Ursula Reed

Choices for Art Commission Show Nepotism at Play

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

Jan 142015

butterfly 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 and Benny Lee, decided to chose their friends and political supporters, despite their obvious lack of qualifications in comparison to other applicants.

In District 1, Michael Gregory appointed his friend Jeni Engler to the Arts Commission. Jeni is a very nice woman, an elementary school teacher, a great volunteer with Friends of the Library and a great supporter of the theater program in her church. She and her husband have been friends with the Gregories for a long time, they attend the same church and Michael Gregory honored them with a service award in 2013. However, Jeni Engler does not have either an educational nor professional background in either fine or performing arts, and she listed no art involvement beyond supporting musical theater.

The people Michael Gregory did NOT choose included:

– A professional artist/painter and former docent at New York’s Museum of Modern Art with an MA in Art.
– An artist and Alameda County Arts Commissioner with a BA in Studio Art and an MA in Art Administration, who previously worked at the Art Institute of Chicago
– A professional graphic designer with degrees in Photography and Graphic Design
– A lawyer/artist, with a certificate in studio art & printmaking
– A retired graphic designer and artist very involved in the local art scene (ultimately appointed to the Arts Commission by the Mayor)

In District 2, Ursula Reed appointed friend and political supporter Dina Herrera, whom she had previously appointed to the Parks & Recreation commission, despite the fact that Herrera did not file her application to the Commission until after the date when the Council was supposed to announce their nominations. Indeed, Herrera’s application was not included in the packet I received from the City Clerk because I had specified I only wanted those available to Council members before they made their decision. Herrera has been a strong supporter of Reed, endorsing her in multiple races and participating in her political fundraisers. According to Herrera’s application, her qualifications for being in the Commission are: “I am an active community member. I would love to help beautify San Leandro and my own children perform in San Leandro’s Theater Programs”.

In order to appoint Herrera, Reed rejected the timely filed applications of:

– An Arts professor/writer/reviewer/judge/curator/art producer with a BA in Studio Art and an MA in Curatorial Practice.
– A graphic designer with experience producing Latin music shows.

In District 4, Benny Lee appointed friend and political ally Martin Wong, who listed no involvement with the arts in his application beyond being vp or a church chorus. Lee rejected:

– A local artist
– The technical director of the California Symphony Orchestra, who has a BA in Sociology
– A Mexican American community member with a BA in Anthropology and coursework on museum curating

Things were better in the other parts of town.

In District 3, Diana Souza appointed Susan Harlow-Schott, the only person who applied.

In District 5, Pauline Cutter appointed Anna Edwards, an amazing African-American artist. There were other qualified applicants, including a typeface designer and professor at California College of the Arts, a brilliant professional sculptor/artist and a curator and artist coach who worked as Deputy Director of the San Francisco Arts Commission (she was appointed to the Commission by Mayor Cassidy), but I don’t think anyone can doubt Ms. Edwards’ qualifications.

And in District 6, Jim Prola appointed Kathleen Ott-Davis, an art designer with a BA in Fine Arts over two other applicants, a professional singer of Portuguese Fado and Prola’s own wife (who paints).

The City invited people who did not reside in San Leandro, but who are involved in the cultural life of the community, to apply for an at-large appointment to the Arts Commission. There were a couple of extremely qualified applicants, including the Executive Director and curator of a mobile public art gallery with decades of experience in art exhibitions and promotions and a Mexican American professional artist who runs an art promotion company, but neither was chosen by Mayor Cassidy.

One single at-large space remains in the Commission.

Arts Commission Applications

Dina Herrera’s application

New City Council Set to Start Year by Violating the Brown Act

New City Council Set to Start Year by Violating the Brown Act City Hall No Responses »

Jan 032015

City Manager evaluation, new “Hostage Negotiation” vehicle & new Vice Mayor also on agenda

Update: I have heard back from City Attorney Richard Pio Roda. He says that the City does not believe that the potential plaintiffs in the case that will be discussed in closed session are aware of the facts and circumstances that will enable their lawsuit. He confirmed that the case in question did not involve “an accident, disaster, incident, or transaction”, for example, a police shooting, where the potential plaintiff is aware that they have been harmed.

—

The first City Council meeting of the year will be this Monday, January 5th. It will include new Mayor Pauline Cutter and new Councilmembers Deborah Cox (Dist 1), Lee Thomas (Dist 3) and Corina Lopez (Dist 5). Councilmembers Ursula Reed (Dist 2) and Jim Prola (Dist 6) have two more years to go before being termed out while Councilmember Benny Lee (Dist 4) is two years into his first term.

