Police Station Fire Escape Fiasco Expands: Local Press Picks Up Story

City Hall Recalcitrance Draws Fire From 
East Bay Times

The East Bay Times, who's beat includes Emeryville, reports on the story of the City's continuing failure to provide a public fire escape at the police station after a $3.7 million remodel dating from 2012 broken by the Tattler in 2016.  A June 21st follow up story revealed a recalcitrant City Council had done nothing to alleviate the illegal condition.  After a July 3rd Tattler story that highlighted a police building plan document obtained by a Public Records Request that was completely redacted by Emeryville's overly secretive Police Chief, now the East Bay Times has joined in, picking up the still emerging story of City Hall incompetence and possible malfeasance.
From today's East Bay Times:

Emeryville police building may get new stairs after safety oversight

By ALI TADAYON | atadayon@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

EMERYVILLE — The Emeryville Police Department is tasked with keeping residents safe, but if a fire were to break out at its building, people in the lobby would have no safe way out unless an employee unlocked the doors to the stairs.

To remedy the situation and ensure that people can get out of the building quickly, the city proposes building an exterior staircase from the second-floor lobby to the ground that the public could use, Chief Building Official Victor Gonzales said.

The second-floor lobby is where people go to talk to police officials and take care of other business.

Brian Donahue, who runs the The Emeryville Tattler blog and works as a contractor, said he believes the new staircase could cost the city around $300,000. Gonzales did not provide an estimate as to how much....

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Emery School Board Member Donn Merriam, Announces Re-Election Bid

Audacious Donn Merriam Throws Hat in Ring

Running For Re-Election on Record of Support of 

Superintendent Rubio

November's election season has begun early for Emery School Board, the opening salvo initiated by Board member Donn Merriam in what promises to be the District's first truly contentious board election.

School Board member Donn Merriam has launched a campaign to be selected an Alameda County delegate for a statewide association of school board members, a two year position that would run concurrent with his Emery Board position, putting to rest questions about a possible re-election bid for Emery School Board in November when his term is up.

School Board Member Donn Merriam
Running for re-election as a strong
supporter of Superintendent Rubio.
Notably, Mr Merriam's support
 has never wavered despite the 
Superintendent's terrible record 
that has driven Emery down.

The announcement of Mr Merriam's campaign is a portentous development in a looming and contentious Board election season for the struggling Emery Unified School District pitting Mr Merriam and his existing status quo Board majority supportive of schools Superintendent John Rubio against a probable field of energized opposition candidates seeking to turn the dysfunctional district around.

   

Mr Merriam has been a controversial Board member, having voted in December 2016 to renew the District’s employment contract with embattled and pugnacious Emery Schools Superintendent John Rubio despite Mr Rubio’s lamentable three year record at Emery frequently splashed all over the pages of the Tattler and the East Bay Times.  It has been widely rumored that Mr Merriam would not seek re-election after the drubbing Mr Rubio has received having so definitively dragged the District down during his tenure.  The beleaguered Mr Merriam is closely associated with the Superintendent serving as the Board’s most ardent supporter regardless of Mr Rubio’s bad record at Emery.

Board member Merriam has stood by Superintendent Rubio even as the Superintendent has led the District into the cellar among Bay Area school districts in academic achievement, dropping its ranking to last place in the East Bay under Mr Rubio’s watch.  Additionally, Superintendent Rubio has earned the notorious distinction of the worst teacher retention of any Bay Area school superintendent, a common metric used by educators to evaluate the efficacy of superintendents.  Mr Merriam infamously threw his unconditional support behind Superintendent Rubio during a 2015 contentious fight when the Tattler and the East Bay Times exposed Mr Rubio after he conducted an illegal and secret Board meeting behind closed doors, the beset Superintendent only admitting culpability and apologizing later, Mr Merriam following suit.

Mr Merriam is hoping to be among the four selected by Alameda County school board members to represent the County among 270 delegates representing nearly 1000 school districts statewide. Such a status would likely bolster his chances for re-election in November, a fact probably not lost on Mr Merriam.  The Emery School Board will vote for four (out of seven) representatives for the august seat on the California School Board Association Wednesday night and among his colleagues Mr Merriam is a likely shoo-in (4-1?) however he is less likely to receive enough votes among the other Alameda County school boards owing to Mr Merriam’s thin resume, lacking in educational bona fides as it is.

