Yet Another Year Passes, Still No Horton Street Bike Boulevard

It's déjà vu all over again

December 31, 2014 is like December 31, 2013;

Bike Plan Still Being Ignored

Today, the Tattler brings back our ongoing end of December yearly feature: We re-post our September 2012 story (below) on Emeryville's Horton Street Bike Boulevard every December 31st and will continue until City Hall stops stalling and implements our Bike Plan as they are required to do.  This end-of-the-year feature serves as an annual clearinghouse for any news on the hold up of the Horton Street Bike Boulevard over the previous year.   Readers bored or exasperated with the ongoing story of City Hall inaction on Horton Street can now simply read the year end (short) synopsis in the italics preceding the September 2012 re-post every December 31st.  

I wake up every day, right here in 

Punxsutawney, and it's always 

February 2nd (or December 31st 

in Emeryville), and there's nothing 

I can do about it.

2014 Synopsis:
In 2014, the Bike Committee started really turning the screws on the City Council to stop ignoring the Bike Plan and start implementing it. 
After the Council spent some $10,000 in 2013 for a study of the Plan, what we called a 'study of the study', finally in 2014 that new study was completed and the Council held two public meetings so residents could weigh in on the new study.  As of today, the Council is still deciding the meaning of those public meetings, but they have agreed in principal to consider thinking about the idea of perhaps placing temporary bollards someday on Horton Street as the Bike Plan calls for.  For the record, Council members Nora Davis and Kurt Brinkman, their backs against the wall, voted against the implementation of the Bike Plan in November in a losing 2-3 vote.
In a Kafkaesque moment, the Tattler discovered in 2014 a different Bike Blvd, 45th Street, is also in violation due to too many cars, raising the specter of a whole new Tattler series of broken bike blvd promises from City Hall based on that street as well.

If the Bike Committee remains vigilant over 2015, perhaps residents next December 31st will be waiting on a study of the color options for the temporary bollards for Horton Street.  We'll just have to wait and see.  Check back on December 31, 2015 to get the latest report on Godot...uh...the Horton Street Bike Boulevard.

To view previous year end synopses click Deja Vu or Waiting for Godot in the labels below.

Here then is the September 29th, 2012 Tattler story:

Major Traffic Calming Long Past Due For Horton Street

Emeryville's premiere bicycle thoroughfare, the Horton Street Bike Boulevard, has so much high speed traffic that it has become unsafe for bicycling.  So says Alta Planning, a Berkeley based urban bike network design firm that was commissioned by the City of Emeryville to study bicycling in town.  The $200,000 study, now incorporated into Emeryville's Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan and adopted into law by the city council lays waiting, ready to be implemented.

The question is, will it really be implemented or will it languish in some dusty corner at City Hall as so many other expensive studies have done?  Given the city council's baleful history of failing to calm the traffic on Horton Street for bicycle traffic and working to improve the street for vehicle use at the expense of bicycling, it seems likely it will be ignored and will remain a major automobile thoroughfare, unsafe for bicycles and becoming increasingly more so over time.  

Central to the Alta study is a limit on the number of cars that may use Horton Street, set at 3000 vehicles per day, before a mandatory set of traffic calming procedures kicks in.  The idea is that the traffic calming fixes will lower the number of vehicles that use the bike boulevard down below the 3000 maximum.  It should be noted Emeryville's 3000 number earmarked for bike boulevards is larger than any other city in the Bay Area. 

A choker is an example of a 'neckdown'
called for by level 4 traffic calming.

The prescibed traffic calming comes in a series of increasingly interventionist levels, one through five, that reduces traffic volume and speed, the last such level resulting in a total diversion for through traffic.  Each level requires two years to adequately assess its efficacy.  

At this point, Horton Street has already gone through the first three traffic calming levels; these involve street stenciling, signage and intersection "bulb-outs".  Now, since traffic has not subsided on Horton (it's actually increased), it's time for level 4 traffic calming to be implemented according to the Plan.

Level 4 calls for "significant traffic calming", specifically, 'neck downs' or traffic limiters such as 'chokers', designed to act like a one lane bridge permitting only one car through at a time.

