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Shortly after I posted a column reporting Former Oakland Council President Ignacio De La Fuente's Aide Lewis Cohen's Daily Kos rant, he emailed to say that what I wrote was not accurate, but would not say why. I responded that all people care about is the Daily Kos post. Cohen's had ample time to refute the Daily Kos, as he's been contacted about the posting before; he didn't return the phone calls placed by the East Bay Express. So what's up, Lewis?

I saw this comment buried deep under a post (which is linked to via the title of this post) on The Daily Kos, a popular blog: Sadly Ignacio stoppped being progressive (none / 1) some time ago. I was his top aide for 8 years. I have not been supporting him for Mayor, though I ran his first three campaigns and his last mayoral run. Ignacio is focused on power for power's sake. He is running as the developer's candidate and the candidate of the chamber of commerce. He abandoned progressives by opposing extension of Living Wage ordinance to the port even though he carried the City's ordinance before he decided that placating developers was the way tyo pay for his mayoral ambitions. He abandoned progressives by oppossing civillian oversight of police and along with Mayor Brown gave an explicit greenlight (I was in the room when this happened) to the police abuses that led to the Riders scandal. He and his pal Don Perata found it funny that Oakland cops fired non-lethal ammunitio...

FEC Won't Regulate Internet Politics Mar 27 12:14 PM US/Eastern By DAVID PACE Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON The Federal Election Commission decided Monday that the nation's new campaign finance law will not apply to most political activity on the Internet. In a 6-0 vote, the commission decided to regulate only paid political ads placed on another person's Web site. The decision means that bloggers and online publications will not be covered by provisions of the new election law. Internet bloggers and individuals will therefore be able to use the Internet to attack or support federal candidates without running afoul of campaign spending and contribution limits. "It's a win, win, win," Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub said, adding that the rule would satisfy concerns of campaigns, individuals and the Internet community about whether the campaign finance law applies to Internet political activity. The commission was forced to act after a federal court ruled...

I don't know how this matter has been resolved, but it's funny how the newspapers were slow to follow up on it. This is consistent with my contention that they protect Jerry, or at least try to. Click on the title to this post to see what I'm talking about.

For the better part of the last four years, SF Bay Area developers Signature Properties and Reynolds and Brown have been planning a new development for Oakland's Waterfront called "Oak To Ninth." It will sit on what is currently a vastly underused area that makes up much of Oakland's developable waterfront, as the first photo on the left shows. The plan consists of 3,100 units of housing and a combination of residential and retail in a kind of grid street system that will create a kind of new town in Oakland. For me, it's an exciting project, and what Oakland needs, but it lacks the real crowning land use: a baseball stadium for the Oakland A's. I personally believe A's Owner Lew Wolff was approached by Signature Properties representatives -- in fact, I know this happened. But I'll also assert that the deal may have fallen apart because of a lack of redevelopment revenue to assist in building the project. Even though it's Port of Oakland lan...

This is the latest crime committed in the Adams Point area of Oakland near Lake Merritt. A stolen car. The car that was stolen was a 1996 Grey Saturn (don't know of the model). License plate 3RJJ827. Nothing to distinguish though. It was a Boys & Girls Clubs of SF vehicle so if you see any marketing materials around (the trunk was full of promotion materials), then let me know via this blog.

Ignacio De La Fuente and Nancy Nadel, both Oakland Councilmembers and candidates for Mayor, are suffering from terrible poll numbers which spell victory for their competitor, former-Congressman Ron Dellums. Not willing to try a more effective strategy, both Nadel and De La Fuente, both comfortable with political backstabbing techniques, dropped a news story that Dellums served as consultant to the U.S. Military. BIG DEAL. Anyone who knows and has followed Dellums is aware of his incredible knoweldge of the US Armed Forces and his constant calls for a more efficient military. Some -- including the two candidates -- have made the mistake of painting Dellums into a position of one who wants to dismantle the US defense. Not even close. Dellums is a military policy wonk and thus somewhat confusing to those who don't look at the details of life. All of this crying about his lobbying contract has the tinge of desparate campaigns on the wane.