Alameda County District Attorney Brings Charges in Emery Sexual Assault Case

District Attorney's Charge Questions Emery Schools Superintendent's Aplomb

Rubio Twists in the Wind

News that the Alameda County District Attorney's office has brought charges against a 17 year old student for sexually assaulting a 15 year old at Emery Secondary School last May and not reported to police by the Superintendent brings fresh allegations in the ongoing story against the Superintendent who continues to claim he was correct to not call the police upon learning of the assault.  News of the charges brought by the County was reported by East Bay Times investigative reporter Matthias Gafni today who also alerted readers that Emeryville's Chief of Police has backtracked on initial reports that Mr Rubio had violated mandated reporter law by not calling the police after he learned about the alleged assault (along with another alleged assault the week before at Emery).
Mr Rubio's insistence he did nothing wrong by not calling the police is refuted by Bill Grimm, senior attorney for the National Center for Youth Law whom the East Bay Times story quotes, "School personnel mistakenly believe that they need to conduct some investigation of suspected abuse/neglect before they report [to police]...If in doubt, report!"

The mandated reporter law requires professionals who work with children, including teachers, school administrators, psychologists and others to notify police or child protective services when they receive a report of alleged abuse.  The law states that “No proof of abuse or neglect is needed, only ‘reasonable suspicion’ that child abuse or neglect may have occurred.” 

Emery Schools Superintendent
John Rubio
He says he knows the children lied
about the assaults.  The Alameda County
District Attorney believes the children.

The Superintendent has invoked a clause within the mandated reporter law that permits someone such as a school superintendent to not report if there is absolute certainty no crime happened.  For Mr Rubio, who was not witness to the alleged crimes, to not be guilty of the law's failure to report provisions, he would have to have no doubt whatsoever that the incidents did not take place and be in a position to provide reasonable evidence to support that claim.

However, Mr Rubio's claim is severely weakened by the fact that the guardians of the abused children thought the assaults had taken place and they themselves, without the District's help, filed police reports.  Further eroding Mr Rubio's claims of innocence is today's revelation from the East Bay Times that Alameda County puts enough stock in the belief that at least one assault took place that they directed prosecutors to bring charges in the case.

The East Bay Times story reveals another case of twisted logic needed to clear the Superintendent in our town.  In an interview with the Times and its 500,000+ circulation, Emeryville's Chief of Police, Jennifer Tejada appears to be protecting Superintendent Rubio.  Regarding what the newspaper calls a "backtrack" on Mr Rubio's culpability, Chief Tejada is now positing that Superintendent Rubio could not have known for certain that assaults did not take place and also simultaneously that it is acceptable that he did know that with certainty and that he is therefore innocent of violating the mandated reporter law.  For its part, the Alameda County District Attorney says there is not enough evidence against Mr Rubio to bring charges for violating the notoriously difficult to prosecute mandated reporter law.

Emeryville City Council members have expressed desire to further investigate the case involving Superintendent Rubio and the Emery Unified School District to whom they are contractually bound to with the city/schools campus at the Center of Community Life, the site of the alleged sexual assaults.

The Tattler broke the story HERE.

The East Bay Times story is HERE.

Patz, Bauters, Van Geffen Get East Bay Times Endorsment

Christian Patz
Got top billing honors
from the East Bay Times
as a corruption fighter.

The widely circulated East Bay Times endorsed Emeryville City Council candidates Christian Patz, John Bauters and John Van Geffen today.  The late in the season endorsements moved forward even though candidate Ally Medina couldn't make the interview date it was reported.  The Times places Christian Patz at the top of the heap praising his commitment to accountability and transparency calling the Emery School Board out over Brown Act violations while he has served as a trustee on that body.  Mr Patz has placed accountability and transparency at the top of his candidacy according to his campaign literature and the East Bay Times, in addition to showing appreciation to Christian Patz's commitment to those issues also agrees they're issues needing attention in Emeryville, tendering two stories to a Brown Act Violation by the Board last year.
The Times praised all three candidates for their fiscal acuity on budgetary issues.

John Bauters

The story can be read HERE.

John Van Geffen