2011-03-27 "Vacaville man injured by explosive device hidden in newspaper" by Carla Rivera
[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/explosive-devise-hidden-in-newspaper-injures-vacaville-man.html]
An explosive device wrapped in a newspaper exploded in a residential neighborhood in Vacaville on Sunday, seriously injuring a man and forcing the evacuation of more than a dozen homes.
The explosion on Cashel Circle occurred about 10:20 a.m. when the unidentified man went to his driveway to retrieve the Sunday paper, said Mark Mazzaferro, a spokesman for the city, about midway between San Francisco and Sacramento.
The man was airlifted to a local hospital and his condition was unknown, Mazzaferro said. It was unclear whether the victim was targeted or whether it was a random attack. There was also no information on the type of device used.
Authorities evacuated 12 to 14 homes in the surrounding cul-de-sac, while investigators from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives and a bomb squad from nearby Travis Air Force Base searched for more explosives.
Police detectives were also canvassing the community for information on anyone acting suspiciously Saturday night or Sunday morning, Mazzaferro said. Residents within a one-mile radius of the explosion were advised not to approach any suspicious packages.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
2011-03-27 "A life committed to grass-roots organizing" By CHRIS SMITH from "THE PRESS DEMOCRAT" daily newspaper
[http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110327/ARTICLES/110329579/1350?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar]
He's 30 years old, Latino, bilingual, well-read and college educated. He lives in Santa Rosa, he's single and good looking and has forged himself into one of Sonoma County's new generation of community leaders. And he is not Efren Carrillo.
People sometimes ask Davin Cardenas if he aspires to follow the example of Carrillo, who was 27 when he won election as a Sonoma County supervisor, and seek public office.
“Not right now,” said Cardenas, who, unlike the Mexican-born and once-impoverished Carrillo, started out as a middle-class kid in suburban Orange County.
For the present, he's feeling challenged and fulfilled by his work organizing immigrants, students, workers, conservationists and others into a force competing for local power against better-financed interests.
Explaining why he feels no urgency to seek political office, Cardenas said, “Democracy is kept alive by the politicized as much as by the politicians.”
His name first hit the newspaper in 2004, when he'd left Sonoma State University with a liberal studies degree and was organizing the undocumented workers who'd long massed on street corners in Graton into a labor collective.
Cardenas left his position as paid organizer with the Graton Day Labor Center, housed since fall of 2007 in a former portable classroom, and he's just gone to work for the North Bay Organizing Project. It's an effort by nearly a dozen local, liberal advocacy groups to build a grassroots power base “for social justice and public policy reform.”
Member organizations include the Committee for Immigrant Rights of Sonoma County, Living Wage Coalition, MoveOn Sonoma County, Graton Day Labor Center, MEChAcq, LandPaths/Bayer Farm, Roseland English for Adult Learners and Sonoma County Conservation Action. The Quakers' Redwood Forest Friends Meeting is in the process of joining.
Cardenas was there when about hundreds of people met weeks ago at Santa Rosa City Hall to set the project's inaugural objectives. The assembly agreed to seek to impact two local issues: police agencies' impounding of cars from unlicensed drivers, and what kind of residences, workplaces and modes of transportation will surround stations of the planned SMART commuter-rail system.
Cardenas will work with two task forces of about 50 people each that will advocate for undocumented immigrants who currently cannot receive a driver's license, and for people who seek to live and work near SMART stations and to have convenient, non-vehicular access to them.
Cardenas traces his interest in organizing and making leaders of traditional underdogs to the books he read while growing up in Mission Viejo with his Mexico-born mother and Texas-born dad.
Forced by his parents to speak and read Spanish, a requirement for which he became grateful, he discovered the works of Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano and other writers critical of American and European abuses in Latin America, including the support of dictators.
“I began to find my best friends in those authors and historical figures,” Cardenas said. His reading taught him “how the development of the north came at the under-development of the south.”
After graduating from Aliso Niguel High School in 1999, he left Orange County to enroll in SSU's Hutchins School of Liberal Studies. He took to the “small class size, lots of literature, reading, writing and lots of opinionating.”
Cardenas joined the campus MEChA group, part of a nationwide Latino network with a formal goal of using education to strive for “a society free of imperialism, racism, sexism and homophobia,” and later pitched in to donate clothing, food and English lessons to the immigrants who clustered in Graton and hoped to find work.
“We were trying to test ourselves, to challenge ourselves to get off campus,” he said. “We wanted to get involved in a larger struggle.”
That volunteer work led to him becoming the first paid organizer of the fledging Graton Day Labor Center. He said his seven years in the post taught him to forge relationships and foster grassroots leaders, and taught him about himself.
How does Cardenas respond to encouragement that he run for public office? “I don't pay too much attention,” he said.
“I want to be a great professional organizer,” he said. “I love the theory and I love the practice. It's a job that asks us who we are and forces us to confront our personal challenges, which is pretty cool.”
[http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110327/ARTICLES/110329579/1350?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar]
He's 30 years old, Latino, bilingual, well-read and college educated. He lives in Santa Rosa, he's single and good looking and has forged himself into one of Sonoma County's new generation of community leaders. And he is not Efren Carrillo.
People sometimes ask Davin Cardenas if he aspires to follow the example of Carrillo, who was 27 when he won election as a Sonoma County supervisor, and seek public office.
“Not right now,” said Cardenas, who, unlike the Mexican-born and once-impoverished Carrillo, started out as a middle-class kid in suburban Orange County.
For the present, he's feeling challenged and fulfilled by his work organizing immigrants, students, workers, conservationists and others into a force competing for local power against better-financed interests.
Explaining why he feels no urgency to seek political office, Cardenas said, “Democracy is kept alive by the politicized as much as by the politicians.”
His name first hit the newspaper in 2004, when he'd left Sonoma State University with a liberal studies degree and was organizing the undocumented workers who'd long massed on street corners in Graton into a labor collective.
Cardenas left his position as paid organizer with the Graton Day Labor Center, housed since fall of 2007 in a former portable classroom, and he's just gone to work for the North Bay Organizing Project. It's an effort by nearly a dozen local, liberal advocacy groups to build a grassroots power base “for social justice and public policy reform.”
Member organizations include the Committee for Immigrant Rights of Sonoma County, Living Wage Coalition, MoveOn Sonoma County, Graton Day Labor Center, MEChAcq, LandPaths/Bayer Farm, Roseland English for Adult Learners and Sonoma County Conservation Action. The Quakers' Redwood Forest Friends Meeting is in the process of joining.
Cardenas was there when about hundreds of people met weeks ago at Santa Rosa City Hall to set the project's inaugural objectives. The assembly agreed to seek to impact two local issues: police agencies' impounding of cars from unlicensed drivers, and what kind of residences, workplaces and modes of transportation will surround stations of the planned SMART commuter-rail system.
Cardenas will work with two task forces of about 50 people each that will advocate for undocumented immigrants who currently cannot receive a driver's license, and for people who seek to live and work near SMART stations and to have convenient, non-vehicular access to them.
Cardenas traces his interest in organizing and making leaders of traditional underdogs to the books he read while growing up in Mission Viejo with his Mexico-born mother and Texas-born dad.
Forced by his parents to speak and read Spanish, a requirement for which he became grateful, he discovered the works of Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano and other writers critical of American and European abuses in Latin America, including the support of dictators.
“I began to find my best friends in those authors and historical figures,” Cardenas said. His reading taught him “how the development of the north came at the under-development of the south.”
After graduating from Aliso Niguel High School in 1999, he left Orange County to enroll in SSU's Hutchins School of Liberal Studies. He took to the “small class size, lots of literature, reading, writing and lots of opinionating.”
Cardenas joined the campus MEChA group, part of a nationwide Latino network with a formal goal of using education to strive for “a society free of imperialism, racism, sexism and homophobia,” and later pitched in to donate clothing, food and English lessons to the immigrants who clustered in Graton and hoped to find work.
“We were trying to test ourselves, to challenge ourselves to get off campus,” he said. “We wanted to get involved in a larger struggle.”
That volunteer work led to him becoming the first paid organizer of the fledging Graton Day Labor Center. He said his seven years in the post taught him to forge relationships and foster grassroots leaders, and taught him about himself.
