City Council Candidates Questionnaire Part II

 City Council Candidates Q&A (Continued) 

November 8th, Emeryville voters will decide on two new four year City Council members who will replace Scott Donahue and Dianne Martinez, both of whom decided to not run for a third term.  This election, voters will select between Sukhdeep Kaur, David Mourra, Kalimah Priforce, Eugene Tssui, and Brooke Westling.

The Tattler has come up with 10 questions we think the people of Emeryville would like to ask their prospective new council members and all but Brooke Westling responded to our questionnaire.   We released the first three questions from all four candidates October 16th and we now follow with questions four through seven.   The first three questions may be seen HERE. 

The order of presentation is random.

Here then are the next questions:

First up is Eugene Tssui.  Eugene’s website is HERE.

4)   Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

Eugene Tssui: Yes. It is fair, and it is morally correct. I am concerned about the quality of life and livelihoods. If elected, I will work to implement intergenerational jobs programs that provide the most robust workforces of the future.

5)   Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

Eugene Tssui:   The City of Emeryville needs a Code of Ethics in its government. This is a crucial aspect of a good, stable, transparent, and morally ethical government. We have been asking the City for this for over a year now. A Code of Ethics holds city representatives accountable for their statements and actions. It provides independent oversight if citizens feel excluded or shut down by the council members.

This process is a necessary step toward transparency and accountability.   We needed this last year and now even more!

Not having a Code of Ethics begs the question of why Emeryville has never had one, and more importantly, why haven’t the previous and current City Councilpersons made an effort to create one?   Earlier this year, there was talk amongst the current City Council to initiate a Code of Ethics by August of this year. What happened?  The Zoom distancing mentality relates to staving-off the Code of Ethics issue.

Regarding my personal ethic, I promise access to the residents that vote me into the City Council.   I will be available for people to call call or e-mail me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I am personally honored when people contact me with their concerns. I have already received calls from people complaining about street noise. I recommend that they note when and where the noise takes place and obtain as many other people’s signatures who agree with them and then take this to the City Council. We need to work together. It tells me what they are seeing, and it helps me to see in a different way, and that is always good. That is what I expect of our residents in social democracy, and of myself, and other public officials.

6)   What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

Eugene Tssui: Paying a real state transfer tax when you sell your building and adding $3 dollars per $1000 of real estate value up to $2 million seems fair.   In an extreme case, if you sell your building for $2 million and you must pay an extra $6000 it seems not to be a significant burden to most owners.

7)   Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

Eugene Tssui: As I see it, the treatment of the homeless in Emeryville is missing a crucial ingredient:   We are not  addressing the intricate needs of the homeless to find housing, medical, psychological/emotional counseling, and psychiatric examination for harm reduction. The Emeryville dialogue has been concerned with housing which, for many, stems from root causes often tied to drug and alcohol addiction, physical/emotional/sexual abuse, lack of medical help, counseling help, mental disorders, and causes pertaining to our military vets.

Working with local hospitals, the city must provide rapid deployment of medical/psychological care for the homeless so they can become capable of turning homelessness into prosperity. And such individuals must be around others who have succeeded in conquering homelessness and have created a new and contented life for themselves.

To do this, we must direct real estate developers to create housing that allows for short-term stays (for those temporarily unhoused) and long-term housing with integrated social services. How can the homeless break the chains of integrating the unhoused into the society of work and productivity, when possible? What government programs are set up to deliver while understanding the cause and effects of homeless conditions? How can once homeless be encouraged to show the way to rise out of their circumstances?

Working with all aspects of the community, we can create “settlement house” programs fueled by micro-certifications for workers, families, and students that address these issues and concerns for others that are temporarily or otherwise, less fortunate.

I intend to start a research and development commission that addresses and finds solutions to crime, homelessness, domestic violence, sexism, ageism, and family discord. These programs can be implemented as after-school classes and counseling sessions attended by the entire family and done at times of the evening when the entire family is available to attend together.

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Next up is David Mourra.  David’s website is HERE.

4)  Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

 

Yes, these are crucial ordinances to ensure that people working in the city have good jobs with sustainable pay and scheduling. These ordinances allow us to focus on recruiting businesses to come to Emeryville and support our existing businesses and know that every job will be a good job. 

 

5)  Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

 

I think it is very important for the people of Emeryville to be able to contact the members of the City Council. City staff and city council members are not aware of every issue facing the city and we rely on engaged citizens to reach out. There are different ways of doing this-- email addresses, phone numbers, See-Click-Fix, social media etc. I check my official planning commission email address as often as I do my personal email. I've also shared my personal phone number with numerous people I've interacted with during my campaign and in my work as a Planning Commissioner. This is something I plan to continue doing if elected to serve on the city council. 

