Our Mayor Spoke

Monday night I attended Mayor Ron Dellums State of the City address in council chambers. It needs to be stated that Mr. Dellums has a great voice, a lot of charisma, and an almost regal presence. In fact, when I listen to Ron Dellums speak, I am captivated for that moment in time—a true “Dellumsist.” It sounds so good.
I have always liked this guy. I voted for him for congress and still agree with much of his thinking. However, if I really believed that Ron and the Council were blazing the trail he so ably described, I would support him and vote for the Councilwoman. Sadly, this is not the case.

I agree heart and soul with much of what Ron outlined during his address. On crime he spoke of programs that are music to my ears—programs incidentally that have been recommended for years. One that sparked my applause is a program that ensures youth offenders are enrolled in programs before they get released.
And of course no State of the City speech is compete without running down the former Bush Administration for wasting our wealth in Iraq or advocating support for national health insurance—things we all can agree on. Sure, he wants various components of the city to work well together; don't we all? And, he advocates long term cooperation between the powers that be in Oakland for the mutual benefit of all. Who would disagree with this idea? The problem is that it is too long overdue. Rounding out his list of things upon which we can all agree, Ron supports the schools and their local control, and he advocates grassroots citizen participation in local government. When it comes to policies, I am very pro Ron Dellums. The problem has been in the execution of his policies.

Now, while Ron continues to advocate more citizen input at City Hall, he stated—in an odd twist—that we now have it. Huh? If I get the reasoning right, and no I have not looked over a transcript, he considers having accepted a large number of recommendations from his citizen advisory committees (clusters), and filling most of the citizen oversight board positions, a significantly higher degree of citizen control. Ron kept repeating that we the residents are now inside City Hall and we’re making the elected officials listen to us; that we the community are part of the process; and that we the community have been empowered and should not give up that power. Really?

I almost felt embarrassment for him. For here was the Ron Dellums that some of us older activists had for years considered the inspirational progressive voice when it came to Vietnam, Central America, South Africa, Iraq, and much more related to foreign policy. This is the same Ron Dellums who took on critical domestic issues such as basic civil rights, labor rights, and national health care. For these things, Ron Dellums commands and deserves the respect and good will of the progressive community—including me.

However, what troubles me: does he really think that Oakland has undergone some kind of citizen integration with local government? What results do we have to show for such an assertion? Frankly, it sounds like exaggeration and wishful thinking. I do share the wish and think there is much more to do before we get there.

The other main point Mr. Dellums kept repeating was that Oakland is a model city. During his speech he kept returning to this same theme. He claimed that certain ideas were first proposed by Oakland or that Oakland is in the lead in the region, state, nation and even internationally. Yes, we are in the lead in the submission of grant proposals on these issues. If Ron's numbers are correct, this is great. On the other hand, I somehow doubt that Oakland is the only place that told the Obama administration that we wanted to use short term stimulus funds to enhance the City’s long term fiscal position—with which I agree. It is the responsible way to use these funds.
The Model City claim is a stretch at best and distracted attention from the great fund raising job they are doing. What is important, however, is not if we are a model, but if we are doing the right thing well. According to Ron we are doing quite well. According to me we could be doing a lot better—and we should.

The laundry list of accomplishments continued—over and over for three times.

Along with the re-runs of greatest hits, Mr. Dellums then gave us a historical overview. The tone was something I was taught to understand as "triumphal-ism," as he listed all the great things done so far. Well, what do we expect from a Mayor? If I get the job, remind me to keep my speeches humble and less self congratulatory. Dellums did list a few of the things I have mentioned to people that he has done well, such as the Business Assistance Center and the Mayor's office outreach to offenders. He told us about the funding we have received, but did not give a total or breakdown. I wish he would have, as it is a main accomplishment of his administration.

