Diana Souza

Diana Souza is a San Leandro Councilwoman currently running for San Leandro Mayor. Her tenure in the Council was uneventful. She got elected with the single goal of getting a competition swimming pool built in the Manor, and when that couldn’t happen, she basically became a second vote for Joyce Starosciak first and, after Starosciak left, the City Manager/Police Chief. Souza voted in favor of raising the Chinese flag over San Leandro City Hall. She’s probably best known for throwing a fit because she was never voted to be Vice-Mayor by her peers.

Council Meeting Notes: Surveillance cameras, Links Shuttle, Gating Floresta Gardens

Council Meeting Notes: Surveillance cameras, Links Shuttle, Gating Floresta Gardens Council Meeting Notes No Responses »

Jul 242014

The July 23rd Council meeting went extremely long. Mike had gone to speak in favor of a strong privacy policy for surveillance data, and didn’t get to do so until nearly 11. Before that he tweeted from the meeting. My comments are in italics. The Tweets have been organized by subject. Follow him @slbytes.

The only City Council candidates present at the meeting were Mike Katz-Lacabe and Mia Ousley.

San Leandro City Council to discuss Heron Bay wind turbine lawsuit in closed session on Monday 7/21.

Surveillance camera policy is on the agenda for Monday night’s 7/21 San Leandro City Council.

Councilmember Jim Prola is absent from tonight’s San Leandro City Council meeting.

Congratulations Officer Pickard for being recognized as the City of San Leandro employee of the quarter!

Kinkini Banerjee & family accept Proclamation from Mayor Cassidy declaring Aug. 2014 as Indo-American Heritage Month.

Kinkini is one of my best friends and I love her, but I wonder why India West was not invited to receive the proclamation or at least attend the ceremony. India West is the largest Indian-American newspaper in the US, and it’s based in San Leandro!

LINKS shuttle

San Leandro LINKS shuttle: 6.25 mile loop, 23 stops to connect W. San Leandro to downtown BART. Hours: 5:45am-9:45am and 3-7pm

Bike racks added in past year. Avg. 737 riders per day. 191,646 total riders in 2013.

Goals for San Leandro LINKS: shorten route to reduce time, reach Marina Sq./Auto Mall, service to Westgate, Kaiser, 21st Amendment Brewery.

Proposed change to San Leandro LINKs to meet goals: split route into north and south routes to reduce wait and trip times.

Proposed change to San Leandro LINKS will cost: $50k from City, $165k more from business improvement dist. & $130k more from grants/business

Mayoral candidate Diana Souza sounds supportive of San Leandro LINKS. She voted against it on 3/16/09.

Former San Leandro Councilmember Gordon Galvan is Exec Dir of San Leandro Transportation Mngmnt Org, which runs LINKS shuttle.

Mayor Cassidy wants to add San Leandro to the LINKS shuttle name a la “Emery Go Round” since the City will be partially funding it.

Diana Souza had been very critical of the LINKS shuttle until now. Her change of face is interesting. Gordon Galvan, who not only runs the shuttle but is also a lobbyist, was one of main contributors to Cassidy’s campaign.

Liens

San Leandro City Council voted 6-0 to impose liens for non-payment of bus. license fees, garbage fees, sidewalk repairs, and code compliance.

Among those with liens imposed by San Leandro for non-payment of business license fees: Diana Souza campaign mgr Charles Gilcrest.

I was at the council meeting last year where the Council voted to place liens and one of the business owners who appeared complained about the cumbersome system for paying business license fees, the immediate fines and lack of communication from the city. Apparently things haven’t changed as there were many liens imposed.

Floresta Gate

Much discussion about a gate for the Floresta Gardens neighborhood.

Karen Williams of Floresta Gardens asking for gate to reduce crime from non-residents. City discourages gates communities.

San Leandro City Council approves gate on Caliente Drive for Floresta Gardens neighborhood 4-2. Gregory and Lee vote no.