How does Cardenas respond to encouragement that he run for public office? “I don't pay too much attention,” he said.
“I want to be a great professional organizer,” he said. “I love the theory and I love the practice. It's a job that asks us who we are and forces us to confront our personal challenges, which is pretty cool.”
Saturday, March 26, 2011
2011-03-26 "César Chávez's grandson inspires Vallejo students from MIT Academy" by Lanz Christian Bañes from "Vallejo Times-Herald" newspaper
[http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_17705971]
For a few brief moments Friday, Vallejo thundered with the iconic words, "Sí, se puede."
"It's not just a catchy phrase. It's a way of life, of living. It's a mindset," said Juan Chávez Villarino.
Villarino's legendary grandfather César Chávez used the saying, roughly translated to, "Yes, it can be done," to organize Central Valley farm workers in strikes and civil disobedience in the struggle for better working conditions.
And it was that phrase that inspired Barack Obama to coin his presidential campaign slogan of "Yes, we can."
Chávez would go on to co-found the National Farm Workers Association, which evolved into the United Farm Workers. March 31, Chávez' birthday, is celebrated in California as César Chávez Day.
Wearing a red UFW shirt, Villarino, 28, spoke to Mare Island Technology Academy at the behest of a Spanish II class members. They called the César E. Chávez Foundation, which sent Villarino.
"It's pretty cool they took that initiative," said Villarino, whose speech emphasized the importance of education.
Villarino is a recent University of California, Santa Cruz graduate. Chávez himself had to drop out of school in eighth grade to help support his family, Villarino said, who told the students they should pursue their educations.
"(Chávez) was a product of his environment. He had to leave school to support his family. If he could, he would have stayed there," Villarino said.
Villarino described his grandfather as a man who sacrificed a chance at a comfortable life to become the voice of those who could not speak for themselves. Like many of his cousins, Villarino was born on the Delano farm that was Chávez's home and headquarters.
It was in Delano, that Filipino-American farm workers led by Larry Itliong initiated a strike and boycott against grape growers in 1965. They were joined by Chávez's organization, largely made up of Mexican-Americans. Villarino said his grandfather emphasized nonviolent civil disobedience -- to the point of going on hunger strikes -- even when threatened with violence.
"It's a way of revolting against the status quo ... not with guns, but with picket signs," Villarino told the students, assembled in the gym of nearby Continentals of Omega Boys and Girls Club.
As legend has it, the Filipino-Americans and Mexican-Americans would begin their meetings with a "unity" or "solidarity" clap to bridge the language barrier. The clap would start slow and in unison before speeding up and ending in cheering.
Villarino led the students in the solidarity clap at the beginning and end of his presentation. The students also answered Villarino's question of "¿Se puede?" ("Is it possible?") with Chávez's famous "Sí, se peude."
A grape boycott lasted five years, leading to a significant victory for farm workers' rights and propelling Chávez to national attention. His work would take him across the globe, Villarino said.
"(But) when he was home, he made time for his family," Villarino said, remembering softball games and his 32 cousins taking long, agonizing turns to open their Christmas presents one at a time.
Villarino said he is proud of his grandfather and the legacy he left behind, admiring him for his wisdom despite only achieving an eighth-grade education.
"Imagine what he could have done heading off to a four-year university," Villarino said.
Juan Ch vez Villarino, the grandson of UFW founder C\ésar Ch vez, speaks to students of Vallejo's MIT Academy about the legacy of his grandfather and the importance of continuing to improve and strive for excellence. (Mike Jory/Times-Herald)
[http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_17705971]
For a few brief moments Friday, Vallejo thundered with the iconic words, "Sí, se puede."
"It's not just a catchy phrase. It's a way of life, of living. It's a mindset," said Juan Chávez Villarino.
Villarino's legendary grandfather César Chávez used the saying, roughly translated to, "Yes, it can be done," to organize Central Valley farm workers in strikes and civil disobedience in the struggle for better working conditions.
And it was that phrase that inspired Barack Obama to coin his presidential campaign slogan of "Yes, we can."
Chávez would go on to co-found the National Farm Workers Association, which evolved into the United Farm Workers. March 31, Chávez' birthday, is celebrated in California as César Chávez Day.
Wearing a red UFW shirt, Villarino, 28, spoke to Mare Island Technology Academy at the behest of a Spanish II class members. They called the César E. Chávez Foundation, which sent Villarino.
"It's pretty cool they took that initiative," said Villarino, whose speech emphasized the importance of education.
Villarino is a recent University of California, Santa Cruz graduate. Chávez himself had to drop out of school in eighth grade to help support his family, Villarino said, who told the students they should pursue their educations.
"(Chávez) was a product of his environment. He had to leave school to support his family. If he could, he would have stayed there," Villarino said.
Villarino described his grandfather as a man who sacrificed a chance at a comfortable life to become the voice of those who could not speak for themselves. Like many of his cousins, Villarino was born on the Delano farm that was Chávez's home and headquarters.
It was in Delano, that Filipino-American farm workers led by Larry Itliong initiated a strike and boycott against grape growers in 1965. They were joined by Chávez's organization, largely made up of Mexican-Americans. Villarino said his grandfather emphasized nonviolent civil disobedience -- to the point of going on hunger strikes -- even when threatened with violence.
"It's a way of revolting against the status quo ... not with guns, but with picket signs," Villarino told the students, assembled in the gym of nearby Continentals of Omega Boys and Girls Club.
As legend has it, the Filipino-Americans and Mexican-Americans would begin their meetings with a "unity" or "solidarity" clap to bridge the language barrier. The clap would start slow and in unison before speeding up and ending in cheering.
Villarino led the students in the solidarity clap at the beginning and end of his presentation. The students also answered Villarino's question of "¿Se puede?" ("Is it possible?") with Chávez's famous "Sí, se peude."
A grape boycott lasted five years, leading to a significant victory for farm workers' rights and propelling Chávez to national attention. His work would take him across the globe, Villarino said.
"(But) when he was home, he made time for his family," Villarino said, remembering softball games and his 32 cousins taking long, agonizing turns to open their Christmas presents one at a time.
Villarino said he is proud of his grandfather and the legacy he left behind, admiring him for his wisdom despite only achieving an eighth-grade education.
"Imagine what he could have done heading off to a four-year university," Villarino said.
Juan Ch vez Villarino, the grandson of UFW founder C\ésar Ch vez, speaks to students of Vallejo's MIT Academy about the legacy of his grandfather and the importance of continuing to improve and strive for excellence. (Mike Jory/Times-Herald)
2011-03-26 "10-Point Plan for Local Revenue to Save Quality Public Education in Oakland" by Ben Visnick, Past President/OEA
Ben Visnick currently teaches USA History and Driver Education at Oakland High School. His wife is a guidance counselor at Skyline High and his son is a student at Montera Middle School.
(labor donated) http://oaklandea.org
On March 26th, the Oakland Education Association (OEA) teacher's union responded to over 500 layoff notices by holding a town hall in Oakland's City Hall to establish consensus between teachers, parents, students and elected officials so that solutions can be found and implemented to avoid the potential massive layoffs and disruption in Oakland schools. The 10-Point Plan is a guide to raising revenue locally that California is set to deny school districts statewide.
While the current Oakland Board of Education (BOE) correctly laments the fact that state and federal resources are dwindling, they have done nothing collectively since regaining “local control” to hold corporate Oakland accountable for an increase in funds to our public schools. Instead, the BOE continues to vote for charter schools which drain students and revenue from Oakland Unified (OUSD). Meanwhile, the Alameda County Office of Education rubber stamps rejected Oakland charters which lead to further lay-offs of unionized educators and classified employees as well as more decentralized inefficiencies in the operation of our public schools. Therefore, it is time to raise/save revenue here in Oakland and Alameda County for our beleaguered school districts.
We cannot count on Governor Jerry Brown. His attempt to reach accommodation with Republican politicians has already led to more cutbacks in higher education/social services and threatens us with two-tier pension “reform”. Therefore, Oakland must serve as a model for what California legislators should be doing to promote progressive taxation to solve the worst budget crisis since the Great Depression.
