Emeryville Launched Novel Legal Effort to Silence the Tattler

City's Tattler "Communication Plan" Is Really A Non-Communication Plan 

By Mr X

Emeryville’s administration is attempting to muzzle the city’s independent news service, erecting roadblocks to news-gathering and threatening the publication’s editor with prosecution. 

Oddly echoing events playing out in Washington DC, local leaders have enacted an executive order barring the Tattler’s editor from any vocal or written interaction with any city employee. 

According to a 'communication plan' drafted by City Attorney John Kennedy, Tattler editor Brian Donahue may only communicate with city elected leaders, officials or employees during the ‘public comment’ period of city council meetings. Under state regulations, city officials, elected leaders and employees are all barred from addressing concerns raised during public comment. 

Kennedy, in a memo sent to the Tattler in October, describes the Editor’s news-gathering and reporting as "harassment," “aggression,” “threatening,” “intimidating,” and “hostile,” attempting to conjure a linguistic context for his actions. Exactly the types of terms the Administration in Washington has leveled at news outlets not offering fawning, supplicating coverage. 

A bizarre attempt by Kennedy to add gravitas by citing case law, undermines his own memo, and the constitutionality of his actions potentially resulting in financial liability for the City of Emeryville. One case, Minn. Bd. Commun. for Colleges v. Knight, 465 U.S. 271 (1984) concerns unrepresented groups attending meetings for unionized employees during contract negotiations, the other, L. F. v. Lake Wash. Sch. Dist. concerned an aggrieved parent and communications with the teachers of that parent’s children and school and district officials—not an entire city. Regardless, on-going bi-weekly meetings between the parent and school officials were established. 

While this effort to restrict and eventually destroy an independent voice in Emeryville plays out in court, perhaps the most troubling aspect is how closely local officials are adhering to and advancing President Trump’s effort to silence inconvenient voices. The Emeryville Tattler must be fairly effective.

Mr X, besides working for the Tattler, was a reporter for the Oakland Tribune and several other print
publications, two NPR affiliates in Northern California and received an Edward R Murrow award for his work covering wildfires in Northern California. 

Silencing journalism increases group think, stifles public participation and decreases critical thinking.

John Bauters' Future Is Guided By His Conspicuous Association With Plutocrats

Is John Bauters a Snake?

Well Sure, But Emeryville Residents Don't Need a National Reality TV Show to See It.

News Analysis

The regional Bay Area press corps over the last year has spilled a lot of ink on the public foibles and discernible antics of former Emeryville mayor John Bauters; from his whiplashing but losing bid for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to his dramatic appearance on a nationally syndicated reality TV show where he shocked many when he quipped about himself as a politician who’s good at lying and manipulating people.  Many of these Bauters’ watchers have settled on the TV show as an ‘aha’ moment that reveals his real nefarious motives in the world of politics.  But for all his impolitic and outlandish statements on the TV show, the real revelations about John’s political proclivities come from the job he took as executive director of a billionaire funded right wing political action committee before the TV show even went to air. 

He told Alameda County voters he was a progressive:
and it's true he's gay and he rides a bike.
Plutocrats and Emeryville residents however knew
otherwise.   Others found out about John from the TV show.

 

Regardless of the lavishly funded campaign highlighting his progressive bonafides for the Supervisor’s race last fall, an effort that attempted to conceal his corporate connections and his true heart’s desire, Bauters’ move to bail from politics and accept a job as executive director at the billionaire funded astroturf organization Revitalize East Bay (and Abundant Oakland ©) immediately after he lost his bid for Supervisor, is what informs, not the TV show.  That post election move, directly into the billionaires’ warm embrace, was a shock to many of his political supporters outside of Emeryville that had seen John as a true blue progressive.  For Emeryville residents who know him however, John’s ‘transformation’ from grassroots to astroturf was no transformation at all, it was always just astroturf.

Settling in at Revitalize East Bay, Bauters went to work right away for the investor owned utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric, a major contributor.  Progressive Oakland City Council member Carroll Fife had brought California Senate Bill 332, the Investor-Owned Utilities Accountability Act to a council approval resolution and through the graces of Revitalize East Bay, PG&E used Bauters’ political skills to try to talk Fife down.  He told the Councilwoman PG&E being held accountable as per AB 332s provisions, would drive the utility to pull charitable contributions to Oakland non-profit groups and it would send an anti-business message to Oakland businesses and start ups looking to locate in Oakland.  Bauters told Oaklandside he spoke with Fife to convince her to meet with PG&E and take out of the bill anything offensive to them.  Council member Fife refused and Bauters helped the Oakland resolution go down to defeat per PG&E’s wishes.  Interestingly, the Emeryville City Council voted on a resolution to support AB 332 earlier when the political climate in tiny, inconsequential Emeryville was able to fly under the PG&E radar.  Mr Bauters was still on the Emeryville Council and receiving Revitalize East Bay campaign funding but not directly working for them as he is now.  

What Mr Bauters and his employer finds objectionable about SB 332 is that it would immediately curb PG&E’s corporate abuses that have impaired service reliability, inflated customer rates (now the second highest in the nation), and criminally endangered public safety.  But more importantly, SB 332 lays the groundwork for democratically replacing PG&E and other Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs) with a “not-for-profit” public utility, historically a hair-on-fire no go for the utility giant (as we saw in the 2010 Prop 16 fight).