Here's what the Bike Plan calls for on Emeryville's bike boulevards:

Level 1 Basic Bicycle Boulevard- signs, pavement markings

Level 2 Enhanced Bicycle Boulevard- wayfinding signs, reduced delays at intersections

Level 3 Limited Traffic Calming- intersection bulbouts

Level 4 Significant Traffic Calming- neckdowns

Level 5 Traffic Diversion

Level 5 calls for diverters: This
is called out only if level 4 doesn't
work after two years.

The problem is the Bike Committee has already twice voted on significant traffic calming for Horton Street in years past.  Both times the city council has overridden the committee's findings.  The last time the committee voted unanimously to add such calming, councilwoman Nora Davis explained her veto to the committee, "I have no problem putting paint on the asphalt [pavement markings]" but anything more dramatic than that would draw a veto from her and consequently also from the council majority.

In the intervening two and a half years since the last council veto shutting down Horton Street traffic calming, the city has commissioned and now encoded the $200,000 Alta study.

While we acknowledge Ms Davis' forthrightness in explaining to the people why they shouldn't expect safe biking routes in town, we call on the rest of the council to abide by the new Bike Plan they have adopted.  The fact that other such documents have been subverted in the past by the council should not serve as a precedent for inaction on Horton Street.  It's never too late to start working towards livability and rational public policy.  Let's make bicycling safe on the Horton Street Bicycle Boulevard.  It's time for a choker on Horton Street.

Tattler Story of the Year

The most popular story of 2014-

The Tattler broke a story in July that the Emery School District had hired a controversial new principal with a checkered past.  A five minute Google search of the principal's previous employment revealed a litany of abuse allegations but apparently the Superintendent at Emery never bothered to check the employment history of the new hire. It was the reader's favorite story of the year and we bring it back now as we look back at 2014.

July 27

Teachers Cry Foul:

Anti-Teacher Record Follows New Principal

Summer vacation, normally a quiescent time at the Emery Unified School District is turning out to be a time of great consternation after the Superintendent of the Schools certified the hire of a controversial new school principal last week.

Anna Yates Elementary School teachers are railing against the hiring of the new employee, Dr Russom Mesfun after it was revealed that Mr Mefun was named as a defendant in a successful 2008 lawsuit brought by teachers at his former place of employment, Lodi Unified School District.  The charges brought against Mr Mesfun at San Joaquin Superior Court show a administrator hostile to teachers that includes violations of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act for unlawful retaliation and discrimination and also defamation, wrongful termination with negligent hiring supervision and retention among others.  Lodi Unified ultimately settled the suit for $750,000.

Mr Mesfun had been Principal at the Central Valley town of Lodi's Christa McAuliffe Middle School before he resigned in the wake of the lawsuit.

Dr Russom Mesfun

The selection of Mr Mesfun at Emery was initiated by two panels consisting of district administrators, three teachers and a School Board member but the School Board as a whole has the final say in the matter.

  In a July 17th letter drafted to all the elementary school teachers at Emery after the selection of Mr Mesfun, new Superintendent Dr John Rubio, a champion of Mr Mesfun, said it was important that a "strong leader" be chosen for principle at the school and that there were "no other candidates that came anywhere close to Mr Mesfun in terms of experience and leadership ability."

However, teachers at Anna Yates expressed dismay at the prospect that Emery would hire a new principal with such a polarizing anti-teacher record, pointing to the baleful and divisive tenure of the recently deposed Superintendent of the schools Dr Debbra Lindo.   Ms Lindo's anti-teacher tactics brought on a response known as the Teacher's Resolution; a litany of abuses against Emery's teachers at the hand of Ms Lindo.

Teachers at Anna Yates who expressed desire for anonymity told the Tattler they hoped the selection of Mr Mesfun would not mean the start of a new season of anti-teacher culture and action directed at them by Emery Unified.  "It doesn't inspire a lot of confidence" one such teacher said after noting the retirement of Ms Lindo had brought hopes of a reset of teacher relations for the administration at Emery.

The San Joaquin County Superior Court complaint against Mr Mesfun may be read HERE.

The Government Accountability Project

The Emeryville Government Accountability Project

Citizen Access

As part of the on-going effort to strengthen democratic institutions and citizen 

involvement in Emeryville, the Tattler will publish the telephone numbers of 

elected officials as they become known.  