Local Proposals for Progressive Taxation
1) We need local taxation which exempts middle and low income homeowners and renters in Oakland. Very high income residents here can afford to pay more for the common wealth of our society. The top 1% receives almost 25% of all income in the USA and Oakland, California, is no exception. A Graduated Oakland Income Tax on single wage earners making over the Social Security Cap (currently $106,800) can be instituted at a rate which begins at 1% for payroll income over the cap. For example, a single person either residing or working in Oakland earning $125,000 per year could pay 1% to the city and school district ($125,000-$106,800) on $18,200 or $182 per year. Ultra high single income earners would pay 2% starting with $206,800, 3% at $306,800, etc. Two-income wage earning families would start paying the local Oakland income tax at $206,800. Million dollar earners would, of course, pay most of this local tax which should be a joint city/school district effort.
Let’s see how this local income tax would work. Oakland residents Governor Jerry Brown, Alameda County Superintendent Sheila Jordan, and Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith would all be required to pay this tax because they earn over $106,800 as a single person or over $206,800 as a two-income married couple. We will use Tony Smith and his $265,000 annual salary here as an example. Tony is married and we assume his wife is not currently working. He would pay 2% on the difference between $265,000 and $106,800 or 2% of $158,200 for a total of $3,164. Is this too much for highly paid managers like Dr. Smith to pay to the city and school district?
2) We also need additional corporate taxes targeted at the most profitable Oakland businesses. The following companies will not leave the public Port of Oakland and are a fair source of tax revenue for our city and school district:
Southwest Airlines, Federal Express, United Parcel Service, American President Lines, Matson Shipping, Union Pacific, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe
A simple tax on every container or airline ticket to be paid by these companies could provide many millions for our young people’s education and save the city millions of dollars for the cost of incarceration and poverty in the future.
3) While our professional sports teams are owned by multi-millionaires, they have shown no substantive concern for the neighboring youth of East Oakland. One owner, Lew Wolff, has continued to disrespect this city with his stated desire to move the 4-time World Champion Oakland Athletics to San Jose! Instead, he, Al Davis, and Joe Lacob need to become a part of, not apart from, this community by agreeing to pay for a ticket surcharge on luxury suites, courtside, and box seats for the affluent fans who use our public Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum/Arena facilities for their sporting pleasure.
Saving Revenue -
4) Internally, the OUSD has done a poor job of managing its facilities. There are way too many schools and “schools within schools” that waste resources by requiring more principals and vice principals than are necessary for quality education. For example, there are over 30 separate secondary schools in OUSD! Furthermore, head teachers can be elected by their peers to oversee schools which could eliminate many administrators who have been out of the classroom for decades. Understaffed small schools have never been and are especially not now sustainable in Oakland. McClymonds, Fremont, and Castlemont High must be reconfigured with a full curriculum that includes field trips, a library, counselors, AP classes, foreign language choices, art and music, journalism, debate, drama, physical education options, driver/safety education, and career academies along with A-G classes.
5) In Alameda County, the existence of very small school districts requires more economies of scale. If Piedmont and Albany can share a fire chief while Emeryville and Piedmont share paramedic and animal control services, there is no reason why school districts cannot do the same. Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith ran Emeryville USD when it was coming out of state control and knows the limitations of small districts. Both Emeryville and Piedmont can share services with Oakland USD, while also working with the Peralta Community Colleges for expanded public/public partnerships to save student programs and the jobs of certificated and classified school employees while cutting administrative overhead. The lack of leadership from the Alameda County Office of Education on the above common sense proposal is striking.
Giving Something Back -
6) Vendors who earn significant profits from OUSD and the City of Oakland must step up their support for the citizens of our city by freezing and reducing their rates. Whether it is Keenan Associates, Kaiser Permanente, Health Net, Delta Dental, or Vision Service Plan, these companies owe our youth nothing less.
7) P, G&E, AT&T, and Waste Management must also contribute to solving the economic crisis facing our city’s fire, safety, and educational institutions. They, too, must freeze and reduce the rates they charge the public.
Human Resources vs. Modernization -
8) As we watch the devastation caused by the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami, one is reminded that the headquarters of the OUSD resides in a building (1025 Second Avenue) that is not earthquake safe under the Education Code. Yet children and adults attend meetings in its inadequate Board Meeting Room and central office workers are at risk on a daily basis. Demolishing this unsafe building and leasing the valuable land next to Lake Merritt’s Channel is long overdue. It would raise revenue and allow the down-sized administration to move to a safer district location.
It is a fact that as OUSD seeks to lay-off hundreds of educators the district’s schools are being renovated with local and state bond money. Ironically, Oakland will soon have first class school facilities without the teachers to staff them!
During this emergency financial crisis, the state must allow some funds for buildings to be shifted temporarily to human resources with voter approval. It makes no sense to have new physical plants without physical education and physical science instructors!
Enrollment Numbers and Site Budgeting -
9) Part of the financial problems facing urban and rural school districts relates to a past change in the state funding of schools based on “Average Daily Attendance” (ADA) as a percentage of actual enrollment. In the 1990s, school districts received funds for all enrolled students including those who were truant or ill. Now, our individual Oakland schools lose roughly between 1% and 10% of their funds due to the change in state law which eliminated ADA for absent and sick students. This state policy is exacerbated by OUSD’s own “Results Based Budgeting” (RBB) policy which penalizes the budgets of our flatland school neighborhoods where tardiness and absenteeism are generally greater.
School sites are also being told that they must hire “consultants” with Title I and Grant monies rather than spend this categorical revenue directly in the classroom. This places OUSD under the 55% state requirement for minimum instructional expenditures while tens of millions of dollars is spent on private programs that often demonstrate little success in improving the academic and social needs of our students.
The state must return to funding California public schools based on actual enrollment so that we have the resources to hire anti-truancy workers and more guidance counselors to get our youth off the streets and into the classrooms. Furthermore, OUSD needs to abandon RBB which encourages school principals to practice age discrimination in hiring and retaining experienced staff. Due to RBB, many Oakland elementary schools have a disproportionate number of new and “cheaper” teachers because veteran teachers are too “expensive” for their limited budgets. Much of the so-called debt OUSD owes to the State of California is based on the lack of ADA due to the above along with the fiscal mismanagement of OUSD under state control from 2002 to 2009.
That is why it is both morally and financially proper for the superintendent and school board along with mayor and city council to demand that the debt to the state be canceled immediately!
Why is there Always Money for War and Bail Outs? -
10) Finally, a growing percentage of the budgets of school district, city, county, and state governments is consumed by debt service paid to large banks, hedge funds, and insurance companies. It is time to raise the demand that the current and future generations of children and youth not be sacrificed to the greedy capitalists running Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Chase as well as the AIGs of this nation who are bailed out while they foreclose on the homes of many of the students we teach. The school districts and cities of America must not file for bankruptcy, but collectively tell the banks and bond holders that we are canceling their usurious interest payments to save our schools, fire departments, public hospitals, transportation infrastructure, and services for the disabled and destitute.
The above draft plan is offered based on my experience as an Oakland public schools teacher/parent and OEA leader for over 30 years. Your ideas and comments are welcome whether you are a teacher, school employee, parent, city employee, student or Oakland citizen concerned with the future of public education and essential services.
Ben Visnick currently teaches USA History and Driver Education at Oakland High School. His wife is a guidance counselor at Skyline High and his son is a student at Montera Middle School.
(labor donated) http://oaklandea.org
On March 26th, the Oakland Education Association (OEA) teacher's union responded to over 500 layoff notices by holding a town hall in Oakland's City Hall to establish consensus between teachers, parents, students and elected officials so that solutions can be found and implemented to avoid the potential massive layoffs and disruption in Oakland schools. The 10-Point Plan is a guide to raising revenue locally that California is set to deny school districts statewide.
While the current Oakland Board of Education (BOE) correctly laments the fact that state and federal resources are dwindling, they have done nothing collectively since regaining “local control” to hold corporate Oakland accountable for an increase in funds to our public schools. Instead, the BOE continues to vote for charter schools which drain students and revenue from Oakland Unified (OUSD). Meanwhile, the Alameda County Office of Education rubber stamps rejected Oakland charters which lead to further lay-offs of unionized educators and classified employees as well as more decentralized inefficiencies in the operation of our public schools. Therefore, it is time to raise/save revenue here in Oakland and Alameda County for our beleaguered school districts.
