Should School Board Members Run For Re-Election? They Should Resign in Shame

 The Worst Academic Record in the East Bay: 

The Emery School Board Members Should Not Be Running For Re-Election

Instead, They Should Do What Failed Leaders Do In Japan: 

恥ずかしながら辞職 

Opinion

Perennial Emery School Board member Brynnda Collins spoke for the whole board at the recent League of Woman Voters candidate’s forum when, on camera, she told the attendees that Emery school district must "stay on track".  That’s a cliché line commonly used when a politician wants to run on their record.  But Ms Collins and her slate mates, Susan Donaldson and Regina Chagolla, the three Emery school board members who are running for re-election, really don't want to run on their records – so Ms Collins’ line was only meant to obscure.  In truth, they don’t want us to know their record.  Because the more Emeryville voters find out about the record of the existing school board, the more they want Emery to get off that track.

On their watch, Emery Unified School District hasn’t budged from last place academically among Alameda County school districts.  The current culture of failure began six years ago when Emery slid to the bottom.  And there it has remained ever since.  But it’s not for a lack of spending.  Emeryville taxpayers fund their school district at the highest rate of any school district in the entire East Bay.  We pay more than $27,000 per student per year for them to run our school district.  The next highest spending comes from Berkeley Unified where they spend about $18,000 per student (California average is about $14,000).  But Berkeley gets excellent academic results for the money they pay.  We spend the most and get the worst results.  Our students score 23% proficiency in math and 37% in English, the worst scores in Alameda County.  And so these three incumbent school board members are out talking to voters about anything other than their record.

Where does all the money go at Emery?  How could they spend so much and get such bad results?  The answer is administrators and consultants.  Emery has the highest ratio of administrators to students in Alameda County.  But more distressing is the squandering of public funds going to educational consultants over the last six years on the school board's watch. 

Emery spends millions of dollars on educational consultants. The numbers tell the tale: whereas California school districts spend on average 52% of their budget on instruction, Emery spends only 19%.  Other school districts spend on average 12% of their budget on 'other spending' which includes educational consultants where Emery spends 67%.  That’s an awfully high percentage of the budget to be spent on something that's clearly not helping.

Meanwhile, teachers at Emery are paid so poorly they can’t afford to live here.  Paying teachers more could help Emery attract the best and the brightest to our little district.  If we stopped spending so much on consultants (and administration) we could pay the teachers more.  Teachers know how to educate children in the real world, educational consultants don't.  Teachers are the ones in the trenches, doing the real work. To empower teachers is to upset the dysfunctional 'top down' culture at Emery.

Now these three incumbents at Emery school board want us to vote for their re-election.  They're asking us to vote for dysfunction.  They're asking us to vote to keep Emeryville schools on the bottom, the worst in Alameda County.

The Japanese have an expression commonly used by CEOs of large corporations when they fail to manage the corporation and bring shame upon themselves, it’s called Hazukashinagara jishoku or 恥ずかしながら辞職 , meaning to shamefully resign.  That’s what should be happening at Emery instead of them running for re-election.  

Alas, this is part of the current trend in America; failed leaders doubling down and gaslighting the public.  In Japan, a place where public shame still exists, failed leaders announce for the good of the organization they will 恥ずかしながら辞職 as they step down in humility.  Here, they tell us to keep them on track.

A valuable site to verify how Emery is failing the children may be viewed HERE.  Make sure to scroll all the way down to 'Academic Summary' and 'District Finances'.

This is how they do it in Japan
Executives at a Dentsu Corporation press conference resign in shame
over a worker 'karoshi' scandal or death from over work.
In America, failed leaders double down.

City Council Candidates Questionnaire Part lll

 City Council Candidates Q&A: Final Answers

November 8th, Emeryville voters will decide on two new four year City Council members who will replace Scott Donahue and Dianne Martinez, both of whom decided to not run for a third term.  This election, voters will select between Sukhdeep Kaur, David Mourra, Kalimah Priforce, Eugene Tssui, and Brooke Westling.

The Tattler has come up with 10 questions we think the people of Emeryville would like to ask their prospective new council members and all but Brooke Westling responded to our questionnaire.   We released the first three questions from all four candidates October 16th and we now follow with questions four through seven.   The first three questions may be seen HERE and the second set of four questions can be seen HERE. 

The order of presentation is random.

Here then are the last three questions:

First up is David Mourra.  The candidate's website is HERE. 

8)  Emeryville has the East Bay’s lowest number of people per housing unit at 1.7.  This number shows we have the fewest families per capita of any city in the East Bay.  Presuming you don’t like this, what should be done that hasn’t been done to make Emeryville more family friendly?

 

David Mourra:  I agree that new developments should better accommodate families. This means more 2 and 3 bedroom units. Developers respond to economic incentives. We should look closer at how the city allocates development bonus points and look at potentially more favorable weighting of family friendly units.

