Benny Lee

Benny Lee is represents District 4 (Washington Manor) in the San Leandro City Council. He is the former president of the Heron Bay Homeowners Association and a member of the Asian Community Cultural Association of San Leandro.

His campaign for City Council was characterized by vile personal attacks against his opponent Lee, a conservative, became a Democrat after deciding to run and flip-flopped on key positions such as his support of marijuana dispensaries.

After receiving over $4K in campaign contributions and independent expenditures from the Police, Benny Lee has consistently voted on their favor. For example, he’s voted to increase surveillance of San Leandro citizens, to ban medical marijuana facilities and to allow police to enter private property without warrants, if people get a permit to keep chickens or bees.

In September 2013, Lee proposed to honor the totalitarian regime of the People’s Republic of China by racing the PRC flag over San Leandro on October 1st, the day that commemorates the Red Army victory in the Chinese civil war and the establishment of the Maoist communist regime, which would lead to deaths of 73 million people, the greatest democide in history. When confronted with China’s continues horrendous human rights violations, Lee refused to even acknowledge them saying simple that he is for “freedom of speech” – only to then try to get my Facebook Page that criticizes him banned.

Lee’s latest stunt is to lobby the Oakland City Council to not contract with the garbage company that has its transfer station in San Leandro. This will mean the City will lose multiple millions of dollars in taxes. See http://www.sanleandrobytes.com/archives/016548.html

Oct 102014
 
Rob Bonta with an APD officer and Councilmember Lena Tam

Rob Bonta with an APD officer and Councilmember Lena Tam

San Leandro’s Assemblymember takes money from insurance companies and police, while supporting Benny Lee and Deborah Cox

Campaign finance disclosures were due earlier in the week and it’s always a good idea to find out who “owns” our elected officials.

I took a look at Assemblymember Rob Bonta’s backers and while unions are by far his biggest contributors, he has also taken a fair amount of money from insurance companies.

After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to get Bonta elected in 2012, police unions continue to support him. It’s not a surprise. Bonta has a been an advocate for the militarization of the police, while in the Alameda City Council he voted in favor of acquiring an armored personnel carrier and while in the Assembly he has refused to carry any legislation that would put any type of limits to police power.

Other contributors include gambling interests, lawyers, AT&T and, of course, California Waste Solutions.

In all, Rob Bonta took in almost $200K in the last 3 months and over $550K this year alone, even though he is running for re-election against San Leandro’s own Republican David Erlich who has raised less than $5K.

So what has Bonta done with this money? He’s given the Democratic party about $85K, as it’s expected and, he’s supported other candidates. In San Leandro, his largess went to two candidates: Benny Lee and Deborah Cox. They both got $1K. Not surprisingly, they are both heavily backed by the police department and are expected to rubber stamp whatever the police puts before them (Lee has so far).

One person Bonta has not endorsed is Councilmember Pauline Cutter, who is running for Mayor of San Leandro . Now, everyone in the Alameda County Democratic Party and the Alameda Labor council, in addition to the political establishment in San Leandro, has rallied behind Pauline. While she is not the most progressive candidate, she is a solid Democrat, a hard worker and the most independent member of the City Council. She is not a rubber stamp for the City Manager/Police Chief, which is why the Police Union endorsed Diana Souza. If Bonta wasn’t in the pocket of the police union, he would have likely endorsed Cutter by now.  Endorsing Souza would be a losing proposition, after supporting the raising of the Chinese flag, voting in favor of red light cameras and taking money from California Waste Solutions (CWS), Souza is likely to come out third on the race, behind Dan Dillman.   Bonta’s support of pro-police/pro-Chinese flag/pro-CWS candidates extends to his home city of Alameda, where he is now backing Stewart Chen.

Ultimately, politicians cater to their backers because they help them not just be elected, but become more powerful within the political structure.  As long as voters automatically elect incumbents, this will remain the case.  But the open primary system may make it easier for Democratic candidates to lounge successful challenges against Democratic incumbents – in particular when these tacitly support unpopular positions such as raising the blood soaked Chinese flag over our cities.

