Community

Prominent San Leandro Citizen Speaks Out Against BEARCAT

Prominent San Leandro Citizen Speaks Out Against BEARCAT City Hall, Civil Liberties, Community, Police No Responses »

Jan 212015

This is the letter that Tim Holmes, a prominent San Leandro citizen and community activist, sent the San Leandro City Council. You can also read my own message to the SLPD on this matter. To the members of the San Leandro City Council: I attended the recent community meeting regarding the plans to obtain a Bearcat, I wasn’t able to complete my comments in the time allotted, so I’m including them in full here. I am asking you vote no and to NOT accept this vehicle. Tools only seem neutral. You pick one up, you use it and put it [Continue Reading]

Choices for Art Commission Show Nepotism at Play

Choices for Art Commission Show Nepotism at Play City Hall, Community No Responses »

Jan 142015

Note: this article has been slightly expanded. If you start seeing a lot of sad and mediocre public art in San Leandro, you know whom you have to blame: the past and current members of the City Council who chose to appoint friends to the newly created Arts Commission instead of people with any sort of knowledge or experience in the Arts. When the City Council created an Arts Commission to decide on how to beautify San Leandro though art, they had the opportunity to populate it with outstanding artists and arts professionals. Instead, three Councilmembers, Michael Gregory, Ursula Reed [Continue Reading]

My Message to the SLPD: The Bearcat is Not a Good Idea

My Message to the SLPD: The Bearcat is Not a Good Idea City Hall, Civil Liberties, Community, Police 2 Responses »

Jan 102015

This was my speech at the “community meeting” on the SLPD‘s planned acquisition of a Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck (Bearcat). I addressed my comments to the SLPD, as the City Council has made it clear that their role is simply to rubber stamp any proposal brought by the Police. In other words, we officially have a police state in San Leandro. You can find Tim Holmes remarks here. While it may seem hard to believe, I appreciate our police officers. Every single SLPD officer I have met, has treated me with politeness, courtesy and professionalism. I think [Continue Reading]

Former Council Member Uses “N” word; Cutter writes him off, Cox does not

Former Council Member Uses “N” word; Cutter writes him off, Cox does not Community, People, Politics No Responses »

Jan 052015

Update 2: Campaign finance reports show that Pauline Cutter returned Judge Landis’ contribution. Deborah Cox did not. Landis died in November 2015. Update: Deborah Cox has given in to public pressure, this afternoon she spoke with Brian Copeland and said she’d return the contribution. San Leandro has a long and tortuous history of racial segregation and discrimination. The city was almost exclusively white well into the 1990s and stories of police cars guarding the border with Oakland still linger in the memory of many African Americans. Writer and comedian Brian Copeland, who moved to San Leandro as a young child, [Continue Reading]

Thursday Dec. 18: Celebrate Mike with Free Speech in San Leandro!

Thursday Dec. 18: Celebrate Mike with Free Speech in San Leandro! Community, Event, People No Responses »

Dec 172014

Update For an event organized in 3 days, the Free Speech Day was very successful. The day started with Mike speaking about his work as a human rights activist and then as a privacy rights researcher/activist. Then SLHS students spoke about their concerns and experiences. One girl asked question of whether Martin Luther King’s dream had come true (it has not), others mentioned their disappointment at how City and School authorities are not transparent about issues that concern students, such as the COPS grant. One student brought up the fact that they see many more military recruiters than college recruiters [Continue Reading]

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