Saving San Leandro Hospital Is A Rare Populist Success Story

SUNDAY COLUMN | After four years of uncertainty, San Leandro Hospital appears to have been saved, at least, for the next few years. However, the fits and starts that have been a hallmark of this community-fueled uprising to save its hospital, is far different than at any time in the last few years. The main difference: this deal excludes Sutter Health from the equation.

It is this single attribute that is entirely unique to the long struggle led by residents, politicians and the nurses union. The plan offered this week by Sutter Health hands over title to the facility to Alameda Health Systems (formerly Alameda County Medical Center) along with up to $22 million in subsidies to run the first year of operations. The plan keeps the emergency room open and expands the vacant fourth floor for acute rehabilitation services.

Eden Township Healthcare District Board

Director Dr. Vin Sawhney advocating for

keeping San Leandro Hospital open. 

It is the same plan that fell to the wayside earlier this year, except Sutter Health had only offered to lease the hospital to Alameda Health Systems and without the lucrative subsidy.

However, there is still work to be done. It is unclear whether we should put much trust in Alameda Health Systems CEO Wright Lassiter, a former Sutter co-conspirator. If San Leandro Hospital’s finances should go sideways in the next two years and its ER faces another round of uncertainty, don’t worry. Whereas, the threat to the ER used to mean facing down a cold, faceless corporation, it may entail in the future screaming at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for safety net funding.

Despite what your complacent neighborhood news organization said this week, the saintly Sutter Health did not “donate” the hospital. Instead, Sutter Health capitulated. They laid down their arms and walked away. They finally viewed the headache associated with San Leandro Hospital, in terms of public relations, was less important than its entirely prosperous empire.

In times when Americans feel like they are powerless against immense financial and political interests, the people of sleepy San Leandro (of all places!) showed if we band together, the bad guys will scamper. The rich and powerful, in the back of their minds, are always aware there are way more of us than there are of them.

Quotable
“You can’t shoot people if you don’t have ammunition,”
-Assemblyman Bill Quirk, May 17 in Oakland, extolling the virtues of Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner’s bill to tax ammunition in the state, at an Assembly hearing on gun violence in the East Bay.

The Week That Was
>>>Haggerty Gets Dirty: Closed sessions at Alameda County Board of Supervisor’s meetings just got more intense. From the fallout of a lawsuit against Supervisor Scott Haggerty by his former chief of staff comes allegations he routinely objectified women and asked male staffers, “Who would you fuck? Wilma Chan or Gail Steele?”

>>>Oakland Looks Away: On second thought, the Oakland City Council will not discuss the contents of an explosive audit offered last March charging Councilmembers Desley Brooks and Larry Reid with repeatedly violating the city’s charter against council members interfering with the business of city staff. Council President Pat Kernighan, in effect, said there is other more pressing matters to deal with. Earlier, the council also put off debarment of city contracts with Goldman Sachs for another two weeks.

>>>Disconnect: Assemblymembers Rob Bonta, Nancy Skinner and Bill Quirk, along with State Sen. Loni Hancock all posed for news cameras Friday advocating for tougher gun control measures following a three-hour hearing on the subject inside the State Building in Oakland. However, community leaders, instead, continually pressed for more funding to help the lives of the youth before they turn to solving problems with firearms.

>>>Zermeno First In For Hayward Mayor: In a surprise move, Councilmember Francisco Zermeno announced he will run for mayor in 2014. Mayor Michael Sweeney is said to be uncertain whether he will run for a third term. Zermeno nearly lost his seat on the council last June and if Sweeney runs, things could get caliente. Sweeney, Zermeno and former school trustee Jesus Armas all play on a basketball team named “Los Chilones.”

>>>Quan’s 2014 Opponents: Port of Oakland Commissioners Bryan Parker and Gilda Gonzales are looking at possibly running against Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. So is City Auditor Courtney Ruby and professor and community activist Joe Tuman. More names are likely to show interest in the next few weeks.

>>>’It’s News To Us’: Although the long San Leandro Hospital saga is nearing a positive conclusion, nobody bothered to tell the Eden Township Healthcare District they may have to commit institutional suicide in order to make the deal work. Supervisor’s Wilma Chan’s plan asks the District to pay $20 million in subsidies for the second year of operations at the hospital. The District, though, knew nothing about the plan and say their assets are worth $29 million; largely from one asset that conversely generates the most revenue.

Tweet of the Week
“Jean Quan shared a bunch of photos from a roller derby match on FB. That means they're probably going to move to the South Bay too.”
-@OakScott, making light May 12 of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s perennial problem with keeping its sports teams content.

Best Reads
>>>Sometimes the best way to understand what is around you is through the lens of someone outside looking in. Here is an article describing the bare bones Oakland Police Department. (Los Angeles Times, May 18).

>>>In a progressive city like Oakland, it seems more cops are never the answer. But, over the years, with a rapidly shrinking police force, even progressives are sheepishly rethinking this argument, but should they? (East Bay Express, May 15).

Voice of the People
“Is a gang member really going to say, "Oh darn, that bullet costs 10% more, I guess I won’t do my drive-by shooting now"? Less guns do not mean less guns for criminals...”
-Anonymous, commenting May 18 on “East Bay Legislators Call For Stringent Gun Control Laws.”

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East Bay Legislators Call For Stringent Gun Control Laws

Asm. Bill Quirk at the State Building in Oakland.

ASSEMBLY//OAKLAND/GUNS | Lest we forget the East Bay is still a bastion of liberalism, a few of its Democratic legislators Friday reminded voters, even though societal factors like unemployment and an eroding middle class may be a cause for rising gun violence, firearms are also to blame.

Although Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner and State Sen. Loni Hancock targeted guns and residual violence in the media and video games at Friday’s Assembly Select Committee on Gun Violence in the East Bay, it was freshman Assemblyman Bill Quirk who flashed the hottest rhetoric calling for more prohibitive gun control measures.

[SEE ALSO: Community Leaders Say Gun Violence Is A Public Health Crisis]

“We have a disconnect in the Legislature,” said Quirk of Republican colleagues who believe the use of firearms for personal protection and for sport are equal. “We know the best to get killed by a gun is to have a gun in your house for self-protection,” he said.

Quirk also applauded Skinner and Assemblyman Rob Bonta’s pending legislation to tax bullet sales. “You can’t shoot people if you don’t have ammunition,” Quirk said.

Oakland Mayor Jean, Alameda County Sup.

Wilma Chan, Asm. Rob Bonta, Oakland

Interim Police Chief Sean Whent

The best way to promote safety, Quirk said, is to prohibit guns, except for sport. But, the East Bay is mostly an urban landscape, he says. “In the area we come from guns are for killing people.” He also skewered conservative second amendment proponents for their strict constructionist beliefs over the right to bear arms. “They claim to follow the Founding Fathers,” Quirk said, “but they don’t.”

Skinner and Hancock agreed with Quirk’s interpretation of the second amendment and its adherents.

“It says a regulated militia,” said Hancock. “It doesn’t say anybody can carry anything anywhere they are.” She added, “Limiting access to guns is a part of the solution.”

Just the presence of guns in the home is a problem, said Skinner, who said, “I vary on notion on the second amendment.”

“The presence of guns in homes does nothing for public safety,” she said. Skinner also advocated for “limiting” the number of firearms and ammunition available. This year, Skinner advanced various gun control bills in the Assembly expressly aimed at slowing the proliferation of guns on the streets.

Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo

However, she said, “Legislation alone won’t be enough.”

Later, Skinner faulted the federal government for failing to pass meaningful gun control legislation in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn. shootings last December that killed 20 elementary school children and six adults.

Although Friday’s assembly hearing was chaired by Bonta, who represents Oakland, San Leandro and Alameda, he offered none of the heated rhetoric of his fellow lawmaker other than to promote a discussion on how to find solutions to lower crime in Oakland, including its perception of lawlessness, seen by many in the surrounding East Bay.

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Community Leaders Say Gun Violence In The East Bay Is A Public Health Crisis

Asm. Rob Bonta at an Assembly hearing
on gun violence May 17 in Oakland.

ASSEMBLY//OAKLAND/GUNS | An Assembly hearing focusing on rising gun violence in the East Bay, instead evolved into a string of community and faith-based leaders clamoring for answers over how to heal what they say is the root cause of violence in places like Oakland--socio-economic despair.

Oakland Assemblyman Rob Bonta, chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Gun Violence in the East Bay brought three panels of local officials, youth counselors and pastors together Friday to discuss the continuing rise even in crime less than 24 hours after the city suffered two more homicides Thursday night. Thirty-seven homicides have occurred in Oakland this year.

Even as an ambitious package of gun control bills sponsored by Bonta, Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner and State Sen. Loni Hancock wind through the Legislature, most panelists instead chose to focus on ideas that will foster hope, rather than the need to pick up a firearm and shoot.

[SEE ALSO: East Bay Legislators Call For Stringent Gun Control Laws] 

Olis Simmons, a community organizer with Oakland’s Youth UpRising says gang activity; the often mentioned cause of gun violence is not the issue. “It’s a clique issue,” she says resulting from staggering unemployment in Oakland, especially in the black and Latino community, and fear. “They carry guns not because they’re a predator, but because they’re desperate to feel safe.”

“This is a public health crisis,” said Pastor Zack Carey of Oakland’s True Vine Ministries. “They’re shooting each other because there’s no jobs.”

Guillermo Cespedes, a expert on gang

reduction in Los Angeles and Asm. Bill Quirk.

Richmond’s charismatic director of Neighborhood Safety DeVone Boggan said he has heard many of the same solutions over the past two decades to no avail. The impetus should be on helping the youth make better decisions to avoid conflicts when they invariably occur on the streets, he said. “Help us to understand what is required to motivate you to put your gun down,” Boggan said. “When you truly want to live, you make better decisions.”

Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin, whose rapidly growing Central Valley city, like Oakland, has both high rates of crime along with a large minority population, says community policing has helped foster trust between residents and law enforcement and forced those in need take advantage of various local social programs. You can’t rely on troubled residents to seek out the programs on their own, he says. Instead, his officers take the programs to their front door.

He also his instructs officers to immerse themselves in the community while eschewing zero tolerance strategies to create safe neighborhoods. When events necessitate the use of police force, McMillin says, the community is far more understanding if there is perception law enforcement had already done everything they could in the past. However, he says, “Some people are just too dangerous and need to be locked up.” McMillin realizes his strategy is also costly. “It is expensive. It’s a question of resources,” he said. “but it absolutely works.”

Many at Friday’s hearing agree the rise in gun violence would be better framed as a public health crisis. Dr. Randi Smith, a surgeon-in-training at Oakland’s Highland Hospital, says the vast majority of patients she sees in the emergency room are predominately black and Latinos consistently delivered from the same streets in Oakland. They are also repeat customers, she says.

Citing a national statistics, Smith says 44 percent of young blacks who experience a gunshot wounds will likely receive another in the next five years. It is not uncommon, Smith says, for doctors treating patients for a single-entry bullet wound at Highland to notice previous gunshot wounds on x-rays. Sadly, Smith says, “There’s a revolving door of gun violence.”

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List Of Possible Challengers To Oakland Mayor Quan Begins To Emerge

Left-right: Bryan Parker, Gilda Gonzales,

Joe Tuman, Courtney Ruby.

OAKLAND//MAYOR 2014 | Even the though the 2014 election season in Oakland is over a year away that doesn’t preclude potential candidates from starting early. Not only is attracting local community support important, but more importantly, those who wait too long risk losing out on hiring the cream of the crop when it comes to political strategists.

It’s why San Leandro Councilmember Ursula Reed dove head first into running for Alameda County superintendent of schools next year. Reed’s hired the services of Doug Linney, possibly the best political consultant in the East Bay.

It’s also why the number of challengers for Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s is quickly rising.

This week, Port of Oakland Commissioner Bryan Parker launched an exploratory campaign for mayor. Parker, who incidentally, was appointed by Quan to the Port last summer, unveiled a splashy, well-done introductory YouTube video.

Parker is vice president for a leading kidney dialysis company who may attempt to tailor his message to the city’s growing demographic of young professionals with money to burn. However, there is already chatter among Alameda County Democrats the treasonous nature of running against Quan is fostering distrust over his motives.

Others reportedly showing interest, include another Port of Oakland President Gilda Gonzales, a former chief of staff under former Mayor Jerry Brown and activist Joe Tuman, who finished fourth in 2010.

The other possible challenger is Oakland City Auditor Courtney Ruby. Although the Oakland City Council led by Councilmember Pat Kernighan withdrew scheduled discussions of Ruby’s controversial 14 alleged violations of the city charter by Councilmembers Desley Brooks and Larry Reid, the issue of wrongdoing still exists.

Regardless of, if or when, the issue returns to the council, Ruby is undoubtedly positioning herself as the candidates of those who feel corruption in Oakland has run amok.

One high-profile name you won’t see running for mayor in 2014, according to Democratic insiders, is Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

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Eric Swalwell Wants You To Know He Works Really, Really Hard

ILLUSTRATION/Steven Tavares PHOTO/Joseph Geha

CONGRESS 15 | There’s hard work and there's hardly working, then there’s tooting your own horn about the former. Rep. Eric Swalwell built his campaign last year on the slogan of new energy. Now that he’s in Congress, he appears to have a deep sense of insecurity whether his constituents now exactly how much time he’s putting in at the office. Right down to the second.

PHOTOS/@RepSwalwell

In recent weeks, Swalwell has even laid out specific metrics to show voters how much he is doing in Washington with a graphic posted on Twitter. In the tweet, he touted flying 18,000 miles in April alone, holding two video conferences with area students, attending eight committee hearing and delivering four House floor speeches. Mind you, all endeavors that entail sitting.

Swalwell also played goalie in a Congressional soccer game and attended two military homecomings in the Tri Valley. Earlier Thursday morning, he tweeted, “Today someone asked the length of my workday. I had [zero] idea. Then just saw I forgot to turn this off from today's 5k.” The attached photo showed a smart phone timer clocking in at over 17 hours.

Of course, this type of schedule is not conducive for any divorced 33-year-old to navigate the dating meat market that is D.C., which is why he told the San Francisco Chronicle last year he wasn’t looking to settle down and start a family anytime soon, but maybe later.

Depending on your perception of his monthly log of activities, Swalwell is either extraordinarily more busy than you or alienating some poor Latino woman in Hayward working two jobs, caring for four children and wondering how she’s going to fix the blown engine on her 1998 Nissan Sentra.

Most interestingly, though, is the continued mention of Swalwell’s travel habits between the 15th Congressional District and Washington. His repeated and masterfully dishonest conceit Pete Stark had become stranger in his own district angered many progressives in the area.