For decades here politicians made their phone numbers public and would take 

calls from constituents.  Sadly, this tradition has been waning, and citizen access 

has eroded.  Meanwhile, developers and other corporate interests who would feed 

at the public trough routinely meet with the politicians and city staff in closed door 

sessions. 

We are dismayed to see this weakening of citizen access to the levers of power 

even while corporate access has never been stronger.  Accordingly, we now 

add the telephone numbers of  City Council members Scott Donahue and Dianne Martinez as well as School Board members Christian Patz and Donn Merriam to the list of numbers of Emeryville's elected officials.  

Future would be politicians should take warning:  If you win office and try to 

keep your telephone number confidential, the Tattler will publish it if we can find it.

Here then are the newest contacts-

Scott Donahue, City Council member:

(510) 658-5182

Dianne Martinez, City Council member:

(310) 748-6934

Donn Merriam, School Board member:

(415) 902-1983

Christian Patz, School Board member:

(510) 938-6917

Here is the rest of the list:

City Council

Nora Davis -  (510) 652-2199

Ruth Atkin - (510) 915-0167

Jac Asher - (510) 333-8437  

School Board

John Affeldt - (510) 547-7757

Joy Kent - (510) 922-1714

Melodi Dice - (510) 655-4354 

Emeryville Cops Take Down Adeline Street Brothel Owners

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

2 held in Emeryville brothel case get indicted by feds

By Henry K. Lee Updated 10:22 pm, Tuesday, December 23, 2014

                 

Two men charged in state court with exploiting women in a sex trafficking ring in Emeryville and bribing a police captain posing as a corrupt officer were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on bribery charges, court records show.

The investigation centered on Acucare Oriental Massage at 3900 Adeline St., which authorities said operated as a brothel, with young women of Asian descent used for sex and then replaced every two weeks.

Co-owners Jimmy Gong Lee, 55, and Tom Loi, 58, were charged in U.S. District Court in San Francisco with conspiracy to give bribes involving a federal program, giving bribes involving a federal program and bribery of a public official.

Lee and Loi were named in a complaint filed this month in Alameda County Superior Court with 30 felony charges, including conspiracy, pimping, pandering, bribery, tax fraud and bribery.

Federal court records revealed that the investigation began in 2012 when agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Emeryville police began investigating Acucare — and that Homeland Security agents posed as Emeryville code enforcement officers.

Authorities said men would be buzzed in to enter the business, pay about $60 to Kuang, and then select a “masseuse” from a group of usually five women. The women would then negotiate further fees for sexual services, investigators said. Confidential informants working on behalf of Emeryville police posed as customers and were quoted prices for the services in conversation that were secretly recorded, authorities said.

When Emeryville authorities began questioning the legitimacy of the business, Lee allegedly gave Loi thousands of dollars to pay off Emeryville police Capt. Dante Diotalevi, head of investigations, who was working undercover as a corrupt police officer.

In a series of recorded meetings between March 2013 and May 2014, Loi gave the captain a total of $24,000 in bribes — about $2,000 a month — so that Acucare wouldn’t be shuttered, authorities said.

Lam also paid a Homeland Security agent posing as a corrupt immigration officer tens of thousands of dollars to illegally process four Chinese nationals for green cards, authorities said.

On June 5, state Department of Justice and Homeland Security agents served search warrants at the brothel and Lee’s home in San Francisco. They reported recovering $69,000 in cash.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee

Government Handout to Citizen Activist Group RULE

City Hall Has Long Paid the 

Chamber of Commerce,

Now It Will Pay RULE As Well

Opinion
Budgets, as they say, are moral documents.  They're the black and white manifestation of priorities; an accounting of what is considered valuable by a people.
The City of Emeryville's budget tells us big business is something we value here.  You can see it itemized in monthly cash payouts and gifts of free rent to the Chamber of Commerce, a private corporation.  The Chamber uses the money to pay Chamber employee salaries to advocate for business interests, big businesses specifically.  The idea is the public money will end up helping the public because businesses will pay us taxes.  Or it might be the City Council members that keep this funding scheme going are simple ideologues; they have an aesthetic bias in favor of big business.  Their long voting record on the Council hints as much.