 

9)  Some 25 years ago, Emeryville was a city of majority homeowners.  Now we’re a city of majority renters (71%).  Is this a good trend?  If not, what would you do differently that the current City Council hasn’t done to solve this?  

 

David Mourra:  This problem is not unique to Emeryville. California has seen an increase in rental units vs units for purchase. The economics of housing has favored rental construction in recent years. There are different explanations for this including the favorable economics of rentals due to the difficulty of affording a down payment amid record high home prices. Increasing the overall stock of housing, rental or otherwise, will reduce housing costs across the board and bring balance to housing options. After decades of underbuilding housing in California, we are finally starting to address the housing crisis in a meaningful way– by building more housing. 

 

10)  Emeryville is one of the last cities in the East Bay to still have all public meetings conducted by Zoom.  All other cities (except Oakland) are now doing ‘hybridized’ meetings, meaning open to the public as well as available by Zoom.  When should Emeryville allow public meetings again (including hybridized)?

 

David Mourra:  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. However, the question of how to structure a hybrid approach and the costs and logistics associated with this needs to be assessed.

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Next up is Eugene Tssui.  The candidate's website  is HERE.

8) Emeryville has the East Bay’s lowest number of people per housing unit at 1.7.  This number shows we have the fewest families per capita of any city in the East Bay.  Presuming you don’t like this, what should be done that hasn’t been done to make Emeryville more family-friendly?

Eugene Tssui:  We need to recognize that Emeryville is a starter community for many working in the local businesses. What will encourage these Millennials to stay in Emeryville and start businesses and families? How do we involve singles in our school community? We will work with intergenerational individuals, to develop the skills needed to enter the career of their choosing or to upgrade the profession they are already in.

However, to make our urban landscape attractive, we need  to hire the best-paid teachers in education in our schools!  Better education programs that create jobs! Families congregate and are attracted to cities with the best schools, and parents look for schools with the best ranking and reputation. Emeryville schools and government need to pay attention to this and do what it takes to reach for excellence and exceed the ranking mentality of the State and nation and

 excel beyond the expectations of the status quo!   We must encourage experimentation! 

We must welcome and nurture the likes of the great modern revolutionaries of education, such as A.S. Neill, Marva Collins, Jaime Escalante, and Friedrich Froebel, among others.

 But we must also embrace the post-COVID education technologies that allow our students the best project-based skills and opportunities.

If Emeryville, home to Disney/Pixar, had these facilities available to all of our families, many would stay, and many would join us!   If these high-tech and innovative companies worked together with the City the schools could dramatically improve.   It is a three-way dialogue unifying schools, businesses, and the local government as a team that works together to create the compassionate and imaginative residents of the future.

9) Some 25 years ago, Emeryville was a city of majority homeowners.  Now we’re a city of majority renters (71%).  Is this a good trend?  If not, what would you do differently that the current City Council hasn’t done to solve this?

  

Eugene Tssui:   EDUCATION! QUALITY EDUCATION! QUALITY RECREATION AND SOCIAL PLACES OF CONGREGATION!

I have been a resident of Emeryville since 1989. Thirty-three years I bought into Emeryville as a small business owner to develop my architecture profession and rented an apartment at Watergate.   I stayed in Emeryville because of the location and convenience to all parts of the Bay Area. As a small, malleable city of artists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses, the most significant business was the Oaks Card Club! 

Emeryville was a community of people that could easily reach out to one another, traffic was generally sparse, and walking and biking were safe and efficient. Emeryville High School had a range of programs and vocational services such as automotive repair facilities and a strong drafting program for industrial jobs.

The city has become mostly renters because very few people want or can afford to stay in Emeryville. The young come into Emeryville as a temporary stopping point to somewhere else. At best, the young start a family here, biding their time to move to the suburbs to raise a family in better schools with extensive sports and academic programs, where they can have a rambling home of their own with their own expansive yard.

If we are to solve the majority renter phenomenon, we must radically change the quality of our schools, our support for local and start-up businesses, and our recreation facilities, and upgrade our social resources for homeownership. And that means we must fill the city with excitement, anticipation, daring, and the spirit of reaching for the impossible!    Together, we must demand a new vision!

10) Emeryville is one of the last cities in the East Bay to still have all public meetings conducted by Zoom.  All other cities (except Oakland) are now doing ‘hybridized’ meetings, meaning open to the public as well as available by Zoom.  When should Emeryville allow public meetings again (including hybridized)?

Eugene Tssui:   Emeryville is also one of the last cities to have a Code of Ethics! And perhaps this is a telling aspect of Emeryville’s lagging sense of propriety and accountability and  there are aspects of the Zoom meeting mentality that play into this.

