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The annual May Day march in Oakland began at the Fruitvale BART drew an energized crowd that grew to over 3,000 by early afternoon. Filipino Advocates for Justice Executive Director Lillian Galedo was a featured speaker facing a crowd who gathered under the slogan, "We are all Arizona". On stage, organizers invited City Councilmembers Jean Quan and Jane Brunner to announce their proposal for a city boycott of Arizona and Arizona-based businesses. (The full City Council will consider the proposal this Tuesday at a 5:30 p.m. meeting at City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza.) But talk soon turned to national immigration reform issues. Lillian Galedo addressed the congressional immigration reform proposal introduced late last week, which emphasizes enforcement over legalization. A move, Galedo said, "basically puts legalization on hold". According to an article in today's Washington Post , the proposal takes a Republican "secure the border" approach. ...

[Aimee Allison] Mayor Dellums is finally using his city-chartered right to break a council tie by casting a vote for his appointee Michael Lighty to the Port Commission. The Mayor, who recently brokered a deal with port truckers and the state over tighter emissions regulations, is finally playing his hand at strong mayor. The Port Commission is one of the most powerful groups in city politics, and plays a key role in approving development project like the BART extension and housing, environmental fights as in the ongoing stand-off between truckers and the port, and jobs - as in whether local people are going to get the 6,000 jobs that will be created by the project at the old army base. More from Sanjiv Handa, East Bay News Service: Mayor Ron Dellums is still planning on attending the Oakland City Council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19, to cast the tie-breaking vote approving the nomination of Michael Lighty to the Board of Commissioners of the Port of Oakland.It has been so long since a may...

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com The infamous Conga Lounge MaiTai  Which you'll need after getting a ticket in Oakland! (Just don't drive after you've had it!) I just got an email from Emmanuel ( Mano) Thanos, the owner of the famous (or infamous if you've had one of their Mai Tai's) Conga Lounge . He's responding to my video and blog post on the Oakland City Council's decision not to toss out the current parking enforcement system. If you didn't see the video, here it is: Here's Mano: This is Mano here from the Conga lounge and Pizza Rustica Cafe. It is a shame that the Oakland City Council has decided not to listen to the people of Oakland. We used to be quite busy after 6pm. Now folks stay away until 8pm when they can park without having to pay the high hourly fee of $2 or the fine of $55! This parking policy is extremely short sighted and has caused trem...

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com Yesterday I blogged on how the Oakland City Council got its ass chewed out by angry Oakland business owners and residents Tuesday night over the new parking enforcement process, especially the $55 tickets and the 8 PM daily end time. I promised a video; here is the first of a set of them: It features Grand Lake Theater owner Alan Michaan explaining that he wants the Oakland City Council to "rescind (the parking plan) or (be) recall(ed)" and Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Carl Chan explaining that his well-organized group (which will be more of the focus of my second video), has no such intentions. The video at nine minutes long also features the angry rant of Oakland retailer Steve Salazar, who accuses the City of Oakland of "predatory parking ticket" practices. But I want you to notice the African American gentleman in the backgroun...

I just saw this: Subject: City's Hotel Tax (Transient Occupancy Tax) - Ballot Measure From: Councilmember Jean Quan Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution Submitting, On The Council's Own Motion, To The Electors At A June 2, 2009 Special Election, A Proposed Ordinance Amending The Oakland Municipal Code In Order To Provide For A Two Percent Surcharge To The City's Transient Occupancy Tax (Hotel Tax) To Support The Oakland Zoo, The Oakland Museum of California, Chabot Space And Science Center And The Cultural Arts Programs And Festivals.. And had to react.  Who's idea was it to have an increase in the Hotel Tax in the middle of a recession in a town not known for tourism?  I'd bet the revenue projection was a rosy scenario that will never soon come to pass. Now the City folks might say "Oakland has the highest hotel use rates in the State" but that comes from data that's almost three years old.  This is a new world.  Why charge a higher tax that will...

Today, as I was attending the memorial service for Dr. C. Diane Howell, the Oakland City Council selected Councilmember Jane Brunner (D-1) as its new President, replacing and breaking the long string of Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente (District 5) serving in that role. Frankly, I say "Congratulations" to Jane, who was rewarded for her long term of service to her North Oakland constituents.   But I can't help but feel that Councilmember Larry Reid should be the President.  But then one has to have the votes for that to occur, and perhaps Larry counted heads and saw they weren't there.   Regardless of who the head of the helm is, the City has a laundry list of large problems.  According to my friend Tom Guarino of Pacific Gas and Electric, Oakland City Attorney John Russo gave what Tom called an "incredible speech" about how Oakland needs to improve and what to do.    Sorry I missed it.  The City Council has it's first meeting every year, I'...

