My Turn: Former Emeryville City Council Member Ken Bukowski

My Turn

Former City Council Member Ken Bukowski

Council: Increase Citizen's Civic Engagement

The Tattler has always made itself available to all elected and former elected officials in Emeryville to use as a platform to reach out to the citizens for whatever reason they wish.  We call it 'My Turn'.  The electeds and former electeds are invited at any time to submit information in the public interest and the Tattler will post it verbatim. 

Former Council member Bukowski takes issue with the Council’s recent turn away from a proposal to increase citizen engagement with their City Hall by re-starting remote (Zoom) meeting participation for Council meetings.  Zoom participation began during the Covid pandemic and many cities continued on after by use of ‘hybrid’ participation (via zoom or in person).  Emeryville’s Council said NO to this idea in 2024 but State legislation in Sacramento that would force all cities to restore hybrid meetings is being forwarded.  Resisting the statewide trend towards greater municipal accountability, the Council recently told their legislative advocate in Sacramento Emeryville City Hall will “oppose unless amended”, meaning NO to citizen participation by zoom unless they’re forced to by Sacramento.

The Mayor and the Vice Mayor as it turns out have both had a change of heart about hybrid meetings, being publicly in favor of them as candidates and then moving against them once they were in power. Mayor David Mourra told the Tattler in October 2022 when he was running for election: “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.” 

For her part, Vice Mayor Sukhdeep Kaur also told the Tattler in 2022: “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.”

Nonetheless, the Council voted to stop remote meeting participation in March 2024 after some Nazis began calling in during the public comment section.

Mr Bukowski sent the Council (and the Tattler) two letters about this issue (they have been combined below):

Dear Mayor and Council-

As a former mayor/council member who served Emeryville for 24 years, I was very discouraged when you eliminated remote participation at council meetings.  There are often times at meetings when questions about past history are raised.  When you eliminate remote participation, it prevents people like me from providing input which could help you decide important issues.

I'm making you aware of pending legislation SB279 which would force the restoration of remote meetings.  I am not only asking for your support for this bill, I'm asking you not to wait for it to be enacted.  Please take that step before it's required.  Show the public you want to hear what they have to say.  It could make a difference.

You may not be aware SB707 and SB292 have been recently merged.  The new version will require the council meetings to have remote participation.  The City may want to reconsider the City's position on the bill(s).

As I see it there is no justification for the Council to limit public participation in such a major way.  There are families with kids who can't come to council meetings and a whole host of others.  Remote participation exists in other cities.  It is especially important in Emeryville since the local issues are not well covered.  What is the point of watching a meeting and being forced to keep your opinion to yourself? 

The thrust of my letter is to suggest the Council reconsider what is soon going to be required.  I have watched this legislation closely, and it's well on its way to being approved.

Thank you for allowing me to share my concerns about this issue.

Best-

Ken Bukowski

Letter to the Tattler: Ken Bukowski

Teachers Union Snubs Ken Bukowski and Their Own Democratic Process

As Emeryville's election period begins, the Emery Teachers Association president, Ericka Castillo has drawn fire from community members.  When she recently announced her union had used a democratic process in the selection for their School Board candidate endorsements, it was learned one candidate had been snubbed; Ken Bukowski.  Mr Bukowski is now rightly asking how can the teachers union know not to vote for him if they didn't even hear his ideas for the District.  The snubbing of Mr Bukowski and the democratic process represents an unfortunate soiling of the ETA's reputation as well as a disservice to Emeryville voters.  
Mr Bukowski reached out to the Tattler to help the community hear his ideas for our schools the Emery Teachers Association isn't interested in hearing.
Here is School Board candidate Ken Bukowski's letter-  


Regarding the recent School Board endorsements, I would like to say the president of the Emery Teachers Association (the teachers union) is misguided about the election process.  Of course, the ETA has the right to endorse whomever they wish and I was not endorsed this time.  However, I take issue with a recent misleading statement about the School Board endorsements made by the president of the ETA,  Ericka Castillo.  She told the E’ville Eye blog her union’s candidate vetting process was fair; "the process was extensive and democratic” she said.
Her comment is an insult.  This misleading response makes you believe all the candidates were "extensively" considered, and apparently those not chosen were rejected.  What she’s not admitting though is the ETA did not reach out to all the candidates for School Board.
We were not asked to complete a questionnaire and not every candidate was interviewed.  This in mind, I have to ask, what information was provided to the teachers to make the their ranked choice decisions?
This highlights the ongoing problems the District has had with a lack of transparency.

I'm running for the School Board because I'm concerned about the kids.  I've seen this District go bankrupt twice.  And now, we are on the same road again.
The first time the state ordered the District to sell the Middle School, but (we) the City refused to re-zone the property to accommodate the buyer.  Instead the school was leased and that money helped turn the District around.
The second time it went bankrupt is when the District decided to operate three schools again.  The City ultimately ended up bailing out the District.  The City recognized the District could not afford to operate three schools so we combined all the children in one building so the City could help share the costs.
The resultant ECCL was thus planned to help make the District solvent. However, at the last minute, the full $95 million bond issued to pay for the ECCL could not be sold in the bad market of the Great Recession.  The project was consequently scaled back to reflect the new fiscal realities.  But the necessary elements for the District to be solvent, formerly elucidated by a chaste School Board were simply eliminated.
As you can see, we have a big problem.

The Emery School District is top heavy with administration.  The cost of operating a separate district takes away funds which could be used for the kids education.  But there is a real opportunity for the District to develop teacher housing on the surplus sites (the former elementary and middle schools) thanks to a bill by Assemblyman Tony Thurmond created for this purpose.  I talked with Tony about it for Emery and he said he would love to see his bill help leverage State money to supply teacher housing here.
Having teachers in the community full time would be a great advantage.

It's important for me to put these ideas on the table and I think it sets a bad example when you don't have a fair process from the ETA.
I’m running for the Board to help the district avoid bankruptcy for a third time.  Misleading information put out from those who are supposed to help is not appropriate.  I  sincerely hope the ETA can have a fair endorsement process in the future and show appreciation for every candidate.

-Ken Bukowski
Candidate for Emery School Board

City Council Candidates Questionnaire 2018: Ken Bukowski

Presenting the Tattler's 2018 City Council Candidates Questionnaire.  Three candidates are running, Ken Bukowski, Scott Donahue (incumbent) and Dianne Martinez (incumbent) and their names were randomly selected for the order of presentation.

