Oakland Downtown to pipe-in Muzac at 13th and Broadway?

Image via Wikipedia

Downtown Oakland, CA 

Apparently, the City of Oakland's going to great lengths, almost neurotic, to alter the street culture of Downtown Oakland, but this bit of news is really disturbing. It rests in a Facebook message I just received, and part of which is posted here:

have you heard about some of the ambitious plans of the Downtown and Lake Merritt Business Improvements District boards? Take a look, they want to pipe in shitty soft country musak 24 hours a day at all the corners of 13th and Broadway to drive away "undesireables"

So a visit to this link reveals a Wikepedia page which reads:

In July 2008, landlords in the district voted a parcel tax upon themselves to fund the "Downtown Oakland and Lake Merritt/Uptown Community Benefit Districts" to provide "special security services, cleaning of sidewalks, beautification, marketing and improvement of district identity and organizational services for businesses in the downtown Oakland and Lake Merritt/Uptown neighborhoods." Since early 2009, the districts have provided roving private security “ambassadors” to sweep up litter, help visitors with directions, and provide security support in Oakland’s downtown.[49]
The districts are governed by advisory boards which have discussed plans and desires to displace political demonstrations following the BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant away from Oakland's downtown center of civic life, and an actual change of venue for the murder trial of former BART police officer Johannes Meserle.[50] The board has also discussed plans to spend district treasury funds to erect a permanent memorial for four slain Oakland police officers at 14th and Broadway, and $10,000 dollars per year for a subscription to "round the clock" Muzak to "immediately drive away undesirable people from" three street corners at 13th and Broadway.
The district boards have public relations committees to "feed stories to the press." The committees have recommended "pitching stories to entertainment, business, and real estate journalist (sic), that way crime would not even be part of the scope." The committee also recommended "inviting select reporters to cover the story" of the "Uptown Unveiled" street festival.[50]
[edit]

OK. "$10,000 dollars per year for a subscription to "round the clock" Muzak to "immediately drive away undesirable people from" three street corners at 13th and Broadway."

What?

That's the idea of a racist. That point of view is that, the "undesirables" are the black teenagers who hang out down there, who, because they're black teenagers can't possible enjoy Muzak, so they would not hang out there.

Stupid.

Some of the Downtown Oakland kids are so creative, they'd sample the Muzak with their iPhones, fuse it with E-40 or Eminem, and create a new Oakland music sound. After a time, that part of Downtown Oakland would be a hip place to hang.

Whoever allowed that idea to get out into the open should be fired. Well, on second thought, they should be made to hang out on the corner overnight. It's not as bad as people think; I catch cabs there frequently.

Rather than "chasing away" so-called undesirables, Oakland should spend time getting to know its talented youth culture.

SF Transbay Terminal Ground Breaking marks new beginning

If you follow this space, you recall the long process of working to get a final design for the new San Francisco Transbay Terminal.

The old terminal, slated for demolition, was the hub of trains into San Francisco from the East Bay and using the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Bridge. Then, after trains gave way to cars and buses, it was the terminus of AC Transit Bus Service and San Mateo Transit Service for the East Bay and the North Bay. But with all of that, it had still fallen into a state of deterioration such that it became a blight in the South of Market area of downtown San Francisco.

After the establishment of the Redevelopment Plan in 2005 and a competition, a design created by Pelli Clarke Pelli emerged as the unanimous winner. Here's this blogger's video from the competition and the presentation in San Francisco City Hall in 2007:



Ground breaking marks new beginning

The plan is to take shape over the next seven years and be complete in 2017. I'm certain the vast majority of San Franciscans, let alone people in the Bay Area, have no idea what dramatic change is about to take place in what was once the place that was known as the unofficial parking and transit hub for SOMA's nightlife.

It will consist of a large, 1,000 ft skyscraper, 2,600 housing units, and a giant, elevated urban park unlike anything experienced in America. Indeed, the six-acre park is so large given where it's located, it's more like a much smaller version of Golden Gate Park, but for Downtown San Francisco.

The structure that supports the park will also serve to connect various forms of transit, including the planned extension of CalTrain from next to AT&T Park, and become - this space' prediction - the new place for Bay Area teenagers to hang out. (Try taking a cyber walk around to see what I mean.)

Grand Central Station

"Today, in breaking ground on the Transbay Transit Center, we are opening a new chapter in that history of progress," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "We are coming together to create jobs and revitalize our economy, and we are laying the first building blocks of a new 'Grand Central Station of the West.'"

Speaker Pelosi's right. The SF Transbay Terminal project will create 48,000 new jobs during its construction phase, but once finished, will transform Downtown San Francisco in a way that perhaps has not been fully considered.

"This is one of the most important and transformational public transportation projects in America. Once the dust has settled, San Francisco’s skyline will be transformed - as will transportation, housing, and employment choices for people across the Bay area and beyond," said United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration are proud to contribute to the first phase of this effort."