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — Henry Chang didn't want a job as an Oakland City councilman. He had served on the Planning Commission and Board of Port Commissioners, but a job on the city's legislative board seemed unappealing. "I always told myself before that I would never be a council member, because it was crazy to be a council member," he said. "You know, people beat you up, all these things. I would rather be on the other side and know the council members ... but I sure did not want to be on their side." That changed when a dying Frank Ogawa made it clear he wanted Chang as his replacement as the city's citywide council representative. Chang was appointed in 1994 to fill the seat when Ogawa died. Fast forward to 2009 and Chang, 74, is retiring after a 14-year stint in the chamber. Voters sent him to City Hall three times following his appointment. Chang will be replaced Monday by Rebecca Kaplan, who, at 38, is barely half his age.” -- Henry C...

I can only hope Kids First passes in November because the City's budget problems are so potentially bad that this "zero-sum" choice was presented: pay for more youth programs, and cut jobs, or don't and wait to see if the Kids First Initiative passes in November, and save City jobs. Here's the Trib story, in part.. OAKLAND — The City Council rejected the idea of a compromise ballot measure Tuesday that would have increased funding for youth programs, but not as dramatically as a separate initiative expected to qualify for the November ballot. A majority of council members worried a ballot-measure compromise could seriously dent the rest of Oakland's budget. The meeting came on the heels of another blow to the city's finances: The council voted unanimously early Tuesday not to collect $12 million in increased Landscaping and Lighting Assessment District fees after officials faced questions about whether the new rates would have held up in court. The decisio...

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...

Ignacio De La Fuente, the Oakland District Five Councilmember and President of the Oakland City Council and whom was endorsed by this blog and blogger in his campaign run against a worthy challenger in Mario Juarez, won the votes to not only remain in office, but in getting over 50 percent of the vote, avoided a run-off against Juarez. Still, De La Fuente was not able to be there at "Guadalahara" restaurant in the Fruitvale area to celebrate the victory last night. As it was told to me -- I was there -- his uncle was very ill so Ignacio went to Mexico to be with him. My prayers go out to him.

Patrick McCullough is an Oakland hero. In 2005, he stood up to attack by drug dealers -- a gang that he reported to Oakland police, but who were still at large at the time. In defending himself against the gang, Pat shot and wounded one of the gang members. Mr. McCullough was found to have been acting to defend himself, and thus the D.A. did not press charges. Pat is one who was and is trying to take back his neighborhood. The ultimate action is the one he's taking today: running for Oakland City Council. This blog post in an endorsement of an Oaklander who can and has made a difference. It's not a matter of being against the incumbent Jane Brunner, but for a remarkable and remarkably brave person in Pat McCullough. A person with a resolve and will to stay in Oakland and help make it better. Oakland Residents For Peaceful Neighborhoods tells McCullough's story: Patrick McCullough: Triumph of a Hero Patrick McCullough, the north Oakland resident who stood up ...

Burma Resolution @ Oakland City Council , originally uploaded by jeffluger . I know this room intimately from working as former Mayor Elihu Harris' economic advisor. It's located within the Oakland City Council Chambers and is used by the various councilmembers for meetings. This meeting, featuring Oakland District Two City Councilmember Pat Kernighan, was held in April of this year and on the Burma Resolution matter, the city would take up the matter of expressing its concern for the Burmese impacted by the recent disaster there.

I'm not sure I got the value of East Bay Express and Former Oakland Tribune Writer Robert Gammon's recent works on Oakland Council candidates Mario Juarez and Clinton Killian , except that both gossip works added nothing to the campaign race. Gammon spilled the beans on Juarez problems with the Boy Scouts as a youth and on Killian's financial issues, but to read it was like fingers against a blackboard. Annoying. I think everyone deserves a second chance and why that's not true for either Juarez or Killian is not clear to me, nor, I'll bet, can Gammon explain it. That written, Robert's still one hell of a researcher, that's for sure.

This is the second part of a two-video movie on the debate between incumbent Councilmember Nancy Nadel, and challengers Greg Hodge, and Sean Sullivan

The office of Mario Juarez , the real estate business man running for the Oakland City Council District Five currently held by Council Prsident Ignacio De La Fuente, was vandelized. Someone took a hammer and smashed in each of the six windows and doors of the office Friday night at 10:30 PM. I talked to Juarez about this; he said he'd not seen anything like it outside of Mexico City. I also asked him if it was connected to the authors of the " Oakland City Crook " blog that takes every bit of bad news about him and presents it in one blog. I've never seen this happen in an election in Oakland. Sad. Regardless of his past, Juarez should be left alone.

Of all the current Oakland Councilmembers, Henry Chang stands out not just as an elder statesman, but as an honest, principled elected official who I've long admired, regardless of his position. Here's more about him. Henry was born in 1934, the second child of Frances and Henry Sr. He was separated from his parents two years later, when the Japanese attacked his hometown, Shantou. Henry fled to Hong Kong with his Aunt Barbara while his parents escaped to Northern China. Three years later, when the Japanese attacked Hong Kong, Henry returned by freighter back to Japanese-occupied Shantou and was later reunited with his mother and father. Henry's most vivid childhood memories are of the concentration camp his family called home during the occupation of China. There, they witnessed unspeakable torture and brutality. He escaped in 1941 with his brother Thomas by crawling over a wall at night and hiding in a farmhouse. Henry reconnected with his family a year later, whe...