Ken Bukowski
Retired Businessman/Videographer

Do you favor implementing or amending Emeryville’s General Plan rather than ignoring it as a general rule?
Yes

Name the three biggest problems facing Emeryville right now and how would you deal with them?
(1) The anti-business climate of the current City Council- 
A majority of the Council voted to impose the highest minimum wage in the United States followed by a “Fair Work Week” policy over the objections of the business community. The voices of outside labor unions were more important.
It is now more expensive to operate a business in Emeryville than surrounding cities.  By taking away the competitive edge it will discourage business development.  In a small city everybody matters. Adopting increased wages and benefits for employees in private businesses circumvents the negotiation process.  It shows no respect for the concerns of the businesses who pay the taxes.  Some members of the Council consider this to be a real victory but when enough businesses decide to go elsewhere and the City is forced to cut vital services to the community and public safety employees, they will become hostile.  And once the downward spiral begins it will be a real problem.

(2) The Parking Management Plan-  
I am opposed to parking meters throughout the city.  This parking plan is unnecessary.  It will interfere with lives of everyone who lives and works here.  The plan will make it more costly to be here, an environment which has an already overpriced rental market.  The plan is one more slap to business owners. It will be more expensive for employees to work here.  For those who don't qualify for parking permits it will be more difficult to find a parking space.
It is not possible for everyone to use public transit.  It is more costly than driving, it's not a safe, and it takes much longer.  If you have to carry tools and other equipment its not feasible.  How big is the problem we’re trying to solve?  We have a complaint based enforcement because we didn't want to waste the time of the police.  Enforcement of parking should begin with the large developments where the parking approved for each project is not being used.  Most of the developers are using their parking for for their tenants.  However, the largest developer in the City is not.  That is why the North Hollis area has the biggest parking problem.  Wareham Development is in the parking business.  They ignore the requirement to use their parking for their project.  Instead it is a source of money for them.  There are no parking spaces provided for the occupants of Wareham properties.  Every parking space is $100 per month.  All of the tenants park in the street.  They don't care if their garage only has a few cars.  They will earn more money from the building if every space is paid for.  So in essence we are forcing the community to suffer because they have a greedy attitude.
The Council has no real idea how this will impact everyone.  I think this will create more problems than it will solve.   I'm considering the creation of a ballot measure to repeal this plan if it is adopted.

(3) The lack of rent control in Emeryville-  
We have too many large apartment projects with ever escalating rents.  A large percentage of the city's population are only in the city for a very short time.  At one point the council only wanted to approve for-sale housing, but a former City Manager changed that policy.  Owners with less than 4 units should be exempt.  

Our General Plan has much in it that isn’t being realized, especially in the areas generally known as ‘livability’; measurable things such as parks, bicycling accommodation, or even intangibles like the need to create a “memorable” place.  During election season, politicians sometimes demagogue the things that are wanted but aren’t getting implemented.  Acknowledging these livability issues specifically, how can voters recognize when a politician is playing the role of a demagogue?
First, you must remember it takes THREE votes on the Council to do anything.  If a Council member supports something they should show evidence of trying to get it accomplished.  There are some things in the General Plan the City can't afford. 


City planners universally measure park and open space in terms of ‘level of service’ calculated by number of residents or users per acre of park land.  Using these metrics, Emeryville is shown to be below average among cities our size or indeed for any city in the Bay Area*.  How can we get closer to average Bay Area levels of service for park land?
Establishing more parks requires money to buy the land.  The City could put a measure on the ballot seeking to establish more parks.

The General Plan calls for 26 acres of new park land to be furnished by 2029, the date the Plan expires.  However, since the Plan’s certification in 2009, Emeryville has added only approximately two and a half acres*.  Acknowledging it should reflect the desired and possible, do you think our General Plan should be amended to show less park acreage than it now proposes, owing to the reality of the large amount park land?
If the answer above can't be accomplished, the General Plan should be amended to reflect that reality.

According to the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and its corollary planning document, the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), our town now has more than 200% of our recommended market rate housing.  Do you feel it’s more important to keep adding to this number than to build more park space?  Will your tenure on the City Council reflect your views on this?     
The City has a state mandate to build more housing. There is no law to require more parks.  However, the number of units assigned for Emeryville is out of balance.  There is no question there is a need for more affordable housing.  You really can't make a comparison between park land and housing.  There is a problem with adding more housing since no money is provided to pay the increased cost of providing public safety services.  I have an overall concern about adding any more development because at some point we will reach capacity.  I think we have enough.  There should be more effort on preservation. 

Over the last 25 years Emeryville has morphed from a city of homeowners into a city of renters* as developers seek to maximize profits by building lots of rental only apartment buildings.  Is this something you’re satisfied with?  If not, how will you address this issue? 
I am not satisfied with this.  As I stated above I didn't support rental housing.  It was a former City Manager and Council majority.  I would not approve any more rental housing projects and support rent control for the large rental projects we already have.

For more than 10 years, vehicle traffic on the 53rd and 45th street bicycle boulevards have exceeded the number allowed by the Bike Plan, despite its deadlines that have come and gone.  The newest deadline facing the City to calm traffic as the Plan provides is September 14th, 2019.  Will you commit to either following the Bike Plan or amending it for these two streets? 
I would agree to amend the Bike Plan.  Emeryville is not going to be able to control the volume of traffic and therefore I would amend the Plan.

What are your views on Emeryville’s parking plan?
I strongly oppose the parking plan to the point where I am considering a referendum on the plan when it is adopted.  I don't agree with making it even more expensive to live and work here.  The plan will bring a new level of daily stress to all who are impacted.  Getting a permit is no assurance of getting a parking space.  Hiring people to write citations and tow vehicles means you will have to look over your shoulder to avoid  being ticketed.  The parking problems we have can be addressed individually.  The EPD doesn't need the burden of this plan.  And yes, we do want to discourage driving, but not by penalizing propel who must drive.

In 2010 Emeryville voters authorized and property owners paid for a public library at ECCL.  The voter’s will has been ignored and the library has not been provided.  Will you make getting this library a priority during your tenure?
Many aspects of the ECCL are not being adhered to.  All of the members of both boards who supported the ECCL are gone.  After the project was approved, we discovered the $95 million bond was not feasible.  The project was modified.  The capacity of the facility was reduced and many amenities promised disappeared.  One of my arguments about the project is that property owners were never even invited to participate in any aspect of the project.  Only the city’s residents were invited.  The project needs to be re-evaluated.  We need to see if it can remain solvent with a reduced number of students.  The name of the project should be changed to reflect that it is an educational institution.  The feasibility of establishing the library should be revisited.

