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.

============================================================

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.
===========================================================

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.

 ============================================================

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!

Election 2022: School Board Candidate's Statements

As voters prepare for November 8th when they will decide who runs the school district in Emeryville, the Tattler is providing a space for the candidates seeking a term on the school board to tell the voters who they are and what ideas they have for our schools.  

Since the Tattler's editor, Brian Donahue is one of the four candidates, we have laid down ground rules applicable to all.  Each candidate's statement is to be no longer than 300 words and each statement was due October 8th.  To ensure the editor didn't have an unfair advantage by seeing what the others had written, he agreed to write his statement first and photo time stamp the statement so the three other candidates can be assured there is no advantage.

Despite this opportunity to educate voters and despite the safe guards to ensure fairness, the three incumbents, board members Regina Chagolla, vice president Brynnda Collins and president Susan Donaldson (all running as a slate), have all declined to provide candidate's statements for the benefit of the voters.  

Emery School Board Candidate Brian Donahue's Candidate Statement:

I'm Brian Donahue and I’m running for Emery School Board, the only candidate with a child enrolled at Emery.  I’ve lived here for over 40 years.  

Emery is failing.  We spend more money per pupil than any district in the East Bay but we have the worst academic performance.  

Spending the most money while delivering the worst outcome should not be rewarded with your vote.

With the three incumbents in charge over the last years, Emery schools have been driven to the bottom among all the districts in the East Bay academically. 

Eight years ago, Emeryville's school district was ranked 12th among Alameda County’s 16 school districts.  Now, Emery is ranked last. 

Emeryville voters have repeatedly approved property tax increases to provide the school district with more funding.  Emery’s revenue per student is the highest in the East Bay, by far.  The school district budget per student is $27,613 -- far more than any other district.

Just 23% percent of our students are proficient in math. In reading, 37%.  In Berkeley, where they spend $9,478 per student LESS than Emery, the figures are 62% and 68%, respectively. 

How can this be?  Emeryville's school district has used the new tax money to spend millions of dollars on consultants and administrators, at the same time providing its teachers with paltry salary increases. 

On November 8th, Emeryville voters will select three new school board members.  Seated on the board as a new voice, I will see to it the era of failure and reckless spending on consultants and lack of accountability ends at Emery Unified School District.  

If elected,

1.  I will curtail the out-of-control spending on administrators and consultants. 

2.  I will increase teacher retention through salary increases.

3.  I will shame large corporations like Disney/Pixar to fulfill their promises of financial support for the schools. 

Emery School Board Candidate Regina Chagolla's  Candidate Statement:

Declined to participate

Emery School Board Candidate Brynnda Collins'  Candidate Statement:

Declined to participate

 Emery School Board Candidate Susan Donaldson's Candidate Statement

Declined to participate

Why No Homeless People in Emeryville?

Homeless Clearances Reveal Emeryville's Policies Are Not Compassionate, Not Truthful

Official Claims Don't Stand Up  

Emeryville they say, is a smart, compassionate and nimble city that quickly matches homeless people with emergency shelter and other services.  With the City so committed, the downtrodden are seldom visible, City Hall explains.  Turns out, reality is far from that image.

This sign was recently placed on Emeryville public
property to stop homeless people, according to the 
City Manager.

In fact, local homeless people report they intentionally avoid Emeryville, saying they are rousted without warning by the police, their possessions confiscated and discarded.  Sharply contrasting with the City's official "all are welcome here" reassurances in the wake of recent right wing attacks on the LGBTQ community, City Manager Adam Politzer last week admitted an on-going and punitive city policy against those most disadvantaged.

Mr Politzer confirmed that a "no trespassing" sign recently placed on City owned public property behind City Hall was intended to prevent a homeless encampment there.  The sign was placed amid a field of boulders placed by a landscaping firm paid for with tax dollars whose contract stipulated that the Emeryville PD clear away a homeless encampment that was previously starting to form there.  Boulders spaced 12 inches apart on the City owned property apparently wasn’t enough to chase away homeless people so the City put up a no trespassing sign for them like a maraschino cherry on top of a cupcake made of boulders.  