Sep 032014
 

The San Leandro City Council eliminated full minutes of Council meetings several years ago.  To make up for this, and keep San Leandrans informed of what their Council is up to, Mike Katz-Lacabe tweets from the meetings. I’ve started compiling his tweets on this blog.  You can follow Mike’s tweets at @slbytes. My comments on his tweets are on italics.

At last night’s meeting, Mike was – as it’s often the case – the only candidate for City Council that was present.

Public Comments

Al Frates condemns Vice Mayor Benny Lee for advocating for California Waste Solutions Oakland garbage contract.

Gating Heron Bay

Benny Lee recuses himself from Planning Commission appeal of new gates & fencing for Heron Bay. Lee’s a member & former President.

San Leandro staff recommendation is to not allow Heron Bay to construct a gate and fencing to make it a gated community.

There are 629 homes in the Heron Bay housing development, 451 of them detached units.

San Leandro’s General Plan discourages gated communities. Heron Bay developer told City that it would be and remain open.

San Leandro staff shows crime stats for Dist. 4, where Heron Bay is located. Lower than other districts, so public safety not compelling.

Staff presentation on gating of San Leandro’s Heron Bay

San Francisco Bay Conservation & Development Commission says that Heron Bay not complying with permit issued in 1994 for public access.

Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) opposes Heron Bay gates because they would adversely impact access to the Bay Trail.

San Leandro Planning Commission alternatives to gating: Neighborhood watch, security cameras, improve exterior lighting.

Heron Bay Atty Jeff Tepper says 479 Heron Bay homes support gates. Says residents afraid of becoming prisoners in their own homes.

Doug Siden, Director of @ebrpd, supports city policy of maintaining open access – opposed to gating Heron Bay.

Former San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos supports staff recommendation denying appeal – opposed to gating Heron Bay. Should remain non-gated

Betty Mousse (sp?) of San Lorenzo Heritage Society supports San Leandro staff recommendation to not allow gating of Heron Bay.

San Leandro Heron Bay resident supports gating. Notes that there are other ways for people to access waterfront.

Mayor Cassidy notes that visitor parking is not allowed in Heron Bay or on Lewelling Blvd. nearby making public access difficult.

San Leandro City Council member Jim Prola tried to stop development of Heron Bay. Original development called for 3,000 homes – limited to 629.

Prola says gating offers false sense of security and then suggests surveillance cameras and license plate readers.

Prola says license plate readers reduced crime in Sausalito because there is only one road into Sausalitio.

Note:  During public comments, Mike Katz-Lacabe corrected Prola, noting that the city that put license plate readers at its entrance is Tiburon, not Sausalito, and that no data supports the contention that crime was reduced in Tiburon as a result of the cameras.

San Leandro Citycouncil Member Ursula Reed notes that because she was in wheelchair, she couldn’t access waterfront because of lack of parking in Heron Bay.

After Reed says that she won’t support gating of Heron Bay, about a dozen people get up and leave. One said “Recall them all”

Note: Ursula Reed is a close ally of Councilmember Benny Lee, so Lee’s Heron Bay supporters might have been led to believe that Reed would support Lee’s interests on this matter.

San Leandro Councilmember Michael Gregory won’t support gating of Heron Bay. That’s 3 so far with Prola and Reed.  Diana Souza sounds opposed – making 4.

Mayor Cassidy says “I don’t see a public safety imperative.” for installing gates at Heron Bay.

San Leandro City Council votes 6-0 to approve staff recommendation for denying appeal – no gates for Heron Bay.

Presentation on Proposed E-cigarette Ban

Note: The Council was ready to approve the e-cigarette ban through its consent calendar back in March. The item was taken off the agenda after I pointed out that the ban included smoking marijuana e-cigarettes, even in one’s home, and that banning tobacco e-cigarettes without holding a discussion about the reasons for the ban would make the City liable to a lawsuit by e-cigarette makers.

Paul Cummings of Alameda County Public Health Dept. Tobacco Control Program suggests that e-cigarettes are gateway to regular cigarettes.

Four public speakers so far speaking in favor of ecigarette regulation at San Leandro City Council meeting.

Mayor Cassidy says that 14 of 55 San Leandro businesses sold tobacco to minors in police sting. “25%…Shockingly high.”

Presentation on Massage Parlors

City Attorney now presenting on massage parlors. SB731 in 2009 pre-empted most local massage ordinances.

Family Foot Spa in San Leandro was busted in May 2014 for prostitution.

Under current state law, San Leandro cannot enact moratorium on massage businesses that utilize certified massage therapists/practitioners.

San Leandro City Council all want moratorium on massage parlors that don’t have certified massage therapists/practitioners.

San Leandro City Attorney says Family Foot Spa did NOT have certified massage therapists/practitioners.

Note: The problem is that a massage parlor can get just a single certified massage therapist to get a business license, and then have unlicensed employees provide the services. Something other than a moratorium is needed.

Arts Commission

In a first for the San Leandro City Council, cave drawings are mentioned in discussion of Arts Commission.

San Leandro City Council unanimously approves creation of Arts Commission.

Audio Surveillance at City Hall

Note: Back in July, the City Council approved a $156K n0-bid contract to replace surveillance cameras at City Hall.  After the meeting, Mike Katz-Lacabe researched the cameras that the Police Department had recommended the City buy and found that they contained hidden microphones that would be able to transmit and record conversations.  The presence of the microphones in the cameras was not disclosed to the City Council.  Mike brought up this issue to Mayor Cassidy, who brought it up to the City Manager Chris Zapata, and at the July 28th meeting, Zapata said staff would be back with a recommendation on audio surveillance. Their recommendation is to disable the microphones.

During public comment, Mike Katz-Lacabe pointed out that audio surveillance would violate employee’s rights to discuss labor issues privately.  He also pointed out that while the City Manager says the microphones will be disabled, there will be no oversight to make sure that this takes place.  The Police Chief already tried to hide the existence of the microphones from the Council, so it would be imprudent to trust her word alone.

San Leandro City Manager says city hall surveillance cameras will have microphones disabled – except at jail.

Councilmember Conduct

San Leandro City Council will discuss roles & responsibilities of Councilmembers speaking at other government bodies at future meeting.

Jul 212014
 
Tweets by Mike Katz-Lacabe

Tweets by Mike Katz-Lacabe

The San Leandro City Council no longer keeps minutes of its meetings. Anyone interested in what transpired has to listen through hours of recordings. There is no way to search through them either.  San Leandro Bytes editor Mike Katz-Lacabe (who is currently running for City Council) sometimes tweets from the meetings.  I’m going to start collecting his tweets to serve as the record the City Council does not want to keep. The tweets are slightly cleaned up for ease of reading.

Mayor Cassidy notes that San Leandro City Council voted to extend Measure Z (.25% sales tax) and increase to .5% mainly to fund roads.

San Leandro Town Hall meeting starts with update on Marina & Davis freeway overpass construction project. Summer 2015 ETA for completion.

Pile driving complete on San Leandro Marina overpass. Pile driving starts in August for Davis overpass: 7am to 3pm.

Question to CalTrans: Can you do something about timing of lights on Marina Blvd in San Leandro? Traffic there is horrible.

CalTrans response from Scott McCrank: We agree. We’re looking at it, but “only such green time that can be allotted.” We’re brainstorming…

San Leandro Town Hall meeting has nearly 60 attendees and about 15 City staff.

Police Chief reports that crime in San Leandro is down 7% from last year. Note that this matches regional trend.

Former San Leandro CM Howard Kerr supports increasing sales tax to 10% or more to fund more police, surveillance in streets, neighborhoods

San Leandro CMs Benny Lee, Jim Prola ,Diana Souza supported Measure Z in 2010 and support doubling

Commenter at San Leandro Town Hall: Look at cutting city government, including red light cameras, before increasing sales tax.

Dwight Pitcaithley at San Leandro Town Hall: Why aren’t voters being allowed to vote on the fate of the San Leandro Marina?

Mayor Cassidy responds to Pitcaithley: We don’t have a final plan for the San Leandro Marina yet. EIR is currently underway.

San Leandro Comm Dev Director Cynthia Battenberg notes that public wants boat harbor, but not enough to pay for it. From 11/2007 Godbe poll.

Leo West at San Leandro Town Hall: Measure Z was supposed to be a temporary tax & now it’s for 30 years. Says supporters of Measure Z lied.

Mayor Cassidy to West: We eliminated utility user tax rebate for large businesses. Spent money wisely. Doing same work with less staff.

Two more supporters of a boat harbor in San Leandro speak of a lack of vision, the marina as a gem in the Bay Area, & resident support.

Mayor Cassidy response to question from Justin Hutchison: City is working on free wifi in downtown San Leandro.

Jan 152014
 
Diana Souza

Diana Souza

And, more importantly, “Can she win?”

San Leandro City Council member Diana Souza is playing the old “will I, won’t I” game vis a vis running for Mayor.

On the one hand, she has been seeking the endorsement of highly placed Democrats. On the other hand, when asked in so many words whether she’s running for Mayor, she’s denied it.

While it’s likely that what she is doing is trying to assess whether she can garner enough political support to mount a credible challenge to Mayor Stephen Cassidy, she hurts her credibility by not being straight about it.  If she does decide to run, that lack of honesty may come to haunt her.

Mayor Stephen Cassidy is profoundly disliked by Central Labor and, by extension, by many powerful elements in the Democratic party.  Souza may feel she can exploit this vulnerability.  However, Souza’s right wing ideology – she has opposed everything from urban farming to marijuana dispensaries to even discussing services for the homeless, while pushing for restricting civil liberties in town – is not likely to be well received within Democratic circles.  Souza’s insistence that the flag of the People’s Republic of China be flown over City Hall, also suggest that she has very poor political instincts.   Anyone endorsing Souza does so at their own peril.

Souza’s greatest problem, however, is that she is not actually a viable candidate for Mayor.  Not only does she not have a base (though she will lean heavily on Benny Lee‘s connections within the Chinese community), but she has accomplished nothing in the seven years she has served in City Council.  She ran with the single purpose of building a competitive swimming pool in San Leandro, but was unable to get this done due to opposition by the public. who wanted WW funds spent on a variety of projects.   Since then, she’s had no initiatives and has served as a vote for the Police Department.

Souza also suffers from a lack of campaign experience.  She ran in 2006 against Julian Polvorosa., an elderly barber and former Council member who had been pushed to run by former colleagues and showed no desire to actually be elected.  Souza did a good job of putting signs around town and getting relatives to drop off some fliers, but didn’t need to create the grass root organization that pushed Cassidy into his 2010 win.  She ran for re-election unopposed.

Souza will likely receive the support of the Police Union if she runs for Mayor.  However, that is a double-edged sword in San Leandro.  While she can expect thousands of dollars from them, police support of former Mayor Tony Santos was likely a key reason for why he lost the race.  Indeed, current Councilmember Jim Prola blames news stories about Police Union contributions to his campaign for loosing him votes at the polls.   She is also likely to have the support of the city employee union, but that will just remind voters of how she has put employee’s interests above those of taxpayers..

Her biggest problem, however, is that whatever dissatisfaction there is in San Leandro with Cassidy, extends to the Council as well.  For example, she – along with Cassidy – voted to have the major downtown property sold to a developer for a fraction of its value, so as to be occupied by a drugstore that already has two branches downtown.  She has also voted to give the Police Chief and City manager raises, while complaining there is no money for city services.  Making a case that she’s any better than Cassidy will be tough.

Her candidacy, however, could precipitate another candidate jumping into the race.  Any votes she takes from Cassidy, could help a non-establishment candidate take the plunge.

Sep 292013
 
Mike Katz-Lacabe

Mike Katz-Lacabe

Today my husband, Mike Katz-Lacabe, was a guest of Brian Copeland on his KGO radio show. They discussed the controversy around raising the flag of the People’s Republic of China in San Leandro as well as the use of license plate cameras.  It’s only 20 minutes, so listen up!

BTW, Brian Copeland said that neither Councilmember Benny Lee, the architect of the flag proposal, nor any other supporters of the flag were willing to go to the show and stand up for their views.