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As a preface to what I'm about to write, let me state that I'm generally one of the persons who's been very critical of Mayor Dellums' performance. Indeed, in the case of bringing in a new City Administrator, Dellums is dragging his feet beyond a reasonable degree of time. Thus, Oakland City Attorney John Russo's public charge last week that the Oakland City Charter is such that the Mayor may be violating it by not naming a City Administrator is shockingly sloppy in logic and approach. I'm frankly surprised Russo would take such a brazen road in trying to get the Mayor to act. It's the duty of the media to provide an informational check on these actions. And in this case, Russo's builying tactics cause me to wonder if it's overstepping the normal attorney-client relationship. Not that Dellums doesn't deserve it because it's obvious that he misread the City Charter. The Charter states: Section 502. Acting City Administrator. The...

In what Oakland Residents For Peaceful Neighborhoods (ORPN) calls a "victory for the people" the Oakland City Council voted last night not to collect the increase in the tax for the Landscape Lighting and Assessment District (LLAD) after the Alameda County Superior Court upheld the tax. ORPN reports on this : City Backs Off LLAD Tax Hike At a special July 22, 2008 meeting, the Oakland city council voted not to collect the Landscape and Lighting Assessment (LLAD) tax increase that it previously declared voters had approved. The decision is a $12 million victory for Oakland residents, who expressed broad outrage at the blatant ballot-box stuffing in a mail-in vote that City Hall conducted in April and May. However, no councilmember admitted that she condoned and participated in the vote rigging. Instead, the council took cover under a state supreme court ruling on assessment districts in general issued last week. Before the vote, one resident told the council, "If the pr...

California Hotel Residents Angry With City of Oakland, Congresswoman Barbara Lee | Surprise Inspection Scares Tenants UPDATE: Ricky Graham of Congresswoman Lee's Staff Makes Wrong Move I don't know what the hell's going on, but the City of Oakland's looking real bad in this matter with Oakland Community Housing's attempt to unlawfully evict the tenants of the California Hotel . Moreover, and I really like and support Congresswoman Barbara Lee, but her office is not looking good in this matter either. I just got this horrifying email from Linda Carson, which I'm going to post below and send to National Public Radio. I know for a fact that Congresswoman Lee's staff is aware of the bad press they're generating for the Congresswoman because they're leaving their tracks all over my specialized website traffic detection system and several times Monday. Even the Congresswoman's Washington DC office has got into the act -- welcome back! The Oakland...

I got this from the City Attorney's Office. I'll post it, then comment. Oakland, CA – For the second time, a Superior Court judge has issued a ruling upholding the city’s collection of the Measure Y parcel tax. On Friday, Judge Frank Roesch ruled that the city can collect the tax approved by voters in the Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act of 2004 – as long as the City Council appropriates the money in accordance with the provisions of the ballot measure. The ruling agrees with an impartial analysis provided by the City Attorney’s Office that was included in the ballot information given to every voter before the November 2004 election. The analysis said that the city could collect the tax so long as the money was an addition to the existing police budget. Friday’s ruling settles one of the questions raised by a lawsuit challenging the implementation of Measure Y. In an earlier case, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith also ruled that the City Attorney ana...

The as yet unwritten and not covered story of this election and of Oakland politics is the steady and sure success of Oakland's first elected City Attorney John Russo. Russo just won his third term as Oakland City Attorney unopposed. John was my friend long before he became either councilmember or the city's lawyer, so I have watched and witnessed the principaled moves that got him to his current level of success. Moreover, the simple fact that I have been and still am his friend speaks volumes for his loyalty to those he's known for a long time, even as he rises in political circles. It also means that we haven't done anything to really piss off each other over 17 years. Wow, that long? Russo's had few misteps, the only one being his decision to challenge Sandre Swanson for the California Assembly seat Swanson has filled well and just successfully retained. Otherwise, John's success has been remarkable. But where John could have failed while if office, he...