We cannot count on Governor Jerry Brown. His attempt to reach accommodation with Republican politicians has already led to more cutbacks in higher education/social services and threatens us with two-tier pension “reform”. Therefore, Oakland must serve as a model for what California legislators should be doing to promote progressive taxation to solve the worst budget crisis since the Great Depression.
Local Proposals for Progressive Taxation
1) We need local taxation which exempts middle and low income homeowners and renters in Oakland. Very high income residents here can afford to pay more for the common wealth of our society. The top 1% receives almost 25% of all income in the USA and Oakland, California, is no exception. A Graduated Oakland Income Tax on single wage earners making over the Social Security Cap (currently $106,800) can be instituted at a rate which begins at 1% for payroll income over the cap. For example, a single person either residing or working in Oakland earning $125,000 per year could pay 1% to the city and school district ($125,000-$106,800) on $18,200 or $182 per year. Ultra high single income earners would pay 2% starting with $206,800, 3% at $306,800, etc. Two-income wage earning families would start paying the local Oakland income tax at $206,800. Million dollar earners would, of course, pay most of this local tax which should be a joint city/school district effort.
Let’s see how this local income tax would work. Oakland residents Governor Jerry Brown, Alameda County Superintendent Sheila Jordan, and Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith would all be required to pay this tax because they earn over $106,800 as a single person or over $206,800 as a two-income married couple. We will use Tony Smith and his $265,000 annual salary here as an example. Tony is married and we assume his wife is not currently working. He would pay 2% on the difference between $265,000 and $106,800 or 2% of $158,200 for a total of $3,164. Is this too much for highly paid managers like Dr. Smith to pay to the city and school district?
2) We also need additional corporate taxes targeted at the most profitable Oakland businesses. The following companies will not leave the public Port of Oakland and are a fair source of tax revenue for our city and school district:
Southwest Airlines, Federal Express, United Parcel Service, American President Lines, Matson Shipping, Union Pacific, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe
A simple tax on every container or airline ticket to be paid by these companies could provide many millions for our young people’s education and save the city millions of dollars for the cost of incarceration and poverty in the future.
3) While our professional sports teams are owned by multi-millionaires, they have shown no substantive concern for the neighboring youth of East Oakland. One owner, Lew Wolff, has continued to disrespect this city with his stated desire to move the 4-time World Champion Oakland Athletics to San Jose! Instead, he, Al Davis, and Joe Lacob need to become a part of, not apart from, this community by agreeing to pay for a ticket surcharge on luxury suites, courtside, and box seats for the affluent fans who use our public Oakland/Alameda County Coliseum/Arena facilities for their sporting pleasure.
Saving Revenue -
4) Internally, the OUSD has done a poor job of managing its facilities. There are way too many schools and “schools within schools” that waste resources by requiring more principals and vice principals than are necessary for quality education. For example, there are over 30 separate secondary schools in OUSD! Furthermore, head teachers can be elected by their peers to oversee schools which could eliminate many administrators who have been out of the classroom for decades. Understaffed small schools have never been and are especially not now sustainable in Oakland. McClymonds, Fremont, and Castlemont High must be reconfigured with a full curriculum that includes field trips, a library, counselors, AP classes, foreign language choices, art and music, journalism, debate, drama, physical education options, driver/safety education, and career academies along with A-G classes.
5) In Alameda County, the existence of very small school districts requires more economies of scale. If Piedmont and Albany can share a fire chief while Emeryville and Piedmont share paramedic and animal control services, there is no reason why school districts cannot do the same. Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith ran Emeryville USD when it was coming out of state control and knows the limitations of small districts. Both Emeryville and Piedmont can share services with Oakland USD, while also working with the Peralta Community Colleges for expanded public/public partnerships to save student programs and the jobs of certificated and classified school employees while cutting administrative overhead. The lack of leadership from the Alameda County Office of Education on the above common sense proposal is striking.
Giving Something Back -
6) Vendors who earn significant profits from OUSD and the City of Oakland must step up their support for the citizens of our city by freezing and reducing their rates. Whether it is Keenan Associates, Kaiser Permanente, Health Net, Delta Dental, or Vision Service Plan, these companies owe our youth nothing less.
7) P, G&E, AT&T, and Waste Management must also contribute to solving the economic crisis facing our city’s fire, safety, and educational institutions. They, too, must freeze and reduce the rates they charge the public.
Human Resources vs. Modernization -
8) As we watch the devastation caused by the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami, one is reminded that the headquarters of the OUSD resides in a building (1025 Second Avenue) that is not earthquake safe under the Education Code. Yet children and adults attend meetings in its inadequate Board Meeting Room and central office workers are at risk on a daily basis. Demolishing this unsafe building and leasing the valuable land next to Lake Merritt’s Channel is long overdue. It would raise revenue and allow the down-sized administration to move to a safer district location.
It is a fact that as OUSD seeks to lay-off hundreds of educators the district’s schools are being renovated with local and state bond money. Ironically, Oakland will soon have first class school facilities without the teachers to staff them!
During this emergency financial crisis, the state must allow some funds for buildings to be shifted temporarily to human resources with voter approval. It makes no sense to have new physical plants without physical education and physical science instructors!
Enrollment Numbers and Site Budgeting -
9) Part of the financial problems facing urban and rural school districts relates to a past change in the state funding of schools based on “Average Daily Attendance” (ADA) as a percentage of actual enrollment. In the 1990s, school districts received funds for all enrolled students including those who were truant or ill. Now, our individual Oakland schools lose roughly between 1% and 10% of their funds due to the change in state law which eliminated ADA for absent and sick students. This state policy is exacerbated by OUSD’s own “Results Based Budgeting” (RBB) policy which penalizes the budgets of our flatland school neighborhoods where tardiness and absenteeism are generally greater.
School sites are also being told that they must hire “consultants” with Title I and Grant monies rather than spend this categorical revenue directly in the classroom. This places OUSD under the 55% state requirement for minimum instructional expenditures while tens of millions of dollars is spent on private programs that often demonstrate little success in improving the academic and social needs of our students.
The state must return to funding California public schools based on actual enrollment so that we have the resources to hire anti-truancy workers and more guidance counselors to get our youth off the streets and into the classrooms. Furthermore, OUSD needs to abandon RBB which encourages school principals to practice age discrimination in hiring and retaining experienced staff. Due to RBB, many Oakland elementary schools have a disproportionate number of new and “cheaper” teachers because veteran teachers are too “expensive” for their limited budgets. Much of the so-called debt OUSD owes to the State of California is based on the lack of ADA due to the above along with the fiscal mismanagement of OUSD under state control from 2002 to 2009.
That is why it is both morally and financially proper for the superintendent and school board along with mayor and city council to demand that the debt to the state be canceled immediately!
Why is there Always Money for War and Bail Outs? -
10) Finally, a growing percentage of the budgets of school district, city, county, and state governments is consumed by debt service paid to large banks, hedge funds, and insurance companies. It is time to raise the demand that the current and future generations of children and youth not be sacrificed to the greedy capitalists running Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Chase as well as the AIGs of this nation who are bailed out while they foreclose on the homes of many of the students we teach. The school districts and cities of America must not file for bankruptcy, but collectively tell the banks and bond holders that we are canceling their usurious interest payments to save our schools, fire departments, public hospitals, transportation infrastructure, and services for the disabled and destitute.
The above draft plan is offered based on my experience as an Oakland public schools teacher/parent and OEA leader for over 30 years. Your ideas and comments are welcome whether you are a teacher, school employee, parent, city employee, student or Oakland citizen concerned with the future of public education and essential services.
Friday, March 25, 2011
2011-03-25 "Right To Share Food No. 1"
Hello, My name is Michael “Waterman” Hubman of the charity Watercorps and organizer with the Right To Share Food Coalition. Right To Share Food was formed in response to the June 2, 2010 take down by government of the Towne Avenue Soup Line, and continued harassment by government of ongoing efforts to feed the poor and homeless population of Skid Row Los Angeles. Prior to the take down of the soup line, volunteers from the World Agape Drop In Center had been feeding the poor and homeless of Eastern Skid Row Los Angeles six days a week at the same location for over five years.
