Letter to the Tattler: Ken Bukowski

School Board candidate Ken Bukowski is calling for a special community meeting at ECCL.  

Ken Bukowski cordially invites you to attend the first ever community meeting at the new ECCL. 
Saturday, Oct 29, 2016 at 10:00am - 11:30am     ECCL Building A      Ground Floor     4727 San Pablo Ave    

TOPIC:   Emery Unified School District & School Board Election 

Candidate Ken Bukowski will explain why he is running for the School Board. We will ask participants to complete a survey to learn what issues are important.
We will talk about:

•  The past history of EUSD

•   Future financial projections

•  The city involvement in the ECCL project

•   Proposal to create a parent advisory board

•   A plan to hold future community meetings

Other school board candidates (and existing Board members) are invited and will be encouraged to participate.  

This will be the first in a series of community meetings to be held quarterly to discuss school issues with the community solicited to provide ideas and suggestions. 

The meeting will be video recorded to insure all feedback and ideas are not lost. 

Please visit the Emeryville Property Owners youtube channel where you can find all of the school board meetings since 2014 as well as over 2000 videos of past city meetings.

Property Owners Group Calls Town Hall Meeting

The Emeryville Property Owners Association has released the following notice advertising the Town Hall meeting they are hosting next Saturday.  The group wishes to alert the residents to possible negative effects of a new parking plan City Hall wishes to implement.  

510-214-5111 EMERYVILLE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION www.epoa.us

TOWN HALL MEETING TO CONSIDER IMPLEMENTATION OF AGGRESSIVE

PARKING ENFORCEMENT PLAN

COUNCIL MEMBER JENNIFER WEST TO SPEAK IN SUPPORT OF THE PARKING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2013 11:00AM MEETING BEGINS - ENDING AT 12:30PM (OPTIONAL 10:00AM TO WATCH A VIDEO PRESENTATION OF THE PLAN)

RALPH HAWLEY SCHOOL - 1275 61ST STREET - EMERYVILLE Complete Details of the event, a copy of the Parking Implementation Plan, the video presentation of the Plan, and other associated documents are available at www.epoa.us

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The Emeryville Property Owners Association (EPOA) invites you to attend our first community meeting on an important community issue. The Parking Implementation “Plan” will have a major impact on the City which has not been properly considered.

Parking policies have substantial economic impact to affected businesses and residents, and other levels of inconvenience which should be considered prior to implementation. Council Member Jennifer West has accepted our invitation to explain why everyone should pay for street parking.

Everyone attending the meeting will have an opportunity to complete a “feedback card” to express your concern on this issue. The information obtained will be provided to the City Council for their Jan 15th meeting when moving forward with the implementation of this Plan will be considered. If you can’t stay for the meeting please drop by and complete a feedback card to express your concerns.

This Plan invades your right to the quiet enjoyment of an existing public resource by establishing a fee for such use. Such fee could easily be imposed for the use of a city park, or the cost of any city service now provided to the community.

This City can continue to look at necessary timed parking zones, and other parking controls on an “as needed basis” where each circumstance can be properly considered as it should be.

This is a new form of local taxation being imposed in Emeryville without public approval. It’s true, strict parking would be a new source of revenue. It has been imposed in neighboring cities. However, this is Emeryville where the people who live and is work here deserve more respect. Wilbur Smith was hired to come into Emeryville and prepare a Plan for the City without public input.

At stake here is the integrity of our public process. The City is imposing a plan to manage a pubic benefit essential to the well being of Emeryville businesses and residents without regard to impact and/or inconvenience.

.                        .                           .                   

The impact of this Plan will make it more expensive for employees of Emeryville businesses to work in the City, An unexpected new cost. Will it cause small Emeryville business owners and/or their employees to go elsewhere?

Emeryville enjoys continued added prosperity because of the unfriendly business practices in neighboring cities. Is it possible this Parking Plan could end up costing the City the loss of business and actually become a liability? .

This Parking Plan is being promoted by a major property owner who has abused the city’s ability to minimize the impact of new development on surrounding areas. The City failed to impose a specific requirement that parking, created for the use new buildings, must specifically be used for said purpose.