The General Plan provides for housing to be built in our town in certain areas.  The Plan gives guidance as to particulars for all housing; things like density, massing, etc. North Emeryville and the Triangle neighborhood have a plethora of traditional detached single family homes that the Plan addresses.  What do you think the General Plan has in mind for these neighborhoods, specifically set aside and identified as ‘Areas of Stability’ as opposed to other housing neighborhoods in Emeryville?  Why is the word ‘stability’ used and how does that differ from the other housing without that protection?
I’m not sure I understand why the word stability is used.  The General Plan as I read it says we should retain existing housing stock.

Since its certification in 2009, the Urban Forestry Ordinance has failed to protect our street trees (only two were saved)*.  Also, developers who cut down our trees are supposed to pay fees as the UFO delineates but they have almost universally not been levied*.  Would you favor amending the UFO to reflect reality at City Hall; the desire to make it easier to let developers cut down our street trees and not pay us for it?
Developers should not be cutting down street trees unless it is approved by the City and if they do, they should pay for it.

How can Emeryville get more locally serving non-formula retail (a stated goal of the General Plan)? 
Create Affordable Retail Condominiums -The City would buy commercial property or work with a non-profit entity to create  affordable retail condominiums where small merchants could enjoy low overhead.  The City investment allows the community to pick the retail stores.  What a departure this would create from the standard stores in every other community.  The small merchants would welcome the opportunity presented by the City subsidy; it would allow the merchants to pay higher wages and charge less for goods and services.  We would put out a deed restriction on the unit that could not be used as collateral for debt.   If any merchants fail, the unencumbered unit could be offered to another prospective merchant. 
Up until now, something like this has been stopped because the City Managers we’ve had haven’t wanted any interference with the deals they were making with developers.

How can we know if Emeryville’s family friendly housing policy is successful?  
The policy is a failure.  It's a foolish attempt to attract school aged kids. You have to improve the school first.  If the units are not affordable, it's a foolish policy.

If an inexpensive and easy way is found to provide both, 1) security needed for the police station as well as, 2) a California Fire Code approved fire escape for the second floor public lobby there, would you commit to a public inquiry into that with a mind to fixing what the City Manager calls a "less than ideal" situation?
I don't understand the question.  The fire escape must comply with the code or if it doesn’t, it must be fixed.  If not, and something happens, it would be gross negligence (where the City has advanced notice of an existing hazard).

Are you concerned with the militarization of Emeryville’s police forces, specifically the issuance of AR-15 Assault Rifles.  How about .50 caliber rifles or weapons with even greater lethality in the future?  Some cities have not gone down this path.  Should the public specifically be part of the debate about this in Emeryville?
The police department must be armed with at least the same amount of force necessary to combat any particular situation.


*Source: the City of Emeryville

Election 2018: Emery School Board Candidate Ken Bukowski

School Board Election 2018

Candidate Questionnaire

The Tattler presents the 2018 Candidates Questionnaire; School Board edition.  Five candidates are running for three seats, making this a very consequential election that will constitute a majority on the five member Board.  The order of presentation for this series was chosen randomly.  Only one candidate's answers will be posted on a given day but regular Tattler stories might be interspersed in the sequence of candidates and there might be more than a day between candidate postings.
Readers may use the search bar to see the candidate's answers as they are posted by typing in 'School Board 2018 Candidates Questionnaire' or the candidate's name; Katy Brown, Ken Bukowski, Brynnda Collins, Susan Donaldson or Sarah Nguyen.
We thank all the candidates offering their services to the benefit of our school district, the parents and children.

The election is on November 6th.

Ken Bukowski
Retired Businessman

email: ken.bukowski@gmail.com

Name the top three problems with EUSD right now and what are your suggestions for how to deal with them?

1. Lack of Transparency. The district does not share its problems with the community.  They’re supposed to have live stream capability as part of ECCL.  They could use the city council chambers to facilitate transparency.  I would create a bi-monthly live program to openly discuss the issues and problems with the schools.  I've seen this in other communities and I think it could work here.  Parents could use the live stream and call in their questions.  The school needs to gave a name which people would associate with a learning institution. I would ask students to participate in a name contest, with a prize for the winning selection.

2. Lack of Advisory Committees to provide input for the board.  I would establish a parent/teacher advisory committee to review board agendas and make recommendations to the board.  As it exists now, the community generally interacts in a reactive way because the district doesn’t accommodate pro-active participation enough.

3. Teacher Retention.  I would immediately identify one school site,  the former middle school Ralph Hawley on 61st Street, for affordable teacher housing and take advantage of state grant funds for this purpose.

How do we know if a school superintendent is doing a good job?  Is there any way to measure it?  Are there objective components? 

How well a superintendent is doing is most importantly determined by parents and citizens.  My before mentioned open discussions in the first question about the schools would reveal the answer.  We could consider creating an anonymous survey of the teachers every six months with responses only to the board. The results of test scores are what’s objective.

Would you be willing to consider examining the idea of melding EUSD with Berkeley Unified if they would be amenable to that?  Why or why not.

Yes, but something like that deserves careful consideration, and acceptance of the concept by the community.  I would ask a consultant to prepare an analysis of the number of programs and services  available in neighboring school districts.  The analysis would evaluate the benefit of having a separate district, as well as a process and procedure of how it could be accomplished.  I am not an advocate for merging with another school district but it needs to examined. 

EUSD has had the worst teacher retention record of any district in the Bay Area for at least four straight years.  Former superintendent Rubio said that was a feature of his tenure, not a bug…. a sign he was doing his job.  Do you agree that was needed and if so, was Superintendent Rubio the right person for the job?

I don't understand the question.  Teacher retention is one of the biggest problems at Emery (see my first answer above).

Are you aware of EUSD’s academic ranking among Bay Area districts?  Has it been trending up or down? 

I don't have the latest information.

Between parents, teachers or the administration (Superintendent, managers); who should play the leading role in general at EUSD and specifically in the formation of policy? 

The board is supposed to be responsible for setting policy but it usually doesn't end up being that way.  However, changes in policy usually requires research.  The staff does the research and provides the information for the board to decide.  Most staffs provide information which supports their desired direction which doesn't leave a board member with many other choices, especially if other board members will jump to support the superintendent’s desired direction.  That is where the role of an advisory board is so important.  If a board member has a different direction it could be considered political.  The ability to be a leader often depends on how well the staff provides on-going info to the board, and whether there is full disclosure.  Many times the state is determining policies.  It also depends on the issue and the cost of the matter, and whether personnel are involved in the decision, and potential liability.  Then there is the question of law; having an objective legal counsel often plays a major role.