Mr. Dellums also said that some things may not be as good as they look, such as stating the crime rate went down 10%. It probably has, as crime is down across much of the country. Consider, though, that there is a big difference between the actual crime rate and the reported crime rate. As the guy on the street who feels the difference—or lack of difference—in the areas I go, we are still not as safe as we need to be. Nonetheless, a reduction in crime is welcome, and if certain Dellums polices are shown to be the cause, we should pay attention.
Continuing, Mr. Dellums implied that employment has increased. I’ll pass here to look at the transcript before saying much more. Has employment in Oakland increased during this depression? And, if so, who has it increased for? This seems counter to the huge jump in foreclosures? Or, was he just talking about a certain sector, say the public sector, or developers? Whatever he was trying to say, he did not talk about the foreclosure crisis that we see daily in our neighborhoods.

Throughout Mr. Dellums repetitious speech, he appeared to be reading, even halting on occasion, from a script using language that sounded as if it was lifted directly from the grants they have been writing. The list included some small items such as Christmas Presents for the poor. Sometimes his wonderful voice did not even stop on the periods. Other times he interrupted his droning presentation, perking up on subjects he was most passionate about. It was at these times the Dellums we all love came out, shone brightly, and was in strong form, such as when he advocated for national healthcare.

Listening to Dellums list, I feel there are about 15 items that a Mayoral candidate should go on campaign with. Not a political election campaign, but a public mobilization campaign. This is the kind of thing that inspired me to run for mayor in the first place. I'd love to take our parolee recidivism program and advocate for it in every corner of the city, including churches, community meetings, and business groups. I’d like to do the same with re-instituting and building up our full service—or Beacon and Healthy Start—school environments. As an active community member the Mayor's office should have been selling me these ideas a long time ago. This is my view of what the job entails.

Eventually, though, the discourse was just too long, much like this blog, and people started to leave. By coincidence, I was sitting with a group of Spanish speaking truck drivers who had come to applaud Ron for getting them extra funding for truck exhaust filters to meet the new air pollution regulations at the Port. Yet, when their moment came to cheer, only four were still there, most had left including the guy with the banner and the rest on the bench next to me.
BTW, if I do get the Mayor’s job, please remind me to keep speeches short and use them to sum up reports, not repeat them.

As someone who has never been to a State of the City event, I had some other questions besides why the speech was so long and repetitive. Such as, where was the rest of City Council? Quan, Bruener, and Kaplan had front row seats. Our Auditor, School Commissioner, City Administrator, police and fire chiefs were obvious, but not the city attorney nor the other five members of council. I think I saw the director of CEDA and the City Clerk. So where were the other five members of Council and the City Attorney, among others? Hey, if I could make it, why not them?

Let me guess. Mondays don't work for them? Or, maybe they watched on streaming video? Did they avoid the limelight and sit in the back incognito? Or, did I just miss them?

At the end there were lots of thanks and praise for just about everyone from Barbara Lee, Sandre Swanson, Loni Hancock, and Barbra Boxer, to Dianne Feinstein and the Council members present. Mr. Dellums wife Cindy got lots of thanks; as did Rebecca Kaplan who he called his "spiritual adviser." For the Council members present, the praise was lavish. For those not present, not so much. Why? Could someone with more familiarity with this ceremony please tell us why?

At the beginning and end of his address, our Mayor made it clear that he does not think Oakland has the resources it needs to confront its challenges. Mr. Dellums solution is to fill the gap with Public-Private Partnerships, grants, such as those from the Recovery Act, and philanthropy. It is clear that some outside fundraising may be necessary. What is not clear is the “legacy costs”—the “strings attached”—to the citizens of Oakland, and future generations, in the form of “partnerships” that favor “private” interest more than “public” interest. Protecting public interest first, while seeking additional forms of funding, will hopefully provide some relief so that we can establish a realistic long-term budget process that will sustain us in good times and bad.

As for the notion of Oakland as a Model City, I think two things:
One, let's make sure we search for good ideas that others have started and found successful; and,
Two, we should concentrate on getting things done well first and let others decide for themselves if we are a model city.

For excerpts of the show, check out these clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSpDvT0VBt8&feature=player_embedded#

Parking?

Of all the problems that Oakland has, now we have a parking crisis?

What does one say? This parking crisis is one of our own making. It is hard to stay respectful and polite when our members of city council do something so short sighted.