On Election Night last November, one Democratic Party central committee member, already perturbed by Swalwell’s upset of Stark, angrily instructed me to follow Swalwell’s travel habits. “Make sure he’s in the district every weekend,” they said. "Request his travel records!" Through his recent social media activity, Swalwell seems very well aware of this criticism, although, some may not be convinced. Let’s just hope he doesn’t know about FitBit.

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Reid Withdraws Proposal To ‘Audit the Auditor’s Audit’

OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | Oakland Councilman Larry Reid has withdrawn an item from next week’s agenda asking for an outside auditor to look into allegations made against him and Councilmember Desley Reid by the city’s own auditor.

Oakland City Auditor Courtney Ruby, in a statement Wednesday afternoon, said Council President Pat Kernighan has also withdrawn an item to discuss the charges laid out her report issued in March.

In the audit, Ruby’s office accused Brooks of violating the city charter’s non-interference laws on 12 separate occasions and Reid in two other incidents pertaining to a construction contract for the Oakland Army Base.

Kernighan cited the council’s heavy workload, including on-going budget and labor discussions and instability at the Oakland Police Department, as reasons for placing the item to a side burner.

“While I recognize the City Council's priorities at this time, the issues identified in this report are critical to moving Oakland forward,” said Ruby. “I will keep you posted when the President re-introduces this item for discussion at the City Council.”

Despite non-action by the council following the scathing report, Councilmember Noel Gallo broached the subject during a meeting two weeks ago. Gallo called for the city auditor to answer council questions over the allegations and allow for greater transparency in the matter.

Critics of Ruby have consistently charged Ruby with engaging in a political vendetta against certain council members. In the meantime, political insiders in the Democratic Party, continue to insist Ruby has recently shown interest in running for mayor next year.

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Healthcare District: $20M Subsidy For San Leandro Hospital Is News To Them

SAN LEANDRO HOSPITAL | On Tuesday morning, Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan was trying to get ahead of news reports detailing an impending deal to save San Leandro Hospital leaked to a business reporter the night before.

However, while the report laying out the framework of proposed deal allowing Sutter Health to transfer title of the health care facility to Alameda Health Systems along with a $22 million one-time subsidy hit the airwaves, very few local public officials were aware of its imminent execution. Not fellow Supervisors Nate Miley, Keith Carson and Scott Haggerty.

Curiously, not even the Eden Township Healthcare District, which Chan said Tuesday may be on the hook for funding the second year of the hospital’s operation with its own one-time $20 million subsidy.

“It’s news to us,” said Carole Rogers, the chair of the district’s Board of Directors. “You know more than us.”

Dev Mahadevan, the district’s CEO, said no official representative has formally brought the proposal to the District for discussion. In essence, Mahadevan added, good luck in getting the money. The District doesn’t have it.

In the aftermath of the protracted legal fight that ended with the District losing title to San Leandro Hospital to Sutter Health, the government body founded in 1948, has been forced to tighten its financial belt just as its real estate holdings suffer in the current economy and while it fights for tenants at its newly-constructed medical office building in Castro Valley.

Since the healthcare district has not been a tax-collecting body since 1975, it’s inability recently to generate cash flow forced it to reduce the amount of grants it gives out to various health-related entities within its district. And, without a hospital to oversee, its basically functions as a charity organization.

The issue of the District’s viability as a health care district has been raised in the past by Chan, who angered its board of directors last year when she hung the specter of dissolution over the body if it did not contribute to a multi-entity proposal similar to the deal announced Tuesday requiring Alameda County, the city of San Leandro and the District to pay a 3-year/$3 million subsidy to help offset costs for Alameda Health Systems to run the hospital.

But, the District countered by pledging to contribute its expected cash revenue in the next two years, topping out next year at over $1 million to the pool of money. That deal fell apart after Wright Lassiter, the CEO of Alameda Health Systems, pulled the plug on the proposal.

Although, the District may be cash poor, it also owns potentially lucrative real estate in Dublin with the Gateway Medical Center, along with its medical office in Castro Valley. Ironically, the District bought the property less than a decade ago to block a threat by Sutter Health to close Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley for potential greater returns in the Tri Valley.

Chan, however, may be again using the threat of leveraging the District’s future to obtain what she called a “sizable” subsidy. In fact, the Alameda County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which Chan is a member, has raised the possibility of determining the district’s efficacy as a government body over the past few months. On Tuesday, Chan again raised the issue of LAFCO and the District at a Board of Supervisors meeting in Oakland.

The District isn’t taking the threat lightly. Mahadevan reiterated previous statement any attempt by LAFCO to strip the District of its authority would meet stiff opposition from health care district’s across the state who are in a similar situation; existing without a traditional hospital facility to oversee. Mahadevan said such a move by LAFCO would be unprecedented and could be met by a stiff legal challenge.

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DEAL TO SAVE SAN LEANDRO HOSPITAL IS ON THE TABLE

ILLUSTRATION/ Steven Tavares PHOTO/CNA

SAN LEANDRO//HEALTH CARE | Sutter Health and the Alameda Health System are set to sign a letter of intent to begin negotiation terms of an agreement that will keep San Leandro Hospital open for, at least, the next two years.

Under the proposed deal, Alameda Health System (AHS), formerly known as the Alameda County Medical Center, would gain title to the entire facility, estimated to be worth between $30-40 million, along with a one-year subsidy from Sutter in the neighborhood of $18-20 million, said Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan.

Sutter, would, in essence, wipe its hands clear of San Leandro Hospital, which would maintain emergency room services, in addition, to remodeling its vacant fourth floor with up to 30 beds set aside for acute rehabilitation services. Sutter would also walk away from an operation it estimates is bleeding monthly losses of $2 million.

Under the proposed terms of the non-binding letter of intent, which will run through July 1, Chan said, there is no covenant for how AHS will run San Leandro Hospital in its current configuration, nor how long. If a deal is struck the facility could be turned over to AHS as early as this October, said Chan.

The proposal is similar to one that broke down earlier this year calling for the county, city of San Leandro and Eden Township Healthcare District to each contribute a 3-year/$3 million subsidy to cover the hospital’s operations under AHS. That framework is also part of this deal, said Chan.

The Eden Township Healthcare District, though, balked at the terms of the previous deal and charged Chan was deliberately threatening the body with dissolution. After losing San Leandro Hospital in a lengthy legal case to Sutter, the District no longer possesses a hospital to oversee.

Those terms appear to be again on the table for the District. Part of the deal involves asking the health care district to contribute a one-time $20 million subsidy to cover the hospital’s second year of operations. The District’s Board of Directors meets for their monthly meeting on Wednesday.

Alex Briscoe, the director of Alameda County Healthcare Services, says the deal on the table today is nearly identical to those discussed in 2009 when Sutter first announced its intention to close the hospital and turned it over the Alameda County Medical Center for acute rehab services. Those beds were lost with the closure of nearby Fairmont Hospital, which the county deemed too costly to undergo seismic upgrading.

One key difference this time around may be Chan’s decision in April to withhold a nearly $2 million county subsidy earmarked for Sutter’s rebuilt Castro Valley Medical Center for trauma services. The subsidy is matched by federal funding doubling its value to Sutter. Chan pulled the item from the board’s consent agenda in what now appears to be a move to leverage the trauma subsidy against Sutter. Under terms of the letter intent, said Briscoe, the county would release the trauma funding to Sutter by May 21.