When was the last time you voted?  How would you describe your political views?

I vote in every election. I am a registered Democrat.

How do you feel about School Resource Officers at ECCL?

When I was on the Emeryville city council, we provided a school resource officer and it was very successful.  The EPD is not like other police departments.  They have a high level of community support.  I don't know how many immigrant families have kids in our school.  The lack of being familiar often leads to unwarranted suspicion which can create other serious problems.  SRO’s can be helpful in this regard.  Because of past success we had with our SRO at Emery, I would not just dismiss the idea, the way council member John Bauters has. 

Have you ever attended a school board meeting in Emeryville? PTO meeting?  Met with district administration?  What involvement have you had with the school?  How familiar are you with its management?

I have attended many school board meetings.  I was responsible for the meetings being recorded and getting the city to pay for and broadcast the meetings.  I have met with many school administrators and past board members.  I helped start the Emeryville Child Development Center and while on the city council, made sure it was properly funded and remained a city priority.

In the past I was not allowed to attend PTO meetings, the past president wouldn't allow it.  The schools don’t have committee meetings.  I was directly responsible for the creation of the City/School Committee along with my colleague on the council, Nora Davis.  I have known every school superintendent since Dr Carona, many years ago.  I was the only candidate who attended the recent school board retreat.  I recently met the new superintendent informally but have not met with her privately.  I am very familiar and concerned about the future of EUSD.  They are not carrying out the vision for ECCL.  The project eliminated many components for the schools to make money.  The student capacity was reduced and that could jeopardize its economic future.  The city council bailed out EUSD to keep the district alive but the respect for that action seems to have disappeared.

How much money do you plan to spend on your campaign?  Do you plan to fundraise?

Almost nothing, I can't afford the $900 the county charges for a ballot statement.  That’s a cost I think the district should cover (the way the city does for council candidates).  I filed this year to make sure we had an election and to forward yet another attempt to make the city/school partnership work.  I have not looked for monetary contributions.

What is your first goal (or goals) when you take office?

To get the district to pay for campaign statements before another election happens.  To ascertain the financial status of the district and learn what is necessary for the school to be solvent.  I will immediately explore new teacher housing at the Ralph Hawley site.  To have another board retreat with the new board.  It almost seemed foolish to have the retreat right before an election when you know you will have new board members coming on.  To listen to parent/teacher concerns and set up an advisory board if feasible.

Emeryville's Disappearing Conservatives

What Happened to Emeryville's Right Wing?

MIA for November's City Council Election

Running for City Council This Time:

Dianne Martinez

Scott Donahue

Ken Bukowski (the populist)

Opinion
Emeryville's political conservatives, those among us with a predisposition towards ameliorating local business and developer interests as their central tenet of governance, have been a shrinking force in our town of late.  As of Friday August 10th at 5:00 pm however it's now undeniable: Emeryville's right wing, formally potent and authoritative, has for all intents and purposes, winked out of existence.
Or at least they've transmogrified into a picayune trifle.
At 5:00, once the City Clerk's office closed, the deadline for filing candidate papers thus passed and with it any hopes for an ascendent Make Emeryville Great Again movement dashed, we became aware the Tories of Emeryville have ceded November's City Council election to the progressive elite.
It's going to be a re-coronation of Councilwoman Dianne Martinez and Councilman Scott Donahue.

A Black Hole Singularity
Right wingers in Emeryville have
passed through the event horizon.

Conservative voters will get to cast a single protest vote in the twofer election; former City Councilman, the deposed but perennial Ken Bukowski has again thrown in his hat so there will be the appearances of democracy at least.
Dianne and Scott have the endorsement from the resident advocacy group Residents United for a Livable Emeryville and as such they will mop the floor with the guileless Ken Bukowski, like they did last time, securing for RULE and all progressive minded Emeryville residents another two years at least, total representational power.

But it is the folding up of the right wing tent we find so astonishing; their collapse being so complete and final.

Those of us who arrived in Emeryville in the early '80's found a vile little place run by the all powerful Emeryville Industries Association and a corrupt Chief of Police propped up with his dirty patronage machine.  It had been a matter-of-fact kleptocracy like that for years but it was soon to morph into the doctrinal neoliberal quagmire embodied by the "reformist" 30 year Councilwoman Nora Davis.  Her chief sycophant, Ken Bukowski joined her on the Council for decades after forming the Chamber of Commerce, the libertarian replacement for the erstwhile clubby Industries Association.
The whole affair seemed unstable in the progressive Bay Area.  We wondered how year after year Emeryville voters, by reinstating the hubristic Nora Davis, her sycophants and her developer friend paymasters,  they seemed to present a perplexing vignette of a little right wing burg surrounded by normal (progressive) people (in Oakland, Berkeley and such).

Perennial Council Candidate
Ken Bukowski
A Councilman in the 1980's,
he's running again this year.
Formerly a Nora Davis sycophant,
Ken's an ideologue turned populist;
 no longer owned by
the right wing.

After a time, stability finally did assert itself.  Reality caught up with Emeryville, as mass numbers of (normal) new people moved into town and asserted their (normal) desires, unconcerned as they were with Ms Davis's insistence developers be coddled and in the face of promises of livability to be achieved after a great tricking down of prosperity from the developers.  The Ancien Régime with its facile and Procrustean allegories was in retrograde, its practitioner/leaders decamping en masse. 
It was in the cusp of the new milieu that RULE and the Tattler were born, representing the new Emeryville; a town like the rest of the Bay Area, shorn of its magical thinking narrative from its right wing high priestess.

So it was to be expected our town would cast off its strange and unsustainable What's-good-for-business-is-good-for-Emeryville ideological overlay.   The change has been underway for some years now, the demise of the Chamber of Commerce coming in 2015.
Even still, we can't imagine our former overlords would be so utterly vanquished.  We're going into an election season with no resistance!  Where did they all go?  For all the efforts of our blogger friend Rob Arias, his villainous right wing tropes offered up to the easily manipulated by his heavily monetized E'Ville Eye, there appears to be nobody home in right wing world Emeryville edition.

It's all so weird.

So it's to be a brave new Emeryville.  Now onward comrades to glorious one party rule, this time from the other side.  What could go wrong with that?