It is not just the 50 cents an hour; it is not just the extra hours until 8 PM; it is not just the higher ticket prices. It is the feeling that “gotchya” and anything-goes-for-a-buck is the way they feel. That is what gets most under the skin.

They sometimes call us shoppers, sometimes call us residents, some time call us taxpayers, but the sure do not treat us like citizens. They treat us like someone to milk because the get away with it.

Most of our council did not run in a contested race to get their job. All but one of the council members represents a district that has nothing to do with where the people of Oakland live, except to make sure that some of those who live in the hills live in each district. But how do they get so out of touch with what it is like to live and work here?

A friend was telling me yesterday that a customer who got a ticket while in her café came back into the café and told her that she will never come back again. The café owner is in no way responsible for Oakland parking policies, but the anger and frustration of the client was very understandable. We who run businesses in Oakland get to hear how angry the citizens who get caught in the trap feel.

Parking tickets were never a very friendly way to raise funds. The way Oakland does it is something of a trap. It is set up to make it hard on the driver and increase the opportunities to ticket rather than collect parking fees.

When fees and tickets are as aggressive as ours have become, well people notice and they do not care much about the explanations. No one likes to get tricked and cheated. To get one of these tickets is to feel robbed and violated. A 75$ surcharge for a cup of coffee is reason enough to not come to Oakland in the first place. If you live in Oakland and have gotten into your car, $75 is reason enough to drive out of Oakland to a place you can park your car without running the gauntlet. Somewhere like Emeryville, Berkeley or San Leandro for example.

We know this “gotchya” feeling already. Oakland council found it in their hearts to stick it to landlords for damaged sidewalks and then do it again if there is a lawsuit. Is that different from how the credit card companies do their best to send bills out as late as possible and up your interested rate for a few hours past due? Newer home and business owners get to pay higher taxes than the old big money under Prop 13 tax “reform”. Yeah we all know the sound of “gotchya”

Now Oakland has made parking your car in our city have that same sound.

March Mega Meeting! Thursday March 26th!

Join us for our next general organizing meeting.

Proposed Agenda Thursday 3.26.09 7pm

• Welcoming and Orienting new Members
  
• Upcoming Election Preparation (special election)
  
• Recruitment Strategies and Plans
• Division of Tasks for Green Videos 2 "Voting in Oakland"
• Other Items proposed Attendees

Come and be apart of building a grass roots organization!

Located at 530 Lake Park Ave, Oakland, CA 94610-2732

Environmentalism in Oakland - Make Oakland Bikeable!

Broadway - It's broad enough for all of us!

Want to build a community where walking and bicycling is safe and convenient for everyone? Walk Oakland, Bike Oakland (aka WOBO) is advocating for on-the-ground improvements that will enable and encourage more Oakland residents to walk and bike safely around The Town, and improve neighborhood quality of life. Our goal for 2008 is to instigate implementation of bike lanes on Broadway, a project that's already in the Bicycle Master Plan and just needs some public pressure to get that paint on the pavement!

The Oakland Green Party has endorsed the Bike Lanes on Broadway campaign, which fits into the CA Greens platform goal of "Social Justice and Livable Communities".
Some specifics on why Oakland needs to stripe the streets include:

• Broadway & 27th Street was the 3rd most likely intersection for bicycle-car collisions from 2000-2004. There currently is no safe, convenient way for bicyclists to travel between North Oakland and downtown.

• An Environmental Impact Report and feasibility study have already been completed for the project, meaning the only task remaining is to put paint on the pavement.

• Fulfilling this component of the Bicycle Master Plan would create a continuous bike route nearly FIVE MILES LONG, a great resource for cyclists of all persuasions.

You can help get bike lanes on Broadway, Webster, and Franklin to complete this bike route and keep Oakland moving in a bike-friendly direction.
Here's how:

• Ask the City Council to get this project done! Contact:
  Jane Brunner (District 1), jbrunner@oaklandnet.com
  Patricia Kernighan (District 2), pkernighan@oaklandnet.com
  Nancy Nadel (District 3), nnadel@oaklandnet.com

• Visit WOBO's website for more information at www.walkoaklandbikeoakland.org

• Come to the next WOBO volunteers meeting, Tuesday, March 24 at 6:30pm.
  Location TBA, call 269-4034 or email info@walkoaklandbikeoakland.org for details.

