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

New Emery School District Test Scores Plummet

 Emery School District Slides Precipitously

Department of Education Shows Emery on Bottom Academically

School Board Election Claims Shown to be False

Board Member Brynnda Collins
She got the endorsement of the
Alameda County Democratic Party
and she told voters to "Keep Emery
on track".

The California Department of Education has released new test score data that tracks an academically plummeting Emery Unified School District, getting worse over last year’s results which already had Emery in the basement.  The plunging test scores reveal Emery to be once again, in last place among all Alameda County school districts, a position the district has inhabited for several years running.  

The district fell from 23% proficiency in math last year to a new low of 14% proficiency, a dreadful nine point slide; making Emery the worst performing district in the county.  English proficiency wasn’t much better.  That plunge from 37% to 34% proficiency, makes Emery now second only to San Lorenzo Unified School District, a district with a much lower number of students with English as their primary language.  When that is factored, Emery performs lower than San Lorenzo in English (as well as math).

The test results show while Emery is taking up last place outright in math and very nearly in last place in English proficiency, the rate of ‘English learners’ at Emery (22%) is much lower than at the second and third worst placing districts, Hayward and San Lorenzo.  Those two districts show a rate of 28% and 30% of students classified as English learners.  Emery is shown to have a ‘Hispanic’ student population of 24% while Hayward and San Lorenzo have 64% and 28% Hispanic population.  Both those two districts show Hispanics as the primary student demographic. 

Board President
Susan Donaldson
During the election campaign
she told voters the district's test score
data was "misinformation being
shared by someone running for
School Board". 
Now what does she say?

When the two primary test scores in math and English, tracked by the State are numerically combined, Emery registers at 48 while Hayward and San Lorenzo total 53 and 62 respectively, making Emery the worst performing school district in Alameda County (even before factoring in the English learners handicap).

Emery is also unique among East Bay school districts with its high administration cost.  Emery has the highest ratio of administration to students of any district in the East Bay.  The data reveals that even though Emery spends by far the most money per student, they spend only 19% on actual instruction, the lowest amount of the money taken in of any district in the East Bay.  The lion’s share of revenue at Emery goes to administration salaries and election consultants.

The disheartening new data from the Department of Education comes after a November School Board election that featured three incumbents gushing over how good they are at their jobs and how the voters must not risk putting in a new person with different ideas about how to run the district.  School Board President Susan Donaldson told voters in October the three incumbents were doing a “great job” and that Emery is a “top rated” school district, never mind the actual data from the State.  Board member Brynnda Collins warned voters not to listen to anybody who brings up test data but instead insisted we must keep Emery “on track”. 

School Board member Regina Chagolla
She insisted voters re-elect her and the 
other incumbents because new ideas 
must not be allowed to take hold at Emery.

The Tattler editor Brian Donahue, who ran a low cost insurgent campaign for the Board countering the three incumbents, told the voters the top down, administration heavy Emery should try a new path by putting teachers in a higher position and paying them more.  It was a stance the three incumbents strongly refuted, stating the teachers were happy with what they have at Emery.  Mr Donahue ran on the three incumbent’s records, reminding voters of the low test scores putting Emery in last place, a charge the three refuted.  Hiding the fact that Emery’s English language learner rate is much lower than San Lorenzo and Hayward, President Donaldson made a case that Emery is only the third worst district in Alameda County and that is part of what makes Emery “great”.  

Notably, the three incumbents refused to answer the Tattler election questionnaire for voters last October, a first in Emeryville electoral politics, and none of the three would comment on the new State of California Department of Education data for this story.

Straight From The State
These numbers are as critical for Emeryville residents to know as they are 
 inconvenient for the three incumbents.

Election 2022: School Board Candidate's Statements

As voters prepare for November 8th when they will decide who runs the school district in Emeryville, the Tattler is providing a space for the candidates seeking a term on the school board to tell the voters who they are and what ideas they have for our schools.  

Since the Tattler's editor, Brian Donahue is one of the four candidates, we have laid down ground rules applicable to all.  Each candidate's statement is to be no longer than 300 words and each statement was due October 8th.  To ensure the editor didn't have an unfair advantage by seeing what the others had written, he agreed to write his statement first and photo time stamp the statement so the three other candidates can be assured there is no advantage.

Despite this opportunity to educate voters and despite the safe guards to ensure fairness, the three incumbents, board members Regina Chagolla, vice president Brynnda Collins and president Susan Donaldson (all running as a slate), have all declined to provide candidate's statements for the benefit of the voters.  

Emery School Board Candidate Brian Donahue's Candidate Statement:

I'm Brian Donahue and I’m running for Emery School Board, the only candidate with a child enrolled at Emery.  I’ve lived here for over 40 years.  

Emery is failing.  We spend more money per pupil than any district in the East Bay but we have the worst academic performance.  

Spending the most money while delivering the worst outcome should not be rewarded with your vote.