 

6)  What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

 

Why is Emeryville collecting less on real estate transfers than Berkeley and Oakland? Measure O brings us in line with our neighbors. More importantly, it is crucial for adequately funding city services. The largest impact is on sale/transfer of properties above $2 million which primarily affects major commercial transactions. Measure O is necessary and sensible and I encourage everybody to vote Yes on Measure O.

 

 

7)  Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

 

The issue of homeless encampments is a complicated regional problem. At its core, a lack of housing regionally has made this problem more acute. Recent fires at these encampments have shown that health and safety need to be paramount. I fully expect that the city treats unhoused people with humanity and decency but it is important to recognize that the status quo is not sustainable. People need to be matched with short term and longer term housing solutions that keep them off the streets. This should be a guiding principle for the City Council and its staff.

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Next up is Kalimah Priforce.  Kalimah’s website is HERE.

4)  Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

 

Yes. I signed a pledge authored by Ally Medina that aligned with the interests of Dianne Martinez. That is how I collected their endorsements and I shared the pledge with Courtney Welch and she provided her endorsement as well. I posted the pledge on my platform page, www.votepriforce.com. Yes, I'm transparent AF.

 

5)  Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  Personal? No. Personal communication is by choice and should be left to the discretion of both parties.

 

Why? It could and usually does lead to harassment, trolling, and other behaviors from the public that make it a hostile work environment when work creeps into the time elected officials set aside to read a bedtime story to their kids, work out their glutes at the gym, or date night with their spouse.

 

Also, we get what we pay for. If Emeryville residents want full-time attention from elected officials, then elected officials should not have to balance their full-time work with their duties in office.

 

Positions should be full-time and I will be working towards drawing up a measure that would make elected city officials full-time public servants and the mayorship an election-based position rather than being chosen by the city council. Most Emeryville residents I’ve spoken to don’t even know that the positions are not full-time and that the mayor isn’t duly elected.

 

With the mayorship cycling the way it does between city council members, it’s akin to student government rather than a transparent engaging system, which is the basis for a democracy.

 

It’s no wonder voter apathy is high in Emeryville and voter turn-out is abysmal.

 

Emeryville deserves an elected city government working full-time with no other professional conflict to consider, whether they be conflict of interests or scheduling conflicts. Emeryville deserves a full-time, four year mayor just like our neighboring cities, elected by the people, for the people, or do we wait until a crisis to happen to change things?

 

As a council member, I will be available in ways that would be surprising to most. As a business leader, I am accustomed to having an open and public life. However, if there is anyone who tries to troll or harass me, I will shut off their access to me and I am smart and creative enough to loophole every Brown Act provision that would prevent me from doing so. I’m a hacker and it’s how I think.

 

I must protect my partner and daughter and I will not, as a Black man in America, allow my family to be harassed or bullied by anyone. The same would also go for my colleagues. I would not tolerate the same happening to them and would defend them vehemently, probably more than I would myself. This isn't my kind of politics and it needs to change and I don't care how things were in the past when that was okay. Harassment and bullying from the city council to the public and vice versa will not be condoned by me. I will gladly pull out my vintage Gameboy and Tetris it away if I am asked to be in a room wherein someone is insulting me. Not happening.

 

 

6)  What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  100% support it.

 

7)  Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  If there is evidence or reports of inhumane treatment, that should be independently investigated. I do not support dehumanization. I help fund organizations across the country that combat dehumanization, so I wouldn't change that about me because it's part of my values system as a practicing Buddhist for over thirty-three years. Politics won't change that.

 

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Last up is Sukhdeep Kaur.  Sukhdeep’s website is HERE.

4)  Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

Sukhdeep Kaur: Yes.

5)  Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  The council members are assigned a public email from the City Council and whenever I have reached out to the council members on their email addresses, they have responded to me unless they are out of town or traveling and if they are, they respond when they are back.  So, I have reason to believe that the city provides council members this public email address to ensure accountability.   In the past, City Council members like Jennifer West would blog on their website and I see that the present council members are active on the social media and available for civil discourse.  I hope to use many of these tools to make myself available to Emeryville.

6)  What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  I support Measure O.

7)   Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  I have spoken at length with our PD about this issue.  They work with Dignity Operations in keeping our streets clean and safe for Emeryville.  They have even helped many of the homeless people to get back to being productive members of society.  Our ECAP program offers free meals to anyone without question.  We have many good programs.  I am sure more can be done which will bolster the efforts already in place.