Council Member Priforce Weighs In -
My Turn
Council Member Kalimah Priforce
The Tattler has always made itself available to all elected officials in Emeryville to use as a platform to reach out to the citizens for whatever reason they wish. We call it 'My Turn'. All electeds are always invited at any time to submit information in the public interest and the Tattler will post it verbatim. Council member Priforce has requested a Tattler space in kind and we accommodate all Emeryville elected officials in this request. This story submission was not suggested by the Tattler in any way.
Protect Press Freedom in Emeryville—Stand with Local Journalism
By Council member Kalimah Priforce
Emeryville may be small, but we’ve always dreamed big—community kindness, safe and clean streets, mobility in our lives and on the road, and the power of everyday people - creating and innovating.
But none of that works without a free press - our collective voice. Journalists like Brian Donahue of the Emeryville Tattler and local news hub, the E’ville Eye, shine a light where others won’t. Whether you love his reporting or can’t stand it, Brian challenges our leaders to be honest. And that’s something we all benefit from.
But today, that vital freedom—the right to know—is under attack.
For over 15 years, Mr Donahue has reported on Emeryville politics, exposing the stories that matter. From toxic waste sites to addressing the genocide in Gaza, his annoying tenacity has rattled some powerful cages, and now those forces are striking back.
City Attorney John Kennedy is trying to silence him and the Emeryville Tattler — first with a "communication plan" barring city staff from speaking to him and threatening legal action just for asking questions outside public meetings to now pursuing a permanent restraining order against him.
It’s not unlike my own censure and sanction. Both were pushed through during a time when Emeryville was without a permanent city manager—a vacuum where the city attorney had too much power from a majority of the city council and no one to rein him in.
This kind of overreach doesn’t just happen in closed sessions—it’s happening right here, out in the open. And it’s expensive: the city’s push for a restraining order against Mr Donahue has already cost us taxpayers over $50,000 and could easily double that when it's over. That's money that could be going to essential city services, alleviating rent burdens, or our public arts.
If we had a public ethics commission watching over City Hall, these abuses of power would be prevented.
And this isn’t the first time Emeryville has battled corruption. In the 1920s, Chief Justice Earl Warren called us “the Rottenest City on the Pacific Coast” because of widespread corruption. In the decades that followed, Police Chief John LaCoste ruled unchecked until the community demanded reform. We’ve been here before. And we’ve fought back.
The rights of journalists are under threat, across the country, freedoms we once took for granted are being chipped away. I took an oath to defend the Constitution and to democratically serve the people of Emeryville. I’ve had my share of disagreements with Brian Donahue, but this fight isn’t about liking a reporter or not. It sets a legal precedent that can suppress the information flow of local news coverage stretching beyond Emeryville - and that hurts democracy. It’s about protecting the right to hold power accountable. If they can silence him and the Emeryville Tattler, they can silence any voice that challenges the status quo.
This is bigger than Brian Donahue and the Tattler. It’s about who gets to speak truth to power. You do.
I know asking for help isn’t easy for any of us and especially for Brian Donahue—it can sometimes feel like an admission of weakness. But let me remind you: every time you've come to me about an eviction notice, a broken park seat, or a threat to your small business, I show up because asking for help is strength. That’s how we take care of each other. That’s how we win, by being stronger together.
These are our taxpayer dollars, our neighborhoods, our roads and parks. Emeryville isn’t just buildings. It’s the people who call this city home.
I’m asking you to stand with me and protect what makes Emeryville special. Show up. Speak out. Send your statements of support to priforce@emeryville.org and attend Mr Donahue’s court hearing on May 22, 2025, at 1:30 PM. Let’s remind those in power that we won’t let journalism—and accountability—be silenced in our city.
Local journalism is about more than headlines. It’s about lifting every voice.
Let’s show this city what we're made of -
In solidarity,
Kalimah Priforce
Councilmember, City of Emeryville
Maybe a quarter of Tattler stories are good. It's mostly just a distraction but that quarter of good stories are really important for public information.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. But this is not one of the good stories. Priforce just loves attention. Remember his fake hunger strike? He loves to pretend he's a victim.
DeleteThe city has a restraining order on Brian? Good.
ReplyDeleteDonahue has harassed city staff for years unrelated to "journalism". Let them do their jobs.
Government officials have an ethical duty to be accountable to the people. That is their job.
DeleteThe city has crossed a line with this. There have been many valuable stories where the Tattler exposed city hall for bad behavior. The city is embarrassed by all the stories and they are trying to silence you Brian. Please don't let them stop you.
ReplyDeleteGreat job, I love reading the Tattler!
ReplyDeleteWhat does John Kennedy fear? I recall that John F. Kennedy the president, was once a news reporter himself and a sturdy friend to
ReplyDeletethe press.
There is a natural adversarial relationship between the government and a free press. That's because we hold them to account and they don't like that. But it beats the alternative. Ask anyone in North Korea.
DeleteThank you so much for writing this piece. Something I read this morning… First, they took away the journalists , And after that, we didn’t hear anything. No one says you have to agree with Brian, no one says you have to read Brian, but surely he should be allowed to continue with The Tattler!
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this piece. this morning I read something really ominous. It said, first they came for the journalists And after that, we heard nothing. You don’t have to read The Tattler But what a slippery slope it is to censor it.