Next Meeting Feb. 26th

Please join us for our next general organizing meeting.

Proposed Agenda 2.26.09 7pm

• Welcoming and Orienting new Members
  
• Upcoming Election Preparation
  
• Recruitment Strategies and Plans
• Division of Tasks for Green Videos 2 "Who Votes in Oakland and What needs to Change."
• Other Items proposed Attendees

Come and be apart of building a grass roots organization!

Located at 530 Lake Park Ave, Oakland, CA 94610-2732

New Website!

We are working on a redesigned website. Coming soon.
Any suggestions, please email, oaklandgreens@gmail.com.

We are on Facebook and Myspace

Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45699879022

Myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/oaklandgreens

Youtube page
http://www.youtube.com/oaklandgreens

Yahoo Groups (listserve and forum)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oaklandgreens/

Connect with us.

Oakland Green Party Meeting January

Hey folks!
The Oakland Greens, will be meeting this Thursday, 22nd of January, 7pm, at our regular location, Grand Lake Neighborhood Center (clip for map). The address is 530 Lake Park (Between the Grand Lake Theater and Lakeshore Ave.) There is some street parking and free parking under the 580 freeway.

The proposed Agenda is as follows:

• Introductions
• Updates and Reports (Oscar Grant, Gaza, Oak to 9th, etc)
  
• Recruitment Efforts
• Future Campaigns and Election Preparation
• Next Steps and Closing
  

We welcome new members and people who have come before. We are turning a new leave and expanding in 2009. We are recruiting, registering and taking action. Please join us in making these goals successful. Hope to see you there.

Community Choice Energy

Currently, most businesses and residents in the Bay Area are unable to purchase cleaner energy through the grid. Installing solar panels is one way to have cleaner energy, but is not economically feasible for everyone. Likewise, purchasing “green credits” and carbon offsets are not the same as renewable energy delivered directly to your business or home.
Community Choice Energy gives customers a choice in their energy provider. With Community Choice Energy, cities and counties contract with a licensed energy service provider to purchase energy in bulk, build renewable energy generating facilities, and implement energy efficiency programs. This efficient public/private partnership makes it possible to get the greenest energy at the best rates. Each consumer is enrolled in the program unless they “opt out.” In other words, consumers can choose to buy electricity through the community choice program or stay with the investor-owned utility (IOU). The city or county keeps prices competitive—and affordable for low-income residents— while investing in renewable energy generation and energy efficiency with full citizen oversight. The utility company continues to handle transmission and billing.
Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville are considering creating an East Bay Joint Powers Authority for Community Choice Energy to meet a target of 50% renewable power by 2017 and to offer stable, affordable rates. This is a considerably higher percentage of renewable energy than Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is projected to offer by that date. The Local Clean Energy Alliance advocates that any East Bay Community Choice Energy program prioritize local generation of power and equitably distribute the job and wealth creation benefits of local clean energy. The alliance estimates that meeting 50% of the summer electricity demand of Oakland’s commercial building sector through local solar power would create nearly 1,000 new long-term jobs and be a significant step towards Oakland Mayor Dellums’ goal of creating 10,000 jobs for Oakland residents. The Alliance is supportive of local hire polices and workforce development initiatives.
A recent study explored the job creation possibilities of a San Diego Community Choice Energy program that increases electricity efficiency by 40% and installs PV systems on about 20% of its roofs and parking lots. The study found that installing PV panels and electricity efficiency improvements would create more than 123,000 direct job-years of employment over 40 years. This is 13 times more direct job-years of employment than continued dependence on and investment in fossil fuels and nuclear power.
The Local Clean Energy Alliance advocates the establishment of a community advisory committee consisting of community leaders and local experts to provide oversight for Community Choice implementation and administration.
To move Community Chocie forward, we are:

1. Doing outreach to Neighborhood Groups and community events to educate them about CCE and how it would benefit residents in the East Bay. Contact Jan at baylocalize.org if your group would like to host a forum or would like a presentation.
2. We are lobbying city officials to make CCE a priority
3. Attending public meetings to speak on behalf of CCE.
4. Encouraging people to join the LCEA and receive updates about our activities and become directly involved
5. Having people endorse CCE
6. Getting people to post comments on the Berkeley Climate Action Plan that push for CCE to be priority.
   