"All* are welcome in Emeryville".      *except homeless people

Cleared homeless encampment on Wood St
in Oakland, Friday.  
On Emeryville's border, 300 were sent packing.
Where did they go? 
Why haven't any set up camp in Emeryville?
 

To anyone asking, the EPD, City Hall and the City Council has for years explained the reason there are no homeless encampments here is because they do such a great job helping those people find shelter (and other government services).  Emeryville would have us believe Oakland and Berkeley have cruel policies towards poor people that is evident in all the homeless people encamped in their respective cities.  And to skeptics of this official explanation, the City of Emeryville lets the explanation of ‘no homeless visible is proof of a compassionate local government’ speak without any other supporting information.  Concerned citizens are told to just believe City Hall and the police. 
 

If Emeryville is so good to homeless people, last week’s (and continuing) well publicized clearance of a camp of some 300 people on Wood Street in Oakland near Emeryville will make it plain for all to see.  The City of Oakland freely admits there are not enough beds in local shelters or homes for the massive influx of unhoused people left by the unprecedented clearances.  With a compassionate Emeryville right next door, they would migrate here and we would be seeing many tents going up.   Because there are not enough local shelters to accommodate them, tents should now be proliferating here if Emeryville has been truthful to us.  If not, then everyone will know the City has not been entirely truthful about what it does with homeless people found sleeping in our city.  So far there are no new tents in Emeryville, EPD informs us.

A compassionate city that helps homeless people doesn't place boulders and no trespassing signs on the public's property to stop camps from forming.  The Tattler spoke Sunday with five people displaced by the clearances on Wood Street about what Emeryville is like for people without homes.  A woman who wished to remain anonymous told us what all unhoused people in Berkeley and Oakland know: "Emeryville cops arrest you.  They take your stuff and they throw it away and they arrest you.  They don't play." she said.

Several police personnel and City Hall employees were contacted for this story but all refused to comment.

“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.”

-Anatole France 

Emeryville Will Have a School Board Election

 No School Board Appointments This Year, Emeryville Voters Get to Decide

Emeryville residents will get a chance to vote in a school board election in November after Brian Donahue, Tattler editor and parent of a child enrolled at Emery, entered the race.  The other three, incumbents all, are Susan Donaldson, Brynnda Collins, and Regina Chagolla.  

The entry of Mr Donahue appears to have upset School Board plans to forgo an election and instead simply appoint (two) new members as they have done in the past.

The District has struggled to find people willing to run for school board and they have commonly relied on appointing new members instead of holding elections.  This go around too, Emery Unified was ready to forgo the election.  Ms Donaldson and Ms Collins had both expressed they did not want to run for re-election, enabling the whole Board to appoint their replacements.    

Mr Donahue, the only candidate with a child enrolled at Emery, registered to run for election just two days before the Alameda County Registrar of Voters deadline, forcing Ms Donaldson and Ms Collins to scramble to pull papers in time for their names to appear on the ballot.  Ms Collins got her name in just  minutes before the 5:00 pm shut off according to a Registrar employee.

The smallest school district in the East Bay, Emery Unified has about 700 students enrolled in an elementary, middle and high school all located at the Emeryville Center of Community Life.

With new ideas from one new voice against a unified incumbency, the election is set up to be a referendum on this School Board’s record.  How good of a job have the incumbents done?  Is Emery thriving?  Look to the Tattler for answers to those questions and for full campaign coverage including interviews of candidates in the coming weeks.

Fifth City Council Candidate Added

 A fifth and final City Council candidate was added before yesterday's 5:00 pm deadline Sheri Hartz, Emeryville's City Clerk reports.  The completed candidacy paperwork was turned in around 4:00 but the Clerk did not processes it until this morning.  This posting will be melded into the previous story entitled Four Candidates to Compete for Two Departing Council Seats.  The title of that story will be changed to reflect the fifth candidate.