Breaking News: Barbara Inch, Cruz Vargas Appear to have Won School Board Race

Breaking:  Tonight Emery Unified School Board candidates Barbara Inch and Cruz Vargas appear to have won election to the Board of Trustees.  With all precincts reporting, the results are:

Barbara Inch  1454  (44%)

Cruz Vargas  1296  (40%)

Ken Bukowski  455  (14%)

Election 2016 Candidates Questionnaire: Ken Bukowski

This year there are three candidates vying for two open seats for School Board of Trustees for the Emery Unified School District.  The three Emeryville residents are Barbara Inch, Cruz Vargas and Ken Bukowski.  Last up in the Tattler rotation is Ken Bukowski.  We ask five questions: 

Tattler:  Do you see yourself primarily as a representative of the community or as a representative of the school system?

Ken Bukowski:  I am a representative of the community.  I'm not sure who would fit the description of a school system representative.  I have supported our schools for a long time as a former member of the City Council, always sought and continue to seek to improve community awareness and participation. 

Tattler:  What is your own experience with public education?  

Ken Bukowski:  I was raised attending the New York City public schools.  The State of California is not providing adequate resources for public education.  This is creating a real problem for Emeryville.  Attendance at our schools does not reflect the diversity of the community. The proliferation of charter schools is having a negative impact.  They don't have the same State mandated requirements as public schools to provide for all children.  They take the better achieving students, degrading the quality of public education for the remaining children.  The public schools are unfairly forced to handle all of the kids with special needs. The damage done by Proposition 13 must be re-examined.

Tattler:  What are your priorities for the district in the coming year? Why and how did you select these issues?

Ken Bukowski:  Creating a stable Board and adopting polices and practices to empower the teachers and the community in the decision making process. 

•   Creation of a parent advisory board establishing a new form of input in the decision making process.  We need to change the long standing practice of not involving the community in the decision making process.
•   Creating a quarterly community meeting, a live interactive event where school issues can be discuss publicly, and where parents have an opportunity to call in with their concerns.  A new on-going way to achieve community involvement.
•   Expand solicitation of fund raising efforts and create a new annual event to show recognition to all who have donated to our schools, and recognition for teachers.
•   Actively pursue the creation of teacher housing in Emeryville.  The regional housing crisis is forcing teachers to move out of the area.  The State is about to provide funds to subsidize the creation of teacher housing and Emery needs to make teacher housing a major priority to leverage those funds.

Tattler:  In 2012 more than 90% of teachers at Emery signed the 'Teachers Resolution' expressing no confidence in the former Superintendent of the Schools.   The teachers asked the Board for their support with the Resolution but the Board refused and ignored the request of virtually the entire teaching staff (please see the Tattler for details).   More recently the teachers were united in their voices to delay the opening of the ECCL citing student safety and lack of curriculum reasons.   Again the Board ignored the teachers request. The teachers at Emery have felt their voices are not being heard by the Board of the Administration.   Please explain what you think broke down in these two cases.

Ken Bukowski:  The School Board has simply not adopted a mechanism for public involvement in the decision making process.  They have allowed the school superintendent too much latitude to keep problem issues close to the vest.  The failure of disclosure leads to suspicion.  That is followed by discovery of the issues which created distrust.  The personal interests and the desire to control seem to take precedence.  

In 2012 I signed a letter of community support for the teachers, I actively supported delaying the opening of ECCL based on the testimony they gave.  However, I disagree with the wording of this question.  It is not accurate to say the Board ignored the teacher's request.  It was apparent to me a majority of the Board agreed with the teachers.  However, the Board president violated proper procedure by refusing to allow the Board to support the request.

Perhaps the worst part of it is a lack of major safety incidents on the opening day caused the Board President and School Superintendent to claim the opening was a success.  That is a total disregard for the emotional damage sustained by the teachers who were forced to start the school year on the wrong foot.  They Board President showed us how to do it the wrong way and now it is being subverted into a publicly made claim that he (and the Superintendent) did the right thing?   It has to make one wonder who's interests are really being served.  The actions of that day could lead to another vote of 'no confidence'.  This has to change in my opinion.

Tattler:  Parents too felt ignored by the Board during planning meetings for ECCL when they requested hearings into the wisdom of closing Anna Yates Elementary School.   The Board refused to entertain holding even a single meeting to gauge public concern or hear the parent's and citizen's ideas.   Please explain what you think broke down when parents and citizens were not listened to.

Ken Bukowski:  I was on the City Council when the decision was made to close Anna Yates as part of a plan to put all of the kids in one location.  I consistently advocated to have the community involved in the decision. However, the School Board did not want the community input contrary to their claims.  My concern over this issue can be found in a written transcript I prepared from a City Council/School Board joint meeting held in June 2010, when the decision was made to place the school bond measure on the ballot.

The transcript (third from left) is available at:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1oeHPokfoWja1NWNmRweGVHc2c

Letter to the Tattler: Ken Bukowski

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

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

TOPIC:   Emery Unified School District & School Board Election 

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

•  The past history of EUSD

•   Future financial projections

•  The city involvement in the ECCL project

•   Proposal to create a parent advisory board

•   A plan to hold future community meetings

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

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

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

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

Ken Bukowski: School Board Candidates Statement

Emeryville resident Ken Bukowski is running for a seat on the School Board of Trustees for Emery Unified School District.  Mr Bukowski noted the $900 fee required by Alameda County to print a candidates statement was beyond his means.  Given the Tattler's pledge that no longer will appointed School Board members undemocratically slide into that body without public consent and the fact that the $900 barrier to entry for candidates is not reasonable and in recognition that unexpurgated democracy is vitally important for a functioning civic polity, the Tattler presents the candidate statement of Mr Bukowski (at no charge):

KEN BUKOWSKI

            Candidate for Emery Unified School District Governing Board

* I served on the Emeryville City Council for 24 years.

* I was the council member responsible for merging our city fire department with Alameda County Fire Department. As a result, the city saves over a million dollars each year, and the consolidation provides more equipment, and more personnel to do the job.

* We should examine the feasibility of merging the Emery School District with another district. To maintain a separate district for such a small number of kids must be impacting the amount of available funds the district has for programs and services.

* Many parents are paying to send their kids outside the district when they would potentially send them to our school. As a result, the district is importing students from outside the district. This means those parents have no voice in electing members to serve on the school board.

* I believe the school board needs to open more dialogue with parents and teachers. I propose the creation of a live broadcast event to discuss issues in the schools, including an opportunity for parents to call in during the broadcast.

Background:

* Co-founder of City-School Committee (regular joint meetings of the City Council and School District Board).

* Co-founder of Emeryville Child Development Center

* Founder of the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce.

* Volunteer provider of links to video record public meetings and events. This includes providing video links to all the school board meetings, many city meetings and meetings of regional agencies.