While many are now opining about John Bauters’ future and the surprise so many East Bay progressives have displayed following the reality TV show, it is unclear what actually lies in the future.  Many of these prognosticators were  Bauters voters in the Alameda County Supervisors race, followers who now likely feel hoodwinked after what he said to the national TV audience.  Some are predicting he will return to politics and like the defeated 1960 presidential hopeful Richard Nixon’s appearance on the Jack Par show in 1961 was transformational to a come back, Bauters will be able to leverage his TV fame and return to rise like a phoenix.  But the trouble for Bauters is his right wing connections that have been made clear through his Revitalize East Bay hiring.  His association with this plutocratic PAC will not be possible to conceal to Bay Area voters.  Revitalize East Bay reveals his true allegiances and it is likely any Bay Area political run is now out of reach for him for the foreseeable future.  What has been revealed is the only reason Mr Bauters was able to get within striking distance of political power in left wing Alameda County last November was his deftness at concealing his right wing nature (despite the tiny Tattler’s reporting before the election).

All this doesn’t preclude a Bauters run at electoral politics in a conservative district outside the left wing Bay Area of course.

The Tattler reached out to John Bauters for this story but inquiries were not returned.

Councilman Solomon Proposes National Bike Safety Organization Expunged From Emeryville's Bike Plan

 Nation's Premier Bike Safety Organization No Longer Good Enough for Emeryville, Says Solomon

Nationally Recognized Expert Policy Best Practices Should Be Cut in Favor of Emeryville City Hall Staff Opinions 

City Council member Matthew Solomon recently announced a surprising new proposal that would elevate the Emeryville city staff’s opinions as the highest authority on bike safety for our town, overturning the City’s decades long existing deference to the experts at NACTO, the nation-wide transportation authority and their use of rationally based industry best practices.  The radical policy shift proposal would represent a retrenchment on bike safety according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), the organization the City currently uses to set bike and pedestrian safety protocols.  

Matthew Solomon Emeryville City Councilman
Ironically, he ran for Council on a pro-bike platform.

Every neighboring city as well as most of the rest of the nation uses NACTO protocols and guidelines in designing their bike and pedestrian infrastructure. 

Solomon's proposal, if enacted, would turn Emeryville away from NACTO safety guideline expertise in favor of opinions from city staff non-experts and would likely result in compromised bike safety.  It would also place Emeryville in higher litigation jeopardy should a bicyclist get injured in Emeryville it should be noted. 

In a telephone interview with Matthew Solomon, the Councilman specifically said he would not vote for and he would encourage his colleagues to not support NACTO protocols for counting the number of vehicles using Emeryville’s bike boulevards, a practice the City conducted every two years for a decade before 2019.  Further, he said does not agree with NACTO's delineated traffic volume allowable for bike boulevards (maximum number of vehicle trips per day).  NACTO (and the City of Emeryville) recognizes that bike boulevards are streets that vehicles and bikes share and that the number of vehicles using the street must therefore be limited for bike safety.  The way any city knows it is following the NACTO rules is by occasionally counting the vehicle traffic and then working to limit the number of vehicles as per their guidelines, keeping it below the upper safety limit.  

The City of Emeryville used to conduct bi-annual traffic counts as NACTO dictates until business representatives complained in 2019 when the practice was abandoned.  At the time, all five bike boulevards in town had more traffic than NACTO and Emeryville's General Plan allows.  The amount of vehicle traffic in Emeryville has risen substantially since 2019, putting more vehicles on the bike boulevards and bikers in even graver danger, a fact Council member Solomon was unimpressed with in our telephone interview.

After telling the Tattler NACTO’s influence should be removed from Emeryville’s bike plan (known as the Active Transportation Plan (ATP), the Councilman said he would be amenable to amending the ATP at the Council level to achieve that goal.  Currently, the ATP defers to NACTO best practices for bike boulevards and other bike corridors in town as well as pedestrian infrastructure.

Lifted directly from Emeryville's 
Active Transportation Plan (page 39): the law
of the land in bike policy.

Councilman Solomon told the Tattler Emeryville’s city staff knows how to design, plan and build bike boulevards and that they are the ones the City Council should listen to, not a nation-wide member organization committed to bike and pedestrian safety best practices promotion.

The City Council has always had the right to amend the ATP by fiat and if Mr Solomon is successful in convincing a majority on the Council to remove NACTO and the bike boulevard vehicle traffic limits from the ATP, it would be legal but unprecedented.  It would represent the first time in Emeryville history the Council voted to amend the bike plan instead of ignoring it (as they done on our bike boulevards up to now).

Before 2019, the City conducted bi-annual traffic counts on the bike boulevards but then, despite the requirement to do so as spelled out in the General Plan, the counting stopped at former Mayor John Bauters’ insistence.  The City never achieved the bike boulevard traffic volume goals stated by the City’s Bike Plan (and NACTO) it should be noted.  

Several business owners in town, including Wareham Development’s CEO Rich Robbins, have long complained about how bikes hamper tenants getting to and from their buildings.  Businesses have quietly lobbied sympathetic Council members to remove or at least ignore the boulevards, pleas Mr Bauters seem to have listened to as he hamstrung Horton Street bikers by quitting the vehicle counts and ignoring the duty to reduce vehicle traffic.  Mr Robbins publicly supported a plan to remove the Horton Street Bike Boulevard and instead route bikers alongside the railroad tracks behind his buildings.  In the intervening years, the City extended the Emeryville Greenway ped/bike path behind the buildings as Mr Robbins insisted they do but the bike boulevard still remains on Horton Street (albeit with too much vehicle traffic).

Mr Solomon is self described as a pro-bike Council member, having served on the Bike Committee for years.  Supporters claim he is the biggest advocate for bicycling on the Council however Council member Kalimah Priforce, also a bike advocate who uses his bike or public transportation exclusively, doesn’t own a car and he has never even had a driver’s license.  Mr Priforce, for the record, has stated he is in favor of limiting the number of vehicles on the bike boulevards as the ATP (and NACTO) says.  