Here is the final City Council candidate's statement:

EUGENE TSSUI

Occupation:  Architect/Author

Reduce Crime and Promote Physical Safety:   Crime reduction/prevention programs to reduce crime.  Neighborhood watch centers to strengthen safety in Emeryville i.e.  Safety Escort programs for elderly, women, and youth.  Job creation focusing on youth and disability internships: Work with existing programs to encourage businesses, non-profits, and new creative businesses to employ Emeryville residents and target youth skills acquisitions. Use youth services for SMART city programs to keep Emeryville residents here. Emeryville schools to develop externships/Internships for young people to enter the workforce.  Climate Change adoption: Identify and create native plant habitats around the city, to reduce water use by 40% and support insects, birds, and animals. Involve children and residents in Emeryville regional ecosystem restoration.  Establish Emeryville’s first Code of Ethics complying with California government ethics, transparency, and accountability in small cities.  Health and Fitness Incentives:  Increase the level of fitness for all residents. driving less--walking/exercising more; public programs to encourage access to high protein, plant-based diets.  Emeryville Idea Program:   Emeryville residents involved in implementing new and innovative ideas to make the City a globally distinctive/resident-relevant place. Initiate Power Down-Power Out programs to reduce the use of toxicity-producing technology, etc.

Five Candidates to Compete for Two Departing Council Seats

 The registration period extended by City Hall, four hopefuls have thrown their hats in the ring to replace outgoing City Council members Dianne Martinez and Scott Donahue for November’s general election contest after no one came forward initially, City Clerk Sheri Hertz reports.  The five City Council hopefuls are listed as Sukhdeep Kaur, David Mourra, Kalimah Priforce,  Eugene Tssui and Brooke Westling.

NOTE UPDATE: Eugene Tssui turned in his candidacy paperwork on time but close to the end of the day and the City Clerk didn't post his statement until this morning (Thursday). 

The City of Emeryville lists the following information about the five candidates (order determined by the City Clerk):

SUKHDEEP KAUR

Occupation:   Attorney

Emeryville is my home since the fall of 2008 when I accepted an associate attorney position at a San Francisco law firm.   Initially, I chose to live in Emeryville for its proximity to the City.  Fourteen years later, the love for this city and its community have taken me from being a renter to a homeowner in Emeryville.  Now, I work from my home and I am proud to live here.  It will be an honor to represent the city with its diverse orientations, all ages, cultures, backgrounds and professions including retirees, families raising their children, people who love their pets, create art.  I am committed to continue fostering our city’s unique way of life.We have so much to be grateful in our city offering artistic and professional talent and business acumen.  There is every reason to believe that together we can address the issues of land-use, housing, homelessness, personal wellbeing, encouraging small businesses, safety and security, and nurturing our community spirit.  I look forward to your support in representing our community’s collective concerns in a manner that will serve our entire community.

Thank you.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DAVID MOURRA

Occupation:  Engineer

I am a California native and have been a resident of Emeryville for 14 years. As an avid cyclist, you can often spot me biking with my two boys, Toshi (age 4) and Kai (age 2) down the Emeryville Greenway or urban foraging with them for blackberries. I'm currently serving on Emeryville's Planning Commission. Professionally, I work as an engineer and project manager in the biotech industry. I'm also the treasurer for my condo association. The City of Emeryville has a great General Plan and vision for future housing, parks, and bike and pedestrian infrastructure. We need to identify more quick-build projects and developer partnerships to help bring this vision to life. I support the initiatives of current Mayor John Bauters whose leadership has brought Emeryville into the national spotlight as a model for housing and quality of life measures. We've come a long way as a city and I'd be honored to help guide our future.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KALIMAH PRIFORCE