School Board President Defends Himself, Says Board Member Acted With 'Criminal Intent'

President Affeldt Calls Colleague Board Member Patz a "Criminal"

Board's Hands Were Tied Affeldt Says; 

No Way to Keep Children Away From Danger

The other shoe has dropped in the ongoing Emery School Board fracas begun last Wednesday night after the Board President and the Schools Superintendent disregarded the testimony of 11 teachers regarding the dangerous conditions of the construction site at the new school campus for the run up for the first week of school starting last Thursday.   Board President John Affeldt upped the ante after he released a letter yesterday to parents and interested parties charging his colleague Christian Patz with "criminal intent" as a result of Mr Patz having asked for a postponement for the starting day of the school year to make sure the campus is safe for the children.  In the letter, Mr Affeldt said the Board's hands were tied Wednesday night and that's why he would not allow any such postponement regardless of any safety problems proffered by teachers or Board members.

Mr Affeldt and Superintendent John Rubio heard eleven teachers and two parents, 100% of all testimony taken, cite dangerous conditions at the still-under-construction campus and the speakers implored the School District not to subject the children to the dangers lurking there but the administrator and the president would hear none of it.  Mr Affeldt and Mr Rubio said after conferring by phone in a back room with an attorney the District uses that they had no choice; to postpone the new school opening a few days to give workers a chance to clear out the dangerous conditions would be a Brown Act violation and in no way permissible the two said.  To refute, Board member Patz said that the Board could act to forestall a dangerous situation for the children and that all that need happen would be that the Board declare an emergency and the Brown Act would thus not be violated.  However Mr Affeldt, acting as self appointed unitary executive, would not permit the Board's vote to declare an emergency of any kind.  After taking a straw vote and hearing a majority of Board members desirous of declaring an emergency to postpone the opening of the school, President Affeldt stopped a vote following the proper motion and second procedure from his colleagues.

Readers may remember last November when Board member Patz caught John Affeldt in a Brown Act violation when he hosted an illegal meeting with a quorum of Board members in the Superintendent's office before a Board meeting, an action which also drew the ire of Mr Affeldt after Mr Patz went public about it.  Similar to now, Mr Affeldt denigrated Mr Patz for his assertions but he ended up finally apologizing and admitting fault after the Contra Costa Times got a hold of the story.

John Affeldt's letter, intended for all but written to School Board candidate Ken Bukowski, for his general dispersal to his list serve, is printed below:

Ken-

I have since double-checked with a different attorney used by the district and he confirmed as did our counsel Wednesday night that my actions in refusing to let the board vote on an illegal motion was "absolutely correct" and saved the Board from committing a Brown Act violation.

The Brown Act trumps rules of parliamentary procedure on motions and seconds.  Two outside counsel have both confirmed that it would have been a clear violation of the Brown Act to take action to delay the opening of school without notice to the public and an opportunity for all to weigh in.  The Brown Act requires 24 hours of notice in nearly all "emergency situations".   Only in very rare circumstances, referred to in the Act as a "dire emergency" can a public agency take an action with only an hour's notice.  Those circumstances are defined in the Brown Act as "a crippling disaster, mass destruction, terrorist act or threatened terrorist activity". 

While there were important concerns raised by the 11 teachers and 2 parents who testified to the Board, none of them came anywhere near establishing that the ECCL site—which had been approved for occupancy by numerous inspectors and professional staff—was somehow a dire emergency warranting closure.

While you are correct that the Board votes to determine if a dire emergency exists, it is not a subjective test--that is, whatever the Board says goes--but an objective test which courts would judge against the dire emergency standard of a crippling disaster, mass destruction, terrorist act or threatened terrorist activity.  As the smooth and uneventful first two days of school evidenced, in fact, no such emergency, dire or otherwise, existed.  (Indeed, more than a few parents told me that they were surprised how good the condition of the school was given reports they saw on the Internet.)

What you have proposed, and what Board member Patz' motion sought was to disempower some 500 families in the district and the general public by denying them the notice and opportunity to weigh in on an important board action.  The Brown Act requires at least 24 hours notice for emergencies to prevent just the sort of precipitous action without notice that might have occurred here.  I am proud to have prevented the unlawful disempowerment of the rights of our school community. 

Further, I was reminded by my second conversation with counsel, that intentional violations of the Brown Act are a criminal offense.  It was clear from the meeting that Board member Patz exhibited the criminal intent to purposefully violate the Brown Act, opining cavalierly that the Board should be willing to violate Brown Act notice requirements because anyone who disagreed with closing school to Monday of this week would have no way to undo the action.  Mr. Patz persisted in his intentional disregard of the Brown Act even after being informed that our counsel had said we did not meet the dire emergency standard.  

Appropriate concerns were raised at last week's meeting and appropriate direction was given by the Board to staff to prepare the school for opening.  That was all the Board could legally do that night.  It would have violated the rights of the whole Emeryville community to have taken any action on Wednesday night--not to mention being hugely disruptive and disrespectful of hundreds of families with childcare responsibilities--to have canceled school at 11 p.m. the night before classes were slated to begin. 

As Board Chair, it is my role to decide points of procedure.  I am glad I fulfilled that role and prevented the Board from committing a Brown Act violation.   As the facts played out, it was also the best move for our students as school began on time, safely and without disruption, and our teachers did their jobs in the highest professional manner to open the new school year.

Community Fallout Over School Board President's 'Dictatorial Power Grab'

Teachers, School Board Agree Board President John Affeldt Overstepped His Authority

Democracy Stalls

School Site Called 'Unsafe', Curriculum 'Not Ready'

The fallout continues to build in the community from a palace coup at the August 24th School Board meeting when Board President John Affeldt improperly stopped a vote of a majority of his colleagues on delaying the opening of the school due to safety concerns for the children because the new school site at the Center of 'Community' Life is still under construction.  The vote stoppage is a serious violation with serious ramifications teachers said after the contentious meeting and the law is clear that any duly seconded motion by the Board must be allowed a vote.  At least one teacher characterized what Mr Affeldt did Wednesday night as a "dictatorial power grab".

Emery School Board President John Affeldt
Wouldn't let the Board vote.
Earned the enmity of assembled teachers,
parents and the Board.

The meeting, held on the night before the scheduled first day of school, was temporarily adjourned by Mr Affeldt so he could place a phone call to the District's counsel to inquire about the legality over a vote to delay the opening of the school the Board wished to make.  Ten teachers and two parents testified that the school isn't safe for the children and the teachers also noted they hadn't received the curriculum from the District, nor textbooks.  The teachers were adamant that the opening be delayed for a few days at least.  A majority of School Board members agreed with the teachers in a straw vote.