The Tattler invites Councilman Solomon to explain, in his own words, the dichotomy between his incongruent statements made to the Tattler and his claims of bike advocacy by use of the Tattler’s unedited ‘My Turn’ feature.

2024 (a million years ago):
On the campaign trail, candidate for Council Solomon was
unabashed in his support for bikes and the ATP.  He was
not past going a little puerile and high-handed in his zeal.

Is Planning Commissioner Sam Gould the Seneca Scott of Emeryville?

 Sam Gould / Seneca Scott: Pugilists for Conservative Causes

Both Attack Progressives in Their Respective Communities, 

Both Win Free Speech Law Suits Over Their Respective Tormentors

News Analysis

Emeryville Planning Commissioner, Sam Gould, has won a court decision from litigation initiated by Councilman Kalimah Priforce for ‘targeted harassment, intimidation, and racially charged retaliation’ against the council member.  The judge’s decision, delivered following the civil harassment hearing in Alameda County Superior Court, found that Mr Gould’s assailing actions and speech directed against Mr Priforce that prompted the litigation did not rise to a level that would justify a nullification of the citizen Planning Commissioner’s free speech rights.

Emeryville's Progressive Black Councilman
Kalimah Priforce
The object of scorn from Planning Commissioner
Sam Gould.

Mr Gould, appointed to the Planning Commission by a City Council majority vote in March, has long directed a steady stream of social media invective against Mr Priforce, the lone progressive on the city council for his minority views.  A long time former member of Emeryville’s Bike Committee, Mr Gould’s vituperative attacks on Mr Priforce over the years violated Emeryville’s Code of Ethics for employees and committee members but neither the City Manager nor the City Council acted to enforce the code in support of Council member Priforce.  Since Mr Gould has been elevated to the position of Planning Commission, the public abuse from Mr Gould seems to have stopped Mr Priforce said.  “He [Gould] stopped on the day before he got on the Planning Commission”, Priforce told the Tattler.  Perhaps Mr Gould thought such partisan attacks against a sitting Council member by a sitting Planning Commissioner would appear unseemly enough that the Council majority would be forced invoke the punishments prescribed in Emeryville's Code of Ethics.
   

Commissioner Gould has not revealed why he seems to have stopped the public haranguing of the Council member however by March, the damage had already been done, prompting the Councilman to bypass the feckless and politicized Code of Ethics to make a case against Gould in Alameda County Superior Court.

Emeryville Planning Commissioner Sam Gould (on right)
Not a fan of Black progressives in Emeryville.
He ran for City Council (and lost). 
Pictured also is Council member Sukhdeep Kaur
and establishment Dem Igor Tregub, Chair of the
Alameda County Democratic Central Committee.

The charged public spectacle of the bellicose Sam Gould’s near constant haranguing of the Councilman has drawn comparisons with the infamous and truculent Oakland conservative activist Seneca Scott who for years has engaged in a scorched earth campaign against all progressive comers across Alameda County, especially former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.   Mr Scott, has served as a ‘hit man’ for conservative pols who have sought to appear above the fray.  Mr Gould has taken on that same role, essentially offering his services to the conservative majority on the Council who have desired to attack their colleague Priforce but who have thus far not been entirely comfortable appearing unseemly or partisan.

Interestingly,  Mr Scott also just beat an attempt to restrain him by use of the Alameda County court exactly like Mr Gould (they both had the same judge).  Mr Scott, a central organizer behind the recall of former Oakland mayor Sheng Thao drew the ire of Brandon Harami, a former Thao aide who sought the restraining order in April, accusing Mr Scott of harassing him online.  The judge in that case also ruled in favor of ‘free speech’ rights, for private citizens over elected officials.  Mr Scott, the darling of the East Bay corporate elite, has amassed a war chest to defend himself against many legal actions taken against him by many pols and private citizens who have come under his assailing taunts.

Both Sam Gould and Seneca Scott lost elections, Gould for Emeryville City Council and Scott for Oakland City Council and both then turned to attacking former opponents—Scott on a citywide activist stage, Gould locally targeting Mia Esperanza Brown and Calvin Dillahunty, two progressive Black council candidates associated with Mr Priforce.  Both Gould and Scott focus criticism on local (Black) progressive leadership: Scott broadly but mostly laser-focused on Oakland Council member Carol Fifie; Gould specifically on the progressive Council member Kalimah Priforce.  Scott and Gould endorsed and participated in and continue to participate in the astroturf network of establishment, centrist Democrats and right wingers.

Hired Gun Right Wing Oakland Community Activist
Seneca Scott
He ran for City Council and lost.  Now he works 
for deep pocket right wing pols in Oakland.

One of the main points of attack by Mr Gould against Council member Priforce has been his complaints he filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) alleging a failure to disclose funds donated to Priforce by businesses along 40th Street who feel the planned Emeryville 40th Street Multi-model Project will drive away customers.  Mr Priforce says changes he has championed for the 40th Street plan reflect community input and concerns over eminent domain takings by the City.  Mr Gould sees only corruption and he has been using social media to charge Mr Priforce, action the judge sees as an example of a citizen’s free speech right.  

However Mr Gould’s inconsistency, his laser‑focus on one official while ignoring others who benefited from the same project—raises questions about motives and selective concern.  He did not raise equal scrutiny toward Vice Mayor Sukdeep Kaur, who accepted monetary contributions from business leaders who are negatively affected by street closures associated with the project.  Mr Priforce voluntarily recused himself on all 40th Street Council decisions as the law mandates while Ms Kaur continued to vote on the project despite her campaign donations from the business owners.  Ms Kaur’s transgressions are known by Mr Gould Priforce says and the selective outrage by Mr Gould gives away a partisan bias rather than a concern over proper procedural policy making.
  