"This is a historic day for San Francisco and for the entire State," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "History will write that High-Speed Rail and a new engine for job creation and economic growth in California began today, with the groundbreaking of this project. It is a culmination of decades of planning to fulfill our City's vision of leading the nation as a transit - first City and a hub of a modern High - Speed Rail system."

Bank of America and Wells Fargo gouging - Jerry Brown should step in

California Attorney General Jerry Brown should look into this. According to The Associated Press via The Huffington Post, Wells Fargo was ordered to pay $205 million to its customers as part of a successful class-action lawsuit.

What Wells Fargo was doing was allowing debit purchases to go through when a customer's account was overdrawn. But Bank of America has the same practice, and this blogger experienced it after a client bounced a check.

What Bank of America does is pile on one payment when you're overdrawn, thus triggering another overdraft charge and making more money from it. Then, when the non-paid vendor tries to collect again, the Bank of America issues a second overdraft charge!

My sources in and out of Bank of America have confirmed this problem. In other words, Bank of America has practiced the same process Wells Fargo was accused of and is now ordered to pay its customers back to settle.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup accused Wells Fargo of profiteering

According to the AP, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who's in the Northern District Court of California in San Francisco, accused Wells Fargo of profiteering, specifically "Internal bank memos and e-mails leave no doubt that, overdraft revenue being a big profit center, the bank's dominant, indeed sole, motive was to maximize the number of overdrafts."

In this blogger's experience with his Bank of America account, there were as many as not one, but three overdraft penalties drawn in one day, and four in two days, separated by the weekend, from two vendors!

What should happen is simple: one overdraft penalty for one charge unpaid. That's it. Bank of America should be the focus of California Attorney General Jerry Brown's gaze, and sooner rather than later.

Oakland Mayor's Race: SEIU 1021 endorsement meeting's clumsy start

The Oakland Mayor's Race is not without its share of groups who think they can influence the race by excluding certain candidates. The Oakland SEIU 1021 Union Organization is just one of them.

As this is written, the Oakland SEIU 1021 is about to hold its interviews of candidates for the Oakland Mayor's Race. From many conversations held Tuesday, it appears the SEIU finally got its act together and contacted all of the candidates, instead of just three: Former State Senator Don Perata, and Oakland Councilmembers Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan (District Four and At-Large, respectively.)

Now, from the information communicated to this blogger, the SEIU's talking to more than just the three, although as of this writing the Joe Tuman for Mayor campaign was left out of the SEIU process.

UPDATE: a text from the Joe Tuman Campaign explains that after "several phone calls" they were invited for later tonight.

In all, it was an awful state of affairs punctuated by this email letter to Ariana Casanova, the event organizer with the Oakland SEIU from the "Friends of Terrance Candell for Mayor" campaign (paragraphs broken by this blogger):

Dr. Terrance Candell calls out other candidates 

Dear Ariana,

You met with our candidate on February 3rd, 2010. Other unions have met with him and are close to endorsement. How, then, can you act as if he does not exist. Our constituents within your union have told us that you intended to discriminate against Terence Candell. We hope that this is not evidence of that. Our campaign never received any notice of Wednesday's interviews of Oakland Mayoral Candidates.

We assume that means that we will be allowed participation without having to render advance questions, since you never advanced them to us. Do not misunderstand. Our candidate is the frontrunner in this race. The rest just have KTVU, who has ignored him since he paid them $10,000 for airtime for his campaign.

Dr. Candell was the first Oakland Mayoral Candidate on the ballot. Don MacCleay and Greg Harland are also on the ballot. Terence Candell has a regular show on local Channel 78 Comcast. You might want to check that out. Your membership deserves a chance to hear him.

We understand that you don't like him. However, you cannot deceive the people and your membership by denying him due process. That is very unprofessional.

Dyra - Campaign Chair

Friends of Candell

Green Party Candidate Don Macleay was also not contacted, so he sent this email to Ariana:

I am also asking to attend and particpate requesting the SEIU 1021 endorsment in the Mayor's race.

Please let me know how to proceed.
Is there a questionaire?
What time should we arrive?
What else should I know or do?

Don Macleay

Who's Ariana Casanova?

Ariana Casanova's an organizer with the Oakland SEIU and an activist involved in several issues from the Nik Nak Liquor Store to protests against banks during the financial crisis, and who this blogger called three times without a single return phone call. I've never seen or met Ariana Casanova and I had a lot of questions for her after my conversations.

According to several sources, Ariana Casanova's not shy about telling Oakland Mayor's Race candidates if they're even worth paying attention to. The woman with the cool-sounding name allegedly told one candidate he needed to raise $325,000 and that he should not even try because he was not going to win.

That unguarded view is what started the problem where candidates were excluded.

When this space got word of the problem, a text was sent to Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan who was set to participate in the SEIU event. The text communicated the intention of exposing the SEIU game playing and encouraged her to back out.