Chan lauded the deal for its ability to keep San Leandro Hospital in operation while gaining a valuable asset for the community at no cost to taxpayers. “Worst-case scenario, said Chan of AHS, “they own a building and have to decide about other services.”

There is still room for great caution, though, says Briscoe. “I have deep concerns,” he said. “It’s not a done deal.” While this may be the facility’s last great hope for staving off closure after four years of tumult, great uncertainty still remains. “If the deal goes under,” Briscoe added, “Sutter will close the facility.”

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Hayward On! Zermeño to Run for Mayor

HAYWARD//MAYOR 2014 | Hayward Councilmember Francisco Zermeño had a surprising announcement Monday afternoon. He's running for mayor in 2014.

Zermeño’s announcement was unexpected considering that little talk has been heard of him eyeing the mayor’s seat belonging to Michael Sweeney. In a lengthy announcement today on Facebook, he laid out his plans for the June 2014 race.

Known for his trademark slogan, “Hayward On,” and his online posting touting the benefits of “localnomics,” his announcement showed the same enthusiasm for a creating a “strong local economy” in Hayward.

“To accomplish this Vibrant Hayward Economy, I will work to guide individuals interested in pursuing their dreams of having a small, medium, or large business in our City,” said Zermeno, “I will do this aggressively, because it will begin to fill the empty properties throughout our City, thus realizing the potential of underutilized storefronts. This can be done by working with, among other things, our Economic Development Plan and Congressman Eric Swalwell’s ‘Main Street Revival Act’. That in turn will bring new, good paying jobs for our Youth and for our Unemployed.”

Zermeño won re-election last year, but barely beat out former Councilmember Olden Henson for the last open slot on the City Council. Zermeño finished fourth, garnering 15.58 percent of the vote during the primary that also re-elected Councilmember Barbara Halliday and added Al Mendall and Greg Jones.

There are no official competitors as of yet, but Councilmember Mark Salinas is another name long rumored to be eyeing the mayor's office in a city that boasts the East Bay's largest bloc of Latinos with over 40 percent of Hayward's population. Henson, a long-time former council member, has also shown interest in running for the city's top job.

Mayor Michael Sweeney was contacted for comment but has not responded at this time but according to sources Sweeney is uncertain about running for re-election for a third time. In 2010, he ran virtually unopposed and received over 98 percent of the vote.

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Lawsuit Alleges Haggerty Posed His Male Staff Questions Of Sexual Fantasy

ALCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS//GRAY LAWSUIT | The office of Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty was a den of masculine sexual bravado and hostility towards women, including against those who served with him on the Board of Supervisors, says his former chief of staff, in court documents.

Haggerty, according to the lawsuit filed by Chris Gray in Alameda County Superior Court, routinely posed questions of sexual fantasy to his staff, regularly commented on women’s breast sizes and openly watched and displayed pornographic materials on county-issued computers.

In some cases, Haggerty even referred to the sexual attributes of the women he served with on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. As reported last week, Haggerty was accused of watching the infamous sex tapes of former Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer at work, which was briefly linked on this new site, but Gray says Haggerty once posed a hypothetical question regarding a preference between other female supervisors, among others, in a game of “Who would you fuck?”

“Who would you fuck?” Gray alleges in the lawsuit, “Wilma Chan or Gail Steele?” Chan is the current District 3 county supervisor and Steele is the long-time District 2 supervisor who retired in 2010.

Other iterations of the line of questioning also included, “Choose [who you would fuck] or die,” and “I would do [fuck] her and her and her,” Gray alleges Haggerty saying.

Gray, in addition, alleges Haggerty often openly speculated about various women’s bra size and their sexual orientation. “Mr. Haggerty often admitted that when he spoke to females, he could not stop staring at their breasts,” says Gray, in the lawsuit.

Descriptions of a testosterone-infused work place go further, according the lawsuit, where inappropriate photographs of women were proffered by the supervisor. “While on work premises and time, Mr. Haggerty repeatedly and regularly displayed photographs and videos of naked and scantily-clad women that he obtained,” says the lawsuit. “Mr. Haggerty would regularly call over Plaintiff [Gray] and other males to view these photographs and videos and listen to Mr. Haggerty’s sexual commentary about the women.”

In the lawsuit, Gray asserts he was terminated in June 2012 after detailing Haggerty’s alleged transgressions to county counsel. Gray says upon his return from a medical leave of absence due to sleep apnea and diabetes, his day-to-day dealings were extensively scrutinized by Haggerty and his staff. Eventually, Gray was dismissed after 27 years as a chief of staff in Alameda County for using the Internet for his own personal use during work hours.

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Despite Council Support, Debarment Of Goldman Sachs Is Gummed Up

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein says

he won't let Oakland out of its rate swap deal.

OAKLAND//DEBARMENT | During the Great Recession, some financial institutions were deemed “too big to fail,” but as Oakland faces numerous fits and starts in moving forward with the debarment of Goldman Sachs from city contracts, it is becoming clear the administration views the process as “too small to care.”

Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan acknowledged last Tuesday the indecision and confusion surrounding the council's latest attempt to begin the debarment of Goldman Sachs was before the council for the third time since last year. Yet, she noted with faux whimsy, “it mysteriously fails to be agendized properly.”

The disenchantment with Goldman Sachs follows a controversial rate swap agreement between the financial behemoth and the city in 1998 which ultimately led to a bad bet for Oakland and costing it millions every year during times of great budget instability. However, numerous outside investigations have found banking intuitions like Goldman Sachs rigged both sides of the bet to great success.

Proponents of debarment realize the act would be only symbolic and would not amount to any savings to the city. Instead, some council members have framed it as the city defiantly speaking out against the treatment of these big banks toward Oakland, and by extension, the progressive populace of the East Bay. However, behind the scenes, the wheels of government have been locked up by the Quan administration.

Not only has the item been before they council without any additional clarity, but it’s seen the light of day on numerous occasions at the council committee level. Last month in a Finance and Management Committee meeting, Councilmember Desley Brooks blasted the city administrator’s office for failing to provide any information for how the council would proceed with the debarment of Goldman Sachs. Instead, an vague report provided by Assistant City Administrator Scott Johnson was resubmitted.

The footdragging has continued. Last Tuesday, following a request by Brooks for the council to reaffirm its desire to begin debarment, the items were again muddled by the exclusion of language that would allow for the debarment resolution to be amended. Moving forward on such an item, without it being first agendized, would be a violation of state sunshine laws, said an assistant city attorney. Brooks said the wording of the resolution stated at a committee meeting last week intended to "reaffirm" the desire of the council, which Councilmember Libby Schaaf also corroborated. However, the word “reaffirm” was somehow absent from the committee’s minutes.

Despite the confusion, a motion to vote on the resolution was almost successful before Mayor Jean Quan hurriedly interrupted the discussion to allow the assistant administrator to pose whether the proposed legislation would immediately forbid Goldman Sachs from bidding on the city’s bonds without a debarment hearing. Brooks, though, took umbrage with the apparent obfuscation from the mayor.

“It was inappropriate for the mayor to pretend like she wanted a point of clarification when was trying to pressure us in how we set policy for this city,” said Brooks, who believes the question could have been asked by Quan beforehand.