Mr Priforce is a progressive, the lone progressive on the Emeryville City Council and that’s at the center of the attacks by Planning Commissioner Gould who is a conservative.   The same conservative-calling-out-a-progressive motives apply to Seneca Scott, the East Bay conservative attack dog.

We reached out to both Commissioner Gould and Council member Priforce who supplied quotes for this story that are posted verbatim here:

Commissioner Gould recounted the court hearing: "While it was frustrating to have to go to court to defend myself over unfounded claims, I did not end up having to say more than a sentence or two.  The judge mostly focused the forty-five minute discussion on the fact Mr. Priforce brought this complaint forward with no real evidence supporting it.  While he may make up whatever he wants about me online, in a courtroom you must support your claims with evidence and he was unable to do so.” 

Council member Priforce said: “The judge acknowledged that a civil harassment order wasn’t the appropriate legal remedy - not because the harm didn’t happen, but because pursuing a civil suit would better address my needs - which remains on the table.  In the meantime, I’ve established a legal defense fund to fight back against the escalating attacks and politically motivated FPPC complaints - many of them anonymous, but all of them familiar...which he [Gould] admitted to.  During the hearing, Sam Gould made it plain: he wants my city council seat.  What he fails to understand is that I was elected to serve the people of Emeryville, not to satisfy the ambitions of astroturfing bullies.  This is the people’s seat - not his, not mine - and the people are prepared to defend it.”

Toxic Lead Exposed Tenants Organize to Fight Developer, City

Tenant Blood Testing Reveals 300% Over Federal Safety Limit for Toxic Lead Contamination at Emeryville Residential Building

New Hollis Street Tenant Coalition Arises, Action by City Hall Demanded

Wareham Development Complicit in Urgent Health Issue Tenants Say

Tenants at 6221 Hollis Street have been doused with airborne toxic dust from a remodel project by Wareham Development Corporation causing widespread lead blood contamination up to 300% over the federal safety limit  the Tattler has learned.  The blood work done via a physician's order on some tenants at the building was performed after initial test results showed high levels of lead contaminated dust that had bypassed any mitigation measures by Wareham and settled into residential units and communal spaces in the General Cable Building, as it is known.  New testing of more comprehensive dust collection in tenets' units show the lead levels to be worse than originally had been suspected, with many locations over 1000% in excess of federal safety limits and one residential unit showing 2680% beyond the safety limit. 

The General Cable Building on Hollis Street
A biohazard says tenants.
Calls are for the building to be "red tagged".

The formation of a 19 member coalition of concerned tenants at the building has been announced in a July 15th letter to Council member Kalimah Priforce, a City representative that members say has shown determination and resolve to help.  The sole function of the coalition is to fight against an uncooperative Wareham Development and a recalcitrant City of Emeryville that has so far not risen to sufficiently address the contamination urgency one member of the group said.  Mr Priforce for his part, said he will continue to drive the City to better assist these and all renters whom he said are sometimes “treated like Emeryville’s invisible second class”.

The group has expressed a desire to have their members not be made public at this time, a request the Tattler will abide. 

In response to the increasing imbroglio, the City has issued a 'stop work order' against Wareham while the lead issue is investigated.  Tenants claim however Wareham has already violated the City order.  

The group, the 'Concerned Tenants of 6221 Hollis Street', say they want the City to ‘red tag’ the building, meaning all those living and conducting business at the building must stop until the issue is resolved.  Council member Priforce is attempting to help by getting the City to commit to an urgent temporary relocation assistance ordinance in addition to other city wide tenant protections he has been pushing for over the last year and a half.  So far, the rest of the City Council majority has flummoxed Mr Priforce's attempts by steadfastly refusing to entertain even any discussion of any new city-wide tenant protection policy.   

The Concerned Tenants' letter exposes a litany of abuses by Wareham so far including demolition activities such as jackhammering, wall and ceiling removal, and other heavy dust-generating construction,  “...all undertaken without visible or verifiable use of dust containment or mitigation measures, in clear violation of federal EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule guidance and CDPH protocols triggered by the building’s pre-1978 construction.” the letter reveals.   “The violations are flagrant, ongoing, and extremely troubling”, they add.  Expanding on the previous lead dust testing done by two residents in the building and reported in a May 7th Tattler story, the group states, “Numerous laboratory-confirmed dust wipe tests, taken by multiple tenants, now show widespread lead contamination throughout both inside residential units and throughout common areas. These samples far exceed federal safety thresholds and show clear evidence that airborne lead dust has saturated the building over time due to uncontained construction activity.” 

Many of the health effects of lead exposure,
particularly those related to
 brain damage, are not reversible.

The letter excoriates Wareham, attributing efforts to rectify the situation more to attempting to placate the tenants: “…no comprehensive abatement has been proposed, and Wareham Development has refused to cease operations or fully vacate the building during this ongoing hazard.” The letter continues,  “It is clear from their [Wareham’s] recent conduct that their plan is to abate ‘piecemeal’, cleaning one unit at a time, while leaving the rest of the building contaminated and active construction zones ongoing, thus exposing both current and future tenants to serious health risks.”

Sending their concerns to Council member Priforce over anyone else at City Hall, the tenants recognize a singular council member with empathy for renters, a fact Mr Priforce acknowledged to the Tattler, "No one should have to breathe in poison just to keep a roof over their head." he said.   I'm fighting for actual tenant protections for Below Market Rate and affordable housing residents because right now, they don't exist."  Mr Priforce celebrated the Hollis Street tenants organizing themselves and promised to support them.  They have a right to organize he said, "...without fear of retaliation from landlords or city hall."