The Right To Share Food Extravaganza II (The first one happened on September 30, 2010.) was scheduled to take place on Sunday March 20, 2011. The date for this event was selected to coincide with the vernal equinox and first day of spring. We had no way of knowing that mother nature had arranged for a fast moving cold front and rain storm to sweep through the region that very day. This weather event also managed to drench the runners, staff and spectators of the Los Angeles Marathon.
The players at this Right To Share Food Event were Tanya and her group with GuerilLA Food Not Bombs, James and his group from World Share (formally World Agape), General Dogon of LA CAN and myself.
My day started in the morning when I visited three groups who were feeding the homeless and the poor on Gladys Street and Towne Avenue . I invited them to our event, and encouraged them to join our coalition. I said that it was important to organize to defend their right to share food. All of the feeders were glad to hear that they had friends who were sticking up for them and their right to share food. One lady told me; “you mean you are for us and not against us?”
After my visit with the feeders, I spent the rest of the morning with James at World Share puzzling over the Doppler Radar images on line. Would we get a break in the weather? Not likely. It looked like our event was scheduled for the middle of the storm.
At one in the afternoon, I went to the corner of Sixth and Towne to sit in my car and greet anyone who happened to show up for our event. I sat and watched as sheets of rain fell on the empty street. All of the players were prepared to come out and get drenched. Tanya and her group were cooking James and General Dogon were ready to go. I told them to stay dry and hold up until I called. Then it occurred to me that we should move this event indoors to World Share. I called and cleared it with James. I called Tanya and General Dogon with the change of venue.
I drove around and verbally invited anyone who was still out on the street, mostly on San Julian Street and at The Midnight Mission courtyard, to come and enjoy a hot meal and to eat inside.
Tanya arrived with a great vegetarian meal. I told the people who were assembled that today’s meal was special in that we were celebrating our right to share food. Tanya and her group served up rice beans and vegetable soup.
General Dogon spoke about his history as a lifelong resident of Skid Row. He talked about Skid Row Los Angeles being the most heavily policed place in America . He spoke about the human and civil rights work done at LA CAN.
I spoke about the history and development of Right To Share Food. I spoke about the right to share food being a fundamental human right. I said that we believe that our right to share food is protected under the freedom of association clause of the first amendment of the constitution.
For the first time; I publicly advocated for the recall of Councilmember Perry. I said I had been avoiding talking about recall until I could secure some backing for such an effort. I said that the recall concept was not going anywhere unless we started talking about it.
I closed by saying that Councilmember Perry thought she was just dumping on some little people when she caused the shutdown of the Towne Avenue Soup Line. She did not know that by causing the take down of the soup line that she was jump starting the right to share food movement.
James thanked every one for coming. We put away the food. James started the movie that had been paused for the Right To Share Food event.
All in all; we had a good day.
Please read the following Right To Share Food Position Paper.
"Right To Share Food"
At Right To Share Food, we believe that sharing food with our brothers and sisters is a fundamental human right. We believe that sharing food is a constitutionally protected activity, guaranteed under the freedom of association clause of the first amendment of The Constitution of the United States of America . We believe that sharing food outside and in public is an equally protected activity. Our goal is to promote cooperation among people in order to exercise and defend this right.
---
Hello,
Let me introduce myself. My name is Michael Hubman. I am the founder and the facilitator of Right To Share Food and member of Right To Share Food Coalition. Since 2007 I have been lobbying on behalf of the human and civil rights of homeless people. I operate Watercorps, a charity that gives bulk drinking water to the homeless people living on the streets of Skid Row Los Angeles.
You might ask; why do we feel the need to organize and lobby to protect and exercise our right to share food? The answer is, that it is a common occurrence in contemporary society, for those who are morally and spiritually motivated, to want to help others who find themselves in a state of need. This state of need is often manifested by poverty, homelessness and destitution. Those who desire to come to the aid of their less fortunate brothers and sisters, commonly express this aid by sharing food.
Conflict occurs when government, most often municipalities, attempt to effect social engineering by restricting or forbidding the sharing of food on public property, the commons and even private property. I liken this kind of social engineering by cities to wildlife management. The problem is, we are talking about our human brothers and sisters, and not unwanted pigeons or other pesky wild life. Why?
I can’t speak for these municipal wild life managers. I can only guess. My guess as to why the sovereign would act in such a selfish and mean spirited manner is greed. Poverty and homelessness are commonly viewed by some who are not similarly afflicted as messy and unsightly. The sight of homeless and poor people lining up to receive a charitable meal makes it hard to convince oneself and others that all is well in their area of interest. When poverty and homelessness are not sufficiently hidden and dispersed, it tends to raise concerns among some who would worry about depressed commerce and property values.
When homeless people gather in public, especially in numbers, they often generate a response by government to harass them with the goal of dispersing them. The dispersing of the homeless to make them less visible robs them of community and society and denies them their right to associate. Harassing the people who want to share food and aid the homeless and poor is just another tactic to disperse them and deny them the right to associate and assemble.
Sincerely, Michael Hubman [714-746-1203] [714-746-1203] [michaelcirclewider@yahoo.com][waterman@watercorps.net]
[http://www.watercorps.net]
[http://www.righttosharefood.org] (aka) [http://www.rtsf.us]
[http://www.CASCI.us] (Coalition for the Abolition of Safer Cities Initiative)
[http://www.MEANESTCITY.us] (This is a link to the 191 Pg. human rights report.)
[http://www.PLEJ.us] (Peoples Lobby for Economic Justice)
Please Mail us a check. Michael Hubman / Watercorps 620 E. First St. Los Angeles CA 90012
2010-10-04 "Defending the right to share food: Skid Row’s community picnic" by Carly Gillis
[http://www.laactivist.com/2010/10/04/defending-the-right-to-share-food-skid-row%e2%80%99s-community-picnic/]
Themes of empowerment and social responsibility permeated a community picnic in Skid Row on Thursday, Sept. 30. The event was both a festival and a protest against the alleged rise in citations against charities distributing food to the homeless in downtown.
Groups from the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), Los Angles Catholic Worker, Food Not Bombs, World Agape Church, Hunger Action LA, Coalition LA and others gathered at Towne Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets to distribute food and supplies, free of charge.
Dozens of homeless and Skid Row residents filed into quiet lines while organizers rallied in defense of their community.
“They are directly targeting folks down here,” said General Dogon, organizer for LA CAN. “We got to stand up and get involved. It’s going to take all of us to do it.”
The event was the culmination of months of planning by the groups. Three months prior to the event, the World Agape Church food line, which had been in operation for over five years, was closed by the Los Angeles County Health Department.
Volunteers that participate in similar social outreach banded together soon afterward to protest this and the alleged rise in policing the distribution of free food.
Kay Chung, manager at World Agape Church, is looking into obtaining a permit to restart the food line. The church is lead by Korean missionaries with headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. Chung grew up during the Korean War. The help his family received from other countries during that time inspired him to help others.
“I was so young. I remember getting dried milk and corn from the United States,” said Chung. “Now the economic conditions are growing better … so now we can spread money to homeless people.”
The first organizers set up their supplies at 3 p.m. A wide variety of handouts were available and not limited to food. Toiletries, clothing and even healthy cookbooks were given out freely. For hungry attendees, the organizers provided ice cream, fruit, hamburgers, Acai drinks, doughnuts, soup, pasta and more.
Drum circles and a group of guitarists and singers entertained the crowds. Songs like “Let My People Go” and “Wade in the Water” wafted through the air [http://www.laactivist.com/?attachment_id=706], along with the scent of burning sage.
Mike Wisniewski, a server at the LA Catholic Worker, spoke about tangentially related frustrations regarding the LAPD’s Safer Cities Initiative (SCI). In 2006, the police department dispatched an fifty additional officers to the fifty square blocks of Skid Row.