Johnson’s main contention though is practical and logistical. What if Goldman Sachs were to anonymously bid for Oakland bonds and be found to be the lowest and winning bidder? The scenario is “conjecture and speculation,” Brooks said “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

In fact, the wording of the resolution before the council last Tuesday may be inherently in violation of the city’s disbarment ordinance. According to the resolution’s wording, "if Goldman Sachs refuses to terminate the swap agreement within 60 days, then they will be excluded from any future business with the city of Oakland.”

“This is not speculation, said Council President Pat Kernighan, “That is direct language.”

Instead, following a motion by Schaaf to consider approving the “spirit” of the council’s past support for beginning the debarment process, its voted, 8-0, to “reaffirm the sentiment of the resolution.” In essence, the council once against agreed that they agreed last year to begin the act of disbarment against Goldman Sachs.

In the meantime, the robber barons of the new Gilded Age march forward as the victim it robbed through extreme financial chicanery squabble over how to punish the perpetrator. In fact, Oakland will never come close to extracting an eye for an eye from Goldman Sachs. It seems the best punishment possible is choosing which hair to violently pluck from the luxurious and thick shock of hair that rest on head of a financial Goliath.

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Meet The East Bay's Newest Progressive Patron Saint

ILLUSTRATION/Steven Tavares PHOTO/Matt Santos

SUNDAY COLUMN | Linda Lye, the whip-smart attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union was ecstatic. Walking out the Alameda County Administration Building last Valentine’s Day, Lye had just tweeted her followers, “I heart Richard Valle.” No, she didn’t love Valle for his thick, perpetually well-trimmed white mustache, Lye, like a growing number of county residents are starting to realize what many in south county already know, Richard Valle is the East Bay’s new progressive patron saint.

Valle speaking to voters last November

in Union City. PHOTO/Matt Santos

In the past three months, Valle, who was election to the seat he was appointed last year after the resignation of Nadia Lockyer, has been at the forefront of the two of the most contentious issues in the local progressive community, both emanating from the office of Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern.

One involves drones hovering over the East Bay and, the other, undocumented immigrants being held in county jails for extended periods of time. In both case, Valle has been easily most vocal progressive voice on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and possibly the only politician in the region willing to stand up to the stubborn and increasingly authoritarian Ahern.

During a county public protection committee meeting last February Ahern detailed his desire to purchase drones for Alameda County. Valle, though, was not buying it and expressed great doubt whether privacy afforded to residents will be protected by the use of drones spying in the East Bay skies. Of course, comments like these is what facilitated Lye’s amorous tweet afterwards.

However, what makes Valle wholly unique in these parts is both his opposition and support seems based on his own moral beliefs system and devoid of scoring political points or corny grandstanding. Even when the bullying Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty attempted to coax him into a public fight last month, you could also most witness Valle entering into his own personal Zen. There’s a reason for that. Valle is a practicing Buddhist and often speaks of his leadership in terms of harmony with the universe. During his campaign last year against former Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, he seemingly told a group of voters he had never killed a fly. "You can’t take a life unless you can replace it," he said.

Last month, following a spate of incidents in the Hayward area involving undocumented residents being detained by the sheriff and held for extending periods of time under the federal Secure Communities program, Valle singlehandedly drew up a resolution asking the sheriff to relent. In one memorable sequence, Valle asks for respect towards the area's undocumented residents.

“They have families. They have families in our schools. They work in our hotel and our restaurants. They work as care-givers,” said Valle. “Some of them are my neighbors and friends and a lot of them have fear of Secure Communities because they don’t want to get swooped up in that net.”

The dazzling scene of a politician standing up for the needy appeared to have caught the cynical Haggerty off guard and he unloaded on Valle for rocking the boat and cracking the board’s façade of comity. Supervisor Wilma Chan, another solid liberal, agreed with Valle and the resolution passed even as Haggerty condescendingly called it just a worthless piece of paper. “The sheriff can do whatever he wants,” Haggerty said, and that is exactly what worries Valle and many others in the county.

The only other politician south of Oakland who consistently stood for the progressive values of helping the poor, children and minorities as he fought off the right was Pete Stark. He’s gone now, but a vacuum was created. In just a short time, though, a new warrior for the left has taken his seat on the left hand side of Rep. Barbara Lee.

Quotables
“If you don’t take it down, I’m going to burn it down.”
-Scott Haggerty, Alameda County supervisor, May 9, during a public protection hearing in regards to the Golden State Warriors flag flying over San Francisco City Hall. Although, Haggerty made the statement in jest to San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar, no doubt he meant it.

"We can’t keep changing quarterbacks, coaches every other week or year or every two years. We’re gonna be just like the Oakland Raiders, in last place.”
-Noel Gallo, Oakland council member, May 10, telling NBC Bay Area, the recent spate of changes at the command of the Oakland Police Department is creating instability in the city.

The Week That Was
>>>2 OPD chiefs resign: What a wild week in Oakland. In just two days starting last Wednesday, a succession of three police chiefs came and went. Howard Jordan resignation followed the demotion of Anthony Toribio and Mayor Jean Quan named Sean Whent interim chief on Friday. There is a growing belief the major shakeup at OPD was facilitated by the new compliance director Thomas Frazier, who was in town this week following a scathing report on Jordan’s handling of Occupy Oakland in 2011. Frazier also slammed the department’s inability to investigation police misconduct.

>>>America’s Cup crewman dies in the bay: Two-time Olympic medalist Andrew Simpson, a crewman for Sweden’s America’s Cup entrant, Artemis Racing, which is based in Alameda, died while the team was testing a new 72-foot catamaran in the bay. The speedy, some say dangerous iteration of the America’s Cup boat, was just delivered to the team’s headquarters in Alameda earlier this week. Reports say the boat may have broken up in the water and trapping the 35-year-old Simpson underwater.

>>>Pot dispensaries can be zoned by cities: The California State Supreme Court found local municipalities have the right to create zoning restrictions for medical cannabis dispensaries within their cities limits. For some East Bay cities, like Hayward, for instance, the ruling will likely reaffirm what it has already been doing as an opponent of dispensaries. However, neighboring San Leandro is in a gray area. Although it had once followed Hayward’s lead on the issue, its mayor and some council members have begun to lead the city in the opposite direction. The ruling, this week, will certainly embolden the opposition in San Leandro and make this a likely hot-button political issue next election season.

>>>Haggerty sued: Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty was sued in Alameda County Superior Court by his former chief of staff. In the suit, Chris Gray, asks for $110,000 in annual salary and reinstatement of his job. In addition, Gray, who was Haggerty’s right hand man for 16 years, unleashed a barrage of very serious allegations against his former boss, including kickbacks, shady lands deals with county assets, forcing his staff to work on his re-election campaign on the taxpayers’ dime and an accusation Haggerty asked Alameda County sheriffs to cover up evidence that he was arrested across the bay.

>>>AB 180 to Assembly floor: Oakland Assemblyman Rob Bonta’s bill that could one day allow Oakland the right to ban handguns passed committee this week. AB 180 would create an exception from state law allowing Oakland to enact its own gun laws. Gun advocates say, if one jurisdiction is allowed the consideration, more will follow and infringe on the rights of lawful gun users. The bill may not have legs, but many are getting the feeling Bonta is using the high-profile gun control issue, among many issues, to burnish a run for much bigger position in the state’s Democratic hierarchy.