Wareham Development and its CEO Rich Robbins, is long considered Emeryville City Hall's most favored developer, having secured more than its share of government largess over the years.  Even this specific project saw a roll back of parking regulation to Wareham's advantage in 2022 after then Emeryville mayor John Bauters intervened on Wareham's behalf at Mr Robbins' request.  

Mayor David Mourra did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

Lead Contamination in Human Blood Cells
Basophilic stippling is shown, characterized by
the presence of small, dark granules
(ribosomes and RNA remnants)within the cytoplasm.

Council member Courtney Welch Violated FPPC Rules

 Courtney Welch: Latest City Council Member Found to Have Violated FPPC Rules

City Council Waits for the Next Shoe to Drop

After Mourra Fail, Will Accountability Come This Time?

Emeryville City Council member Courtney Welch recently failed to file a required political campaign disclosure form for elected officials with the California Fair Political Practices Committee it was revealed.  Following a second warning notice sent to the Councilwoman from the Emeryville City Clerk, Ms Welch appears to have made good with the FPPC for the transgression shortly after, the Tattler learned.

 The FPPC, a state sanctioned agency charged with ensuring all California elected officials are bound by the same election laws fairly, determined that Ms Welch had not filed her Form 460 as the law dictates, the same as her colleagues Mayor David Mourra and Council member Kalimah Priforce who the agency determined both to be in violation earlier.

Emeryville City Council member
Courtney Welch
She's violated FPPC rules.

Council member Welch, who did not return calls from the Tattler for this story, appears to have corrected her transgression with the FPPC in March, sometime after City Clerk April Richardson’s second attempt to notify her.  

Ms Richardson is tasked with ensuring  Emeryville’s elected and appointed officials are in compliance with FPPC law.

Over the decades, many Emeryville City Council members have failed to keep 100% current with the multitudinous required FPPC fillings and many have failed to file on time as is the case with the most recent Welch violation.  Transgressions have generally been seen as a technicality as far as the public and the press are concerned.  All of that changed however, in 2024 when the City Council majority used a late filing to try to bring down Council member Priforce by use of a censure and sanction against him.  

Mr Priforce, the sole progressive on Emeryville’s City Council, has earned animosity from the more conservative Council majority for his center left politics and they have have used every opportunity to try to discredit him in the eyes of the public for it.  Accordingly, his late FPPC filings were seen as a way to discredit him but they may have failed to realize the Tattler would thereafter see all Council member failures to file all FPPC forms in a timely manner as a hot ticket news item and that they would soon run afoul of the FPPC’s byzantine filing schedule themselves.  The Tattler has vowed to highlight each Council member’s violations as we find them.  

Before the Council majority, especially members Welch and Mourra, so sanctimoniously went after Council member Priforce for his violations, this was seen as something not newsworthy because most elected officials would run afoul of the FPPC from time to time.  The Tattler never reported on these violations because it was not seen as something nefarious, rather just an honest mistake anybody but a lawyer would be expected to occasionally make. 

So perturbed were the conservative Council majority,  they even spent public money to send a US postal service stamped letter to every Emeryville household to notify the public of the disciplinary action the Council majority took against Priforce.   Later, after the Tattler showed Mayor David Mourra was also guilty of recent FPPC filing violations, the Council majority pulled back and opted to do nothing, no public rebuke, no stamped letters, no hair on fire sanctimony, chalking it up rather as a simple oversight by the mayor.

It is not known if the council majority will now rise up in indignation at Ms Welch’s FPPC filing violations made public here by the Tattler like they did with Mr Priforce or if they will let this pass like they did with Mayor Mourra’s violations.  The Council has treated Welch (and Mourra) with kid gloves up until now.  The Tattler will report. 

The hubris smashing FPPC, now 50 years old, makes sure all elected
officials are transparent in their public works.  

Planning Commissioner Sam Gould Served Court Order for Harassment of Council Member

Age of Trump in Emeryville:

Planning Commissioner Gould Draws Civil Harassment Court Order From Council Member Priforce

Emeryville City Hall Continues Breakdown of Collegiality and Decorum Amid Continuing Attacks

Vanquished Culture of Collegiality Lands Commissioner in Alameda County Superior Court

Emeryville Planning Commissioner Sam Gould was served this week with an Alameda County Superior Court notice to appear for a civil harassment court order brought by City Council member Kalimah Priforce.  The action is being taken against Mr Gould for “targeted harassment, intimidation, and racially charged retaliation” among other charges, according to Mr Priforce.  Mr Gould began a campaign of publicly made charges, including smears against Mr Priforce from the beginning of Priforce’s 2022 City Council electoral victory, a free speech right for a private citizen, but he (Mr Gould) has been making the attacks as a member of an official City committee including also after he was appointed by the City Council to the Planning Commission, a violation of the Emeryville Code of Ethics, according to the Emeryville City Attorney.  Mr Priforce is requesting a restraining order against Mr Gould at the hearing in civil court, Department 105, scheduled for July 23rd.

Emeryville Planning Commissioner
Sam Gould

As part of a conspicuous anti-Priforce campaign, Commissioner Gould has made several official complaints (including a sworn complaint) to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) for alleged rules violations by the Council member.  Of the three complaints received by the FPPC by Commissioner Gould against Kalimah Priforce, Calvin Dillahunty, and Mia Esperanza Brown (Two Afro-Latine - All Black), one was dismissed, one resolved and one, a duplicate from an “anonymous” complaint, is still being investigated.