The Council Agenda for this Monday is very light and includes 2 closed session items (those that are discussed without the public being present). It also includes this Council’s first Brown Act violation.

The Brown Act allows a City Council to discuss very few issues in closed session. One of those is pending litigation against the City (CA Gov code 54956.9), including situations where “based on existing facts and circumstances, there is a significant exposure to litigation against the [City]” (54956.9(d)(2)). However, the Brown Act also requires that if the “facts and circumstances … that might result in litigation against the [City] … are known to a potential plaintiff … [these] shall be publicly stated on the agenda or announced“ (54956.9(e)(2)). Under former Mayor Stephen Cassidy, the Council almost invariably broke this section of the law, and the pattern seems to be set to continue under Mayor Pauline Cutter. However, she’s been advised of the potential violation and she could choose to cure the situation by announcing the facts and circumstances of the potential litigation during Monday’s meeting.

The law does not require that the City announce such “facts and circumstances” if these are not known to the plaintiff, but such situations are rare. For example, the family of the woman who was shot to death by the San Leandro Police Department less than a month ago, is not only aware of the fact that she was killed, but they have retained an attorney. If the City Council will be discussing this case in closed session – and if they are not, they definitely should be -, there is no legal reason whatsoever for them to not disclose such fact.
According to the Agenda, the City Council will also meet in closed session to conduct the City Manager‘s evaluation, though given that three of the seven members of the Council have never worked with the City Manager before, it’s difficult to see how they’d be able to conduct and independent evaluation of his performance.

Open session items of interest include:

– The vote for a new Vice-Mayor

– Allocation of $71K (up from $60K) for the SLPD to get a new “hostage negotiation” vehicle. This is in addition to the paramilitary armored vehicle that the SLPD wants the City to acquire.

– Presentation from Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments, a Fremont-based organization that works with victims of domestic violence.

City Council Meeting 9/2: Heron Bay Gate, Massage Parlors, E-cigarettes, Audio Surveillance

City Council Meeting 9/2: Heron Bay Gate, Massage Parlors, E-cigarettes, Audio Surveillance Businesses, City Hall, Civil Liberties, Council Meeting Notes, Legal, Police No Responses »

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.

The Answer to Police Militarization is Voting

The Answer to Police Militarization is Voting City Hall, Police 2 Responses »

Aug 162014

Police in Ferguson, Missouri

All this week in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis, not too unlike San Leandro, we have seen the consequences of the militarization of police. Peaceful protesters are met with tear gas, batons and even guns. When some people take advantage of the situation to loot, the Police, rather than protect the businesses, used it as an excuse to further repress the protesters.

Meanwhile, the civilian authorities back the police and excuse their behavior. After talking to San Leandro City Manager Chris Zapata, it became clear that he would support the SLPD no matter what they would do. When I asked him for an example of a situation when he wouldn’t support them, the only one he could come up with was building them a $60M new facility – but only because the City can’t afford it.

Mayors, council members and city managers support the unrestrained use of police power because democracy is not really working in America. Ferguson, a city with 70% African-American citizens, has an all-white city council and a mostly white police force. San Leandro does somewhat better, but our only African-American councilwoman long sold herself to the Police in exchange for political support. As she said during a Council meeting “I’m a police lover.”

But ultimately, we have ourselves to blame for not taking advantage of the opportunities that democracy brings us. The Ferguson and San Leandro councils are pro-police because people of color, young people and even young parents don’t vote. Only a quarter of San Leandrans are white, and yet whites make up the majority of the voters. The median age of voters during the last election was 50; it’s likely to be higher this November.

Now, I understand the reasons for not voting, the feeling of complete disenfranchisement, of choosing between candidates that are too similar and all are saying the same thing. But it’s a vicious cycle, candidates appeal to the elderly/scared crowd because they vote. If we don’t vote, we don’t have a voice.

This November, let’s break the circle. Please, please, please, encourage, nag, bribe, embarrass your children, your friends, your family members, your neighbors, your students, your co-workers and business acquaintances into voting. If all candidates are bad, do choose the least evil. Maybe next time someone with views closer to yours will run.

But voting gives you some immediate power. Politicians only care about people who vote. Candidates for office will buy a voter list that indicates in which elections each registered voter voted. They will only call you, knock on your door and send you mail if you are a frequent voter or newly registered. If you don’t vote often, you don’t exist – your opinions don’t matter. But if you do, when they call you, knock on your door, etc., they will pay attention to what you have to say.