The Chamber of Commerce, a private company,
 gets this Harlan Street storefront rent free from the 
City of Emeryville. Just to the left is an empty 
unit that's perfect for RULE.

The last budget earmarked $25,000 for the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce plus another year of free rent at the storefront space the City rents on Harlan Street.  A few years ago, the Chamber was given $40,000 per year to help them produce their newsletter, The Emeryville Connection, mailed every month to every Emeryville household.  That is until a scathing story about that cozy deal between the City and the Chamber blared from the pages of the Tattler.  The Chamber was printing stories in the Connection telling residents which Council members to vote for and which ones to avoid.  A cozy and reciprocal relationship.

 Now we have a new Emeryville City Council majority presumably with different values than the traditional pro-business fare.
The logic that brought us years of payouts of government money to the Chamber of Commerce now should be expanded.  If arcane notions of public largess showered on a private business used to help big businesses, trickling down and benefiting the public are considered rational, surely a more direct route of public money resulting in public benefit should be considered at least as rational.  This is how Emeryville's premier citizen activist group, Residents United for a Livable Emeryville is going to start receiving free rent and cash payouts from City Hall.

Martinez resident,
Chamber CEO
Bob Canter.
Emeryville pays
his salary.

RULE will use the government money to make sure future development in Emeryville is in the people's interests.  They'll do the work they've always done but now they're going to get money for it.  Think of these payouts like the money the government spends on public defenders.
RULE will use the money to force developers to enter into Community Benefit Agreements directly with the people, skipping City Hall.  They'll conduct resident surveys about nascent development, they'll go door to door and hold Town Hall meetings.  They'll hire lawyers to sue those that are subverting the people's interests.  They'll get their own storefront headquarters and a fancy new website and newsletter. They'll still work for free unlike Chamber employees.

Since Emeryville presumably is here to help residents, the same charge RULE has, some might see cash payouts as redundant and unnecessary.  But  there's not a government on Earth that has a perfect, infallible and direct connection to the needs and desires of the governed.  That's why citizen activist groups are so ubiquitous.  The less a government represents the interests of the governed, the more such groups sprout up.
We understand the government hubris that would tend to make payouts to a group such as RULE unlikely.  In the case of Emeryville, paying RULE would be seen as a tacit admission of failure on the part of the decision makers in their charge to fashion the town after the wishes of the residents.  So we understand human psychology being such that it is, the Council members will likely find the idea of paying RULE repugnant.   But we're not interested in the Council member's feelings. We're interested in fair and equitable government.  And we're interested in the residents benefitting from City Hall's spending.

For years we've had a budget one would expect from a town in say, Texas.  Now Emeryville is going to have a budget that reflects our values.  RULE will be empowered to effectively deliver Emeryville values.

Councilwoman Jennifer West Steps Down

Jennifer West

After five years, starting this month, Emeryville is conducting city council meetings without Jennifer West at the dais; the esteemed one term councilwoman has moved on (although she still lives with her family in Emeryville).   Arguably, the least controversial city council member, Ms West has been Emeryville's most beloved and effective council member in years.  What made Jennifer so effective?  The Tattler caught up with Ms West to get her take: 

Q:  What's your overall impression of your days on the Council?  What made you effective?

A:  I loved serving on the Emeryville City Council these past five years.  I think my service has changed the tone of discourse in Emeryville from one of antagonism to cooperation and partnership.  We can get a lot done that way.  I ask questions and invite all public to participate, sharing information openly.

Q:  Was there a vote or votes in particular you look back on with pride? 

A:  Hiring Sabrina Landreth was the biggest and most important action during my five years. I see her time as the city manager and leader bringing a new level of professionalism and harmony to our city government.  I trust her to support the staff and keep expectations high. I think she approaches negotiations and decision making fairly, and carries out the policy directed by council. 

Even in her first year we accomplished a lot, from updating the Capitol Improvement Program (CIP) to passing a balanced budget, putting in place new development impact fees to support affordable housing, parks and transportation projects to putting a charter city measure on the ballot.