Facebook comment: A neighborhood in Fremont was asking for a gate along the Alameda Creek a few years ago. After a few months of curfew enforcement and checks at the location of concern we found most of the trouble actually originated from the HOA family members and guest.

Public Comments

First speaker addresses issue of children arriving in US from Central America.

Second speaker supports San Leandro Marina. Work session Mon. 7/28 on marina and shoreline.

Marijuana Dispensaries

San Leandro selects ICF International to help craft dispensary selection process. Mass. paid $335,449 to ICFI for similar work.

San Leandro Councilmember Diana Souza recuses herself because son works for pot dispensary that will apply for San Leandro dispensary.

Nothing in the government code requires Souza from disqualifying herself from this situation, but she doesn’t want to be in record voting against medical marijuana facilities. Alas, she has been on the record speaking and voting against them before. Souza, however, did not feel she needed to recuse herself on a vote concerning the property belonging to her own campaign manager.

Surveillance Cameras

Next up: vote on 36 cameras to monitor San Leandro City Hall and other city properties.

Mayor Cassidy clarifies that the upcoming vote does not approve a policy or anything to do with public surveillance cameras.

San Leandro Councilmember Benny Lee asks about backup of the data and whether backups are encrypted: Answer from staff: I believe so.

San Leandro City Council candidate Mia Ousley notes deficiency in draft surveillance camera policy and confusion about the agenda item.

San Leandro City Council votes 6-0 to approve $156k contract with Odin Systems for City Hall cameras. Not sure if it was sole source contract [later confirmed it was].

Pittsburg PD purchased cameras from Odin Systems. SLPD Chief Sandra Spagnoli used Pittsburg as example of video surveillance success.

However, San Leandro had greater reduction in crime without cameras than Pittsburg with cameras.

Odin Systems recently “donated” 60-inch monitor to Pittsburg PD, which paid thousands for cameras from them

No bid contract approved by San Leandro City Council Mon. 7/21 includes cameras with microphones for audio surveillance [which is unconstitutional].

Facebook comment from Mia Ousley, who was also at the meeting:

Only 3 people spoke out at last night’s meeting — all against the policy as is. However, in a confusing intro, Mayor Cassidy said the Council was not voting on a potential future plan to increase the number of cameras, which is what was written in the printed or online agenda. He said that information was only in the title and was misleading. However, I don’t see it that way at all, so it’s unclear to me what the Council actually unanimously agreed to — just replacing the current cameras at our Civic Center or a plan to install cameras at other areas in the city in the future. So I decided to address that issue anyway, saying oversight must be by a neutral party, and that decisions should come from the City Council, which would allow thorough vetting by the public.

Mike Katz-Lacabe agreed, and also discussed additional security and privacy issues that were not addressed in the proposed policy.

Darlene Evans was the only other speaker on the topic, saying her bike had been stolen from the library, where there was a camera, but the officers there told her spiders covered the camera and they couldn’t see anything.

Tweets from San Leandro Townhall Meeting – 7/14/14

Tweets from San Leandro Townhall Meeting – 7/14/14 Council Meeting Notes 3 Responses »

Jul 212014

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.

Mayor Stephen Cassidy Will Not Seek Re-election

Mayor Stephen Cassidy Will Not Seek Re-election City Hall, Politics No Responses »

May 042014

Mayor Stephen Cassidy

San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy announced today that he will not be seeking re-election for a second term as Mayor. The news are unexpected, Cassidy had launched his re-election campaign with a kickoff fundraiser on St. Patrick’s day of this year. Cassidy cites the difficulties of campaigning while also working full time, raising a family and performing his duties as Mayor. Cassidy had no declared challengers at the time of his announcement.

Cassidy’s exit from the race leaves the field wide open for anyone who may want to run for the office. With six months to go before the election, the biggest challenges will be fundraising and creating name recognition.