>>>Fruitvale Station trailer debuts: Fruitvale Station, the highly-acclaimed film about the final day of Oscar Grant, the Hayward man who was killed by a BART police officer on New Year’s morning 2008, is coming to theaters later this summer. In the meantime, a trailer for the film starring Michael B. Jordan and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, debuted this week. Watch it here.

Tweet of the Week
“Anybody else notice the name of the new Acting Deputy Chief in charge of Internal Affairs is Outlaw? #oakland #excitingcity”
-@dto510, tweeting May 10, following the major shakeup of leadership at the Oakland Police Department this week.

Best Reads
>>>Glenn Greenwald writes a belated love letter to Rep. Barbara Lee over her Sept. 14, 2001 speech against the authorization of military force that led to the Iraq War. (The Guardian, May 7). 

>>>If the state Republican Party is to ever have a chance, it’s going to come from the ideas of Ruben Barrales and GROW Elect. Here may be the Democrat’s weak spot: ”There are signs of tension among California’s Democrats: between the wealthy whites, who largely represent coastal areas, and poorer, inland Latinos. Latino lawmakers have backed several recent regulatory and education-reform measures, often setting them against members of their own party or their union backers.” (The Economist, May 4).

>>>Exhibit A for why the Bay Area’s corporate media does not have your back: How did they miss the most important part of the scathing Frazier reports against the Oakland Police Department’s top brass? Ali Winston details how some of the most notorious police misconduct cases could be soon revisited. (East Bay Express, May 8).

Voice of the People
“Hey Gray, how long have you known that this was going on with Haggerty before your conscience kicked in?.."
-Anonymous, commenting May 10 about Scott Haggerty's former chief of staff, Chris Gray, suing him this week and alleging corruption on "Fired Chief Of Staff Accuses Alameda County Supervisor Of Major Corruption."

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Forthcoming Oscar Grant Film Is Going To Make Local Authorities Uncomfortable

OAKLAND//OSCAR GRANT | First-time Bay Area filmmaker Ryan Coogler is sure going to make locals who ridiculed the slain Oscar Grant for supposedly being a thug who somehow got what he deserved feel quite uncomfortable over the next year.

Fruitvale Station, the film detailing the last day of Grant’s life before BART cop Johannes Mehserle fatally shot him in the back on New Year’s morning 2009, will hit theaters July 12. The film is already on one the most highly-anticipated films of the year, winning numerous awards and set to be screened at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. A trailer for the film was released Friday:



In the East Bay, we all know the story of Oscar Grant. On a technological note, we all know the prevalence of camera phones at the BART platform that fateful night burgeoned the device's ubiquity. We also realize its presence as the only reason Mehserle was convicted of killing an unarmed man in the back was due to these videos.

From this region’s perspective, however, what this film will do is present a different perspective of the infamous event. In the national media run-up to its opening, what you not hear is racist, connotations, often emanating from the suburbs, that Grant was a gangster and he got what he deserved. Instead, when your 60-year-old father wakes up to watch the Today show, he will likely hear about a film that portrays a flawed, but decent and struggling young man, who did not deserve his fate any more than you do, also a equally flawed and decent person (aren’t we all?).

Conversely, those in the Bay Area who already find heroic attributes in Grant, the film will only be preaching to the choir. There’s a reason you can’t walk around Oakland without seeing Grant’s visage on a wall. It’s because he is a symbol of these times when corporate giants get away with blind robbery while an out-of-control law enforcement apparatus rounds up the weak and the poor and allows them to rot without hope.

Oscar Grant was killed just after the clock struck midnight on 2009. We hardly knew what destruction the Great Recession would wreak at that point, but Oscar Grant foreshadowed what would come next.

When Oakland cops viciously put down a peaceful march in July 2010 protesting the Mehserle decision, the same tactics were used with even greater force over a year later against Occupy Oakland. Every single local print and television corporate media organization blasted your opposition and told you to “get a job” even though you already had one and could actually use another because the one you had couldn't pay the bills.

The band of revolutionaries who took over Frank Ogawa Plaza may appear to the laymen to be protesting an entirely different cause than the one that pervading the same streets a year prior. The seeds of the dissent, however, come from Oscar Grant and so will the next time upset East Bay resident descend en masse at the intersection of 14th and Broadway.

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Oakland Names Its Third Police Chief In The Last 48 Hours

OAKLAND//POLICE SHAKE-UP | Oakland Police Howard Jordan is out. Acting Chief Anthony Toribio is now a captain. So, who’s next? On Friday, Sean Whent became Oakland’s third police chief in just over the last 48 hours.

The dizzying turn of events leaves in its wake a major shakeup at the beleaguered and short-staff department more wide-ranging than just a change at the top.

Interim Oakland Police Chief

Sean Whent.

Whent, a 17-year veteran of the force, is a former chief of the department’s risk management team. He also worked closely with auditing reforms in the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA) at the heart of the current instability at OPD due to its reluctance to conform with the court-ordered reforms that followed the 2003 Riders police corruption case.

When asked by a reporter at a press conference this morning in Oakland if Whent is ready to be chief, he replied, “absolutely.” He added having no thoughts yet on whether he will pursue the job permanently.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said her administration will quickly look to fill the position through a national search, but did not exclude potential candidates in Northern California.

Despite nagging question over whether the changes this week that began with Jordan’s abrupt medical retirement last Wednesday morning was made the by recently appointed compliance officer Thomas Frazier, Quan dodged the question Friday as she did two days prior.

“We own the decision to appoint Sean Whent,” Quan said, also acknowledging Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana in the decision-making process. Although, Quan was non-committal on whether the moves today were Frazier’s call,  she stated a belief hiring power in the NSA rests with the city. However, she acknowledged any person chosen would have to be able to work with the compliance officer and federal monitor.

Toribio, who was seemingly thrust into the limelight two days ago, said Friday, he voluntarily stepped down to become captain under Whent. “It was a personal decision,” Toribio said. “It was as simple as that.” In early comments Friday, Santana was blunter, saying, Toribio “did not want to be chief.”

The changes at the top come at a time when federal officials are applying intense pressure on the department to implement reforms, in addition, to independent consultants like William Bratton calling for changes to how OPD conducts its business.

Quan expressed confidence the new group of leaders at OPD are already steeped in the proposed changes in policing advocated by Bratton and will quickly succeed. While noting OPD’s had a “weak bench,” Quan declared, “This is a better group than we had a year ago.”

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Fired Chief Of Staff Accuses Alameda County Supervisor Of Major Corruption

ALAMEDA COUNTY BOS//LAWSUIT | Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty directed county employees to work on his re-election campaign instead of doing their jobs, used the county sheriff to cover-up an alleged arrest and received numerous kickbacks in return for his support, says his former chief of staff in an explosive lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court.

Chris Gray, Haggerty’s chief of staff for 16 years, says he was fired after confronting his boss with the long list of allegations contained in the 28-page lawsuit. In addition, Gray alleges discrimination, retaliation, harassment, along with violations of various labor laws and whistleblower protections.

Fired in the summer of 2012 sometime after a lengthy leave of absence for medical reasons, Gray says in the lawsuit he was terminated after alleging Haggerty was double-billing the county for vehicle miles.

A previously reported allegation by Gray that Haggerty greased the sale of county surplus land in Livermore to developer John Wong in return for the purchase of Haggerty’s home is also included in the lawsuit. Additionally, Gray asserts Wong was directed to buy the home at Haggerty’s insistence and his preferred asking price despite failing to attract any interest from other perspective buyers.

