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Oakland Ranked Choice Voting Complaints An Insult To Mayor Quan

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

SF Public Defender Jeff Adachi On SF Police Surveillance Video Scandal

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

What Is Your Fitness Fortune?

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

Oakland's Larry Reid Wrongly Called Cannabis University Graduate

Like his Oakland City Council colleague Councilmember Desley Brooks (District 6 - Central East Oakland), Oakland City Council President Larry Reid (District 7 - East Oakland) also supposedly received a "Diploma of Certified Seedling," last year, and from the Oakland-based institution called UniCann. Or did he? The video's title - "Councilmember Larry Reid University of Cannabis graduate" - is just plain wrong. There's no video evidence of Councilmember Reid receiving the kind of diploma Brooks got last year. The video just has Larry expressing his gratitude for the location of the University of Cannabis facility in his District 7. Reid just says "Congratulations. Welcome to Oakland." Here's the video: It's no wonder the video's not being pushed via Twitter the way the video with Councilmember Brooks has been (and by members of the local and regional pot growing industry with Twitter accounts at @GroMaster, @M24Cabbage, an

Oakland Chief Of Police Should Be Elected, Not Appointed

The position of Chief of Police in Oakland should be an elected one. This blogger's reasons start with how a document announcing the search for a new chief in 2009, which became Tony Batts in 2010, was worded. There' an old job posting for the position of Chief Of Police For The City of Oakland that's still online, here . It's posted text, repeated below in case the City of Oakland had the original removed, explains, among other things, that the Chief of Police "reports to The City Administrator." Now, of course, many Oakland insiders know this, but the public's generally not aware of such things.  (Also, the Chief's salary was set at "up to $17,615.17 per month.  What Batts does with that 17 cents is anyone's guess.) But with that, one would agree it was wrong for certain members of the Oakland City Council to openly state that Chief Batts should have come to them regarding his job and working condition issues. The document openly s