Mr Affeldt however joined with School Superintendent John Rubio in insisting the school must open as planned, regardless of any stated safety concerns or lack of curriculum and that even if they agreed, it was "too late for that" anyway.  They posited the agenda item under consideration was an informational item and that any voting would constitute a Brown Act violation.  Board member Christian Patz noted the Brown Act provides for work arounds if an emergency is declared and that student safety constitutes an emergency.

Construction Zone Trip Hazard
The blue tape was added after a teacher broke
her leg. The tape cautions teachers, parents
and children about the two inch level change.  

Superintendent Rubio immediately sought to downplay teacher and parents concerns over the children's safety, calling the whole thing an "emergency created out of thin air".  Notably, a teacher broke her leg two days before in the construction site when she was attempting to prepare her classroom for the children on opening day.  Turner Construction, the contractor in charge, placed some blue tape over the trip hazard after two more teachers tripped.  Superintendent Rubio did acknowledge the teacher's broken leg and said the trip hazard would be fixed by Turner soon.

Former City Councilman and current School Board candidate Ken Bukowski Thursday noted the action by Mr Affeldt represented an overstepping of his authority.  Mr Bukowski forwarded the following letter to subscribers to his 'you tube' page where he provides video of School Board meetings and other important regional public policy meetings.                                                              

Here is a summation of candidate Bukowski's accounting of the meeting:

"It was a very contentious meeting.  The main discussion was the question of opening of school for today, August 25th.  Numerous teachers came to the Board and asked for the opening to be delayed because the project is not complete.  Teachers also claimed they did not have their curriculum to provide instruction.  There were many comments about items in the hallway.
A majority of the Board wanted to vote to delay the opening, but Board President John Affeldt did not agree.  He claimed a vote could not be taken, since the item on the agenda was only informational.  However Christian Patz said, the Board could declare there was an emergency, and thereby direct the Superintendent to delay the opening. 
The meeting was recessed to allow Affeldt to check with County Counsel.  When Affeldt returned, he claimed the counsel said, there was insufficient reason to claim an emergency existed.
The purpose for checking with the attorney was to see if a procedure for declaring an emergency was possible.  Generally, legal counsel tries to justify the wishes of a board majority, if feasible.  It must be clear Affeldt likely framed the question to obtain the desired result. 

The question of whether or not an emergency exists is a decision for the Board to determine.  The Board is responsible for its decision, not the attorney.  Affeldt, overstepped his authority, and would not allow the board to make a decision.  He failed to respect other board members by failing to call the question, despite numerous requests.
The testimony of several teachers and members of the public provided sufficient information to raise the question of safety, as well as saying they could not perform their professional duties.  It was clear there was no orientation.  I know it took me almost 20 minutes to find the board meeting. Certainly hundreds of kids on the site for the first time would have to be confused.
The Board president has no right to fail to call a vote, if there is a motion and a second. The Brown act says if it is an issue of health and safety the board can act. 
The Superintendent said, if the school opening is delayed he didn't want to be responsible for what could happen to the kids who could not attend school.  However, opening a brand new project, there is always a possibility there could be a problem.  For example, on opening day if the electricity went out, and the school didn't open, it would not be a huge surprise. 
The school district is never responsible for the conduct or behavior of students who are not in school, at any time.  However, if kids show up and sustain injuries at the school, especially if there are known problems, it could rise to the claim of negligence when you know a dangerous condition is pre-existing.
I was disappointed with the way it went.  It may have shattered the confidence of students and teachers, unnecessarily, just to make an opening date.  Anything done in haste, is usually not the way to go."

A video of the meeting can be viewed HERE.

Former Emeryville City Attorney Now Works for City's Adversaries

Rotating Door at City Attorney's Office

Emeryville's former city attorney Mike Biddle is now employed by the private law firm Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP, the same firm hired by countless Emeryville developers and businesses over the years to push Emeryville projects that Mr Biddle ostensibly battled in the people's interest while he was employed at City Hall the Tattler has learned.   Mr Biddle was forced out of his city attorney job last April and he still collects severance pay from Emeryville's taxpayers in addition to his pension from the City.  The switch by the former City Attorney to the firm he previously fought against illustrates the sometimes chummy nature of would be adversarial attorneys interacting in the private sector and public sector.   Mr Biddle's switching sides upon retirement is analogous to the infamous congressional rotating door that sends retiring former Congress members into the same lobbying firms they ostensibly did battle against while doing the people's work.

Chummy perhaps but while Mr Biddle still worked for the City, Burke, Williams & Sorensen was hired to fight the City by Pixar, the East Bay Bridge project, Bay Street Mall developer Madison Marquette and others and his new partnership position at the shop of his former would be nemesis have caused some in town to question Mr Biddle's loyalty to the people's business says former City Councilman Ken Bukowski.  Mr Bukowski headed up an unsuccessful ballot initiative, Measure F in 2011 to fire Mr Biddle for among other things, a reported lack of fealty to the City.
Mr Biddle's fealty had been questioned before as he had much interaction with Burke Williams & Sorensen while he still worked for the City of Emeryville, most infamously when he hired them (at taxpayer expense) to help him fight the City Council in May 2014 as they attempted to get him to write language for a charter city ballot initiative, a job he had refused to do.  Mr Biddle also hired BW&S in 2011 (again at taxpayers expense) to help him fight off the Measure F initiative meant
to fire him.

Mr Biddle is still working for City Hall even after his retirement and independent of BW&S as a paid contractor and he has been retained by the City for work on the contentious Public Market project.
Mr Biddle could not be reached for comment on his new employment situation.

The Emeryville Chamber of Commerce, Dead at 29

The Chamber of Commerce 1986-2015

Private Power Hegemon Lorded Public Policy
For 29 Years in Emeryville

News Analysis
Last month, the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce, a private company, finally packed it in and closed up shop for good after a storied and controversial 29 year run representing business interests at City Hall out of their publicly funded Harlan Street storefront headquarters.  The end for the business lobbying group has been a long time coming and last month's closure of the organization's website was really just a formality, a final turning off of the lights and the shutting of the door for the once powerful and hegemonic private controller of City Hall.
Although it has been out of power for some time and it hasn't been in the news of late, back in the day, the Chamber ruled this city; its vision for Emeryville carried out to a 'T' by a compliant City Council majority it hand selected and funded via its own political action committee, EmPAC.  So complete was the Chamber's power in its hay day, virtually the entire cityscape as one sees it now is attributable in one way or another to this private organization, it's political power and its non-democratically elected Board of Directors directing the decision makers at City Hall to make the town as they saw fit.  The story of the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce, its rise and its fall from power over the last thirty years is synonymous with the story of Emeryville over the last thirty years.  For better or for worse, the Chamber's history is our history.