Zoom meetings could be seen as a tool of distancing.  In a Zoom meeting, you can prevent the audience from responding, and you can control the interaction. As a City Council member, you have a government-controlled position that can limit the interaction of the public. I myself have experienced this, and I am sure that many of us who have attempted to communicate with staff and administration via Zoom have experienced this helplessness in direct and immediate response time. Zoom allows the City Council to control the time, topic, and mode of interaction with the public.

This attitude of control, extends into a larger picture which  touches upon the issue of the city’s lack of a Code of Ethics.   A  Code of Ethics sets out our city government’s guidelines to  practice honesty, integrity, professionalism, and  accountability, and violating this code can result in termination.

I think we should do test trials and have in-person City Council meetings to see what the results might be.

It is proven that communication is 55% nonverbal, 38% vocal, and 7% words only.   In Zoom events, the 55% nonverbal communication is reduced to a very small percentage creating a very disabled experience with which to communicate and take questions from those you are communicating with. Nothing can replace one-on-one communication.

Finally, I want to emphasize that my running for City Council is to help create a stellar City Council team that works together to address the substantive topics that directly affect the residents of our city.

Each City Council team member has experiences and interests they are passionate about. We must all work together to find the best solutions to the ongoing problems we all face in these troubled and challenging times.   We have all created a legacy on this planet, and we must think and act in optimal ways to create solutions to the issues we face. I intend to be a substantive voice to face these issues as a member of a unified team and to raise the level of meaning, purpose, self-reflection, and excellence in the residents of our City of Emeryville.

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Next up is Kalimah Priforce.  The candidate's website is HERE. 

8)  Emeryville has the East Bay’s lowest number of people per housing unit at 1.7.  This number shows we have the fewest families per capita of any city in the East Bay.  Presuming you don’t like this, what should be done that hasn’t been done to make Emeryville more family friendly?

 

Kalimah Proiforce:  When I moved to Emeryville, I was told that Emeryville isn’t where growing a family, particularly a family of color, is feasible. I believe that is partly true.

 

There isn’t enough that the city does to keep families here, especially BMR residents, people of color, and those that I consider society’s underdogs. But it isn’t just race and income. Emerging entrepreneurs and non-profit leaders should be able to find a home in Emeryville and be incentivized to stay here.

 

Emeryville should be more than a commuter town or be attractive to newcomers because of its proximity to other cities. Emeryville should be a shining city that attracts the best and brightest but we have to earn the respect of their livelihoods to keep them here.

 

9)  Some 25 years ago, Emeryville was a city of majority homeowners.  Now we’re a city of majority renters (71%).  Is this a good trend?  If not, what would you do differently that the current City Council hasn’t done to solve this? 

 

Kalimah Priforce:  I’m not sure if it’s a good trend or bad but I would like to see Emeryville renters eventually become homeowners.

 

10)  Emeryville is one of the last cities in the East Bay to still have all public meetings conducted by Zoom.  All other cities (except Oakland) are now doing ‘hybridized’ meetings, meaning open to the public as well as available by Zoom.  When should Emeryville allow public meetings again (including hybridized)?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  Public meetings should be reinstated, but it may also depend on the meeting. Shorter meetings can be delegated to video conferencing, but important decision based ones should be in person.

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Next up is Sukhdeep Kaur.  The candidate's website is HERE. 

8)  Emeryville has the East Bay’s lowest number of people per housing unit at 1.7.  This number shows we have the fewest families per capita of any city in the East Bay.  Presuming you don’t like this, what should be done that hasn’t been done to make Emeryville more family friendly?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  Families usually prefer bigger more affordable spaces.  Most of the people who work in Emeryville commute here and are raising their families in Sacramento or Folsom or Dixon as they can afford a bigger house for the same price.  It is hard to raise a family of 2 or 3 children and pet/s in a one bedroom studio or apartment or even a two bedroom apartment.

Many neighbors are annoyed if they hear the baby crying all night or even during the day or the dog barking.  Many apartments don’t have the best soundproofing.  The current housing stock is not very family friendly in terms of traditional families that include young and growing children and pets.  I would like to balance the equation and see more family friendly housing in the area.  Families raising children naturally gravitate to more spacious housing, good schools and secure and safer streets.  If that can be made affordable to families, it is a possibility that Emeryville could attract families. 

9)  Some 25 years ago, Emeryville was a city of majority homeowners.  Now we’re a city of majority renters (71%).  Is this a good trend?  If not, what would you do differently that the current City Council hasn’t done to solve this? 

 

Sukhdeep Kaur:  I would like to incentivize homeownership in Emeryville and explore ways and programs that could do that like the artists co-op which is good example of affordable, sustainable, ownership housing.  Home ownership is a better trend as it makes for a more engaged and involved community.

10) Emeryville is one of the last cities in the East Bay to still have all public meetings conducted by Zoom.  All other cities (except Oakland) are now doing ‘hybridized’ meetings, meaning open to the public as well as available by Zoom.  When should Emeryville allow public meetings again (including hybridized)?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  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.  Above all, they are a healthier, safer option without masks as Covid is still here and lingering.