There were also some quiet victories, like asking enough questions about a loan forgiveness deal with Madison Marquette to make it just go away, never brought back by staff after the Oversight Board sent it back to Council.

And keeping the tall trees in Temescal Creek Park where the hawks nest.  Adding bike fix it stations around town.  Arranging for some city staff to get hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to use, learning the benefits of the hydrogen fueling station we host in Emeryville. Getting noticing improved to include more residents, more property owners.  I think the issues that I raised are being taken seriously by staff, and have become part of the conversation, from outsider to status quo.

Q:  Were there any committees or regional boards you sat on as City Council member that were particularly effective in your mind?

A:  I truly enjoyed serving on the Alameda County Waste Management Authority, Stopwaste (as President of the Board in 2013).  Working directly with other elected officials, with very different constituencies than Emeryville, was eye opening. While on Stopwaste, we passed a plastic bag ordinance that dramatically reduced plastic bags in the county (and in the storm water system), passed an ordinance requiring commercial and multi-family residential recycling and organics collection, passed a benchmarking fee that will give concrete data to residents to help all of us step up our game in terms of diverting waste from landfills, and passed a Household Hazardous Waste fee that will allow our county HHW program expand in hours and locations.

Q:   Were there votes you made that in retrospect now seem ill advised, or votes that you were on the losing side that ring out?

A:   There have been a few decisions that I have struggled with over my term, including the Emeryville Center of Community Life decisions and the Transit Center development on Horton Street.  I see many benefits from both development projects, but they both fall short of where I thought they should be to really contribute more to the community… They were both in the works before I was on the council, along with a lot of other residential developments that were under the “old” way of doing things, and I did not successfully transform these projects when they came up for “extensions” of permits.  For the residential projects, I wanted more family-sized units, greater affordability, more owner occupied units, and more connection between the units and the wider community, not just separated, gated communities.  For the community projects, ECCL and Transit Center, I would have liked to see more bold contributions, something really innovative and cutting edge.  I think the community will be proud of the ECCL in the end, and that it will help the district with a full service school that will support the whole community. 

I wish that ECCL was on a larger site with a field that will really accommodate a K-12 school. In the General Plan, the AC Transit yard is a large park with playing fields.  I hope that day will come!

 In 2013, the Council directed staff to put together a ballot measure that would raise the business license tax and remove the cap.  Staff did so, and after the time had passed that citizens would have been able to collect signatures to put a ballot measure on the ballot with those parameters, the council changed its tune on a 3-2 vote to keep the cap in place (raising it).  It was disappointing.

I think that bike/ped connections are critical, and know they will increase safety and eyes on the path if they are done right.  These bike/ped paths are our future connectors to make getting around town without a car a viable alternative for everybody, not just the brave souls who bike down San Pablo.  We have three on the general plan map that I failed to bring to fruition: the ECCL Path between 47^th and 53^rd west of San Pablo (there is no way through that super block for the public), the EBI Path between 45^th and 47^th east of San Pablo (again, no other way through that super block), and the one that would connect Doyle St and 55^th with 53^rd between Hollis and San Pablo known as the Pickleworks Path (there is no other way through that super block).  One of the best predictors of people walking in a location is the fine-grained grid for easy connectivity.  Emeryville still has a long way to go!

Q:   Emeryville is laced with Bike Boulevards as prescribed by our General Plan.  Up until now, these Boulevards have not constrained car use in any meaningful way.  That is poised now to change with lots of new driving residents coming to our town.  Our streets are going to be contested spaces with ever greater frequency.  Horton Street is first in this regard.  What can you say about this critical bike corridor?

A:  On Horton’s bike boulevard, I support the Bike Plan to put in Level 4 traffic calming now and if that doesn’t adequately reduce the numbers in one or two years, Level 5 diverters.  I think the community really responded this fall when we asked for feedback, and the general consensus of comments I heard was to follow the plan and move forward incrementally with Level 4 first.  It makes sense, and since we have the grant to design level 4 traffic calming now, and the time to look at Level 5 before Sherwin Williams goes in, it is perfectly aligned with these projects.  I think we can implement the Bike Plan with public input.