After a time, the problem, at least for Dr. Terrance Candell, was solved. He's part of the SEIU process as is Don Macleay.

Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Greg Harland, who doesn't want union backing, said he rejected the SEIU's last minute invitation.

However it turns out, if the SEIU handled its interview process the way it's explained here, and by all accounts this is accurate, their final recommendation for the Oakland Mayor's Race is not worth paying attention to. That's also true for The League of Women Voters.

Stay tuned.

Oakland City Council Race: Libby Schaaf files papers for run

Libby Schaaf, who's constant attention to detail and hard work ethic has earned her California Attorney General Jerry Brown's endorsement, officially filed her paper work to run for the Oakland City Council District Four Seat on Tuesday.

Even before Libby filed the papers, she managed to raise over $76,000. This space supports Libby Schaaf for City Council District Four Seat.

The question is, did the other candidates file their papers?  If not, then the field of challengers will have been reduced and we will know who the competitors finally are.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Kaplan, Macleay, filing today; Quan, Perata Wednesday

Dr. Terrance Candell calls out other candidates 

As of this writing, the latest news in the Oakland Mayor's Race has Oakland Councilmember and Oakland Mayor's Race Candidate Rebecca Kaplan filing her papers to run for the office as this is written, as has Greg Harland, Don Macleay, and Joe Tuman, and with Former State Senator Don Perata and Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan set to file their papers on Wednesday.

As of this writing, it's not confirmed if Orlando Johnson secured the necessary 100 signatures needed to complete his filing documents by Wednesday.  Larry Lionel Young, Jr., has also filed early, but has made himself a relative unknown save for a YouTube video of a house he's trying to sell and a handout at the last Oakland Mayor's Race Candidate's Forum.

Kaplan issues a statement

Kaplan, who this blogger interviewed last week, with two other videos from that to come, issued this statement today: "Oakland is ready for a new direction and effective leadership. I believe that Oakland can be an engine of economic revitalization, bringing jobs and opportunities back to our City."

Terrance Candell gets tough

Why most of the candidates waited until Tuesday and Wednesday to file their papers is still rests in a concern to get the documents properly prepared, but Dr. Terrance Candell didn't mince words about the fact that he was first: "(It) shows me that the person who files first is the first to care. It shows me that there's going to be a lackadaisical attitude of the other candidates."

Speaking for Don Perata, Rhys Williams explained that the Perata campaign wanted to take a little more time to get things right.  Don Macleay, without knowing what the Perata campaign said, made a similar statement to me today.

As of this writing, none of the other candidates were available to respond to Candell's bold claim. It's clear Dr. Candell's thrown down the gauntlet for what's already an interesting Oakland Mayor's Race, made all the more so today.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Rebecca Kaplan interview first take

Last week, Friday morning, Oakland Councilmember (At-Large) and Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Rebecca Kaplan met this video-blogger at an appropriately Oakland location, The Merritt Cafe and Bakery.

There, we were warmly greeted by Merritt Bakery Owner Charles Griffith, and sat down to a brunch of excellent chicken and waffles for Kaplan, and eggs, corned beef and hash for this video-blogger.

Image by spotreporting via Flickr

Rebecca Kaplan at The Oscar Grant Protest

This is not the full blog about the interview, but an introduction. Kaplan and I talked about the issue of earlier this year and got that out of the way off camera.

On camera, we talked about the impact of the Federal Court decision to declare Proposition 8 (or Prop 8) unconstitutional, Kaplan's take on Oakland's police cost problem, how the Oakland Mayor's Race was going for her, and how she would handle a range of issues if she was elected Mayor of Oakland.

Thus far, Oakland Mayor's Race competitors Don Macleay, Don Perata, Councilmember Jean Quan, Greg Harland, Terrance Candell, Joe Tuman (two inteviews; one has appeared) and Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan have been interviewed on video for this space.  That's seven of the nine candidates with just Orlando Johnson and Larry Lionel Young Jr., a new comer, remaining.

But of all Oakland Mayor's Race candidates, only Terrance Candell and Larry Lionel Young Jr. have filed papers officially establishing his intention to run for Mayor of Oakland, according to The Oakland Tribune.  Why Councilmember's Kaplan and Quan failed to file early is a question, as is the case for the other candidates.  It sends a weak message of true interest in being Mayor of Oakland.

And on that note, Larry Lionel Young Jr. needs to get his campaign act together. Young has no search-visible website or blog post and other than newspaper mentions including (now) this space, and a YouTube-posted video of a home he's trying to sell where the video title mentions that he's running for mayor, has only issued a one-sheet a the last Oakland Mayor's Race candidates forum.

Larry Lionel Young Jr. must stop treating the run for Mayor of Oakland as an afterthought, and demonstrate some real interest in it by having some "online marker" about himself and how to contact him via email. Otherwise, the Internet void Young created for himself will be filled by someone else.

Stay tuned.