City Council Candidates Questionnaire Part II

 City Council Candidates Q&A (Continued) 

November 8th, Emeryville voters will decide on two new four year City Council members who will replace Scott Donahue and Dianne Martinez, both of whom decided to not run for a third term.  This election, voters will select between Sukhdeep Kaur, David Mourra, Kalimah Priforce, Eugene Tssui, and Brooke Westling.

The Tattler has come up with 10 questions we think the people of Emeryville would like to ask their prospective new council members and all but Brooke Westling responded to our questionnaire.   We released the first three questions from all four candidates October 16th and we now follow with questions four through seven.   The first three questions may be seen HERE. 

The order of presentation is random.

Here then are the next questions:

First up is Eugene Tssui.  Eugene’s website is HERE.

4)   Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

Eugene Tssui: Yes. It is fair, and it is morally correct. I am concerned about the quality of life and livelihoods. If elected, I will work to implement intergenerational jobs programs that provide the most robust workforces of the future.

5)   Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

Eugene Tssui:   The City of Emeryville needs a Code of Ethics in its government. This is a crucial aspect of a good, stable, transparent, and morally ethical government. We have been asking the City for this for over a year now. A Code of Ethics holds city representatives accountable for their statements and actions. It provides independent oversight if citizens feel excluded or shut down by the council members.

This process is a necessary step toward transparency and accountability.   We needed this last year and now even more!

Not having a Code of Ethics begs the question of why Emeryville has never had one, and more importantly, why haven’t the previous and current City Councilpersons made an effort to create one?   Earlier this year, there was talk amongst the current City Council to initiate a Code of Ethics by August of this year. What happened?  The Zoom distancing mentality relates to staving-off the Code of Ethics issue.

Regarding my personal ethic, I promise access to the residents that vote me into the City Council.   I will be available for people to call call or e-mail me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I am personally honored when people contact me with their concerns. I have already received calls from people complaining about street noise. I recommend that they note when and where the noise takes place and obtain as many other people’s signatures who agree with them and then take this to the City Council. We need to work together. It tells me what they are seeing, and it helps me to see in a different way, and that is always good. That is what I expect of our residents in social democracy, and of myself, and other public officials.

6)   What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

Eugene Tssui: Paying a real state transfer tax when you sell your building and adding $3 dollars per $1000 of real estate value up to $2 million seems fair.   In an extreme case, if you sell your building for $2 million and you must pay an extra $6000 it seems not to be a significant burden to most owners.

7)   Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

Eugene Tssui: As I see it, the treatment of the homeless in Emeryville is missing a crucial ingredient:   We are not  addressing the intricate needs of the homeless to find housing, medical, psychological/emotional counseling, and psychiatric examination for harm reduction. The Emeryville dialogue has been concerned with housing which, for many, stems from root causes often tied to drug and alcohol addiction, physical/emotional/sexual abuse, lack of medical help, counseling help, mental disorders, and causes pertaining to our military vets.

Working with local hospitals, the city must provide rapid deployment of medical/psychological care for the homeless so they can become capable of turning homelessness into prosperity. And such individuals must be around others who have succeeded in conquering homelessness and have created a new and contented life for themselves.

To do this, we must direct real estate developers to create housing that allows for short-term stays (for those temporarily unhoused) and long-term housing with integrated social services. How can the homeless break the chains of integrating the unhoused into the society of work and productivity, when possible? What government programs are set up to deliver while understanding the cause and effects of homeless conditions? How can once homeless be encouraged to show the way to rise out of their circumstances?

Working with all aspects of the community, we can create “settlement house” programs fueled by micro-certifications for workers, families, and students that address these issues and concerns for others that are temporarily or otherwise, less fortunate.

I intend to start a research and development commission that addresses and finds solutions to crime, homelessness, domestic violence, sexism, ageism, and family discord. These programs can be implemented as after-school classes and counseling sessions attended by the entire family and done at times of the evening when the entire family is available to attend together.

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Next up is David Mourra.  David’s website is HERE.

4)  Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

 

Yes, these are crucial ordinances to ensure that people working in the city have good jobs with sustainable pay and scheduling. These ordinances allow us to focus on recruiting businesses to come to Emeryville and support our existing businesses and know that every job will be a good job. 

 

5)  Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

 

I think it is very important for the people of Emeryville to be able to contact the members of the City Council. City staff and city council members are not aware of every issue facing the city and we rely on engaged citizens to reach out. There are different ways of doing this-- email addresses, phone numbers, See-Click-Fix, social media etc. I check my official planning commission email address as often as I do my personal email. I've also shared my personal phone number with numerous people I've interacted with during my campaign and in my work as a Planning Commissioner. This is something I plan to continue doing if elected to serve on the city council. 

 

6)  What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

 

Why is Emeryville collecting less on real estate transfers than Berkeley and Oakland? Measure O brings us in line with our neighbors. More importantly, it is crucial for adequately funding city services. The largest impact is on sale/transfer of properties above $2 million which primarily affects major commercial transactions. Measure O is necessary and sensible and I encourage everybody to vote Yes on Measure O.

 

 

7)  Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

 

The issue of homeless encampments is a complicated regional problem. At its core, a lack of housing regionally has made this problem more acute. Recent fires at these encampments have shown that health and safety need to be paramount. I fully expect that the city treats unhoused people with humanity and decency but it is important to recognize that the status quo is not sustainable. People need to be matched with short term and longer term housing solutions that keep them off the streets. This should be a guiding principle for the City Council and its staff.

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Next up is Kalimah Priforce.  Kalimah’s website is HERE.

4)  Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

 

Yes. I signed a pledge authored by Ally Medina that aligned with the interests of Dianne Martinez. That is how I collected their endorsements and I shared the pledge with Courtney Welch and she provided her endorsement as well. I posted the pledge on my platform page, www.votepriforce.com. Yes, I'm transparent AF.

 

5)  Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  Personal? No. Personal communication is by choice and should be left to the discretion of both parties.

 

Why? It could and usually does lead to harassment, trolling, and other behaviors from the public that make it a hostile work environment when work creeps into the time elected officials set aside to read a bedtime story to their kids, work out their glutes at the gym, or date night with their spouse.

 

Also, we get what we pay for. If Emeryville residents want full-time attention from elected officials, then elected officials should not have to balance their full-time work with their duties in office.

 

Positions should be full-time and I will be working towards drawing up a measure that would make elected city officials full-time public servants and the mayorship an election-based position rather than being chosen by the city council. Most Emeryville residents I’ve spoken to don’t even know that the positions are not full-time and that the mayor isn’t duly elected.

 

With the mayorship cycling the way it does between city council members, it’s akin to student government rather than a transparent engaging system, which is the basis for a democracy.

 

It’s no wonder voter apathy is high in Emeryville and voter turn-out is abysmal.

 

Emeryville deserves an elected city government working full-time with no other professional conflict to consider, whether they be conflict of interests or scheduling conflicts. Emeryville deserves a full-time, four year mayor just like our neighboring cities, elected by the people, for the people, or do we wait until a crisis to happen to change things?

 

As a council member, I will be available in ways that would be surprising to most. As a business leader, I am accustomed to having an open and public life. However, if there is anyone who tries to troll or harass me, I will shut off their access to me and I am smart and creative enough to loophole every Brown Act provision that would prevent me from doing so. I’m a hacker and it’s how I think.

 

I must protect my partner and daughter and I will not, as a Black man in America, allow my family to be harassed or bullied by anyone. The same would also go for my colleagues. I would not tolerate the same happening to them and would defend them vehemently, probably more than I would myself. This isn't my kind of politics and it needs to change and I don't care how things were in the past when that was okay. Harassment and bullying from the city council to the public and vice versa will not be condoned by me. I will gladly pull out my vintage Gameboy and Tetris it away if I am asked to be in a room wherein someone is insulting me. Not happening.

 

 

6)  What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  100% support it.

 

7)  Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  If there is evidence or reports of inhumane treatment, that should be independently investigated. I do not support dehumanization. I help fund organizations across the country that combat dehumanization, so I wouldn't change that about me because it's part of my values system as a practicing Buddhist for over thirty-three years. Politics won't change that.

 

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Last up is Sukhdeep Kaur.  Sukhdeep’s website is HERE.

4)  Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

Sukhdeep Kaur: Yes.

5)  Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  The council members are assigned a public email from the City Council and whenever I have reached out to the council members on their email addresses, they have responded to me unless they are out of town or traveling and if they are, they respond when they are back.  So, I have reason to believe that the city provides council members this public email address to ensure accountability.   In the past, City Council members like Jennifer West would blog on their website and I see that the present council members are active on the social media and available for civil discourse.  I hope to use many of these tools to make myself available to Emeryville.

6)  What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  I support Measure O.

7)   Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  I have spoken at length with our PD about this issue.  They work with Dignity Operations in keeping our streets clean and safe for Emeryville.  They have even helped many of the homeless people to get back to being productive members of society.  Our ECAP program offers free meals to anyone without question.  We have many good programs.  I am sure more can be done which will bolster the efforts already in place.

City Council Candidates Weigh In On Their Ideas for Our Town

 City Council Candidates Q&A

Location of ballot box at City Hall

November 8th, Emeryville voters will decide on two new four year City Council members who will replace Scott Donahue and Dianne Martinez, both of whom decided to not run for a third term.  This election, voters will select between Sukhdeep Kaur, David Mourra, Kalimah Priforce, Eugene Tssui, and Brooke Westling.