City of Emeryville Shows Off Its Accomplishment

Disney/Pixar Fence: A Source of Civic Pride

Opinion
The City of Emeryville has redesigned its website!  And for the new and improved look, City Hall decided to highlight the things it's most proud of.  Front and center on the new site is a photograph of the half mile long Disney/Pixar fence right across from City Hall.  That's the fence that sternly reminds everyone that Disney/Pixar isn't interested in Emeryville and keep the hell out...the fence that runs the entire perimeter of the corporate campus, six blocks by two, along Park Boulevard from Hollis all the way up to San Pablo, right through the heart of Emeryville.
We don't need two point perspective in Emeryville; to illustrate it, just make a vanishing point and two lines emanating from it in the form of an inverted V, signifying the edges of the sidewalk...and a fence along the side of it.

Evidently, City Hall thinks getting the Disney/Pixar fence was a big score for Emeryville.  A real coup d'etat in the realm of city planning for our town.  If they weren't proud of the fence, why else would they showcase it as the premier photograph in the new official website representing our town?

The fence cordons off the super block that the City made when they gave Disney/Pixar Watts and Emery Streets to the corporate giant as a gift to help them consolidate their campus.  It's the same fence that blocked the Spur Alley bike path from its planned connection to City Hall.

To those who might not feel that the Disney/Pixar fence is civic pride in steel and thorns, realize, this City is looking out for you in more than just the erection of a fence, the multi billion dollar Disney/Pixar also contributes taxes to our city: $8000 per year.

Other cities may have super blocks, but Emeryville has super duper blocks!  If you're headed north or south, you have to walk an extra mile to get around Disney/Pixar.  You'll have a long walk but not to worry, we've got an eight foot steel fence running the entire length, proving to everyone how much clout Emeryville has; a physical manifestation showing everyone just what our values are.

Vanishing Point:
Civic Pride in Thorns and Steel 
We've got super duper blocks and a half mile long
fence in the heart of Emeryville!

RULE Meeting

Residents United For A Livable Emeryville

Come and enjoy food and drink provided by the RULE Steering Committee...

schmooz with your progressive neighbors.  Social hour begins at 11:00! Saturday, Dec. 20

Meeting 10:00 ....................Social Hour 11:00 

Doyle St. CoHousing, 5514 Doyle St., 1st floor common room

Agenda*:

Sherwin Williams Update

Horton St. Bike Blvd

RULE, the Emeryville Tattler and the E'vlle Eye

Representation on the Transportation Committee

*subject to additions and changes

See you there.......We want to meet you!

For more information call 510-601-6521   Judy Timmel

45th Street Bike Blvd Violation: City Council Hasn't a Clue

Broken Government

Time for an Audit at City Hall

If We're Going to Make Public Policy, We've Got to Keep Proper Track of It

Opinion
Emeryville's Director of Public Works, Maurice Kaufman, revealed to the Tattler today that 45th Street east of San Pablo Avenue now has and for years has had more than 3000 vehicle trips per day, a condition not allowed according to the City's Bike Plan.  The Director has known the street is in violation of the Bike Plan "for years" he says ever since there was a traffic count conducted after the 'Triangle Neighborhood traffic calming' program a few years back.
45th Street was designated as a Bike Boulevard by the Bike Plan after the Triangle traffic calming program and the vehicle count conducted by Mr Kaufman's Department is necessary information for the City Council because that street is not allowed to have more than 1500 vehicle trips per day according to the Bike Plan.  After that number is reached, a series of ever more restrictive traffic calming measures is identified and called for by the Bike Plan.
Had the Council members known the street was in violation years ago, presumably they would have started the program of traffic calming that the Bike Plan calls for to remedy the violation.
The Triangle Neighborhood traffic calming plan has been completed and it's tangential to the Bike Plan and its provisions for 45th Street.  It should be noted the Bike Plan traffic calming metrics for 45th Street are more onerous than the Triangle traffic calming goals were.

In his defense, the Public Works Director stated he doesn't feel it's appropriate for Bike Plan traffic calming on 45th Street, "We've already done traffic calming there.  The neighbors don't want more" he said referring to the former Triangle traffic calming.
To that we say: It's not up to you, Maurice...nobody voted for you.  Your job is to provide objective analysis to the City Council.  If you have information the decision makers need to know to not be in violation of their public policy, you need to volunteer that information.