For his part, Council member Priforce is positing that Commissioner Gould has been disproportionately targeting Black individuals in Emeryville civic life.  “This pattern is not isolated” Priforce told the Tattler, “It reveals a broader issue of racialized political hostility masked as procedural concern”, he said. 


The spectacle of Council members publicly attacking colleagues and now Planning Commissioners joining in the fray, is a new cultural affect for Emeryville, one that the hidebound City Council has been loath to acknowledge, much less address.  Concurrent with the New York City mayor election, Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani taking hits from the Democratic elite for being too progressive, the culture of public attacks against progressive Council colleagues in Emeryville pre-dates the NYC state of affairs.  But the culture of anti-collegiality at the Council arguably began when voters overwhelmingly elected the progressive candidate for Council, Kalimah Priforce in 2022.  Emeryville has almost always had one or two progressives on its city council that were disliked by the pro-business majority but the culture of wholesale attacks and publicly ‘airing of dirty laundry’ by the council majority only began when Mr Priforce took office. 

Perhaps the most damning claims born of the Gould allegations comes from Council member Priforce, who has admonished the City for failing to act to check a “hostile environment for Black progressive leaders and residents”.  The attacks amount to what Priforce has called a “vendetta”, amid the barrage of unethical Gould missives.  Despite being a sitting Council member, Mr Priforce has received no protection from the City he says.  Notably, City officials, including new City Manager LaTanya Bellow and HR have failed to intervene—even after multiple complaints from the Councilman.  Meanwhile, Mr Gould—an appointed Planning Commissioner—has faced no accountability.

Mr Gould was hand selected and forwarded for a Planning Commission position by the influential former City Council member John Bauters, a primary Priforce antagonist, it should be known.

Mr Priforce notes that Sam Gould is acting in a manner that would tend to allow him to escape some level of accountability from the City.  For instance, Sam set up a publicly accessible blog to innumerate his charges against Councilman Priforce on the day before he took his oath as a Planning Commissioner, presumably done to escape the Emeryville Code of Ethics' prohibitions against a Commissioner making such attacks.  However, it would seem Mr Gould didn’t realize his status as a member of Emeryville’s Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, of which he was previously a member, also precludes such attacks, according to City Attorney John Kennedy.

Commissioner Gould was contacted by the Tattler for this story but he did not answer several offers to respond.  As an appointed government official, Mr Gould is also extended the courtesy to submit a ‘My Turn’ story for publication in the Tattler, unedited and in his own words for the people of Emeryville if he wishes.

Planning Commissioner Sam Gould gets served 

in the Planning Commission chamber

My Turn: Former Emeryville City Council Member Ken Bukowski

My Turn

Former City Council Member Ken Bukowski

Council: Increase Citizen's Civic Engagement

The Tattler has always made itself available to all elected and former 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'.  The electeds and former electeds are invited at any time to submit information in the public interest and the Tattler will post it verbatim. 

Former Council member Bukowski takes issue with the Council’s recent turn away from a proposal to increase citizen engagement with their City Hall by re-starting remote (Zoom) meeting participation for Council meetings.  Zoom participation began during the Covid pandemic and many cities continued on after by use of ‘hybrid’ participation (via zoom or in person).  Emeryville’s Council said NO to this idea in 2024 but State legislation in Sacramento that would force all cities to restore hybrid meetings is being forwarded.  Resisting the statewide trend towards greater municipal accountability, the Council recently told their legislative advocate in Sacramento Emeryville City Hall will “oppose unless amended”, meaning NO to citizen participation by zoom unless they’re forced to by Sacramento.

The Mayor and the Vice Mayor as it turns out have both had a change of heart about hybrid meetings, being publicly in favor of them as candidates and then moving against them once they were in power. Mayor David Mourra told the Tattler in October 2022 when he was running for election: “The ability to participate in public meetings via teleconference tools like Zoom has greatly expanded access and given voice to people who otherwise would not have been able to participate due to demands from work or family obligations. A hybrid approach seems sensible in the future.” 

For her part, Vice Mayor Sukhdeep Kaur also told the Tattler in 2022: “I prefer Zoom meetings as they are much more accessible, easier to record and access later,  they cut out the commute time, reduce the carbon footprint,  and one can almost always make Zoom meetings even if one is in another town or country.”

Nonetheless, the Council voted to stop remote meeting participation in March 2024 after some Nazis began calling in during the public comment section.

Mr Bukowski sent the Council (and the Tattler) two letters about this issue (they have been combined below):

Dear Mayor and Council-

As a former mayor/council member who served Emeryville for 24 years, I was very discouraged when you eliminated remote participation at council meetings.  There are often times at meetings when questions about past history are raised.  When you eliminate remote participation, it prevents people like me from providing input which could help you decide important issues.

I'm making you aware of pending legislation SB279 which would force the restoration of remote meetings.  I am not only asking for your support for this bill, I'm asking you not to wait for it to be enacted.  Please take that step before it's required.  Show the public you want to hear what they have to say.  It could make a difference.

You may not be aware SB707 and SB292 have been recently merged.  The new version will require the council meetings to have remote participation.  The City may want to reconsider the City's position on the bill(s).

As I see it there is no justification for the Council to limit public participation in such a major way.  There are families with kids who can't come to council meetings and a whole host of others.  Remote participation exists in other cities.  It is especially important in Emeryville since the local issues are not well covered.  What is the point of watching a meeting and being forced to keep your opinion to yourself? 

The thrust of my letter is to suggest the Council reconsider what is soon going to be required.  I have watched this legislation closely, and it's well on its way to being approved.

