Opinion: & Another Thing... by Jeannette Sherwin

At least 25 department and agency heads are trying to unionize, including Joyce Hicks (CEDA), Ceda Floyd (City Clerk), Andrea Youngdahl (Aging, Health and Human Services), Patrick Simon (Office of Information Technology), Deborah Edgerley (Budget) and Claudette Ford (Public Works Agency Director). There soon will be a letter from Ceda Floyd to the council saying that theyíre going to unionize in response to the just-passed pay freeze for the highest paid city staff. Every one of the people named above make well over $100,000 ñ and these little piggies want to unionize? Providing service to the public is clearly secondary to getting a fat check.

This is the same Claudette Ford who, I hear, used to get maincures, pedicures and her hair done, on city time.

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We have had 51 homicides so far in Oakland this year. They are principally the work of drug dealers wanting to secure their bits of turf. In almost every case the police are certain that plenty of people in the neighborhood have an idea about whom is responsible, but no one comes forward. The mainstream media, especially television, show us those pathetic little shrines to boys and young men who were "gunned down" "too young". These boys and young men are always models of goodness, which the mainstream media again reports with an invisible straight face. My first reaction is to think of "those people", the murderers and the ones who stay silent, with contempt and outrage.

But there are other residents out there who are in the category of "those people." On a recent Sunday a friend of mine was driving on Oak at the intersection of the BART parking lot and BART headquarters, coming home from the farmersí market. At that intersection she saw a grandfatherish black man and a boy who appeared to be his grandson, both kicking a very young puppy across the street. Watching and making not a move to help were assorted Saab and other white yuppies and a large number of Chinese men. Only my friend tried frantically -- and unsuccessfullyóto find a pay phone or a cop.

Is Oakland becoming a city where the Kitty Genovese murder could take place? Kitty was murdered in a New York City apartment building. Cops discovered that scores of people heard her screams for help, but no one did anything to help her. If we let things like the puppy happen, we shouldnít pretend to be amazed and innocent victims when we have 50 murders in six months.

"Those people" ñ careful, they might be all of us.

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Okay, weíre all feeling sick about the puppy, so hereís this. Some of those fine Friends of Sausal Creek were working near Fruitvale when they came across a maybe five-month old pit bull puppy, emaciated, ill, shy. One person managed to get the pupís trust and took him home. Where is that puppy today? Living on several acres in the Santa Cruz mountains, complete with swimming pool.

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Dan Fontes usually writes the excellent Working Artists Coalition newsletter that has been missing for months from OaklandNews. These emails explain why it has been missing.

From Dan Fontes to Nancy Nadel
Tonight (Monday, June 17th) the Cultural Affairs Commission met and for the 5th time in a year they had no quorum, so they couldn't take any action. These meetings are chronically under-attended by the appointed commission members (they always seem to have excused absences).

Because the members are such respectable folk and because everyone is so darned polite nobody wants to upset anything...they all behave as if it's just a minor annoyance. Now artists who are depending on the CACs approvals are held up yet another month waiting for the CAC and then Life Enrichment / City Council to meet and vote. I don't think it's too much to ask people to show up to 12 meetings a year; it's supposed to be kind of an honor to be asked isn't it?

Can't someone do something about this? By the way, Jerry Brown has now had 20 members leave his art commission during his first term.

I've brought this subject up during open forum and the Chairperson, Chris Johnson agreed too. I thought you might be concerned like we are.

Thank you for caring about the arts!

From Mayor Jerry Brown to Dan Fontes
Dan:
If you were more supportive, more citizens would be willing to serve and stay on the Commission. They all get tired of the hectoring. It is a very frustrating experience with mostly criticism as the reward.

From Scott Bell to Dan Fontes
As a former member of the commission with a good attendance record, all I can say to the mayor is he couldn't wait to get rid of me. Not because I complained of citizen monitoring of our activities, but because I actively opposed his policies of marginalizing the PAAC and manipulating the CAC. Seems like old-fashioned debate is dead in Oakland.

From Dan Fontes to several people
Now he's (Jerryís) blaming me for the lack of CAC attendance! I didn't even say one word tonight! Amazing, I had no idea I was so powerful!

From Gary Turchin to Dan Fontes
And it's your fault there's a budget deficit and the parks are a mess and the schools are a mess and the port steals our land and he's our mayor. You should know better!

From Nancy Nadel to Dan Fontes
We are in the process of reviewing problems with boards and commissions.

The League of Women Voters is taking this on in detail. I've copied this message which includes yours, to Barbara Newcombe of the League to consider a stronger absentee policy as part of their recommendations.

From Dan Fontes to Nancy Nadel

Thank you so much!!!

You may be interested to hear that Dennis Power, who chaired this last meeting, is checking into a move in the opposite direction. During the "agenda building" section of the evening he said he wanted to add an agenda item to next months CAC meeting that included the topic of how to "relax" the quorum rules so that less than 8 of the 15 members of the CAC could legally vote on items. Sanjiv and I kind of laughed when he suggested it but he said it with a straight face so I don't think he was being facetious.

Anyway, thank you again for all your hard work.

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Mayor Jerry Brown was recently interviewed by some clueless twit on NPR. Hereís what he said about the Oakland Military Academy: "I believe that had I been sent to a military academy, as my mother and father threatened, I would have been president a long time ago. They do not tolerate the kind of sloppiness and lackadaisical attitude that hold a man back from his full potential."

Note: Jerry is blaming his parents because he isnít president.

The KIJE Project suggested that, "If Jerry *had* gone to military school, he would have continued on to the service as an officer, where he would have been fragged by his own troops."

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The once sensible mega-water bond planned for this November is turning into another Christmas tree (something on it for every district). Only now it's more like a Christmas turkey. Bond money was originally for Lake Merritt, for the Lake Merritt Master Plan, some Estuary work, lots and lots of drains, sewers, studies and creek work, and money, finally, for Studio One Arts Center.

In order to get Larry Reid's vote for his legacy project, council members Danny Wan and Jane Brunner have been pressured into adding a whole heap of money for the "East Oaklands Aquatics Center." This is an enormous project which will suck money from the General Fund faster than the Oracle debacle did. It's supposed to become self-sufficient with memberships being a large part of the funding game.

Aren't there a few marketing problems here? It's in East Oakland, homicide center of the Bay Area. It calls itself the "East Oakland..." not the "Oakland" aquatics center. The flatlands of East Oakland are populated with very poor people who can't afford the proposed memberships. How many Oaklanders who really love swimming aren't already members of clubs that have pools? How many Caucasian or Asian or Hispanic families are going to send their children into East Oakland for a day of swimming?

Not content with this piece of lard, the arts community is now lobbying to get the Artship funded from this bond. The Artship is the dream of Arts Commissioner Slobodan Paich. He bought a WWII vessel from the mothball fleet, and envisions it as an art and entertainment center. Again, how can you possibly justify pouring money, and lots of it, into the Artship year after year?

Before the council adds the Artship to the water bond, someone ought to call San Francisco and find out how much they pay for insurance on the Jeremiah O'Brien. A lot of people would like an Americans with Disabilities Act friendly arts center.

Finally, it seems to me that buying a mothballed ship is a lot like buying an old nuclear power plant because it's cheap.

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I promise that you will soon see the splendid new OaklandNews design and format, and that you will like it. Soon means very soon indeed, so be prepared