Occupation: National Non-Profit Advisor

Originally from Brooklyn, falling in love with Emeryville was an instantaneous affair, and like any good love story, my commitment to her has grown over the last ten years. Covid hurt us. Our day to day lives were disrupted, local economy harmed, and plenty of our brick and mortars suffered. In the face of traumatic adversity, do we shrink or grow?  As a candidate for city council, I believe we can grow - together. Since moving to Emeryville in 2012, I earned the Echoing Green prize for leading a tech company to be a pioneer of the learn to code movement for low opportunity youth. Since earning the Champion of Change award from President Obama's administration, I serve on the National Advisory Council for Forward Promise. At home, forming a tenant board with fellow residents brought needed changes to our quality of life.  Black. Socially progressive. Politically moderate. A family friendlier Emeryville is my platform. That means cultivating our small business commerce, fortifying our public safety, and establishing rewarding relationships with capitols: state and national.  My municipal duty will be to deliver transparent, data-informed, empathy-driven solutions that make Emeryville a safer equitable place to live, work, and play.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EUGENE TSSUI

Occupation:  Architect/Author

Reduce Crime and Promote Physical Safety:   Crime reduction/prevention programs to reduce crime.  Neighborhood watch centers to strengthen safety in Emeryville i.e.  Safety Escort programs for elderly, women, and youth.  Job creation focusing on youth and disability internships: Work with existing programs to encourage businesses, non-profits, and new creative businesses to employ Emeryville residents and target youth skills acquisitions. Use youth services for SMART city programs to keep Emeryville residents here. Emeryville schools to develop externships/Internships for young people to enter the workforce.  Climate Change adoption: Identify and create native plant habitats around the city, to reduce water use by 40% and support insects, birds, and animals. Involve children and residents in Emeryville regional ecosystem restoration.  Establish Emeryville’s first Code of Ethics complying with California government ethics, transparency, and accountability in small cities.  Health and Fitness Incentives:  Increase the level of fitness for all residents. driving less--walking/exercising more; public programs to encourage access to high protein, plant-based diets.  Emeryville Idea Program:   Emeryville residents involved in implementing new and innovative ideas to make the City a globally distinctive/resident-relevant place. Initiate Power Down-Power Out programs to reduce the use of toxicity-producing technology, etc.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BROOKE WESTLING                                                                                                                  

Occupation: Immigration Attorney/Professor

 I am a 10-year resident of Emeryville and have chosen this city to raise my child. We thoroughly enjoy all that Emeryville has to offer and also see room for improvement.  Most importantly, I would like to expand long-term residence within our city to attract more families, improve community safety and civic engagement, and enhance the educational and recreational opportunities available to our residents. I believe this can be achieved through increases in home ownership and affordable rentals, and by addressing the needs of the unhoused within our city.  I have built my public service legal career by actively listening to my clients’ needs and diligently working to achieve their goals. I have learned the value of collaborating with others throughout the community to attain a common objective. I hope to have the opportunity to do the same for the residents of Emeryville as a member of the City Council.  If you would like to get to know me better, I can usually be found at Tuesday night Trivia at the Public Market or walking around town with my son and our dog, Peanut.

Government Favoritism (in Neon) in Renaming of Emeryville Train Station

Doubt Emeryville's Pro-Developer Culture?

It's in Blue Neon at 5885 Horton Street

News Analysis

This last week, Rich Robbins, the CEO of the San Rafael based Wareham Development Corporation, repaid former Emeryville City Councilwoman Nora Davis posthumously, for all the tax breaks and outright gifts of cash from the public coffers she extended to the development giant over the years with the erection of a sign proclaiming Emeryville’s popular train station henceforth be called the Nora Davis Emeryville Transit Center Station.  The renaming will ripple through vacationer’s and commuter’s macrocosm as they become accustomed to the change appearing on new brochures and passenger train websites. The legendary Amtrak Zephyr will now be listed as the route from the historic Chicago Union Station to the Nora Davis Emeryville Station.  Travelers on California’s iconic Capital Corridor train will board at Sacramento Valley Station and disembark at Emeryville's Nora Davis Station.