The environmental review for these new buildings included a false statement which inaccurately reflected these buildings would have “no adverse impact to the surrounding areas.” A statement made on the false assumption approved new parking would be used for the stated purpose.

Said owner provides no parking for tenants. The City has put the building owner in the Parking business. They charge $95 per month for parking to anyone who will pay the price. Employees who work in the new buildings use the less convenient street parking and thereby rob the surrounding areas of available public parking. Something Emeryville residents and business owners and employees have enjoyed since the City was established.

The Council failed to notify affected residents and business owners when the details of this Plan were approved on September 7, 2010. No one from the public was present. We urge you to watch the video presentation or review the Plan to learn the details of it.

Such actions erode public confidence in local government and create uncertainty for business owners and their employees who are forced to deal with the consequence of surprise. This is actually a form of gentrification which is never the subject of public discussion.

A major goal of the new EPOA is to bring businesses and residents together to discuss important issues. both pro and con, in the formative stage of the decision process.

ABOUT THE NEW EPOA- The Emeryville Property Owners Association was created in response to a crisis last November 2011, when 18 property owners received a surprise notice their land was included in a new assessment district.

It seems the owner of the new buildings, in the North Hollis area, and City Staff, worked together behind closed doors for two years, to create the boundaries of a new utility “district” which included 21 separate property owners.

The boundaries of said district were drawn to impose a new $8.3 Million property tax assessment upon 18 unsuspecting property owners without their prior knowledge or approval.

If a new assessment district is created a majority of owners, within the boundaries of the new district, have the legal power to overrule any objection of the minority property owners to pay the assessment.

The ownership of property in this district included 42% of the land controlled by the new building owner. The Staff offered the City owned land at 5% and ONE third party owner with 7% of the land. Collectively only THREE owners to constitute the necessary majority to force EIGHTEEN minority owners to pay.

City Staff and building owner created this new District to impose a surprise $8.3 million assessment with no regard to the financial impact being imposed on these 18 minority property owners, or the 124 businesses which exist on the properties.

After the City Council decided to move forward with the creation of the new assessment district. The 18 affected owners organized the EPOA to fight the assessment. These owners had to endure the threat and the stress of a multi-million dollar new property tax assessment being imposed over forceful objection. The EPOA was able to convince the third party owner to withdraw his support for the new district, and thereby stop it from moving forward.

A horrific circumstance never to be forgotten. We have created the “Emeryville Public Notice & Accountability Initiative.” A ballot measure to force the City to notify affected parties by email, whenever the City is contemplating any action which will specifically impact the use of land, or impose any new tax or assessment. The ballot measure is now being circulated and must obtain enough valid Emeryville signatures to be placed on a future ballot for voter approval . . .

One of the purposes of the Jan 12th meeting is to restore integrity to our public process, and to urge the Council to delay implementation of this Parking Implementation Plan and allow for public participation before moving forward. We urge your participation.
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510-214-5111 EMERYVILLE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION www.epoa.us

Property Owners Group Calls Big Meeting

Town Hall Meeting on Parking Problem 
in the North Hollis Area

The Emeryville Property Owners Association has agreed to host a town hall meeting to facilitate dialogue and debate surrounding the city's plan to alter parking policy in the North Hollis area.
Residents in the North Hollis area have been negatively impacted by new development over the years in the neighborhood and tempers have been fraying.  Daytime parking has been dramatically impacted and long time residents without off street parking have taken a major hit.
The meeting is scheduled for Saturday January 12th between 10 and 11:15 AM.  Council members have shown interest in attending and member Jennifer West has agreed to speak.
The UPOA group said the primary reason for the meeting is to empower citizens and solicit their opinions to forward to City Hall.  The tentative meeting location is the Ralph Hawley Middle School auditorium at 1275 61st Street.  The EPOA site and more about the meeting is HERE.

Former Councilman Files Accountability Initiative

Former Councilman Bukowski Puts 
City Hall On Notice

Former City Councilman Ken Bukowski has announced he will make City Hall more accountable to the people's interests via an initiative he's started called the Emeryville Public Notice and Accountability Initiative.  The initiative seeks to make City Hall more accountable to the people by requiring better notice of city action and improved access for average citizens in the government decision making process.   The initiative will either appear on a future ballot or be adopted by council fiat, depending on the number of resident signatures secured.