If you would like to support this effort, please contact Jan at baylocalize.org.
For more info on CCE, see our links and resources.

The Oakland Greens Have a Plan!

What happened to the Oakland Green Party? What are they doing? Why don't I know whats going on? What do they have planned? Valid questions, and here are some answers.

Well, we been here, working, staying in action, worked on the National Presidential Elections, helped with the Alameda Voter Guide, support local campaigns and state propositions.

And now we have a plan for 2009. No time to waste. We ain't goin nowhere and we are not
taking a break. We are here, ready to build and plan, ready to organize and outreach. Ready to take it to the next level.

PROPOSED TIME LINE

November

• General Meeting
• Identify Group A, Group B and Group C.
• Create Group A calling Script
• Collect Voter Rolls.

December

• Tabulate Voter Rolls Database into useable info.
• General Meeting
• Discuss and decide oaklands support contribution of Malik Rahim’s congressional campaign in New Orleans
• Create Email Message
• Decide on 3 projects of Chapter for 2009.
• Revamp Oakland Greens Website. (blog, youtube, links, meetings, resources, plans, minutes, etc)
• Recruitment Phase I Calling.

January

• Recruitment Phase II

  email blasts/precincts
  

• General Meeting/Informational

• Email/Website Updates

February

• General Meeting/Informational/Educational

• Training for re-registering

• Identify Local Campaign(s) to Begin

March

• Registering New Greens

April

• Preparation for Local Campaigns/Local Accountability

• Identify Statewide Campaign

May

• Preparation for Statewide Campaigns/Statewide Accountability
• Identify National Campaign

June

• Preparation for National Campaigns

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Come to a Oakland Green Party Meeting and help us add more to this and make it happen.

143,746 people vote their values in 2008! What do we all do now?

Celebrations are in order. Over 140,000 people voted Green, vote for Cynthia McKinney, voted for Rosa Clemente, vote for Peace, Justice, Democracy and Sustainability. It was a high turn out this year, nearly 60% of eligible voters turned out, excited by Obama's rhetoric and the corporate medias advertisement of his hollow promises as if he were another product to sell. Progressives excited by Nader's campaign turned out the polls. Many, many people voted, for many different reasons, however over 140,000 voters decided to continue to build the Green Party electoral movement. All these people voted, not for a symbolic reason, not to make a statement but to build a movement. So where is this movement that they want to see or be a part of? What is next for the Party? How can they support this?

Many lessons were learned through this campaign and throughout the steady building of the Green Party. Here are a few:

• We need a better website and better communications
• We need increase the non-election year work
• We need to better publicize and record all the work that takes place
• We need to better our multimedia and print materials (brochures, videos, flyers)
  
• We need clearer, more succint, positive, proactive and more accesible messages
• We need an strong infrastruture of local chapters, state chapters, and national networks
• We need to use the internet more (youtube, myspace, facebook, blogs, wikis, polls, nings)
• We need more people to run for offices so people have options whenvoting
  

To do all this we need more people and more funds to pay for the time and materials that go into this work. And just think if everyone who voted this year for McKinney/Clemente donated only $1, we would have nearly $150,000 to carry out these goals and do what is neccesary.

But where do you wanna see your money go most?

Green Party 2008 Documentary - 3rd Eye Wisdom - Independent Political Action

A thought provoking documentary created by members of the Green Party, in support of Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Rosa Clemente and Matt Gonzalez. What is the Green Party? Who are the members? What is Independent Political Action? How is it different from the Democratic and Republican Parties? What next?

Vote Independent and Green in 2008!

www.runcynthiarun.org
www.votenader.com
www.gp.org