office will tell you that he does NOT speak to citizens. But I did not vote for Ron, he's a burnt out comet, whom I remember with awe from the seventies, but who should never have taken the office in Oakland.)

Jean Quan's a puzzle. I ate lunch with a friend a couple days ago, a woman who owns a local green company ( if saving the Bay is green), and we seemed to hit on the same note. Uhh, she's great for local stuff. Great! Run a city like Oakland? No way. Her idea of "taking a hit in pay" is was to take a 5% cut and a 4% COLA increase. wow. i'm so impressed. Oakland's pension burden is not going away and it is the single biggest problem the city faces. Quan's token efforts show her beliefs.

Don Perata, I would not trust to give me change for a dollar. He'd hand back an IOU that would pay me two bucks in two months with a clause that I would become responsible for $20 in debt if I was unable to cash the check in ten minutes. You get the idea.

These folks make Ignacio look good.

Rebekah Kaplan had me going, but only for a short while, she's a kid in the adult playground. When I saw the shot of Quan and Kaplan arm in arm restraining the police at the last demonstration/riot downtown ( where the po po did a REALLY good job) I gave up on both of them. They were "protecting the police." Did I mention she likes being on the public payroll?

So it's down to the little guys. Tuman impresses me so far, though I have a lot of research to do yet. At least he gets that business is good for Oakland, not an evil thing to be taxed to pay for bloated salaries.

Larry Lionel Young. Come back in ten years with some experience.

Don MacLeay. Have to look further.

Marcie Hodge. As every incumbent at Peralta should be tossed out for the rank deals and lack of oversight, no thanks. Easy on the eyes though. Another politician looking for a trough.

Arnold Fields. Huh?

Gregory Harland. Nice slate, impossible however.

Terence Candell. According to his blurb, he's the second coming. Zennie endorsed him ( Well, that's what the voter info pamphlet says. Zennie says different. Makes you wonder.)

O, and vote for Courtney Ruby for City Auditor, and give her the budget to go after waste and corruption in Oakland. She's probably one of the few people who can do it. (Jean Quan assured me she was not a good person for the job, so I really am for Ruby. Quan's spent too much city money on throw away projects with no supervision.)

And remember, if you don't like the way things are going, it may be a good time to vote out the incumbent in any position. This is an important election, and with the triple choice ballots, we get a lot of power to choose. Choose wisely. Your choice may come back to haunt you. Research folks, please. Don't vote because the candidate is your peer, your party, or is the path of least resistance. Have the guts to vote for a small player if you think they will do a good job. We've all seen what Quan, Kaplan and Perata are capable of, and it's not pretty.