The former councilman first introduced the idea of such an initiative as part of his re-election campaign last year stating he would pursue the initiative regardless of whether of not he was elected to office.  "It's needed [in Emeryville]"  Mr Bukowski told the Tattler.  "We've evolved into an era where better notification is essential to protect the people's interests" he said.  He noted the proposed initiative will shine a light on government doings, "We will finally have a full accounting of elected officials votes made on the residents' behalf, something not available before."

The initiative must receive about 590 valid signatures of registered Emeryville voters to appear on the November 2013 ballot but some 900 signatures would force the city council to either adopt it outright or call for an earlier special election.  Mr Bukowski will have 120 days to acquire the requisite signatures, and he is requesting help from residents on this he said.

Ken Bukowski lost his bid for re-election last November but he has stayed in the spotlight.  He formed the Emeryville Property Owners Association, an interest group comprised of businesses and residents to counter the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce, a 'for pay' membership organization he says stopped working for most businesses in town.  The former councilman assured the Tattler he has no bigger plans by forwarding the initiative, "I want to make this clear, I have no intention on running for city council.  I'm doing this [initiative] because it's necessary."

Interested residents can call Ken Bukowski at (510) 305-0000.

The text of the initiative is HERE.

Conflict Of Interest Cited In Move To Sell City Owned Property

The City of Emeryville is seeking to sell a piece of fallow land it owns near the Bay Street Mall on Christie Avenue to Madison Marquette, the owner of the mall, but the sale is improper due to a conflict of interest by a member of the State mandated Emeryville Oversight Board, according to the Emeryville Property Owners Association.  

The Property Owners website alleges Oversight Board member and Emeryville resident John Gooding has been or currently is on the payroll of Madison Marquette and the politically connected Wareham Development but Mr Gooding failed to disclose this information as he is required to do. 

Oversight Board member and
Emeryville resident John Gooding

The real estate, called "site B" is part of a previous acquisition by the former Emeryville Redevelopment Agency and the city council had expressed interest in shuttling the parcel to Washington DC based Madison Marquette to develop into an expansion of the Bay Street Mall after clearing the land of condemned businesses and removing toxic soil on the site.  
Residents attempted to block the sale citing a lack of benefit for Emeryville residents and a recalcitrance on the part of the developer to even meet with them.  After the dissolution of the Redevelopment Agency however, Madison Marquette dropped interest in developing the property and it has remained fallow.  To the consternation of residents, the city has kept open the option to develop the property reserved exclusively for Madison Marquette in the interim years, garnering no taxes for the city.  Even though other developers have shown interest in the land, the city has protected Madison Marquette's interests and no other developers have been allowed to make proposals for the property.

Wareham Development's Transit Center is also is being considered for public subsidy by the Oversight Board and if Mr Gooding has been paid by that developer, that too would constitute a conflict of interest and Mr Gooding would be required to disclose that information. 

The Emeryville Property Owners Association story:

City Staff Seeking to Sell Site B to Madison Marquette
Posted on August 25, 2012

CITY STAFF REQUESTS TWO SPECIAL MEETINGS TO SELL SITE B TO MADISON MARQUETTE

The Emeryville Successor Agency (former Redevelopment Agency) has agreed to a Special Meeting on September 19th at 5:30pm in the City Council Chambers to approve the sale of Site B to Madison Marquette. “Madison” If the Agency decides to sell the property, the sale must be approved by Emeryville Oversight Board.

On September 25, at 5:30pm, City Council Chambers, the Emeryville Oversight Board, will vote on whether to ratify the Successor Agency action, should they vote to sell the property to Madison..

Background: The State decision to dissolve redevelopment Agencies has forced the former Redevelopment Agency to liquidate its assets. Site B is one of those assets.