Thank you for allowing me to share my concerns about this issue.

Best-

Ken Bukowski

'Revitalize East Bay' PAC Selects John Bauters as their Executive Director

Former Emeryville Politician Now Working for the Private Sector; Bauters Will Serve Billionaires' Interests, Helping Bend Public Policy to Their Liking

Long Time Local Politician John Bauters
He's made the move to the private sector for
an undisclosed salary.

Breaking News

Former long time Emeryville City Council member John Bauters has accepted a job managing a crypto billionaire backed political action committee that seeks to recall insufficiently conservative politicians and pull down local regulation in order to assist real estate developers and corporate landlords.  ‘Revitalize the East Bay’ PAC recently hired the former councilman as their executive director despite Bauters’ loss in his November election for district five Alameda County Supervisor, a race the shadowy group spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on but failed to win.

Revitalize East Bay, flush with dark money from tech billionaires and Real Estate Investment Trusts, is seeking to “professionalize” their conservative agenda in anticipation of the 2026 elections and the Bauters hire indicates a high level of  confidence in the former council member’s political acumen. 

 

What Happened To Bauters?

Many in Emeryville and the surrounding community have wondered what happened to John Bauters who went quiet after his ignominious loss in the election he was believed to have a lock on, especially among his most conservative backers.  Mr Bauters had the backing of the corporate sector who went all in with him, including Revitalize the East Bay.  His Emeryville Council colleagues (save the lone progressive Council member Priforce) as well as several former anti-labor Council members also backed the seemingly unstoppable Bauters campaign, leaving some surprised and puzzled, especially at the post election silence.    

During the Supervisor campaign, Mr Bauters ran as a loud and proud ‘progressive’, keeping his conservative, pro-developer views largely hidden from the electorate.  It was a strategy Revitalize East Bay saw as a potentially effective path to power for the secretive right wing PAC in the famously left wing northern Alameda County.  Mr Bauters probably was hoping his talk of his progressive values could win the day in the November election but he lost his race to his labor backed opponent, Nikki Fortunato Bas, who revealed Bauters' anti-labor record in Emeryville to Alameda County voters, quoting Tattler stories in a controversial mailer and website.

Hedge Fund Manager 
Capitalist Philip Dreyfuss
One of the primary backers of
Revitalize East Bay and John Bauters.

Revitalize East Bay has faced criticism for not properly disclosing its donors, raising concerns about the potential influence of hidden money on local elections. The group has not shied away from using subterfuge in their efforts;  creating a new committee with a similar name, which allowed them to delay disclosing their donors.  

Donors include Philip Dreyfuss: a Piedmont-based hedge fund executive, who contributed significantly as well as YIMBY California backed real estate developers and corporate landlords as well as the energy utility giant PG&E that’s headquartered in Oakland.

Leading up to the November election, Bauters received more than $1.29 million from tech venture capitalists, real estate billionaires including Mr Dreyfuss as well as other corporate special interest groups according to the Phoenix Project, a local collective of citizen activists who shine a light on dark money flooding Bay Area elections forwarding conservative interests.  The Phoenix Project produced its near legendary and viral 'Astroturf Network Map' that chronicled the 2024 effect of dark special interest money in the East Bay election.  The influential map shone a light where the dark money was and did not spare the Bauters campaign.

Three time mayor Mr Bauters was an extremely influential Emeryville Council member during his years in power here having served as the chair of the powerful Budget and Governance Committee for all eight years, during which time he quietly shepherded a $11.8 million budget deficit, the worst in the little city’s history.  Mr Bauters audaciously blamed the Planning Commission for the red ink, a fact that likely impressed Revitalized East Bay and factored in as they moved the former City Council member into his new pricey digs as executive director for a PAC with budget of millions of hedge fund dollars and an appreciation of subterfuge looking after private interests operating in the public realm.

We reached out to John Bauters for this story but he did not respond.

 

The Phoenix Project's Astroturf  Network Map famously laid Revitalize East Bay bare.

Emeryville: the Worst City in Northern Alameda County For Climate Change Policy

Climate Change Policy: Emeryville Stuck in 11th Place in Alameda County 

All the Talk From City Hall About Meeting the Climate Challenge Appears to be Nothing But Talk

The Bay Area’s Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force released their 2024-’25 Alameda County Scorecard report this week, revealing Emeryville to be once again in last place among cities in the progressive northern section of the county on critical climate infrastructure and policy.  The task force, a Bay Area wide coalition of elected officials, city and county staff, community based non-governmental organizations, youth, environmental and social activists and “front line communities”, released the scorecard Thursday.

Emeryville: Talk, Talk, Talk

Emeryville City Hall has engaged in a lot of conspicuous and heated rhetoric about meeting its climate change challenge over the years.  That appears to have been nothing as much as facile civic boosterism, especially in light of the second CEMTF study.  The independent CEMTF study shows something different, countering Emeryville's sunny prognosis.  The climate scorecard shows Emeryville, with an overall score of 48: 11th place among 15 Alameda County cities the task force studied, the same ranking as the last time the task force did their evaluation. 

UPDATE:  It should be noted that the Task Force missed an Emeryville ordinance that prohibits new gas stations and that fact should increase the City's score (see note below).

Besides the unique case of Emeryville, the worst scoring cities came from the politically conservative, heavily Republican southern portion of Alameda County with the exceptions of Hayward and Livermore who both scored 70, placing them tied for third place.