Most explosive of all is allegations Haggerty instructed his county staff to work on his re-election campaign on the taxpayers’ dime. The allegation is a direct violation of state campaign laws. In the lawsuit, Gray alleges county staff was told to “forego their county work duties and instead perform many hours of work on Mr. Haggerty's re-election campaign.”

It is not clear which or how many campaigns his staff may have been asked to work, but Haggerty’s was unopposed during his last re-election campaign in June 2012. Haggerty has declined to discuss the lawsuit.

Gray also claims Haggerty used the Alameda County Sheriffs’ Association to cover up an assault charge filed against him by a woman across the bay and most salacious of all that he used a county computer to watch pornography, reportedly including an X-rated video of former Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer briefly posted on The Citizen last year.

Gray is seeking lost wages of $110,000 annually plus benefits and reinstatement to his job, along with damages.

In addition, the lawsuit accuses Haggerty of extorting interest-free loans from Gray and others, sought kickbacks in return for his support, bought his children a “pig trailer” with taxpayers’ money and used sports and concert tickets at the O.co Coliseum to entertain potential clients for his trucking company. Haggerty is a long-time member of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, the government body that oversees the publicly-owned facilities.

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Officials Raise Hope For Federal Grant To Hire Cops In Oakland; Tax Measure In '14

ALAMEDA COUNTY/OAKLAND//CRIME | “What’s good for Oakland is good for Alameda County,” said Supervisor Richard Valle Thursday as two Oakland council members lobbied the county for additional resources to help the city grapple with its continuing crime problem.

Oakland officials say a tax measure for additional police officer will certainly be proposed next year while a multi-agency strategy to procure a $33 million federal matching grant for additional cops in Oakland also remains an additional option, albeit, less appealing than much larger grants the county is currently pursuing.

As the Oakland Police Department deals with its chronically understaffed ranks, partnerships with the city and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department have recently coalesced for patrols of some of Oakland’s most notorious streets. However, they have provided mixed results and animosity over which entity should pay for officers injured on the job. Nevertheless, the Board of Supervisors view lowering crime in its largest city as a priority.

Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, often a critic of the administration in Oakland when it comes to public safety, lauded the new leadership on the Oakland City Council, elected last November, for its commitment to public safety. “I would have said something different a few months ago,” he added, however. Although Haggerty stated he was in favor of helping Oakland, he reminded Oakland officials in attendance at Thursday’s Board of Supervisors Public Protection Committee hearing the county already provides funding and resources for Oakland.

Oakland Councilmember Noel Gallo, the District 5 representative who has made public safety his signature issue since being elected last November, said the key to combating crime should be done through a regional approach. “We have to do things differently,” Gallo said. “We’re reaching out to you because the issue of crime is serious.”

Council President Pat Kernighan told the committee, the city will “certainly” place a tax measure for additional cops to the voters as early as 2014. Kernighan said the measure may be similar to the successful parcel tax measure known as Measure Y passed in 2004, but even larger. “We have to have dramatically more revenue,” she said, in the range of $40-50 million just for OPD. Kernighan, however, acknowledged such a ballot measure would be “hard to pass.” Measure BB, an amendment to Measure Y floated in 2010 failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority.

Other funding mechanisms for aiding Oakland increase its police force, now at just over 600 officers include a potential federal grant facilitated through Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee’s office. Alameda County Undersheriff Richard Lucia said a four-year, $33 million grant that could fund 30 additional officers is a possibility, but downplayed its significance, calling it “not great, but better than nothing.” If procured, Lucia said the matching grant’s costs could be split among the state, county and City of Oakland at over $2 million annually for each government body.

A much more appealing and larger $81 million federal matching grant, instead, is on the radar, Lucia said, that could add 100 crime prevention officers in a multi-agency partnership between the Alameda County District Attorney’s office, county probation and social services agency, the California Highway Patrol and OPD.

Kernighan added the much-anticipated report from police consultant William Bratton will be released Friday that will reorganize the OPD into smaller geographical crime areas. Kernighan told the committee, she expects to see positive results from the new measures “within months.”

One of the proposed partnerships between Alameda County and Oakland discussed over the past few months has been the issue of sharing the exorbitant costs of holding police academies. Kernighan called the partnership “not our highest need.” When Haggerty asked to expand upon her statement Kernighan said now former Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan had soured on the idea of sharing police academies with the county sheriff due to practical and logistical issues. Kernighan said Jordan believes the proposal would not be cost-efficient because of the need for graduates to undergo further training in Oakland-specific policies.

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Bill Allowing Stronger Gun Regulations In Oakland Heads To Assembly Floor

Asm. Rob Bonta

ASSEMBLY//GUN CONTROL | A bill that would allow Oakland to enact stronger gun control laws than the rest of the state is moving on to the full Assembly

Assembly Public Safety Committee passed Asssemblyman Rob Bonta’s AB 180 which would allow Oakland, if they choose, with an exception to state law pertaining to the registration and licensing of firearms within its borders and possibly heavily regulating their use.

"It is widely recognized that the people of Oakland are suffering from gun violence,” said Bonta, referring to the rise in crime in Oakland coupled with shrinking police staffing levels. "Given the unique challenges and rampant gun violence facing Oakland, we wish to empower the city to enact a stricter regulatory regime for firearms licensing or registration than is in place for the state."

Oakland Councilmember Libby Schaaf testified at Tuesday’s hearing in Sacramento. Later, at an Oakland City Council meeting later in the evening, Schaaf noted state legislation is rarely tailored to specific cities and their unique problems, but she believes the bill has a good shot at moving through the Assembly.

The National Rifle Association and others in the firearms lobby think otherwise and believe Bonta’s bill will cause havoc for gun-abidding citizens. In a legislative analysis published this week, the NRA said, "The repeal of state preemption would lead to an unpredictable patchwork of local laws. American citizens have right to travel from one jurisdiction to another in California without the fear of violating locally politically motivated ordinances."

The analysis also noted this potential unintended consequence for allowing Oakland stricter gun control laws than its neighboring cities. “If this bill becomes law and the City of Oakland decides to ban all handguns in the City of Oakland how can people who reside in the City of Alameda (which is only accessible through the City of Oakland) transport lawfully owned firearms to and from their city?”

ASSEMBLY HEARING ON GUNS COMES TO OAKLAND Bonta’s office also announced the Assembly Select Committee on Gun Violence in the East Bay, which he chairs, will hold its initial hearing May 17 at the Auditorium of the Elihu M. Harris State Building,1515 Clay Street, Oakland, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

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UPDATE: Oakland Police Chief Abruptly Resigns Citing Health Problems

OAKLAND POLICE | Oakland Police Chief Howard resigned Wednesday morning citing medical reasons.

Jordan was named interim police chief in October 2011 within the thicket of the growing Occupy Oakland movement following the resignation of Anthony Batts, who was sharply critical of city administration's torpid bureaucracy. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan officially named Jordan the permanent chief in February 2012.

His retirement ends 24 years at the department and comes at a time when long-avoided police reforms appear to be on the verge of implementation.

Federal Monitor Robert Warshaw has been highly critical of the pace of the department and administration's adherence to reforms just as former Los Angeles and New York City Police Chief William Bratton was hired by the city as a consultant and the naming of former Baltimore Police Commissioner Thomas Frazier as compliance officer earlier this year.

