& ANOTHER THING...by Jeannette Sherwin

The buzz from City Hall says this: Most of the city council members and Mayor Jerry are fed up with City Manager Robert Bobb. Look to him getting booted in January. This is one reason why you should vote NO NO NO on Measure CC

(continuing the Strong Mayor form of government). We havenít seen Jerry use the ultimate power of being a Strong Mayor yet on hiring or firing a City Manager. Donít you want to see how being a Strong Mayor works before you renew it?

How can you reward Jerry Brown for lying? You, me, all of us were told, in writing, in a Measure we voted on four short years ago, that we would be given six years to see how things worked. Well? Whatís the matter with waiting?

An OaklandNews Hero
Imagine my surprise when, within the same year that the Kije Project appeared, I received an email from a man code-named Mr. Bee. He suggested that he could tart up the OaklandNews Web site and make it easier for me to use and have articles archive themselves automatically. I replied, ìAre you God?î Nope. He said politely that he, like all of us, was sick to death of the ghastly old OaklandNews look and thought he could help. (A week after Mr. Bee emailed me, Ed Rovera from Redwood Heights made the same incredibly generous offer of a free makeover. Thank you again, too, Ed.)

Mr. Bee is a wizard. He was intuitive, he knew what I wanted and what readers needed. He was amazingly polite when he discovered that computer programs are not intuitive for me. He stayed focused and calm no matter what I did. The night that the new OaklandNews went on-line I was so happy that I went to FTP and decided to clean up the old stuff. ìSheesh, this really is old. I donít recognize most of it,î I thought, and continued to delete items from the public domain. Then, just before bed, I couldnít resist going back to look at the new OaklandNews.

Oh yes. Of course all of you saw this coming. I had erased all of the new files. Everything gone. Toast. Into the void. I emailed Mr. Bee at once and got back this reply, ìCalm down. Donít worry. I can fix it.î And not much later, ìItís repaired. Suggest you holster that delete finger.î It was many months later before I found out how crazy that stunt had made him

Thank you Mr. Bee, thank you more than I can ever say. You were a dream to work with: smart, funny, thoughtful, generous with your time, an anti-geek and, I hope, a friend for life.

Linda Handy for Peralta School District, Area Three
An excerpt from a letter from a friend:
ìThe Peralta unions are making a big effort to get Linda Handy elected. She's running against Brenda Knight, and it's thought that if she's elected there will be four votes on the Board to not renew Chancellor Ron Temple's contract. SEIU Local 790 is backing Handy, as is the Peralta Federation of Teachers.

"My friend who's in the Linda Handy campaign tells me that Brenda Knight is sending her minions out to pull up (or pull down) any Linda Handy signs that they find.

"What I really find interesting is that BWOPA (Black Women Organized for Political Action) is behind Handy. Handy and Knight are both Black. The Peralta Federation of Teachers has a handout on the Handy campaign, and it says that Handy is endorsed by Ignacio, Reid, Wilson Riles, Jr., Dan Siegel, Marge Gibson, Nate Miley, Nancy Nadel, Desley Brooks, Enrique Palacios, and Rebecca Kaplan. Organizations supporting her are said to be, besides BWOPA, the Alameda County Democratic Party, Alameda County Central Labor Council, John George Democratic Club, Green Party, and the National Women's Political Caucus, in addition to SEIU 790 and the PFT.

"Do you think this means that there's a significant element in the East Bay who sees the mess at Peralta and wants to do something about it? Or is it simply that they're fed up with Brenda Knight (who has distinguished herself by being fiercely loyal to the last two chancellors - the illiterate Al Harrison and the autocratic Ron Temple)?

"Linda Handy represents Area 3, which runs roughly from 12 Avenue to Seminary. If you want to contact anyone about her campaign, I can suggest Helene Maxwell at 432-6671, or hmaxwell3@earthlink.net.î

And thatís just the tip of it. Please read the excellent story in the East Bay Express (archives) about the mess at Peralta. Read about Ron Templeís expansion into China, about Brenda Knightís 3,000 embossed pens, about the complete temper tantrum Knight pitched when her fellow trustees refused to pay for an incredibly lavish party forÖher. Just. For. Her. Or force yourself to watch the Peralta shenanigans on Channel 28.

More Buzz
Name two people who want Wilma Chanís Assembly seat. Tic, toc, ticÖ Supervisor Nate Miley does. But so doesÖDistrict Seven Council Member Larry Reid! All together now, try to say ìAssemblyman Reidî and see what your mouth does. Hereís the interesting part: State Senator Don (I Wanna Be Your Next Mayor and I Can Pay for It) Perata has long pushed and pulled Nate Miley. But recently Perata has paid Larry Reid $6,000 for ìconsulting.î Please. What can Larry Reid teach the Don? Is Don paying Larry to stay away from Wilmaís seat?

