City Hall

San Leandro City Council to Stop Publishing Full Minutes of Meetings

San Leandro City Council to Stop Publishing Full Minutes of Meetings City Hall, Transparency No Responses »

May 132011

4/17 Update: As I feared, the City Council has voted to get rid of full minutes. One more step towards hiding what they say and do. If Mayor Cassidy has his way, as of next Monday the San Leandro City Council will be making it much harder for the public to find out what they’ve been up to. The City Council is planning to vote to eliminate regular minutes of all public meetings and replace them with “Action Minutes”. While regular minutes include a summary of what was said and done in City Council and other public meetings, Action Minutes [Continue Reading]

Come pray at the Senior Center!

Come pray at the Senior Center! City Hall, Religion No Responses »

May 022011

I pride myself on being San Leandro’s most infamous atheist. I came into local prominence a couple of years ago when I challenged the San Leandro School District to stop teaching overtly religious songs in school. I had been appalled to find out that McKinley Elementary School‘s evangelical Christian music teacher, Kathy Maier, had made my 6-year old learn and sing the song “Silent Night” which praises Jesus as God. Not kosher in my book. So when I read a letter on last Thursday’s San Leandro Times accusing the city of establishing religion by allowing the Calvary Chapel church/religious group [Continue Reading]

Jim Prola is a busy man and has a good sense of humor…

Jim Prola is a busy man and has a good sense of humor… City Hall, People No Responses »

Apr 252011

Councilman Jim Prola seems to get around a lot – from mosquito abatement meetings to water plants. At the end of each City Council meeting, Council members recount the public meetings and events they attended in the previous fortnight. Here is Prola’s account from the April 4th meeting: Listen to Audio (If you don’t get it, this reference may help you)

Cassidy asks San Leandrans input on new City Manager – sort of…

Cassidy asks San Leandrans input on new City Manager – sort of… City Hall, Event, Transparency 3 Responses »

Apr 242011

San Leandro is about to appoint a new City Manager to lead the city, hopefully effectively and for many years to come. An ad hoc committee composed by Mayor Stephen Cassidy and Council members Reed and Souza narrowed the field of applicants from 30 to five. The Council won’t disclose their identities – ostensibly to protect the applicants’ current jobs – though hopefully demographic information on them will be forthcoming. Cassidy has not heeded my suggestion that he appoint a citizens ad hoc committee to give input on who among these candidates would work best for the city, but he [Continue Reading]

The Faith Fellowship lawsuit: it’s time for the city of San Leandro to settle

The Faith Fellowship lawsuit: it’s time for the city of San Leandro to settle City Hall, Faith Fellowship v. SL case, Legal No Responses »

Apr 222011

(Note, to understand the particulars of this case please read A primer on the Faith Fellowship v. San Leandro lawsuit first). The 9th circuit court of appeals has just denied the City of San Leandro’s petition for an en banc hearing of the apellate decision against the City on the Faith Fellowship case. None of the 29 9th circuit judges requested to hear the case. That is of little surprise, the petition not only had no merit but was terribly and insultingly written. It was so bad that I’ve argued that it should be grounds to fire Meyers Nave, the law [Continue Reading]

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