The Tattler has come up with 10 questions we think the people of Emeryville would like to ask their prospective new council members and all but Brooke Westling responded to our questionnaire.   We present the first three questions and answers from all four candidates now and will follow with the remaining soon.  

The selection of presentation here was random.

Here then are the first three questions:

First up is Kalimah Priforce.  The candidate’s website is HERE.

 1)   Emeryville has about 18 acres of parks, not nearly enough according to our General Plan.  The plan says we should be adding new parks at a rate of three acres per 1000 new residents (and 1/4 acre per 1000 new workers for commercial development).  But each new large residential development project has failed to provide this minimum park average.  As a result, Emeryville is in parkland deficit and we will be some 31 acres short what the General Plan calls for at the rate we’re going by the sunset of the plan in 7-12 years.  Every year, we move further behind our target due to population growth.  What would you do to get to the 49 acres of park land we need by the sunset of the General Plan?  If you don’t support the General Plan’s park provisions, should we amend the plan to show fewer acres of parks?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  I support my colleagues when it comes to housing and transportation policies, but I also know what it is for housing policies that may be well-intentioned during planning phases, but end up not meeting the needs of the people.

 

I did not grow up in the projects, but I did grow up near them. Sometimes our housing conditions were so dilapidated that I wished I lived in the projects of Breevort and Kingsborough in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

 

The cities ran out of money to support low-income housing and subsidized housing like the New York City Housing Authority. That created pockets of despair and violence during the crack epidemic. I do not want a return to that level of city-seeded disenfranchisement. My goal is to ensure that Emeryville doesn’t run out of money, and I think we can get to a fiscally sound Emeryville without cutting costs and raising taxes on small homeowners.

 

So I hope that the reason we haven’t met these park-related guidelines is because we are rushing approvals only to be duped by developers or that it’s a cost-cutting measure, so I would have to look into why it’s not happening according to the information you’ve provided.

 

Should we be meeting these guidelines? Yes.

 

2)  The General Plan says Emeryville’s population should be 16,600 people by the sunset of the plan.  Is this number good?  If it is not good, should we amend the plan?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  I don’t think the number is good. I believe in density.

YIMBY may not have endorsed my candidacy and I did not seek it from them. I am very careful about who I receive support from because I do not want it to shape how I view what is possible for our city.

 

However, many of YIMBY’s remarks about density I do agree with. With over a thousand units being built in Emeryville, based on what was shared with me during the public orientations, we can expect a doubling of our population.

 

I don’t have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is livability and affordability and cutting our high turnover rate among the resident and business population.

 

3)  How do we know how much market rate housing Emeryville should have moving into the future?  City Council member Dianne Martinez says the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), of which Emeryville is a member, is incorrect in its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA).  Do you think we should follow RHNA as we historically have or disregard it as Council member Martinez says?  If not RHNA, what metrics should we use to determine how much market rate housing we need?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  The metrics used should be determined by ABAG if that is the agreement. If we disagree with them then we should provide metrics of our own based on our needs and citizen feedback. As long as the communication is clear, a resolution can be formed that works in favor of Emeryville.

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Next up is Sukhdeep Kaur.  The candidate’s website is HERE.

 1)   Emeryville has about 18 acres of parks, not nearly enough according to our General Plan.  The plan says we should be adding new parks at a rate of three acres per 1000 new residents (and 1/4 acre per 1000 new workers for commercial development).  But each new large residential development project has failed to provide this minimum park average.  As a result, Emeryville is in parkland deficit and we will be some 31 acres short what the General Plan calls for at the rate we’re going by the sunset of the plan in 7-12 years.  Every year, we move further behind our target due to population growth.  What would you do to get to the 49 acres of park land we need by the sunset of the General Plan?  If you don’t support the General Plan’s park provisions, should we amend the plan to show fewer acres of parks?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  According to Trust for Public lands data, 94% of Emeryville’s population lives within 10 miles of a park and is doing better than average in Parks compared to rest of the nation.  Due to the state-wide water shortage, my vision of parks is more drought resistant native trees rather than areas of brown grass and shrubs for lack of water.  According to the Tree Equity Score report, Emeryville needs over 5,000 trees.  Reforestation seems to be the better solution than grassy parks.  According to City Parks Alliance, due to the global heating, grassy parks are no longer viable.  Some trees and plants are known to give out oxygen at night, in artificial light.  The General Plan should account for these type of solution to factor in the water shortage, combat climate change, and reduce Urban Heat Island Effect.

2)  The General Plan says Emeryville’s population should be 16,600 people by the sunset of the plan.  Is this number good?  If it is not good, should we amend the plan?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  I am not sure if we will exceed 16,600 by 2023.  So, this seems to be a good number.  A lot of the population left the Bay Area during the Covid lockdown and Emeryville also had its share of residents who left the area.