“I think it’s demoralizing, inhumane, and really atrocious,” said Wisniewski. “All it does is have a demoralizing effect on everyone that’s affected by it, including us who serve.”
Along with perpetuating negative connotations, SCI is also described as ineffective. SCI has even come under scrutiny by UCLA faculty Gary Blasi and graduate student Forrest Stuart. In 2008, they released a report on SCI titled “Has the Safer Cities Initiative in Skid Row Reduced Serious Crime?” [http://cdn.law.ucla.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/missing%20files/did_safer_cities_reduce_crime_in_skid_row.pdf]
“We found that, as to overall serious or violent crime, the reduction of crime in the SCI deployment area was not statistically significant from the reduction in the non-SCI area,” stated Blasi and Stuart in their report.
Event organizers frequently spoke in opposition to SCI. Dogon urged all in attendance to sign a petition against it. Taking up a mobile loudspeaker, he announced that a preliminary petition was delivered to LAPD’s Central Division before the event which included 3,500 signatures. Dogon hoped to get another petition organized at the event.
Michael Hubman of Watercorps, a water distribution charity, first brought the closing of World Agape Church’s soup line to the attention of LA CAN. Hubman maintains that SCI and the actions against the homeless of the area is less about the improvement of the area and more about a class war.
“We believe that sharing food with our brothers and sisters is a fundamental human right,” said Hubman. “We’re talking about our human brothers and sisters, not unwanted pigeons or pesky wildlife.”
Nevylle Flagg once worked at World Agape Church. Although he stopped volunteering in August of 2009, he decided to be a part of Thursday’s action as soon as he heard about the closure of the soup line.
“The red shirts would stop by and give us garbage bags, talk to us, help us,” said Flagg, referring to the uniform color of security hired by area businesses. “That’s why this is so weird. Somewhere in May or June the politics flipped and now they’re starting to attack us.”
Many of the attendees were grateful for the palatable variety available at the picnic, beyond just its quality. Many unanimously preferred food given by independent organizations over “bland” food given out at missions.
“Mission food? I feel like I’ve gotten more messed up on mission food than I have on the street,” said Skid Row resident Tony Johnson. “[Mission food] comes from food banks, and a lot of it is either expired or close to its expiration date.”
Bilal Ali, organizer for Coalition LA, performed a spoken-word poem for the event. The piece was entitled “Happy Anniversary” in reference to the fourth anniversary of SCI [http://www.laactivist.com/?attachment_id=713].
“Happy anniversary, for making it a crime to be poor, for making it a crime to sleep on a concrete floor,” read Ali. “Hail, hail to the new Rome, where you’re no longer welcome so take your poor ass to find a new home. …
They may beat us, they may mistreat us, but they ain’t never going to defeat us.”
Although police patrols frequently circled the event, no direct action was taken to close or limit the organizers’ activities.
Activists plan to continue having community picnics in Skid Row, however a future date has not yet been set.
People line up for food provided by Food Not Bombs. The charity served fruit, salad, stir fry and bread as part of a picnic on Skid Row to defend what organizers call their “right to share food,” which they feel has been under attack by the LAPD and Health Dept. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
General Dogon, an organizer for LA CAN, stands on Towne Avenue and speaks to Skid Row residents in line for food. “This is our community,” he tells them. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
A member of World Agape hands a box of juice to a man in line for food. Along with juice, World Agape provided hamburgers, doughnuts, ice cream, grapefruit and clothing. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
During a speech given by an organizer, an SUV pulled up along side. Its passengers displayed patronizing/instigating gestures towards the crowd. Organizers say the passengers were LAPD in civilian clothes. During the picnic, many LAPD patrol cars were witnessed slowing down while its officers glared at people in line for food. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
Members of LA Catholic Worker provide music for the picnic. The charity also served lentil soup. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
Bilal Ali, with help from a djembe player from Skid Row Playez, performs his spoken word poem. Speaking in meter and in opposition to the LAPD’s Safer Cities Initiative, Ali says to the crowd, “We’re too legit to quit.” (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
Hello, My name is Michael “Waterman” Hubman of the charity Watercorps and organizer with the Right To Share Food Coalition. Right To Share Food was formed in response to the June 2, 2010 take down by government of the Towne Avenue Soup Line, and continued harassment by government of ongoing efforts to feed the poor and homeless population of Skid Row Los Angeles. Prior to the take down of the soup line, volunteers from the World Agape Drop In Center had been feeding the poor and homeless of Eastern Skid Row Los Angeles six days a week at the same location for over five years.
The Right To Share Food Extravaganza II (The first one happened on September 30, 2010.) was scheduled to take place on Sunday March 20, 2011. The date for this event was selected to coincide with the vernal equinox and first day of spring. We had no way of knowing that mother nature had arranged for a fast moving cold front and rain storm to sweep through the region that very day. This weather event also managed to drench the runners, staff and spectators of the Los Angeles Marathon.
The players at this Right To Share Food Event were Tanya and her group with GuerilLA Food Not Bombs, James and his group from World Share (formally World Agape), General Dogon of LA CAN and myself.
My day started in the morning when I visited three groups who were feeding the homeless and the poor on Gladys Street and Towne Avenue . I invited them to our event, and encouraged them to join our coalition. I said that it was important to organize to defend their right to share food. All of the feeders were glad to hear that they had friends who were sticking up for them and their right to share food. One lady told me; “you mean you are for us and not against us?”
After my visit with the feeders, I spent the rest of the morning with James at World Share puzzling over the Doppler Radar images on line. Would we get a break in the weather? Not likely. It looked like our event was scheduled for the middle of the storm.
At one in the afternoon, I went to the corner of Sixth and Towne to sit in my car and greet anyone who happened to show up for our event. I sat and watched as sheets of rain fell on the empty street. All of the players were prepared to come out and get drenched. Tanya and her group were cooking James and General Dogon were ready to go. I told them to stay dry and hold up until I called. Then it occurred to me that we should move this event indoors to World Share. I called and cleared it with James. I called Tanya and General Dogon with the change of venue.
I drove around and verbally invited anyone who was still out on the street, mostly on San Julian Street and at The Midnight Mission courtyard, to come and enjoy a hot meal and to eat inside.
Tanya arrived with a great vegetarian meal. I told the people who were assembled that today’s meal was special in that we were celebrating our right to share food. Tanya and her group served up rice beans and vegetable soup.
General Dogon spoke about his history as a lifelong resident of Skid Row. He talked about Skid Row Los Angeles being the most heavily policed place in America . He spoke about the human and civil rights work done at LA CAN.
I spoke about the history and development of Right To Share Food. I spoke about the right to share food being a fundamental human right. I said that we believe that our right to share food is protected under the freedom of association clause of the first amendment of the constitution.
For the first time; I publicly advocated for the recall of Councilmember Perry. I said I had been avoiding talking about recall until I could secure some backing for such an effort. I said that the recall concept was not going anywhere unless we started talking about it.
I closed by saying that Councilmember Perry thought she was just dumping on some little people when she caused the shutdown of the Towne Avenue Soup Line. She did not know that by causing the take down of the soup line that she was jump starting the right to share food movement.
James thanked every one for coming. We put away the food. James started the movie that had been paused for the Right To Share Food event.
All in all; we had a good day.
Please read the following Right To Share Food Position Paper.
"Right To Share Food"
At Right To Share Food, we believe that sharing food with our brothers and sisters is a fundamental human right. We believe that sharing food is a constitutionally protected activity, guaranteed under the freedom of association clause of the first amendment of The Constitution of the United States of America . We believe that sharing food outside and in public is an equally protected activity. Our goal is to promote cooperation among people in order to exercise and defend this right.
---
Hello,
Let me introduce myself. My name is Michael Hubman. I am the founder and the facilitator of Right To Share Food and member of Right To Share Food Coalition. Since 2007 I have been lobbying on behalf of the human and civil rights of homeless people. I operate Watercorps, a charity that gives bulk drinking water to the homeless people living on the streets of Skid Row Los Angeles.
You might ask; why do we feel the need to organize and lobby to protect and exercise our right to share food? The answer is, that it is a common occurrence in contemporary society, for those who are morally and spiritually motivated, to want to help others who find themselves in a state of need. This state of need is often manifested by poverty, homelessness and destitution. Those who desire to come to the aid of their less fortunate brothers and sisters, commonly express this aid by sharing food.
Conflict occurs when government, most often municipalities, attempt to effect social engineering by restricting or forbidding the sharing of food on public property, the commons and even private property. I liken this kind of social engineering by cities to wildlife management. The problem is, we are talking about our human brothers and sisters, and not unwanted pigeons or other pesky wild life. Why?
I can’t speak for these municipal wild life managers. I can only guess. My guess as to why the sovereign would act in such a selfish and mean spirited manner is greed. Poverty and homelessness are commonly viewed by some who are not similarly afflicted as messy and unsightly. The sight of homeless and poor people lining up to receive a charitable meal makes it hard to convince oneself and others that all is well in their area of interest. When poverty and homelessness are not sufficiently hidden and dispersed, it tends to raise concerns among some who would worry about depressed commerce and property values.
When homeless people gather in public, especially in numbers, they often generate a response by government to harass them with the goal of dispersing them. The dispersing of the homeless to make them less visible robs them of community and society and denies them their right to associate. Harassing the people who want to share food and aid the homeless and poor is just another tactic to disperse them and deny them the right to associate and assemble.
Sincerely, Michael Hubman [714-746-1203] [714-746-1203] [michaelcirclewider@yahoo.com][waterman@watercorps.net]
[http://www.watercorps.net]
[http://www.righttosharefood.org] (aka) [http://www.rtsf.us]
[http://www.CASCI.us] (Coalition for the Abolition of Safer Cities Initiative)
[http://www.MEANESTCITY.us] (This is a link to the 191 Pg. human rights report.)
[http://www.PLEJ.us] (Peoples Lobby for Economic Justice)
Please Mail us a check. Michael Hubman / Watercorps 620 E. First St. Los Angeles CA 90012
2010-10-04 "Defending the right to share food: Skid Row’s community picnic" by Carly Gillis
[http://www.laactivist.com/2010/10/04/defending-the-right-to-share-food-skid-row%e2%80%99s-community-picnic/]
Themes of empowerment and social responsibility permeated a community picnic in Skid Row on Thursday, Sept. 30. The event was both a festival and a protest against the alleged rise in citations against charities distributing food to the homeless in downtown.
Groups from the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), Los Angles Catholic Worker, Food Not Bombs, World Agape Church, Hunger Action LA, Coalition LA and others gathered at Towne Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets to distribute food and supplies, free of charge.
Dozens of homeless and Skid Row residents filed into quiet lines while organizers rallied in defense of their community.
“They are directly targeting folks down here,” said General Dogon, organizer for LA CAN. “We got to stand up and get involved. It’s going to take all of us to do it.”
The event was the culmination of months of planning by the groups. Three months prior to the event, the World Agape Church food line, which had been in operation for over five years, was closed by the Los Angeles County Health Department.
Volunteers that participate in similar social outreach banded together soon afterward to protest this and the alleged rise in policing the distribution of free food.
Kay Chung, manager at World Agape Church, is looking into obtaining a permit to restart the food line. The church is lead by Korean missionaries with headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. Chung grew up during the Korean War. The help his family received from other countries during that time inspired him to help others.
“I was so young. I remember getting dried milk and corn from the United States,” said Chung. “Now the economic conditions are growing better … so now we can spread money to homeless people.”
The first organizers set up their supplies at 3 p.m. A wide variety of handouts were available and not limited to food. Toiletries, clothing and even healthy cookbooks were given out freely. For hungry attendees, the organizers provided ice cream, fruit, hamburgers, Acai drinks, doughnuts, soup, pasta and more.
Drum circles and a group of guitarists and singers entertained the crowds. Songs like “Let My People Go” and “Wade in the Water” wafted through the air [http://www.laactivist.com/?attachment_id=706], along with the scent of burning sage.
Mike Wisniewski, a server at the LA Catholic Worker, spoke about tangentially related frustrations regarding the LAPD’s Safer Cities Initiative (SCI). In 2006, the police department dispatched an fifty additional officers to the fifty square blocks of Skid Row.
“I think it’s demoralizing, inhumane, and really atrocious,” said Wisniewski. “All it does is have a demoralizing effect on everyone that’s affected by it, including us who serve.”
Along with perpetuating negative connotations, SCI is also described as ineffective. SCI has even come under scrutiny by UCLA faculty Gary Blasi and graduate student Forrest Stuart. In 2008, they released a report on SCI titled “Has the Safer Cities Initiative in Skid Row Reduced Serious Crime?” [http://cdn.law.ucla.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/missing%20files/did_safer_cities_reduce_crime_in_skid_row.pdf]
“We found that, as to overall serious or violent crime, the reduction of crime in the SCI deployment area was not statistically significant from the reduction in the non-SCI area,” stated Blasi and Stuart in their report.
Event organizers frequently spoke in opposition to SCI. Dogon urged all in attendance to sign a petition against it. Taking up a mobile loudspeaker, he announced that a preliminary petition was delivered to LAPD’s Central Division before the event which included 3,500 signatures. Dogon hoped to get another petition organized at the event.
Michael Hubman of Watercorps, a water distribution charity, first brought the closing of World Agape Church’s soup line to the attention of LA CAN. Hubman maintains that SCI and the actions against the homeless of the area is less about the improvement of the area and more about a class war.
“We believe that sharing food with our brothers and sisters is a fundamental human right,” said Hubman. “We’re talking about our human brothers and sisters, not unwanted pigeons or pesky wildlife.”
Nevylle Flagg once worked at World Agape Church. Although he stopped volunteering in August of 2009, he decided to be a part of Thursday’s action as soon as he heard about the closure of the soup line.
“The red shirts would stop by and give us garbage bags, talk to us, help us,” said Flagg, referring to the uniform color of security hired by area businesses. “That’s why this is so weird. Somewhere in May or June the politics flipped and now they’re starting to attack us.”
Many of the attendees were grateful for the palatable variety available at the picnic, beyond just its quality. Many unanimously preferred food given by independent organizations over “bland” food given out at missions.
“Mission food? I feel like I’ve gotten more messed up on mission food than I have on the street,” said Skid Row resident Tony Johnson. “[Mission food] comes from food banks, and a lot of it is either expired or close to its expiration date.”
Bilal Ali, organizer for Coalition LA, performed a spoken-word poem for the event. The piece was entitled “Happy Anniversary” in reference to the fourth anniversary of SCI [http://www.laactivist.com/?attachment_id=713].
“Happy anniversary, for making it a crime to be poor, for making it a crime to sleep on a concrete floor,” read Ali. “Hail, hail to the new Rome, where you’re no longer welcome so take your poor ass to find a new home. …
They may beat us, they may mistreat us, but they ain’t never going to defeat us.”
Although police patrols frequently circled the event, no direct action was taken to close or limit the organizers’ activities.
Activists plan to continue having community picnics in Skid Row, however a future date has not yet been set.
People line up for food provided by Food Not Bombs. The charity served fruit, salad, stir fry and bread as part of a picnic on Skid Row to defend what organizers call their “right to share food,” which they feel has been under attack by the LAPD and Health Dept. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
General Dogon, an organizer for LA CAN, stands on Towne Avenue and speaks to Skid Row residents in line for food. “This is our community,” he tells them. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
A member of World Agape hands a box of juice to a man in line for food. Along with juice, World Agape provided hamburgers, doughnuts, ice cream, grapefruit and clothing. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
During a speech given by an organizer, an SUV pulled up along side. Its passengers displayed patronizing/instigating gestures towards the crowd. Organizers say the passengers were LAPD in civilian clothes. During the picnic, many LAPD patrol cars were witnessed slowing down while its officers glared at people in line for food. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
Members of LA Catholic Worker provide music for the picnic. The charity also served lentil soup. (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
Bilal Ali, with help from a djembe player from Skid Row Playez, performs his spoken word poem. Speaking in meter and in opposition to the LAPD’s Safer Cities Initiative, Ali says to the crowd, “We’re too legit to quit.” (Dan Bluemel / LA Activist)
2011-03-25 "SmartMeter opt out comes with sticker shock" by Jason Walsh from "Pacific Sun" newspaper
Pacific Gas and Electric has developed an opt-out option for energy customers who don't want the controversial radio-emitting SmartMeters used at their residences—and it's going to cost them.