Which brings us to our greater point here: We don't want the Emeryville Tattler to be the entity to keep the City of Emeryville on track.  We're just here to report to the people.  We don't want this responsibility.  We want this city to stay on track itself.  We don't want the City to let its infrastructure fall into disrepair because there's no accounting going on.  We expect there should be somebody at City Hall keeping track of this stuff, not just a bunch of groping around in the dark.
If the City isn't aware of the violations with the Bike Plan, they probably are dropping the ball in other areas.  Obviously there needs to be an audit at City Hall to get a handle on this and to ensure there's a process moving forward to make sure we're not going off the rails.  The idea of planning to make it so we don't careen from crisis to crisis.  Let's hope the new Council majority gets it.

Emeryville Prostitution Ring Broken Up

From the Oakland Tribune:

Four arrested in Emeryville prostitution sting

By Harry Harris Oakland Tribune

POSTED:   12/12/2014 11:46:40 AM PST0 COMMENTS| UPDATED:   44 MIN. AGO

EMERYVILLE -- Four suspects who thought they had successfully bribed an Emeryville police captain to look the other way have been charged for running a sex-trafficking ring at a spa where hundreds of Asian women worked as prostitutes, officials said.

Arrested on Thursday were Rong Liu, 37, of San Francisco, the suspected spa operator and her boyfriend Jimmy Gongyan Lee, 55, of San Francisco, who was co-owner of the spa. Also arrested were Tom Loi, 59, of San Francisco, a business associate of Lee's and Wei Kuang, 55, the on-site doorman who collected a $60 fee so "johns" could choose women for sex.

Authorities said customers paid between $80 and $160 for different sex acts with the women, who in turn paid a portion to Kuang, authorities said. There was no time limit about how long the men could be with the women.

The four face state charges of pimping, pandering, bribery and tax fraud, and Lee and Loi are also facing federal charges, according to a news release from state Attorney General Kamala Harris.

The investigation, which started in March 2012, targeted the Acucare Oriental Massage, which was located at 3900 Adeline St. before closing earlier this year.

Emeryville police were approached by agents from the Department of Homeland Security, who suspected that a human trafficking prostitution operation that generated $1 million in annual revenue was being run at the spa.

Over the years, suspected prostitutes had been arrested at the spa but the goal of the investigation was to identify and prosecute the owners and operators, authorities said

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The investigation led by Emeryville police, Homeland Security and the state Department of Justice uncovered an alleged network of human trafficking, drug sales and bribery of a public official.

Women in their 20s to 40s from China, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and Korea would enter the United States through New York and Los Angeles. The women would work as prostitutes at a circuit of spas around the U.S. that including Acucare, which was considered a main hub, authorities said.

Police said customers heard about Acucare through word-of-mouth. They would pay Kuang $60 at the door to view women and select one.

Between four and seven women worked at the spa and were rotated every two or three weeks so there would be fresh faces, Emeryville police said.

A few weeks after the probe began, authorities said Loi contacted Emeryville police Capt. Dante Diotalevi, commander of the investigation unit and offered him $2,000 a month to keep police from busting the operation. Diotalevi played along, documenting a total $24,000 in transactions with audio and video recordings.

Emeryville police conducted thousands of hours of investigation and surveillance assisting the other two agencies.

On June 5, the three agencies along with the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office served search warrants at the spa and Lee's San Francisco home and another home linked to Lee in Mariposa.

In addition to evidence corroborating the prostitution operation, authorities recovered $69,000 in cash, guns and numerous marijuana plants from the sites. Authorities believe Lee was selling the marijuana.

Police said that shortly after the search warrants were served in June, the new owners of the property housing the spa had the building demolished. It is currently a pit with the foundation for a new apartment building.

Harris said in the news release: "Human trafficking is one of the world's most profitable criminal enterprises, and it is having a devastating impacting right here in our own backyard. Each year, thousands of women and children of all ages and backgrounds are forced into labor and prostitution. I thank our local, state and federal partners for fighting this serious threat and bringing these perpetrators to justice."