3)  How do we know how much market rate housing Emeryville should have moving into the future?  City Council member Dianne Martinez says the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), of which Emeryville is a member, is incorrect in its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA).  Do you think we should follow RHNA as we historically have or disregard it as Council member Martinez says?  If not RHNA, what metrics should we use to determine how much market rate housing we need?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  Yes, RHNA would be a good metric to follow for market rate housing based on all the seminars I have attended on this issue.  I am not sure what other metric should determine how much market rate housing is needed.  Also, I am not sure of the context Dianne made her remarks and I do not want to comment on her remarks as I was not there when she made those remarks and she may have had good reason to support her conclusions.
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Next up is David Mourra.  The candidate’s website is HERE.

1)   Emeryville has about 18 acres of parks, not nearly enough according to our General Plan.  The plan says we should be adding new parks at a rate of three acres per 1000 new residents (and 1/4 acre per 1000 new workers for commercial development).  But each new large residential development project has failed to provide this minimum park average.  As a result, Emeryville is in parkland deficit and we will be some 31 acres short what the General Plan calls for at the rate we’re going by the sunset of the plan in 7-12 years.  Every year, we move further behind our target due to population growth.  What would you do to get to the 49 acres of park land we need by the sunset of the General Plan?  If you don’t support the General Plan’s park provisions, should we amend the plan to show fewer acres of parks?

 

David Mourra:  The park acreage goals of the general plan are good and should be left in the general plan to guide future developments. Some aspects of the general plan are inherently forward-looking and don't have a defined path, especially if the funding source for land is hard to predict. We have opportunities with larger developments to gain significant park space in the form of development bonuses. However this may not be sufficient to bridge the gap identified. The question of why we are falling behind in our park goals is a good one and this is something I will definitely look into if I am elected to city council.

 

2)  The General Plan says Emeryville’s population should be 16,600 people by the sunset of the plan.  Is this number good?  If it is not good, should we amend the plan?

 

David Mourra:  Rather than focus on total population count, I think it is more helpful to look at the different zoning areas of the city and decide whether we are realizing our zoning and density goals. For many areas with zoned residential density, we are falling short of our goals.  Empty lots and underutilized mixed use spaces would benefit from more housing which would bring more people and help revitalize areas of the city. When these zoning goals are realized, I'd feel more comfortable saying the city population is at a "good" number. 

 

3)  How do we know how much market rate housing Emeryville should have moving into the future?  City Council member Dianne Martinez says the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), of which Emeryville is a member, is incorrect in its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA).  Do you think we should follow RHNA as we historically have or disregard it as Council member Martinez says?  If not RHNA, what metrics should we use to determine how much market rate housing we need?

 

David Mourra:  With each new development that brings housing, the city requires a minimum number of affordable housing units. On the planning commission, I've advocated for additional housing units, market rate and affordable. Developers often decline to build more housing, even market rate units, because the current economic climate and building costs cause them to lose money on each new unit of housing. This is a difficult economic reality that the city must navigate. It requires negotiation with developers which means if the city gets additional housing units, they might be disproportionately market rate. As a result, the "correct" number of affordable housing units relative to market rate units is unique to each development and the surrounding neighborhood.

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Next up is Eugene Tssui.  The candidate’s website is HERE.

1) Emeryville has about 18 acres of parks, not nearly enough according to our General Plan. The plan says we should be adding new parks at a rate of three acres per 1000 new residents (and 1/4 acre per 1000 new workers for commercial development).  But each new large residential development project has failed to provide this minimum park average.  As a result, Emeryville is parkland deficit and we will be some 31 acres short what the General Plan calls for at the rate we’re going by the sunset of the plan in 7-12 years.  Every year, we move further behind our target due to population growth.  What would you do to get to the 49 acres of park land we need by the sunset of the General Plan?  If you don’t support the General Plan’s park provisions, should we amend the plan to show fewer acres of parks?

Eugene Tssui:  The City Council must work with Caltrans and the local government to create a 49-acre park built over the I-80 Freeway between Ashby Avenue bridge and Powell Street, where it intersects the I-80 Freeway.   It is time for a new vision, an iconic image of a new Emeryville unlike anything ever dreamed of. This new park, with its magnificent panoramic sweep of the San Francisco Bay,

would become the geographic focal point and a global symbol of Emeryville and would meaningfully represent what I call, The Gateway to the East Bay; and be an architectural and landscaping marvel of the world. How This natural bridge would give Emeryville the world renown that it deserves.  There are many features of this landscaped tunnel/park design that I could elaborate on.   Still, for the sake of brevity, I will only describe the general concept that  will give Emeryville at least 49 acres of parkland, filled with  native habitat plants and low on water usage! The intention is to give people and animals much more linked walkways to the beach fronts of Emeryville, creating a unified recreational landmark park for present and future residents.  A spectacular bridge between sea and land. We need innovative imagination is that our recreation and athletic facilities in Emeryville are underutilized and not advocated!   One-third of our children and over one-half of the adults in Alameda County are overweight and obese! We need places that encourage our residents to move and to participate in organized sports and fitness programs, and the local government must be vigilant about this! We could organize an Emeryville Marathon, swimming competitions for all age groups, martial arts competitions, age-group aerobic competitions, gymnastics competitions, and all kinds of athletic engagement with a committed City Council initiative for crucial programs in addition to bicycling.   Parks help to engage this.