Below is Jordan's statement today:

This morning I advised City Administrator Deanna Santana that, effective immediately, I am on medical leave and taking steps toward medical retirement. This decision has been difficult, but necessary. Through my 24 years of wearing an OPD badge and uniform, I have emulated the Department’s core values: Honesty, Respect, and Integrity – values I observed in the men and women who worked with me and for me. I know that the members and civilian staff of the Department will carry on these values to generations to come. It has been an honor to serve the City of Oakland.

UPDATE: The East Bay Express reports Jordan's unspecified medical condition is "serious," according to Councilmember Libby Schaaf.

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Grip And Grins, Big Splashes, Two Old Guys Playing Ping Pong

Michael Dukakis in 1988.

PHOTO-OPS | Michael Dukakis, standing in an Abrams tank with a combat helmet seemingly too big for his head, stands as the low point of all political photo ops. Despite the infamy of the photo taken during the 1988 presidential campaign, it is clear some politicians in the East Bay never learn.

In the past few days, three Bay Area public officials provided some follies in two photos and one splashy video.

Fremont's affable Mayor Bill Harrison told a local swim operator he could not possibly finish construction of his new facility before this May. Harrison was so convinced it could not be done that he bet the owner he would jump into the new pool with his clothes on if the deadline was beat. The swim center was ready before May and Harrison showed up last Saturday to take a dive. Here's the photo of the relative small splash that would have made a few Olympic diving judges proud:





Rep. Eric Swalwell's move to bolster his campaign promise to reach across the aisle in Congress led last week to Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) co-sponsoring his "Main Street Revival" bill (also aimed at shoring up crucial support in Hayward and its moribund downtown).


However, the photo Swalwell tweeted violated two rules of photography--the "grip and grin" and the "execution at dawn."

Nevermind, that Collins, whose reputation for outrageous comments is reminiscent of Swalwell's former opponent Pete Stark, the Western New York representative seemed very uncomfortable posing with the East Bay Democrat.

Finally, there was the photo released by Rep. Mike Honda last Friday showing him and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee playing a
game of ping pong at a unspecified fundraiser.

Honda's "Balls of Fury" moment seems like a unforced error--like a pair of human Muppets dueling with paddles--while Ro Khanna's Dream Team of Obama campaign handlers dream up a biting, but
devastating meme out of the stunt.

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NARUM WINS SHORT-TERM SEAT ON PLEASANTON CITY COUNCIL

PLEASANTON//SPECIAL ELECTION | Kathy Narum, a commissioner on the Pleasanton Planning Commission has won a seat on its City Council Tuesday night, according to unofficial final results from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Narum led the four-person vote-by-mail election with 39.58 percent of the 11,812 ballots cast over the past month.

David Miller, regarded as the Tea Party candidate, finished second with 26.93 percent, followed by Olivia Sanwong, the lone Democrat, at 17.17 percent and Mark Hamilton with 15.96 percent.

The Pleasanton City Council voted earlier this year to institute a vote-by-mail election at a cost of $250,000 to replace the open seat on the five-person council after former Councilmember Jerry Thorne won election last November to mayor. Just 28.13 percent of ballots were cast, according to the registrar.

Narum, also a Republican, will serve out the remaining 18 months of Thorne's term, but to the consternation of Alameda County Democrats, conservatives on the Pleasanton City Council now hold a 4-1 advantage. Councilmember Cheryl Cook-Kallio is the remaining Democrat.


PLEASANTON COUNCIL.......#VOTES....PCT%
-CERTIFIED FINAL RESULTS-
Kathy Narum..............4,643...39.58%
David Miller.............3,159...26.93%
Olivia Sanwong...........2,014...17.17%
Mark Hamilton............1,873...15.96%
Write-in....................43....0.37%

UPDATE: The Alameda County Registrar of Voters on Friday certified the final results for last Tuesday's special election in Pleasanton. Changes were made to this article to reflect the news totals and percentage of voters who cast a ballot.

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Poor, Elderly, Kids In Alameda County Stand To Suffer From Budget Cuts

Labor protesting cuts to IHSS last year in

Sacramento. PHOTO/UDWA

ALAMEDA COUNTY//BUDGET | If all else fails, the needy have the county safety net to provide a modicum of health and human services in troubled times. However, after five years of staggering budgets shortfalls, Alameda County is again struggling to maintain services while revenues shrink and demand for aid continues to rise.

From health care, child care and affordable housing to programs that serve the chronically unemployed, children and the elderly, the burdens on the poor continue to disproportionately rise, said numerous county department heads and speakers testifying last week at an hearing on the human impacts of the county’s budget.

Following three years of triple-digit funding gaps, Alameda County expects to pare down in the next month an estimated $80.2 million shortfall for the 2013-14 fiscal year. It follows a similar shortfall a year ago of $88.1 million balanced primarily with the use one-time only funds.

The situation may be no more dire than for county residents fighting to live on CalWORKS, the state’s version of welfare assistance. After cuts to the program in recent years, Lori Cox, director of the Alameda County Social Services Agency, says proposals to lower the time limit for recipients in half from 48 months to 24, will adversely affect over 3,200 families drawing aid, she says is already insufficient to survive.

A family of three can draw $638-a-month, said Cox, which represents a 12 percent cut over five years ago, but the amount is limited to a maximum of $7,600, which falls well below the federal poverty line, she estimates at $19,000 annually. “There's no time limit of poverty,” added Diana Spatz, who works for a vendor that contracts with CalWORKS recipients.

The state of child care and family services is doing no better, although no states cuts are expected on the horizon, said Angie Garling, coordinator for the Alameda County Child Care Planning Council. However, children in the county lost $32 million in funding last year, Garling said, while federal sequester cuts could equal over 200 children losing county services, along with cuts to teachers and shortened days of service.

Marva Lyons, a child care provider in the county, says regardless of cuts, she has to care for the kids she looks after. “I still give them the same care,” she said. “I have to feed them. It’s not something I’m going to give up on.” In addition, Lyons, says she has great reluctance to asking parents to cover the costs left by previous budget cuts. “I know Alameda County knows,” she said. “I want to get Sacramento to understand.”

Alex Briscoe, the director of Alameda County Healthcare Services says over 200,000 county residents, a majority of which reside in Hayward, Ashland and Oakland, do not presently have health care insurance. Although ramped up implementation of the Affordable Care Act starting Jan. 1 will greatly help get residents timely care, Briscoe says 100,000 people will still be without insurance due to unaffordability and inability to inform all of the public.

Nevertheless, Alameda County has pre-enrolled more of its resident in Medi-Cal than any other county in the state, Briscoe says. And, despite tough economic times, the county has chosen to provide indigent health care to an estimated 60,000 undocumented residents even though the Affordable Care Act explicitly denies states funding for non-citizens.

For the elderly and those with disabilities who require In-Home Supportive Services, cuts by the state in 2001 reduced hours by 3.6 percent through this year along with further cuts blocked by a federal court. In the meantime, the number of in-home patients in Alameda County has sharply risen to nearly 19,000, says Randy Morris of the Alameda County Social Services Agency. Not only are in-home patients suffering, but so are caregivers, says Morris, who stand to lose $766 annually in lost wages due to state cuts.

Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan says she counting on an outpouring of personal stories to convince lawmakers in the Legislature to think twice about funding cuts to the safety net. On Wednesday, Chan said the state would have made 20 percent in further cuts to In-Home Supportive Services, if not for the stakeholder speaking in opposition.

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