With the three incumbents in charge over the last years, Emery schools have been driven to the bottom among all the districts in the East Bay academically. 

Eight years ago, Emeryville's school district was ranked 12th among Alameda County’s 16 school districts.  Now, Emery is ranked last. 

Emeryville voters have repeatedly approved property tax increases to provide the school district with more funding.  Emery’s revenue per student is the highest in the East Bay, by far.  The school district budget per student is $27,613 -- far more than any other district.

Just 23% percent of our students are proficient in math. In reading, 37%.  In Berkeley, where they spend $9,478 per student LESS than Emery, the figures are 62% and 68%, respectively. 

How can this be?  Emeryville's school district has used the new tax money to spend millions of dollars on consultants and administrators, at the same time providing its teachers with paltry salary increases. 

On November 8th, Emeryville voters will select three new school board members.  Seated on the board as a new voice, I will see to it the era of failure and reckless spending on consultants and lack of accountability ends at Emery Unified School District.  

If elected,

1.  I will curtail the out-of-control spending on administrators and consultants. 

2.  I will increase teacher retention through salary increases.

3.  I will shame large corporations like Disney/Pixar to fulfill their promises of financial support for the schools. 

Emery School Board Candidate Regina Chagolla's  Candidate Statement:

Declined to participate

Emery School Board Candidate Brynnda Collins'  Candidate Statement:

Declined to participate

 Emery School Board Candidate Susan Donaldson's Candidate Statement

Declined to participate

Emeryville Will Have a School Board Election

 No School Board Appointments This Year, Emeryville Voters Get to Decide

Emeryville residents will get a chance to vote in a school board election in November after Brian Donahue, Tattler editor and parent of a child enrolled at Emery, entered the race.  The other three, incumbents all, are Susan Donaldson, Brynnda Collins, and Regina Chagolla.  

The entry of Mr Donahue appears to have upset School Board plans to forgo an election and instead simply appoint (two) new members as they have done in the past.

The District has struggled to find people willing to run for school board and they have commonly relied on appointing new members instead of holding elections.  This go around too, Emery Unified was ready to forgo the election.  Ms Donaldson and Ms Collins had both expressed they did not want to run for re-election, enabling the whole Board to appoint their replacements.    

Mr Donahue, the only candidate with a child enrolled at Emery, registered to run for election just two days before the Alameda County Registrar of Voters deadline, forcing Ms Donaldson and Ms Collins to scramble to pull papers in time for their names to appear on the ballot.  Ms Collins got her name in just  minutes before the 5:00 pm shut off according to a Registrar employee.

The smallest school district in the East Bay, Emery Unified has about 700 students enrolled in an elementary, middle and high school all located at the Emeryville Center of Community Life.

With new ideas from one new voice against a unified incumbency, the election is set up to be a referendum on this School Board’s record.  How good of a job have the incumbents done?  Is Emery thriving?  Look to the Tattler for answers to those questions and for full campaign coverage including interviews of candidates in the coming weeks.

Measure C Beckons Residents to Finally Do Something About Housing

Measure C: A Chance to Finally Do Something Consequential Against the High Cost 

of Housing

The Costs of Doing Nothing Are Too High

Opinion
The Emeryville housing bond initiative known as Measure C is on Tuesday's ballot, giving voters a chance to finally do something about the crazy high cost of housing in our town and deal with its associated problems like chronic homelessness and the displacement of existing but vulnerable renters by helping them buy a home in our community.  Rising housing costs present a problem that has been well described but not adequately dealt with and Measure C puts a solution in our hands rather than simply continuing to trust in market vagaries who's result so far has been the $3600 Emeryville studio apartment owned by foreign investors.  Oops, make that $3700....the rent just went up again.

It's not that we haven't been building housing in Emeryville; our population has doubled in the last ten years.  Over that time we've gone from a city of homeowners to a city of renters as developers keep throwing up apartment buildings as fast as they can, trying to cash in on the high rent bonanza.  But all the harried building hasn't brought down the cost of housing.  In fact, the more housing we build here, the higher the cost of housing becomes, a reverse corollary that turns on its head the old supply and demand saw.  After 20 years building housing at a frenetic pace and with the limited amount of space now available, the sky-high cost of housing in Emeryville is clearly a beast that we, through the private sector, cannot build our way out of moving forward.

It's bad for Emeryville but let's not fool ourselves, the lack of affordable housing is a regional problem and no one thing we do in our little town to address this growing threat, not even the passing of Measure C, the first attempt to deal with it (by plebiscite), will completely solve the problem here.
But make no mistake either, Measure C will go a long way towards solving this existential problem, at least in our little corner of the Bay Area.  And by "a long way" we mean a long way.
This common sense and fair housing solution for Emeryville promises to be a game changer; likely up to at least $300 million spent on our little town to help thwart the seemingly inexorable rise in the cost of housing....that's enough to truly make a difference.  And that's what Measure C is designed to do.