Although the task force assigned Emeryville a score of 48 on the checklist this time, far lower than every other neighboring city,  an improvement was shown over the 44 Emeryville received in the 2023-24 scorecard.  The problem for Emeryville is that most other cities in the county also improved their scores, leaving the little city with the same ranking as last time.  Only four other cities scored worse than Emeryville, including Dublin who dropped to last place with a dismal score of 28 after sharing with Emeryville 11th place last time.

Emeryville is stuck in 11th place, two studies
running.

The cities of Berkeley and Oakland both shared the top place with scores of 78 each.  
 

The climate task force teamed up with undergraduate students at the University of California Berkeley to produce the document entitled ‘Alameda County Climate Scorecard 2024-2025’.  Motivating the partnership is the desire to inspire local communities to move the needle to meet the challenges facing humanity brought by the climate change crisis.  

The CEMTF sums up the challenge: From air pollution equity to transportation, our scorecard measures the climate progress of cities in their quest to meet climate challenges and rise to climate opportunities especially because no climate issue in the Bay Area or globally is just about climate - our scorecard aims to honor the intersectionality of climate change and its impacts on our community, especially in the Bay with its simultaneous rich diversity and astronomical inequality.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Alameda County Climate Scorecard missed that the Emeryville City Council effectively prohibited the development of new gas stations within city limits with passage of a Council approved ordinance in June 2024.   Construction of new structures for traditional "auto-centric" uses, including gas stations, car washes, and auto dealerships is restricted.  Thanks to the Tattler reader that brought this to our attention and to Council member Priforce for providing the details.  The Task Force has been notified of this change.  This will improve Emeryville's score a little, but we're not sure by how much.

Emeryville Developer Wareham's Lead Dust Makes Tenant's Homes "Unihabitable"

 Wareham Development Demolition Doses Tenants with Toxic Lead 

Lead Report Says Toxicity at "Dangerous Levels" in Homes

An Emeryville family was recently forced out of their Hollis Street home because their landlord, Wareham Development Corporation, has contaminated their unit with toxic lead dust from a large remodel project on their building.  The lead contamination has rendered their home “uninhabitable” according to a report produced by a lead abatement firm tenant Wendy Medeiros and her husband hired.  The couple alerted the City of Emeryville starting in March after what a neighbor called “constant disruptions” in dust and cuts to their water and power by Wareham and now the lead report that concluded the presence of “dangerous levels of lead” in their home and in the hallways and other rental units in the building.  The lead contamination and disruptions has contributed to an exodus of residential renters from the building neighbors say; just 16 out of 41 units are still occupied, a condition Ms Medeiros called “disheartening”.

Large scale demolition work has been happening on the
building since March.  No water spraying dust mitigation 
measures have been noted by the residents, a standard
method to keep dust levels low, especially toxic dust.

The remodel project is part of the controversial EmeryStation V, a new five story, 300,000 square foot R+D building with a nearly 500 space parking garage all attached to the existing residential building between Hollis Street and Overland Street at 62nd Street.  Wareham and its politically connected CEO Rich Robbins has developed more than eight large projects around the Amtrak station over the last 25 years, many with generous application of public funds.  

The first spate of demolition associated with the project, in 2024, produced a lot of dust says Ms Medeiros, but Wareham offered to clean up their apartment.  Wareham hired a lead analysis firm at the time and they reported “low levels” of the toxin she said.  However, Wareham did not make the findings known to the couple.  Starting in March with the latest demolition on the site and new clouds of dust entering their home, they hired their own firm, Alpha Analytical Laboratories of Petaluma CA.  After an onsite inspection and dust sample collection by a licensed lead abatement technician, the report concluded the lead contamination was acute and happened because of the demolition.  However Wareham is questioning the validity of the Alpha report the couple says. 

The tenant Wendy Medeiros told the Tattler after last year’s toxic dosing of her home by Wareham followed on by this latest onslaught now proved by the independent lead report, has left her at her wits end, “It is disheartening to find myself in a position where I must explain that my right to habitability, health and safety matters.  These are not privileges — they are the bare minimum of what any tenant should expect. Lead contamination is not negotiable.  Habitability is not negotiable.  No one should have to battle that, she said.  

6221 Hollis Street
Large amounts of toxic dust have entered 
tenants' living spaces, including in
the hallways.

A neighbor in the building, Sara Chestnutt-Fry who also has been living under the cloud of lead dust, agreed with Medeiros, “I think the saddest part to me is none us want to move. Everyone left in the building has lived here long term, some tenants for decades, and if we’re forced to relocate it will be devastating to our little artist community, Chestnutt-Fry told the Tattler.  “The most frustrating part is they could have done it right. All they had to do was be transparent and protect our health and safety”, she added.

The EmeryStation V Overland Project became known for having received an improper favor from then Mayor John Bauters wherein CEO Rich Robbins was allowed to provide an excess of parking spaces, above and beyond the official parking policy of the City of Emeryville.  The City Council give -a-way to Wareham is but the latest act of improper largess forwarded to Wareham by certain Emeryville elected officials over the years that has been shown to be a pattern and practice for the politically connected developer.

Wendy Medeiros spoke for the whole community in her building after the latest Wareham dust cloud settled, "It should not be up to tenants to insist on protections that are, by law, non-negotiable or be forced to defend what should never be up for debate in any landlord-tenant relationships”.   

Emeryville City Attorney John Kennedy indicated he would be willing to meet with the tenants to hear their concerns but he has not yet done so say neighbors.  

Wareham Development could not be reached for comment.

The Hollis Street front of the building.  Many people live or until
recently lived in this front part.  The demolition has occurred chiefly 
in the rear portion but inadequate dust mitigation by Wareham 
has allowed the dust to migrate into the resident's homes.

Priforce: Protect Press Freedom in Emeryville - Stand With Local Journalism

 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