Measure FF, more thoughts on this stinker:
Mayor Jerry Brown wants ì100 more copsî on Oakland streets at a cost of $10 million over six years. But these ìcops on the streetî are not exclusively on the street. They include forensic technicians, a job usually done by civilians. It includes doubling our homicide investigators from 10 to 20. This is troubling because in Oakland the Oakland Police Officers Association has things arranged so that only sergeants or higher can investigate homicides.

Is there anything here that says, ìBy the way, weíll take back the cops we sent to Oakland Airport after 9/11 because we really, really, really need more cops on our streets right here, right now?î

And how will this be paid for? Additional taxes on our gas, electric, telephone and cable bills, plus nailing (a 14 percent surcharge) out-of-towners that stay at hotels, and a few other things. What IS it with Jerry and his love for regressive taxes (taxes that hurt the poor far more than they hurt the rich)?

As several people have started to mention, the people getting murdered are, for the most part, scum who are involved in dealing drugs, buying drugs and maintaining drug turf. Rockridge and Crocker Highlands and Montclair have not had homicides leaping up all over the place.

And another thing: For five years the city council has approved full funding for all the cops that the Chief of Police wants. And yet every year for five years we have been short by anywhere from 95 to 105 cops. ìTheyíre retiring. Our academies are being robbed of their graduates. Other cities want our seasoned officers. We canít pay enough.î I think that this is a management problem. One year of those excuses should have been enough to make City Hall understand what the problem was going to be.

Finally, why the hell would you trust Jerry with money that is not locked into place (as with the Measure DD funds)? With Measure FF Iíd bet the entire ranch that some of this money, and not a small part, will end up at the Oakland Military Institute and the Oakland Arts School

The person I feel sorriest for in Oakland is Police Chief Rich Word. Here you have a man who, before he was tapped by Jerry for Chief, was probably the best community policing officer in the city, and a cop who made his juniors make it work. The union didnít like it. (Helpful hint: WHO CARES WHAT OPOA LIKES? We the real people loved it.) He had to gut community policing with a smile (no matter what Don Link says in Letters).

OPOA, the Oakland Police Officers Association, is an enormous part of the problem. Talk to them about disability, about desk duty and limited assignments. Try to talk sense into them... you'll get nowhere, because every cop except for the Chief is a member of OPOA. And OPOA owns almost every member of the city council. How can Chief Word manage with that burden?

Then the Chief has to put up with Jerry and Measure FF. Since September Jerry has had an order in to Chief Word to not make any appointments more than three days in advance in case Jerry needs him.

Now, go and read Don Linkís letter and discover how our Police Department recently entered the 20th century. Youíll weep.

We Have a New Award!
Ever since I read about former Oakland police officer Keith Batt turning in four of his ìsuperiorsî I have wanted to make an award in his name. Weíre just going to call it the Officer Keith Batt Award for Public Service, and weíre going to give it to anyone who fights for whatís right, sort of like the late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota. Especially to people whom, by doing the right thing, cause trouble for themselves.

The first recipient of the Officer Keith Batt Award for Public Service is Dan Fontes. Yes, our own Working Artists Coalition Dan Fontes. Tell me if you know of another person in this city who has done more to try to put the Arts, all Arts, onto the map here. There is no one who matches up to Dan. He is a tireless, selfless advocate for everything from dance to murals, from theater to fiber-optic doodads. He has pushed the Cultural Arts Commission in ways that no one else has ever pushed them. He has been treated with purest contempt by Mayor Jerry Brown, a man who broke every promise he made about the arts when he ran for Mayor the first time, and who completely DROPPED the arts from his platform the second time he ran. In spite of this, Dan goes to every Cultural Affairs meeting, testifies, lobbies, pushes to gain a quarter inch of ground. Some day Danís dreams will come true because theyíre so utterly and completely reasonable. In the meantime, a toast to you, Dan Fontes!

Planning Commission: Who Should Be Strangled First?
Jane Powellís best comment to the Planning Commission about Leona Quarry: ìThereís unanimous neighborhood opposition, an inadequate EIR, but the project will be approved anyway. Why donít we just save ourselves some time and jump to the lawsuit?î

Member of the Clue Train: Good for Commissioner Michael Lighty, the only member of the Planning Commission to use his brains and vote against the Leona Quarry development. Thanks, Michael, noted with gratitude. Do you think Jerry will reappoint you?

Itís Our OTHER Most Favorite Award!
Ah, say it, let its bowdlerized French fill your nostrils and ruin your vocabulary. Le Grande Ordure Du Sac de Merde is awarded this week to Executive Director of the Public Ethics Commission, Dan Purnell.

Dieu! Sacre bleu cheese, you say, pourquoi? Because Purnell is the spineless chump who has let himself be bullied into recommending to the Public Ethics Commission that they get rid of the 10-day agenda posting/preparedness requirement and drop it to five days. Just as stupidly, or possibly worse, Purnell wrote language that would have let the city off the hook for posting anything related to the agenda on oaklandnet.com Act of God? Sure. My dog ate the disc? Even better. Power failure, but only at this terminal? Whatever!

