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Well, congratulations are in order for Oakland City Attorney John Russo, who was just offered the Alameda City Manager position, and considering the climate in Oakland, that he got the job at all was a blessing for him. Russo was painted into a corner in several ways. First, Oakland's enormous budget problems caused him to pair down the City Attorney's Office. Second, the election of Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan as Mayor of Oakland gave him a person more an adversary than an advocate to work with. Third, the counter-reaction to the Oakland Gang Injunction Program threatened to give Russo the first serious challenge to his office in the next election, should he have remained in Oakland. Plus, John's in his 50s with two twin boys; he's not getting younger and it's time to be at a place where there's just less stress and bullshit. And frankly, Oakland City Hall was becoming more like a high school than a government office, with factions, cliques, games, ...

This really hurts. Discovering the passing of this blogger's long time friend Richard Winnie via social media leaves a mix of emotions. Richard, Mr. Winnie to some, boss, to others, Alameda County Council to more, and godfather and friend to many, was and always will be my friend. Richard represents a good 20 years of my 48 years life, and most of that talking about the politics of Oakland. But that was a subset. A side event. Richard spontaneously remembered my birthday, and about a few weeks before August 4th, made sure to call, or have his secretary call, me to set his schedule so we could meet. And we did, and always at 7:30 AM. For anyone who knows how much that time of morning is a pain in the butt to deal with for me, it was a pleasure knowing I was going to meet Richard. Richard Winnie was one of the few people who actually bothered to take me aside and be a mentor. I didn't have to ask him or approach him, or drop a name. It was just the way he was.   ...

From the video description: "Berkeley Citizens' Action held a forum on March 27th, 2011, on the situation at KPFA. Philip Maldari, long time KPFA broadcaster, discusses the reasons the Morning Show was killed by Pacifica's management in these three combined clips."

Couch at 386 Euclid in Oakland still there , originally uploaded by zennie62 . The couch you see in the photo that was at 386 Euclid Avenue near Lake Merritt in Oakland, California is gone now. But it was there for a good six days straight (at least), and is the latest in a totally awful set of examples of the overall lack of price of place that's exhibited in the Adams Point area. Not that Adams Point is the only place in Oakland that exhibits this problem, but the one within my immediate sphere of influence. I took three photos of this couch and placed them on my Facebook page. But something should be done about this beyond my cyber-complaints. It's a clear sign that many people in the neighborhood just don't care how it looks. It's not the first time this has happened. The first time, for me, was last year, when someone left, in order as you walk up Euclid, a couch, two chairs and a table, and a mattress. All between 378 and 380 Euclid and right in the w...

There's still discussion over the new Oakland Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) system, with the latest article suggesting that a number of voters didn't understand it. Well, that's wrong headed and an insult to Oakland Mayor Jean Quan that's starting to sound like that high-pitched whine journalists make over the sale of The Huffington Post to AOL. Look, the November election's over and Quan won. Moreover, Jean Quan won because a healthy number of voters did understand RCV - enough to product an incredible outcome. In our election recap, Oakland City Attorney John Russo actually explained how Quan could win over Don Perata, who scored about 35 percent of the first-choice votes, before she won, then said that the possibility of Quan getting three-quarters of the second-place and third-place votes was so remote , it wouldn't happen. See this video: But guess what? It did happen . Russo actually called it. Moreover, it means, once again, that Quan and Oakl...

The San Francisco Police video Surveillance Scandal has hit the media and led to what ultimately could be a sweeping investigation and eventually a wholesale change in how police work is done. This blogger met (for the first time) with San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi to talk about the scandal and its implications on Friday for this video interview. Mr. Adachi presides over an office of 90 lawyers, a budget of $24 million, and has handled about 25,000 cases over his tenure since he was elected in 2002. Adachi explains that the one truism is "everyone has an eye on you." That "eye" is the camera, be it a camcorder, standard photo camera, a camcorder, or in the case of the surveillance scandal, a surveillance camera. What happened is a couple of weeks ago, we had a case where the client said the police came into my room without a warrant." Adachi says the police filed a police report that claimed otherwise - that they had consent to enter the ...

HI ‘ Your Fit Day ‘ Friends: Last spring I decided to take my fitness business to a new level. With over 25 years experience in the fitness industry as a personal trainer; four years as a wellness coach; my experience in writing, producing and hosting my own fitness segments for ABC7 news in San Francisco; and along with my experience in sales as a life insurance agent (while also helping clients get fit for better rates), I knew it was time. For what? Well…to put it all together into my own global brand - Your Fit Day with Debby K ! I needed some help with my vision so I sought out the help some coached, one which was John Spencer Ellis . Who? John Spencer Ellis John Spencer Ellis! He is the owner of a fitness business coaching program called Fitness Fortunes. If you’re a fitness trainer – or maybe you’re super-fit but unfulfilled in your current job and that little voice keeps popping into your head saying: “hmmm, should I make that leap and live the life that I’ve been dreaming...