I pledge to raise the level of health and fitness of everyone so that the entire City Council is a team that exudes health and discipline! We can do this! We can be a living example of this and extend this spirit to other cities! I practice what I promote, and we need this kind of dedication, integrity, and dedication in our City to inspire, improve, and transform into a national example of optimal fitness and health, creativity, and daring!

2) The General Plan says Emeryville’s population should be 16,600 people by the sunset of the plan.  Is this number good?  If it is not good, should we amend the plan?

Eugene Tssui:  Should we be so concerned about population numbers?   Isn’t it more important to be concerned about the quality of life of the residents here already?   And what is that quality of life?   Weekly trips to the grocery and retail store? Walks in tucked-away neighborhoods? Bicycles and cars competing for roadway dominance? Children being carpooled to neighboring schools because our schools are so poorly rated?   Restaurants closing for lack of patrons?

We must demand a new sense of Emeryville! A place where residents and families have a sense of belonging and excitement! Where people here feel that they are a part of something extraordinary, something daring, something filled with anticipation! The old Emeryville adage of “The City of Arts and Innovation” needs continual emphasis, so our arts heritage stays vibrant.   It is an attitude, an outlook, a reaching forward for something extraordinary!

There is nothing genuinely artistic about how the city is becoming a stop-off point to purchase and consume and then move on. An annual art exhibition—is that what we call “arts”?    Selling paintings in galleries?   And where is the artistic vision and “innovation”?  In Emeryville architecture? The streets?   The tiny parks?  The quality of air, soil, and water?   Recreation areas?   What does Emeryville have that is distinctive and does not exist elsewhere?   You be the judge…

Population numbers are meaningless in the face of the quality of life. Some of the best cities in the world are very small, and some are very large. A population is only a number. Quality of life is everything!

For instance, Mount Shasta, California, is a hamlet of 3500 people, yet the diversity and quality of life are extraordinary. People come from all over the world to live there.   The population of Shanghai, China, surpasses 25 million people, and yet it is certified as being one of the top three most happy places to live in the world! The population size is integral, but secondary to the meaningful quality of life.

3) How do we know how much market rate housing

Emeryville should have moving into the future?  City Council member Dianne Martinez says the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), of which Emeryville is a member, is incorrect in its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA).  Do you think we should follow RHNA as we historically have or disregard it, as Council member Martinez says?  If not RHNA, what metrics should we use to determine how much market-rate housing we need?

Eugene Tssui:  I understand that we have fulfilled the amount of housing needed, as required by the State and governing jurisdictions, the size of the area, and our population. Why are we still so focused on housing? We should be combing housing with more significant concerns about climate change and the potential for catastrophic shoreline changes that may disrupt housing for many of us. How do we promote housing equity?

For instance, glaciers in the Antarctic are melting at alarming rates and accelerating, and this will cause a minimum 10-foot rise in sea levels within 15 years! Local and global temperatures are rising, causing drought, wind patterns that fuel fire, and disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding. Anticipating scenarios we have never experienced include sharp rises in water and diseases from temperature increases, such as wet-bulb death. Our meat and dairy eating habits are killing the planet! We must promote a city-wide program to make our residents plant-based consumers. 

The consumption, farming, and production of meat and dairy in slaughterhouses is the most damaging human behavior in the world! Equivalent to all other destructive human behaviors combined! Emeryville could be a haven that defies this horrible human condition, and we must aggressively advertise it! We must nurture our residents to a new way of dietary living that quells the looming tide of climate change 

and environmental destruction that is overtaking us.

I am not so concerned about the quantity of housing.   I am concerned about what we have.  Every building has an HVAC electrical/mechanical system for heating, ventilation, and air- conditioning. These systems, known as HVAC systems, spew vast amounts of toxic pollution into the air daily! And in our temperate climate, they are not needed at all. If we design our buildings with better insulation, we will not need HVAC systems.

When the 54 Story ONNI building was being proposed, I wrote a letter to our city government and to the developers of the building, calculating the exact amounts of toxic pollution the building would inject into the air daily. The amount exceeded 21 tons of CO2 toxic pollution into the air EVERY DAY! That is equivalent to 1000 cars driving every day for 24 hours!

Architecture accounts for 45% of the world’s toxic pollution! We need to change it, and Emeryville needs to step up to lead the way. We don’t need more polluting housing. We need an entirely different quality of buildings if all of us are to survive the future!