The problems associated with high Bay Area housing costs are hugely complex and the solution can't be facile market dependency; we need a cogent big solution to this big problem.  The critical game changing components of Measure C with its relatively modest $50 million in local bond funding are its attendant State and Federal matching funds, a monster $300-$400 million brick that will bolster the relatively small amount Emeryville property owners are going to kick in.  It's $50 million on steroids, jacked up to as much as $400 million for a 1.2 square mile city.  That's an opportunity we should seize; a chance to face a major problem squarely with a rational solution and a large hammer.

Measure C is a progressive tax.  At $49.12 per $100,000 of assessed property value, a cost born 70% to 80% by businesses in our town, in a town of renters, the average Emeryville resident stands to pay nothing or almost nothing.  Homeowners will pay dependent on when they bought their homes.  Those who have lived here a long time, primarily the elderly, will pay less because the tax is assessed on the value of the property at the time of purchase, not on the current market value.  That means the average homeowner will pay just $10.50 per month.
The business sector picks up 3/4 of the tab for Measure C, taking the pressure off residents.  For instance Pixar/Disney, a miserly multi-billion dollar corporation in our town will pay $10,000 per month, a cost they will not be able to weasel out of as they and other corporations have infamously done with a loophole in Emeryville's business tax.

Another nice benefit of Measure C is that Emeryville will be able to finally clear up its portfolio of blighted and vacant land the City already owns, land set aside by the former Redevelopment Agency for this use.  Taking land acquisition off the table will help deliver more affordable units at a lower building cost.

Measure C is a well written and well conceived solution to this vexing problem and that's why its been endorsed by the Democratic Party of Alameda County, the Sierra Club, the entire Emeryville City Council, the Green Party, Residents for a Livable Emeryville, SEIU Local 1021, the League of Woman Voters and the East Bay Express.  And now to that list add the Emeryville Tattler.

Correction-  Please note, a reader found a misspelled word in the chart below and two mistakes.  See the comments below.

Pixar (and other businesses) will finally pay!
The business community picks up 3/4 of the Measure C tab.  The home-owning elderly in Emeryville like former City Councilwoman Nora Davis, won't have to pay much at all.   
Naysayers representing business interests like local blogger Rob Arias have been railing against it.  But how much does Rob Arias care about Emeryville?  The numbers tell the story: less than $10 per month.

Tattler Editor Named As Felony Arson Suspect

Tattler Editor Prime Suspect

in San Pablo Avenue Fire

Says E'Ville Eye Editor

The ATF and the Emeryville Police
Department call this person the prime
suspect.  Don't be fooled says
Rob Arias, this photo is fake news
distributed by a duped ATF/EPD.

The Emeryville Tattler editor Brian Donahue has been named as a prime suspect in a felony arson fire in a San Pablo Avenue apartment project at a June 8th joint EPD/ATF press conference held at the Emeryville police station.  The announcement came from the sidelines; Rob Arias, editor of the E'Ville Eye, a pro-business and developer friendly blog in town.  Mr Arias' announcement was not picked up by the gaggle of media outlets or Emeryville Police Chief Jennifer Tejada or the Federal agents from the bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms who told the assembled throng they chose instead to highlight a different suspect; a mysterious bicyclist caught by one of the 12 security cameras at the site.

The May 13th conflagration has been reported on widely by the Bay Area press corps likely because it was the second such fire in 10 months at the 'Maz' development site under construction.

Mr Arias implored attendees at the press conference to not be hoodwinked by the presentation of the photograph showing a bicyclist revealed by ATF agents but instead to direct their attention to the Tattler editor whom he revealed had done negative stories on the development project.   "Brian Donahue is the Mayor's own brother...he called the [Maz] development a 'men's dorm'" Mr Arias proclaimed, attempting to stoke the imaginations of any conspiratorially minded law officers or reporters at the conference.

E'Ville Eye Editor Rob Arias
Don't listen to the
Emeryville Police or the ATF;
Brian Donahue is the REAL suspect.

The Tattler has long called for residential development projects better than the Maz project.  Specifically, Emeryville needs more affordable units, more family friendly housing and more ownership condos, none of which Maz delivers on.

 Mr Arias's call for the arrest of the editor of the Tattler on June 8th was not his first; he has put his blog to work chronicling the crimes of Mr Donahue since he began the E'Ville Eye several years ago.  Careful readers of that blog will note however that despite the allegations of crimes committed, Mr Donahue, the editor of the other blog in Emeryville, hasn't been jailed or even arrested for his many crimes highlighted by Rob Arias in his blog.  Those facts however have not constrained Mr Arias and his heavily monetized E'Ville Eye who continue to warn anyone who will listen in Emeryville about how dangerous the Tattler is and why it needs to be shut down.

Mr Arias refused to comment for this story.