The Emeryville Oversight Board was established by the legislature to oversee the actions of the Successor agency. It has seven representatives.
[1] Emeryville Mayor Jennifer West (Board Chair)
[2] Aisha Brown, Alameda County Board of Supervisor Keith Carson, senior staff
[3] Greg Harper, AC Transit Board Member
[4] Joshua Simon, Emery Unified School Board Director (Board Vice Chair)
[5] Ronald Gerhard, Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration, Peralta Community College District
[6] John Gooding, Emeryville resident
[7] Helen Bean, City of Emeryville Economic Development & Housing Director.

The person on the Board representing the interests of Emeryville Residents is John Gooding. He was chosen by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. Many people in the community believe Gooding is working for both Madison Marquette and Wareham Development. He has recused himself from some of the decisions affecting Madison Marquette. but he seems to be voting in conflict of interest on matters which benefit Wareham. He may have a conflict voting on the ECCL Project? He has stated he will not vote on the sale of Site B.

Click HERE to read the rest of the story.

Special Favors For Chamber Of Commerce

Six Point Indictment Against New Chamber Of Commerce/City Hall Deal

Emeryville Chamber of Commerce
CEO & Martinez CA resident Bob Canter.
He's managed to make a living
off City Hall for years.

The Emeryville Property Owners Association has issued a six point indictment of an agreement hammered out between the politically connected Chamber of Commerce and City Hall that favors the Chamber but gives the public short shrift.
City Hall is to give the Chamber $25,000 as part of the agreement, the same amount as from a previous agreement between the two entities.  The agreement is meant to support all Emeryville business interests but critics have noted the Chamber only yielded a 5% response from businesses last time, a point the property owner's group highlight.

The new agreement is but the latest chapter in an on-going attempt to prop up the Chamber, a private membership business, with public funds directed by City Hall.
The Tattler has long reported the cozy relationship between certain city council members and the Chamber of Commerce, a mutually beneficial relationship that involves City money and Chamber endorsements at election time.  Since the onset of the economic downturn, Chamber CEO Bob Canter has noted the dire fiscal straights his organization is in as he has appealed for cash from City Hall.  The city council has obliged Mr Canter's requests.

The Emeryville Property Owners Association casts itself as a more legitimate Emeryville business interest group as it represents all property owning businesses in Emeryville instead of simply those who have paid a membership fee as the Chamber of Commerce requires.  Small business interests are equally represented by the property owner's group unlike the primarily big business serving Chamber, a long time complaint leveled at the Chamber by the smaller businesses in Emeryville.

The EPOA website presents six points illustrating the latest corruption that the special relationship between the private business and public entity embodies.

Among the points the EPOA finds objectionable:

• Public money for the Chamber should not be used to hold closed door business meetings with city staff
• The Agreement prohibits the Chamber from publicly disclosing information about the city
• The Agreement requires no performance requirements, unusual for public monies
• The largest businesses in town, who don't need government assistance, are the primary beneficiaries of the work performed with money from City Hall

For the rest of the story, please click HERE.

Property Owners Group Starts Ballot Initiative

Grassroots Group Says Public Notice And Accountability Lacking

The Emeryville Property Owners Association has authored a new Measure to address the problems of a lack of public notice and City Hall accountability.  The Measure is meant to accompany a future ballot initiative brought by a citizen petition drive.  The Measure may be viewed on the EPOA website HERE.

Emeryville Property Owners Association Launches New Website

Former councilman Ken Bukowski announces the launch of a website meant to support a new grassroots organization; the Emeryville Property Owners Association.  The Association has primarily attracted business owners concerned about a lack of representation from the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce.  The new website will report on the interests of all property owners in town.  The site can be accessed HERE.

City Hall Pushing North Hollis Undergrounding

City Hall In Bed With Wareham: Undergrounding Utilities

For the last two years the city of Emeryville has joined with Wareham Development Corporation to pursue the undergrounding of overhead electrical wires in the North Hollis Street area through use of a special assessment district authorized to levy taxes on property owners; a move that has raised the ire of many property owners in the district.  The property owners have cried foul since Wareham would recieve taxpayer cash back for undergrounding work it has already done on its own accord, an
unwarranted benefit from the cozy relationship it has cultivated with City Hall.

The assessment district funding for North Hollis undergrounding is part of a long term city plan to ultimately remove overhead wires throughout the city but unlike North Hollis, the utility undergrounding work for other parts of the city up til now has been paid for by the now defunct Redevelopment Agency and developers.
The North Hollis Assessment District extends along the Hollis Street corridor from just south of Powell Street up to the Berkeley border.