Two candidates are already likely to enter the scene. Council member Diana Souza had long made the rounds trying to garner support for a campaign. She hadn’t been very successful, but with Cassidy out of the way she has a shot. Souza, however, was one of the candidates who voted to raise the Chinese flag over San Leandro City Hall, a very unpopular move with voters. She has, otherwise, a non-existent record of accomplishments.

Dan Dillman, the owner of the Historic Bal Theater, has also indicated he might run for this office. Dillman ran for the District 2 City Council race in 2012, and commanded a respectful 25% of the vote despite virtually no campaigning.

Cassidy’s exit from the raise reinforces the urgency of turning the Mayor’s job into a full-time position with a corresponding salary. It is very difficult for any person who has a full-time job and is raising a family to also successfully fulfill the responsibilities as Mayor. And yet, some of the most competent and qualified candidates are exactly in that position. I hope whoever is elected moves the city in that direction.

Mayor Stephen Cassidy’s statement

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

I have concluded it is in the best interests of our city and my family that I focus on serving as Mayor for the remainder of my term, which expires at the end of the year.

When I originally ran for office, I did not have the responsibility of governing. I have come to the realization that adding campaigning to my list of duties would mean the compromise of too many important existing responsibilities. I wish this was the not case. But I see no way I can meet my obligations as Mayor at a high level, as well as my work duties and be present for my young daughters, while also running a vigorous campaign for re-election.

I am proud of the renaissance that is occurring in San Leandro. The San Francisco Business Times recently reported that our city is “buzzing with a fresh technology focus.” In five weeks, the state-of-the-art San Leandro Kaiser hospital will open. Last month, the City Council unanimously approved construction of a commercial district for tech firms and other companies at the forefront of today’s innovation economy. Three, Class A office buildings will be built on the vacant lot next to the San Leandro BART station, creating nearly 2,000 quality jobs.

Much more can be accomplished this year. Again, I will complete my term as Mayor.

I look forward to working with the community and my colleagues on the City Council to place a revenue measure on the November ballot to repair our deteriorating neighborhood streets, create a commission of residents to foster and support the arts and culture in our city, and extend Lit San Leandro, our ultra high speed broadband network, to our schools.

It has been a privilege to serve you and the people of San Leandro as Mayor, and previously as a school board trustee. Thank you for enabling me to have such honors.

After my term as Mayor end on December 31, 2014, I will remain active in our community. I love San Leandro and look forward to continuing to make a positive difference for our city.

Stephen

Diana Souza: Will She or Won’t She?

Diana Souza: Will She or Won’t She? Politics No Responses »

Jan 152014

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.

Tell me I’m wrong!!!

Tell me I’m wrong!!! Admin, Community, Media, Transparency 1 Response »

Aug 202013

Accountability Starts Here!

Tell me how I’m wrong.

Really, this is your chance.

In a Facebook thread, Councilmember Diana Souza accused me of making assumptions and “twisting things”. I’ve been very critical of Souza’s 7 years in the Council, so it’s not surprising that she feels that way. But is she right? I demand accountability from my elected officials, surely my readers have the same right to demand it from me.

I do make assumptions. I have to. When the City – or its officials – fail to be transparent, the only way to fill in the gaps is to guess what they are hiding. And I also make a lot of predictions – what will happen if the City stays in this cause of action. I, of course, remember the ones I get right (the demise of Fresh & Easy and now the Patch, the Supreme Court rejecting the city’s RLUIPA’s claims – though the lawyer for the City took a different approach than I predicted), but surely I’ve gotten some wrong too.

So let’s hold me accountable. What have I gotten wrong, and what have I “twisted”, to use Souza’s words?

Please, be specific enough that I can understand and answer your claim, if need be.

Everything I’ve said is on the record. Here are all my regular blog posts, short notes, Democratic politics postings and everything I’ve written on the Patch. I don’t relish the idea of searching through my Facebook wall or twitter feed, but feel free to look through those to. There is a lot of writing.

Comment here or on Facebook.

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