Cynical Manipulation?

Let's Have Some More Cynical Manipulation From Councilman Bukowski

If this is cynical manipulation, please Mr Bukowski, cynically manipulate us some more.

Opinion

Councilman Ken Bukowski has taken a lot of fire from his city council colleagues of late.  The City Attorney initiative plebiscite and other populist legislation he has recently championed has drawn charges that he is engaging in "cynical manipulation" meant only to help in his re-election bid.

The September 7th council vote on the Sherwin Williams toxic site clean-up is an example of this cynical manipulation; council member Bukowski was the sole vote against allowing Sherwin Williams to extend their hours of operation at their toxic clean-up site on Horton Street.

If not the Earth, at least

cover Emeryville in 

lead and arsenic.

After decades of dumping toxic materials including lead and arsenic, even after environmental regulations outlawed the practice, Sherwin Williams is being forced to dig up and haul away the contaminated soil. But the clean-up work has fallen behind schedule and they asked the council to approve weekend and weekday evening clean-up work; an extension of their original agreement.  The loud and heavy equipment has doused the neighborhood with dust and Sherwin Williams has rebuffed neighbors requests for toxin testing of the dust.

Several neighbors have noted the extended hours proposed by Sherwin Williams would be after school hours and neighborhood children would be exposed to the airborne dust.

The request by Sherwin Williams was especially egregious since the reason given for the extension turned out to ultimately be money savings for the billion dollar corporation.  Company representatives kept saying it would be "hard" and "difficult" to conduct the clean-up in the coming rainy season.  When pressed, the company would not explain what hard and difficult mean, leaving profit maximizing as the final and obvious but unspoken motive.

It was only Mr Bukowski that held firm that the original agreement with Sherwin Williams should be honored.  The other four council members caved and voted to grant Sherwin Williams extended hours.  The only reason the request was defeated was because two competing hours extension proposals by two groups of two council members cancelled each other out leaving the original agreement standing and Mr Bukowski as the victor.

Cynical:  He's doing things the voters want, 
hoping to get re-elected.  
Feel used?

We recognize that this sort of populism is new for Mr Bukowski and we have no allusions about his pre-election pro-resident pivot.   But we are saddened that a council member that breaks with the pack and represents the residents' interests over corporate interests is rebuked by his colleagues and chastised as a cynical manipulator just seeking to increase his re-election odds. Instead of cynical manipulating, we have another word for this kind of politics...it's called leadership, re-election motives notwithstanding.  What Mr Bukowski did on September 7th is what we sent him to City Hall to do and we don't care if he is motivated by a desire to get re-elected.  The other council members should be so cynical.