Rich Robbins:
President of the influential 
Wareham Development 
Corporation

Assessment districts are formed by a vote of property owners in the proposed district, with 50% (by geographic area) needed to create a taxing entity.  Wareham Development, the largest landowner in the proposed North Hollis Assessment District district, was an early supporter as was HFH Ltd, another property owning firm on Hollis Street.  After it became clear these two large property owners' acreage was not quite enough to reach 50%, the city itself, being the owner of three small parcels of land, threw their vote in, tipping the total just over the 50% magic number.
Other property owners in the district found the prospects of being forced to pay for the assessment district onerous and they are forming their own association, the Emeryville Property Owners Association, to challenge the Wareham/City Hall juggernaut.

 The CEO of HFH Ltd, Andy Getz, has subsequently withdrawn support for the district, leaving Wareham and City Hall as the sole supporters, putting the undergrounding work on hold.

Members of the nascent Property Owners Association noted their objections to the heavy handed tactics used by the city and Wareham, including hints of back room deals, at a city sponsored meeting last week.  Some of the property owners have expressed displeasure that Wareham has already paid for the undergrounding of utilities as part of the Planning Department approval process for its new development projects in the district and that Wareham would receive back hundreds of thousands of dollars from the city if the assessment district is formed.  The city required Wareham, a San Rafael based corporation, to underground the utility poles for the Hollis Street block north of Powell Street as part of the conditions of approval for the new EmeryStation Greenway building last year and Wareham would receive cash back for the portion of undergrounding it has done not immediately adjoining  their new building.  The other property owners would split these costs with Wareham. 

If the North Hollis undergrounding proceeds by way of the North Hollis Assessment District, the city will help pay for the work, more than a million dollars, paid out of the General Fund.

Outrage Erupts: Property Owners Association Forms

Lack Of Transparency At City Hall: New Group Forms 

Former city councilman Ken Bukowski recently announced the formation of the 'Emeryville Property Owners Association', a group risen up organically he says, in response to a lack of transparency at City Hall. The organization, meant to serve as a conduit of information between property owners, the School District and City Hall is so far made up of property owners in the north Hollis Street area and is concerning itself at the onset with the North Hollis Underground Utility District.  The District is a new special tax assessment area set up by City Hall, effecting property owners there.  Mr Bukowski explains the organization is attracting property owners, many of whom are business owners, who's interests have been under-represented by City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce.

The North Hollis Underground Utility District has been set up to get rid of unsightly power lines along Hollis Street primarily by Wareham Development, a well connected prime mover and shaker developer in that part of Emeryville.
Mr Bukowski noted that a special assessment district such as North Hollis must be initiated by property owners in a democratic fashion but a lack of transparency from City Hall combined with a desire to help Wareham has resulted in a steamroller project.  Mr Bukowski claims the proposed undergrounding work will be a costly tax for a majority of property owners in the North Hollis area, some of whom were caught unaware by the whole deal until the recently sent city notices of the amount each owner will owe.

Mr Bukowski also noted the interest to be charged the property owners for the undergrounding work is onerous: 6-8% and this is unwarranted.

In the case of North Hollis, Wareham's holdings are so vast that only one other property owner's OK was needed, combined with three holdings of the City of Emeryville, to greenlight the whole undergrounding project.  The city's assessment to itself for the undergrounding work would amount to more than a million dollars, paid from the General Fund according to Mr Bukowski.

The former councilman said out of 21 owners, as few as two were aware the special assessment district was being created and that these affected property owners are clamoring for the collective representation that the Property Owners Association will bring.

At their first meeting, the Property Owners Association also discussed the Emeryville Center of Community Life and the Measure J bonds they must pay.  Mr Bukowski told the Tattler that of the 16 property owners that attended, only three had even heard of the Center of Community Life and the tax they'll have to pay for the bonds.  "This organization is going to be all about transparency" he said, "The people that pay the money should be appraised of the situation" he added.

The group will be open to all Emeryville property owners and will have a website opening soon.