Oh come on Dan. You have a secure job; there was no need for this.

For those of you who canít imagine how little time five days is, imagine the monster Leona Quarry draft EIR and final EIR. If you can read the 1945 Encyclopedia Britannica in a week, then you might be able to read one of the LQ documents in five days. But you wonít be able to speak or write sensibly about them. We need 10 days to review all the sneaky things the council is going to try to push past us.

###
My, my, my, how things shake out. In July Peter Smith was suddenly not the attorney of record for Ed de Silva/Gallagher and Burke, the Leona Quarry developers, before the Planning Commission. Did Smith quit? Was he fired? I was told both stories. What OaklandNews can tell you is that Peter Smith ended his partnership with David Stein et al and has had his own office since October 1st.

This is excellent news for David Stein, in a runoff for the District Four Council seat being vacated by Dick Spees. Stein will no longer be tainted by his partnership with Smith in the worst case of guilt by association Iíve ever seen. Smith took his clients with him.

The sad thing is that when Mayor Elihu Harris appointed Peter Smith to the Planning Commission, Smith was one of the best planning commissioners Oakland has ever had. Smith, along with Judy Rowe, Yui Hay Lee, Jean Blacksher and Dolores Jaquez were as neighborhood-friendly as any five commissioners have ever been. No wonder so many of us in District One worked for Peter. We were let down though, and badly.

My Fourth of July
Every year on the 4th of July I wet down the trees at the back of my yard, and also wet down the back fence I share with an Oakland Housing Authority project. The many residents there start playing with fireworks in June, building to a July 4th crescendo. Dogs bark, children scream, fireworks explode and, the finale, gun shots ring. I hate it all. My previous dogs and current cats hate it, my neighbors detest it, and the city does nothing.

This year I was watching the 10 PM news, which is the last thing I remember until I heard someone knocking on my living room window. It was a neighbor, urging me to come outside quickly because my front yard was on fire. Of course. It had been carefully covered six inches deep in gorilla hair (aka shredded redwood bark) as a conservation measure. Turns out that gorilla hair burns very nicely. It had already formed a circle with an 18î diameter that was spreading. Had spread, actually, to the cedar shingles on the front porch of my house, which were also burning.

The fire was started by a youngish (17-20) man who lives at the OHA property. He had one or two much younger children with him. They stood across the street from my house and he aimed his bottle rockets at my front yard. They ran when the fire started.

I called the fire department then went outside and started killing the fire with my garden hose. A deputy chief zoomed up after a few minutes. We stood there on the sidewalk chattingÖand chattingÖand had pretty much run out of small talk when we heard the rumble of a fire truck. We watched it go past the turn for my street, watched it keep going until it was out of sight. The Chief sighed and pulled out his cell phone. (These were the geniuses who were supposed to know the neighborhood and be ready to cover it while the 51st Street station was being rebuilt.)

Finally we were all assembled and a captain was left in charge. There was so much glad-handing, youíd think these guys hadnít seen each other in a year! And so much milling about, time spent when no one did anything - they were there for 45 minutes, and should have been gone in 15.

One firefighter and I had our backs to my house and were looking toward Berkeley. ìI still smell smoke,î I said. ìSmoke? Look at all of that from the Berkeley Marina,î said the firefighter. Just then a four by six cloud of smoke floated over my shoulder from behind my back, by the house. ìLook at that - thatís not from the Marina,î I snapped, really very tired and angry, and damn tired of being nice to these bozos.

Another firefighter agreed with me -- ìUh, Captain? Her house is still burningÖî

The Captain said ìOKî and the guy took a hatchet to my house. Smash, splinter, smash. ìYep, itís on fire,î as they saw a merry little blaze going strong. After that they moved swiftly. I asked the Captain why he was putting up with the ëin your faceí they were getting from the housing authority - every single minute that the firefighters had been at my house, the jerks at OHA had set off more bottle rockets and firecrackers. The Captain got irritated and called the cops, but nothing happened.

And nothing happened is how the cops and firefighters have treated this episode. Cops didnít come out to take a report until I called them; they and the firefighters treated it as trivial. Really. To those of us who pay homeowners insurance, there is nothing trivial about a failure to investigate. My premium will soar, and I wonít recoup my deductible.

Thereís a rational component that says, ë How the hell can you call it ìmischief ì(no kidding) when the bottle rocket was aimed here from a short distance and the moron saw the fire but ran away? How can this not be called arson?í (Right, call it arson and then youíd have to get off your butts and investigate.)

Thereís an emotional component, too. First, Iíve never done anything to the creeps that the Housing Authority foisted upon my neighborhood except to help design a playground for it, make it safer with lighting and fencing, and get a handsome color scheme for the project so it would look pleasing.

Second, you senseless, useless, overpoweringly lazy bastards at OPD and OFD, my mother was asphyxiated in a fire when I was 15. Go to hell.