In San Leandro, we are fortunate in that we have some candidates who have clearly spoken against police militarization: Dan Dillman, who is running for Mayor and Mike Katz-Lacabe and Mia Ousley, who are running for City Council. If you want to prevent what happened in Ferguson happening in San Leandro, voting for them is a start.

California & Alameda County Election Results Are In

California & Alameda County Election Results Are In Politics No Responses »

Jun 042014

Despite most open primary, most November contests will feature a Democrat vs. a Republican candidate

Races for Controller, State Superintendent, CD 15 and AD 16 still too close to call

Good morning San Leandro! Happy post-election day!

And what a stressful day it must be for many candidates in California! The mailed & poll-day ballots have been counted, but many races are close enough that the absentee ballots turned in at the polls and provisional ballots may very well make the difference.

This election, I think, has been characterized by voter apathy and lack of knowledge about candidates, so name recognition was key. Nothing else can explain that indicted-arms-dealer Leland Yee would come out third in the Secretary of State race with almost 300,000 votes!

Worth noting is that despite the open primary, most of the November elections in Alameda county are posed to be between a Democrat and a Republican. It would seem that Republicans will continue to vote for Republican candidates, rather than a more moderate Democrat, even when their candidate has no prayer of winning in November.

Results from the more certain contested races:

– Karen Monroe and Helen K. Foster will be competing against each other for Alameda County Superintendent of Schools. That means that we get our Chinese-flag-waving Ursula Reed in the City Council for 2 more years. I’m sure she’ll be lovely. Personally, I felt Foster had a good chance to win 2nd place based on her name alone, but she also was a smart campaigner, putting up signs and using internet ads to further that name recognition.

– With 3330 votes (so far), Barbara Halliday is the new Mayor-elect of Hayward. Look at that number again. Hayward has a population of almost 150,000 people and just 3330 voted for its new Mayor. As a comparison, San Leandro Mayor Cassidy was elected in 2010 with over 10K votes in a city with almost half its population. Hayward needs to change its elections to November and consider adopting ranked-choice voting.

– Incumbent Marvin Peixoto and Homeless Advocate Sara Lamnin have been elected to the Hayward City Council, both also with barely over 3K votes so far.

– As predicted by polls, Ro Khanna will be facing Mike Honda for the Congressional District 17 seat in November. The 20+ point spread between the candidates must be making Khanna nervous. He’ll need to decide whether to continue to play nice, as he builds support for a 2016 rematch or whether to take the gloves off and make the case why voters shouldn’t want to vote for Honda.

– It will be Bob Wieckowski vs. Republican Peter Kuo for Senate District 10. Mary Hayashi is left on the dust. Will she disappear quietly or will she use whatever money & fundraising power she has to go after her perceived enemies? We’ll just have to wait and see

– In Assembly District 15 (north Oakland to Pinole), it’ll be former Obama administration official & Alameda County Democratic Party member Elizabeth Echols vs. former Richmond Councilmember Tony Thurmond. With 6 other candidates out of the way, there will finally be a chance to distinguish between the two Democratic candidates. This, by the way, only one of two Alameda County races where two candidates from the same party will face each other in November.

– In Assembly District 25 (Fremont & parts of Santa Clara county), San Jose Councilmember Kansen Chu, a Democrat, will face Republican Bob Brunton. My endorsed candidate Teresa Cox came third, despite being heavily outspent by fourth-placer Armando Gomez (though those numbers could still change).

– Governor Jerry Brown will face Republican Neel Kashkari. A blow to the tea party, but also Democrats who hoped a Donnelly win would depress Republican turnout in November. My bet is that it wouldn’t make a difference.

– Alex Padilla will face Republican Pete Peterson for Secretary of State.

NOT DECIDED YET

– Eric Swalwell will clearly be re-elected to Congress come November. It’s not clear yet whether his opponent will be Democrat Ellen Corbett For Congress or Republican Hugh Bussell.

– It looks like the battle for Assembly District 16 (tri-valley) will be between Republican Catharine Baker and Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti, a Democrat, come November. But I’m not calling it just yet because Steve Glazer was ahead of Sbranti for a while last night, and it’s hard to know how many ballots are left to count or how these will break.

– Republican candidate Ashley Swearengin heads to November in the Controller’s race. No way of knowing yet whether she’ll be facing Republican David Evans or Democrats John Perez or Betty Yee.

-Incumbent State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, a Democrat, didn’t reach the 50% of the vote he needed to avoid a November runoff. His likely opponent will be Democrat Marshall Tuck, in what would be the only Democrat vs. Democrat race at the state level. Republican Lydia Gutiérrez may still catch up when all votes are counted, however.

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