The Salad Days
And what a history it's been; at its peak the Chamber got its agenda taken up at private closed door regularly scheduled weekly meetings with our City Manager.  The content of these meetings at the people's hall were never made public and the pubic was decidedly not allowed in.  The Chamber enjoyed a great deal of public largess showered upon it from the City Council including perpetual free rent in the City owned storefront on Harlan Street, and a $40,000 yearly stipend paid by the taxpayers to produce the the Chamber's glossy newsletter and pay office staff.  In addition to pushing the Chamber's agenda, the newsletter, sent to every Emeryville household, was used to elect the Chamber's Council members and push back against the odd Council member not toting the Chamber's line.  The Chamber years were the go-go years for developers in our town and the Chamber's philosophy of putting the developers in the driver's seat by directing the City Council to never say NO to any proposed development, brought us the built city we have today.

But now Emeryville moves forward, without a central organizing business advocate at the helm.  A different city with different values and a different built environment is likely to be the result.

With the demise of the Chamber of Commerce, the business community in Emeryville is not left unrepresented by lobbyists it should be noted.  As the Chamber's star began to fall, local businesses swapped out the Chamber for a host of other business lobbying firms around the region; notably the California Association of Realtors, the California Restaurant Association, the Bay Area Council and others.  Those who may worry that business won't get a fair hearing can rest at ease however because business lobbying continues, unabated in City Hall, with or without the Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber Is Born
The Emeryville Chamber of Commerce started when a local businessman, Ken Bukowski, found himself aced out of the sole business lobbying group in Emeryville at the time, the Emeryville Industries Association.  "The Industries Association was an old boys network for big business" Mr Bukowski told the Tattler.  "If they didn't like you, you were out, also I ran a small business, not something they were very interested in" added Mr Bukowski, who later went on to become a long time Emeryville City Councilman.  The powerful Industries Association was allied with then Police Chief John LaCoste, a corrupt patronage machine boss who ran Emeryville like Tammany Hall and the Association was not adverse to using their might to run over opposition Council candidates. Bukowski said he thought a business advocacy group shouldn't be so exclusive and shouldn't operate in such an overtly political manner and after the Industries Association ran a major hit piece against such an opposing Council member, Stuart Flashman in special election, Ken decided to start his own business advocacy group.  "They called Stuart a Berkeley radical leftist and they helped tip the scales for a LaCoste candidate Tom Fox, who ended up beating Flashman by 13 votes" Mr Bukowski said.

Ken's group, the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce, let anyone join, the mirror opposite of the exclusive Emeryville Industries Association, "I imagined it to be for businesses large and small and also for Emeryville residents.  I saw it as an opportunity to bring the business community and the residents together" he said of the fledgling Chamber.  Ken himself won a City Council seat in 1987, after which he resigned from the Chamber Board.   In what must have been a moment of schadenfreude for Councilman Bukowski, the rise of the new and popular Chamber of Commerce meant the demise of the old Industries Association; they folded and were never heard from again.

Meet The New Boss
Local political consultant and power broker John Gooding took over at the Chamber with Councilman Bukowski's resignation and took action to change the group to something more resembling the Industries Association,  "The first thing Gooding did was re-write the Chamber's Mission Statement getting rid of the residents" Mr Bukowski said.  "He got the City to start supporting the Chamber and they lost all independence."  The City was running the powerful Redevelopment Agency and the Chamber was plugged into that, Mr Bukowski noted.  "They [the Chamber] pretty much stopped representing small businesses after that.  They started charging much higher fees at Chamber mixers, acing out Emeryville's small businesses" he said.

After the Chamber hitched its wagon to the City, the end was only a matter of time as it turned out.  First the Redevelopment Agency was taken down by a mandate from Governor Jerry Brown who said these RDA's across the State had moved beyond their initial useful role and had become huge boondoggles who's real purpose was to funnel money to connected developers.  The ending of the Emeryville RDA was a major blow to the Chamber.

Enter the Emeryville Tattler
The Chamber newsletter promoting candidates and Measures while tearing down others all on the public dime (rather $40,000) was a bridge too far for the Tattler.  We did several stories and editorials on this unethical corruption of the public interest.  The stories resonated with the public and the Council came under pressure to delete the newsletter funding which they finally did.  The City started its own electronic newsletter except they have omitted the overt politicking of the Chamber newsletter.  Chamber insiders have noted the demise of the newsletter quickened the demise of the Chamber.

After the loss of the Emeryville RDA and the funding of its newsletter, what followed was devastating for the Chamber; the election of a new progressive City Council majority and the rise of the citizen's activist group Residents United for a Livable Emeryville (RULE).  Shortly after the November 2014 election, the new Council majority took action to end the Chamber's free money gravy train from City Hall.  The private business would have to sink or swim on its own.  Shortly after, Chamber CEO and president Bob Canter, a Martinez resident, folded his tent and decamped to Florida.

RIP
During its day the Chamber operated much like the earlier Emeryville Industries Association; they used their publicly funded newsletter to try to take down Council members they didn't like (Greg Harper, John Fricke, Shilen Patel among them) and support Council members they liked (Nora Davis, Kurt Brinkman, Dick Kassis and Ruth Atkin among them).  They leveraged their City Council majority for support of favored developers and projects, they fought against City projects like Councilman Fricke's Adeline Street bike facilities (changing the street from four vehicle lanes to two lanes with bike lanes on the sides), they fought against Measure C (the Emeryville Living Wage for Hotel Workers).   They also fought against removing Emeryville's notorious business tax cap, a regressive taxation that provides for Emeryville's largest businesses to pay taxes at a much lower rate than small businesses.  They even used the taxpayer funded newsletter to urge passage of various California propositions, notably Proposition 16, a PG&E backed initiative that would have made it all but impossible for municipalities to fund their own power companies like neighboring Alameda Power and Light.

The Emeryville Chamber of Commerce may rise again someday, having sown the seeds of a rebirth.   Virtually none of the new housing the Chamber fought for over the years is for families, a demographic arguably not amenable to the Chamber's vision of Emeryville, rather much of the new housing that has been built is generally for a more libertarian set; tech workers, a demographic much more naturally allied with the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce.