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Today as I was passing by City Hall, I saw a familar face pass by at a distance and rushing toward the 14th Street side entrance of Oakland's City Hall. Bill Claggett. For those of you who don't know the name, Claggett was hired by Elihu Harris when Harris was Mayor Of Oakland and as one of three economic consultants, including myself. I stayed on as Harris' Economic Advisor while Glaggett moved on, but then returned as Economic Development head after the departure of Kofi Bonner. Currently, Bill's listed as a "Management Consulting Consultant and Contractor" according to his Linkedin listing. Glaggett remained under Mayor Jerry Brown, and was considered as the one person who pushed through the Mayor's 10K program and his casino idea, as well. Eventually, he and his deputy Bob Lyons were let go by Jerry Brown. Glaggett was replaced by Dan VanderPriem, who departed last year. The news was unpopular with not a few community political operatives, some o...

This area continues to be plagued by night-time crime. While District Two and District Three councilmembers plan a town hall meeting on high rises around the Lake, people are planning to hold up, mug, rape, and in some cases murder other residents around the Lake. This is ridiculous. To me, the answer is simply for people to be nosy. To get to know each other. To ask questions. To be watchful. I mean look at the chatter from the Yahoo! Message Board: I am just amazed by all of the stories...it is never ending. Lighting will help, driving around and surveying your area will help, but ultimately they have the power and are our own breed of terrorists - people's livelihoods are being ruined. Have there been any arrests ever? I never hear of any! -----Original Message----- From: 15X_NCPC@yahoogroup s.com To: 15X_NCPC@yahoogroup s.com Sent: Fri Jan 19 08:03:19 2007 Subject: RE: [15X_NCPC] Another car break in A man who lives in the 300 block of Wayne was mugged at gunpoint. He had ...

Assembly bill seeks to limit state oversight by Kerry Hamill, North Oakland School Board Member - Rockridge News, January Oakland’s new state Assembly member, Sandre Swanson, will likely spark some long overdue discussions in Sacramento this year about the future governance of Oakland public schools. On Swanson’s first day as a member of the Oakland delegation, he introduced a bill which would put the school board back in control and protect the district’s students from any risky financial decisions by keeping budget veto power in the hands of a state-designated trustee. If passed, the bill would allow the school board to resume power in 2008 and select a new superintendent. To that end, current state administrator Kimberly Statham will likely be on a short list of possible candidates. She continues to earn high marks in the school community for her ability to listen, accept good advice and embrace changes that have worked well for students. Central to any discussion about restoring lo...

Well, the Oakland Robbery Problem is everywhere. It even struck Oracle Arena, where the Golden State Warriors play. In this case, the heist was well-planned and only took 17 minutes. Security firm fired after theft at Oracle ABC Security will take over for WSB and Associates By Paul T. Rosynsky, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 01/19/2007 02:55:45 AM PST OAKLAND — A private security firm that patrolled the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum complex the night plasma televisions and ATMs were stolen has been fired. WSB and Associates, a San Francisco-based firm that has patrolled the complex the past five years, will be replaced by ABC Security, an Oakland-based firm with deep political connections at City Hall. ABC Security will take over patrols at the complex Monday, said Mark Kauffman, an SMG employee and general manager for the complex. The decision to fire WSB and Associates was made by SMG, a firm hired to manage the complex. Kauffman said the Jan. 4 robbery played a role in th...

I found this article in "The Black Commentator" and posted it because given Oakland's population mix and the racial hostilities that were present at last week's inauguration, it seemed timely. It's time to take not only a look at this problem, but steps to eliminate the problem of bad Latino / Black relations. Roots Of Lation / Black Anger - Long Time Prejudices, Not Economic Rivalry, Fuel Tensions - Tanya K. Hernandez The acrimonious relationship between Latinos and African Americans in Los Angeles is growing hard to ignore. Although the New Year weekend's Black-versus-Latino race riot at Chino state prison is unfortunately not an aberration, the Dec.15 murder in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood of Cheryl Green, a 14-year-old African American, allegedly by members of a Latino gang, was shocking. Yet there was nothing really new about it. Rather, the murder was a manifestation of an increasingly common trend: Latino ethnic cleansing of African Americans from m...

UPDATE: NEWSOM AND DELLUMS DIFFER ON FATES OF PRO SPORTS TEAMS 01/17/07 4:10 PST SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums expressed contrasting opinions today about their ability to keep professional sports teams from leaving their cities. Speaking at an annual business forum sponsored by the San Francisco Business Times, Newsom said the San Francisco 49ers' plans to move to Santa Clara "are by no means a done deal.'' Newsom said, "I don't know how the math works out'' to make the proposal to move to Santa Clara successful. Newsom said he believes "it's in the best interests of the San Francisco 49ers to stay in San Francisco, where they've prospered for 60 years.'' He said he believes his recent proposal to build a new stadium in the Hunters Point area along with affordable housing and community projects is a good one. "I hope the 49ers participate,'' he said. Newsom noted t...

This is terrible news that must be reported. What are medical institutions doing with the money made from record health care costs? It's not being spent on safe buildings at all. I hope more people spread this story. Half of hospitals won't meet seismic deadline Report warns of possible medical building closures, earthquake risk By Rebecca Vesely, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 01/18/2007 02:51:27 AM PST Half of California's hospitals requiring seismic retrofitting won't meet a 2013 state deadline, which could lead to hospital closures or put patients at risk if a large earthquake hits, according to a report issued today. The problem is especially great in the population-dense Bay Area and Los Angeles, where 80 percent of the hospitals needing retrofits are located, according to the study by the California HealthCare Foundation and the RAND Corporation. The biggest issue is cost of compliance, expected to reach a staggering $110 billion, according to the report....