ReplyDeleteI've seen Mr. Donohue on TV ... verbally crashing a press conference in Berkeley, yelling at city council meetings, hassling and videotaping a parent with a young child at the Harvest Festival against his wishes. The First Amendment protects free speech, not free harassment of public officials and citizens. He's gone on far too long with this nonsense. He and his enablers ought to be ashamed of themselves.
ReplyDeleteHarassment is illegal so if you see someone doing that you can call the police and the perpetrator will be arrested. Same with disrupting a public meeting. People that do that are subject to arrest. Video recording a child in public is not illegal but I don’t do it. If you don’t like law breaking around you, I suggest calling the police. BTW, I’ve never been arrested…how about you?
DeleteOh and nobody videotapes anymore…that went out like 20 years ago. Now it’s ‘video recording’.
A “real journalist” would not write snarky responses to comments. Guess you need to have the last word? Maybe you’re a little thin-skinned.No biggie.
DeleteOh and Keep it up and you might be just be arrested.
I'll let you have the last word but make sure you don't include false information in the public interest in it or I might push back. Opinions are fine. Let the hate flow.
DeleteAnd FYI, the Tattler has been going for over 15 years and no arrest yet. I think it's safe to say we can continue on as we have been and we will be safe from arrest. But hope springs eternal I suppose. By all means, keep calling the police on me.
Mr. Donohue is a known stalker and harasser. He’s not exposing the truth. He has an agenda strictly to fit his own pathetic, preconceived narrative. I’m glad they put a restraining order against him. Let city officials do their work without physical intimidation. They are doing a great job!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to continue to get public information from public officials in Emeryville for use in the Tattler. If government officials are physically intimidated by me, that's on them. I can't help them with that. Citizens are allowed to interact with their government, even large male citizens. The job description of employee managers in the public sector is interacting with the public, even those whom they may not like, including journalists.
DeleteAgain, Mr Anonymous, call the police when you see crimes happen...crimes like stalking and harassing. The police would be glad to arrest me if I ever commit a crime.
Mr. Donohue might hide behind the title "journalist," but I've seen him in action for years: On KTVU news barging into a press conference and making himself the center of attention; harassing city employees; spewing nonsense at city council meetings and disrupting the Harvest Festival, where he insisted on videotaping a father with a young child after being asked by the dad not to record his son.
ReplyDeleteThe First Amendment protects free speech -- it does not protect harassment or stalking of citizens or city staff. Donohue -- and his enablers -- should realize the only thing they're accomplishing is highlighting their delusional sense of self importance. Enough.
Everything I do in Emeryville in my capacity as a journalist I could do as a non-journalist. You too can ask questions of your government like I do if you want. As long as you don’t make them embarrassed, they will probably be nice and helpful to you. But if you release the info you find to the public, if it brings to light untoward or unprofessional behavior on their part, you’ll find they won’t like interacting with you anymore. It’s funny how it works out that way. But still, the law allows you to continue to ask questions of your government whether or not they like it. Most of them are professional and courteous regardless. Some are thin skinned and act as if they don’t have to be accountable to the public.
DeleteYour ‘Harvest Festival’ charge is inaccurate. You are correct that the First Amendment doesn’t protect law breaking.
I read the Tattler regularly and the thing that most amazes me is your energy. You get nothing for producing it and you get lots of hate for it. It's amazing you continue on for so long when anyone else would quit. We who read the Tattler get benefits but where is your benefit? Please keep doing what you do, I just want to know how you do it.
ReplyDeleteWhy is there a court hearing?
ReplyDeleteThere is a court hearing because the city attorney’s previous attempt to silence the Tattler hasn’t so far worked. That previous attempt was the illegal Tattler “Communication Plan” that states, among other things, that I cannot talk with any city employees after public meetings have been adjourned. I have tested this illegal prohibition directed against the free press (and citizen’s rights) and the city attorney has not followed through with his threat to sue me and arrest me for talking. He hasn’t because it’s not illegal for me to talk with people and he knows it.
DeleteThe Communication Plan is an attempt by the City to intimidate me. The city attorney’s next step is to attempt to have me legally restrained. That’s what the court hearing is about. So far the City of Emeryville has spent more than $50,000 of taxpayer money on the attempt to restrain the Tattler. Of course, there will be several Tattler stories about this as it plays out. Watch this space.
Anyone else notice why commenters are suddenly referencing a KTVU conference (in Berkeley) that has nothing to do with the council member's call to action or anything related to Emeryville?
ReplyDeleteLeads me to believe that these are the recall people like Chris Moore, Tuan Ngo, Edward Escobar and maybe even Brenda Grisham posting their hate of Donahue and the Tattler because he stood up to them at the conference and Donahue did a story about them when they came to Emeryville.
They must think we are idiots. Shoo! Go away!
Don't bring the same vitriol you brought to Oakland to us in Emeryville.
I came here after reading about the restraining order against Brian and mostly just come to the tattler to read the comment section which is entertaining (stories not so much as I have to decipher everything through Brian’s skewed lense).
ReplyDeleteIt dawned on me that I’ve never seen a single recognizable name in the comment section which makes me wonder if any of his readers are actually Emeryville residents?
Maybe they’re just too embarrassed to say they read this crap.
FYI: The "skewed lense" is the interests of the residents. You won't find any skewing towards business interests here.
DeleteWho's reading "this crap"? It's crap you say and you just keep on reading it, don't you?