In a press release released March 24, PG&E laid out the CPUC-ordered opt-out: for between $135 and $270 the utility will disconnect the wireless part of the meter; for between $14 and $20 per month a technician will come out to read the meter, as they've done for decades.
SmartMeters employ radio-frequency technology that monitors household usage digitally and sends the information to PG&E. Critics have said people shouldn't be forced into being exposed to the low-level radiation emitted by the meters; they've also questioned the possibility of improper use of the information collected by PG&E—a charge that gained credence last year when SmartMeter officials were caught spying on anti-SmartMeter Internet chatrooms and disguising their identities to gain information about SmartMeter protests.
In a press release released March 24, PG&E laid out the CPUC-ordered opt-out: for between $135 and $270 the utility will disconnect the wireless part of the meter; for between $14 and $20 per month a technician will come out to read the meter, as they've done for decades.
SmartMeters employ radio-frequency technology that monitors household usage digitally and sends the information to PG&E. Critics have said people shouldn't be forced into being exposed to the low-level radiation emitted by the meters; they've also questioned the possibility of improper use of the information collected by PG&E—a charge that gained credence last year when SmartMeter officials were caught spying on anti-SmartMeter Internet chatrooms and disguising their identities to gain information about SmartMeter protests.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
2011-03-23 "License to Lend: One of only a handful of its kind in the country, the Santa Rosa Tool Library expands to downtown storefront" by Leilani Clark from "Northbay Bohemian" newspaper
[http://www.bohemian.com/bohemian/03.23.11/news-1112.html]
For Dustin Zuckerman, it's all about the tools. The founder and executive director of the Santa Rosa Tool Library asks just three things of his board members: (1) to accept that a fee will never be charged for the library's services; (2) to realize that the organization will never promote sociopolitical causes; and (3) to understand that the organization exists for one thing—loaning out tools.
"The biggest challenge has been trying to keep it simple," says Zuckerman. "Too many libraries have folded because they got too ambitious at the beginning."
Zuckerman began the Santa Rosa Tool Library with decidedly humble ambitions in August 2008, running it out of his one-bedroom apartment where tools inhabited every space ("Except for maybe the refrigerator," he says, not joking). But on April 4, one of Sonoma County's most unique community resources will make its biggest leap yet—into a downtown storefront on Fifth Street, fulfilling one of Zuckerman's earliest visions for the venture.
Modeled after tool libraries in Berkeley and Oakland (Portland, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Columbus also have them, but few other major cities do), the tool library's idea was originally conceived after Zuckerman bought a $35 tool that he only used once. He started cataloguing his own tools on a Microsoft Word document, and created a system whereby people could borrow and share saws, sanders and hammers instead of buying new ones.
As first reported in the Bohemian in 2008, the tool library's process is simple. First, patrons register by filling out a borrower's agreement with a valid photo ID and a recent piece of mail with a matching address. Patrons can then choose from hundreds of tools, which can be checked out for between four and seven days. Late fees are just $1 to $2.
Zuckerman, who works days at the Santa Rosa Junior College library, will run the downtown front desk from 5pm to 7pm on weekday afternoons. In an innovative co-working situation, the tool library shares space with an architect and two attorneys in a spacious, high-ceilinged brick building. Zuckerman says the shared arrangement keeps overhead low, so that the library can focus on accumulating more tools and creating as efficient a system as possible.
"I started the tool library based on the premise of whether there was a need for this service," says Zuckerman, seated between buckets of saws and empty shelves in a back room soon to be filled with rentable tools. "If I start to see that there seems to be a need for the service, let's let it grow based on the demand." Now, with over 600 patrons and increased media attention, it's clear that the community is clamoring for services like this one.
Zuckerman attributes the positive response to the organization's roots in two tried and true institutions: a tool rental company and a public library. "We don't charge a membership fee, we don't hold a credit card number. There's no barrier to using the library. It's very palatable," says Zuckerman.
With the new storefront, he looks toward an increased level of confidence from both patrons and potential funders, especially as the tool library takes on an expanded public presence. "We've received funding, but when you are run out of a house, it doesn't quite give the confidence that you have something that could sustain itself," says Zuckerman.
While one could presume large hardware outfits like Friedman's Home Improvement fearing the tool library cutting into their profits, the locally owned Friedman's has actually donated resources to the library—including two large shopping carts, which will be converted into dollies for transporting the bigger items. "Folks are so much more in tune with collaborating and sharing resources, especially in this county," says Zuckerman. "It just gets people excited. It's kind of a feel-good type of thing."
The Santa Rosa Tool Library opens Monday, April 4, at 642 Fifth St., Santa Rosa. Monday-Friday, 5pm-7pm; Saturday, 9am-2pm. 707.576.0590. www.borrowtools.org.
[http://www.bohemian.com/bohemian/03.23.11/news-1112.html]
For Dustin Zuckerman, it's all about the tools. The founder and executive director of the Santa Rosa Tool Library asks just three things of his board members: (1) to accept that a fee will never be charged for the library's services; (2) to realize that the organization will never promote sociopolitical causes; and (3) to understand that the organization exists for one thing—loaning out tools.
"The biggest challenge has been trying to keep it simple," says Zuckerman. "Too many libraries have folded because they got too ambitious at the beginning."
Zuckerman began the Santa Rosa Tool Library with decidedly humble ambitions in August 2008, running it out of his one-bedroom apartment where tools inhabited every space ("Except for maybe the refrigerator," he says, not joking). But on April 4, one of Sonoma County's most unique community resources will make its biggest leap yet—into a downtown storefront on Fifth Street, fulfilling one of Zuckerman's earliest visions for the venture.
Modeled after tool libraries in Berkeley and Oakland (Portland, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Columbus also have them, but few other major cities do), the tool library's idea was originally conceived after Zuckerman bought a $35 tool that he only used once. He started cataloguing his own tools on a Microsoft Word document, and created a system whereby people could borrow and share saws, sanders and hammers instead of buying new ones.
As first reported in the Bohemian in 2008, the tool library's process is simple. First, patrons register by filling out a borrower's agreement with a valid photo ID and a recent piece of mail with a matching address. Patrons can then choose from hundreds of tools, which can be checked out for between four and seven days. Late fees are just $1 to $2.
Zuckerman, who works days at the Santa Rosa Junior College library, will run the downtown front desk from 5pm to 7pm on weekday afternoons. In an innovative co-working situation, the tool library shares space with an architect and two attorneys in a spacious, high-ceilinged brick building. Zuckerman says the shared arrangement keeps overhead low, so that the library can focus on accumulating more tools and creating as efficient a system as possible.
"I started the tool library based on the premise of whether there was a need for this service," says Zuckerman, seated between buckets of saws and empty shelves in a back room soon to be filled with rentable tools. "If I start to see that there seems to be a need for the service, let's let it grow based on the demand." Now, with over 600 patrons and increased media attention, it's clear that the community is clamoring for services like this one.
Zuckerman attributes the positive response to the organization's roots in two tried and true institutions: a tool rental company and a public library. "We don't charge a membership fee, we don't hold a credit card number. There's no barrier to using the library. It's very palatable," says Zuckerman.
With the new storefront, he looks toward an increased level of confidence from both patrons and potential funders, especially as the tool library takes on an expanded public presence. "We've received funding, but when you are run out of a house, it doesn't quite give the confidence that you have something that could sustain itself," says Zuckerman.
While one could presume large hardware outfits like Friedman's Home Improvement fearing the tool library cutting into their profits, the locally owned Friedman's has actually donated resources to the library—including two large shopping carts, which will be converted into dollies for transporting the bigger items. "Folks are so much more in tune with collaborating and sharing resources, especially in this county," says Zuckerman. "It just gets people excited. It's kind of a feel-good type of thing."
The Santa Rosa Tool Library opens Monday, April 4, at 642 Fifth St., Santa Rosa. Monday-Friday, 5pm-7pm; Saturday, 9am-2pm. 707.576.0590. www.borrowtools.org.
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