Seemingly public infrastructure, the train riding public would be surprised to know the Emeryville station is actually private property.  Mr Robbins himself owns our local train station.  He built it and he owns it but with a proviso that the public be allowed to use it as if it were part of the public commons.  But that’s also why he gets to name the station after his favorite City Council member who ruled our town from the Council dais for 29 years before she passed away in 2020.

Councilwoman Davis was famous for her pro-developer philosophy and of all the developers she showered government largess upon, and there were many, none were sanctioned at the level of her favorite, Rich Robbins of Wareham.  

The renaming of the train station by Mr Robbins comes after a push by many in the Emeryville business community to name all manner of public infrastructure after the deceased City Councilwoman for all she did for them as well.  Proposals included renaming Doyle/Hollis Park as Nora Davis Park and the new bike/pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks at the Bay Street Mall as Nora Davis Bridge.  Either out of ignorance or a sense of taunting (owning the libs?), the business community has never acknowledged the fact that when she was on our Council, Ms Davis actually fought against these two public infrastructure projects.  The existing City Council knows Ms Davis’ record and they rebuffed the business community’s proposals.  Indeed, Council member Davis made the city the current City Council is struggling to remake.  Ms Davis saw Emeryville as developers at the time saw it: a low slung, low density suburban style town with lots of strip malls with baking asphalt in front, serviced by anti-bike anti-pedestrian ‘stroads’ choked with auto traffic inching towards the copious at-grade free parking.  That is Nora Davis’ actual legacy.

But all that is forgotten now by Rich Robbins of Wareham who returns favors and doesn’t forget a generous friend, even in death.  For us, the Nora Davis Emeryville Transit Center Station will always be there as a reminder about who the levers of power in government are supposed to be for.

The two most powerful people
in Emeryville:
Wareham CEO Rich Robbins
and his friend the late
Councilwoman Nora Davis

Story earns one Nora smile...

Videographer Enters City Hall Setting Off A Panic

Anonymous Videographer Challenges City Hall's Insistance the Public Identify Themselves

An Emeryville City Hall 'epic fail' was featured in a video that has gone viral this week.  The video (below), recorded a couple of weeks ago by a YouTuber with 190 thousand subscribers who runs a channel called Bay Area Transparency, shows panicked City Hall employees who called the police on the man because he was video recording the publicly accessible parts of the building.  The police arrived but because the videographer was not breaking any laws, they allowed him to continue on, to the dismay of the City Manager, the City Attorney, the City Clerk and lots of lower level staffers with their hair on fire.  The embarrassing video has been seen by 145 thousand people as of the posting of this story.

At issue, besides the scary camera, was the young man's refusal to sign in at the front desk, a long standing policy at Emeryville City Hall, a policy without the force of law.  The cameraman tries to calm down the public servants by explaining, correctly, that people don't have to surrender their Fourth Amendment rights to access publicly accessible government buildings.  Any areas of City Hall that are not specifically for authorized personal only, and properly signed to indicate that, are open to the public.

Bay Area Transparency has been active since 2019 and has 142 videos with 44 million views with an average of 290 thousand views per day.  It is part of a whole genre of YouTube channels conducting 'First Amendment audits' by video recording in public forums to document government employees and their acceptance or lack of acceptance of people's First Amendment rights.  These videos have shown many police departments in the Bay Area and beyond, authoritarian and prone to falsely arrest members of the public who record police activities.  The Emeryville police featured in the video show a reasonable level of professionalism, unlike the City Hall staff.

To the Emeryville City Hall staff: You can ask us to sign in at the front desk (without coercion) when we come to our city hall but we don't have to do it if we don't want to.  We can chose to access our government anonymously.  Don't call the police on people not breaking the law in their own building.  And calm down for christ's sake.  It's a public building and the public is invited in to partake in their government, even those who have scary cameras and who know their rights.

Rare Open City Council Seat in November: Councilman Scott Donahue to Step Down

 Council Member Donahue Will Not Seek Re-Election in November 

The bi-annual Emeryville City Council election season begins with a surprise announcement of a rare open seat for this November’s election by Council member Scott Donahue.  Mr Donahue, in a terse statement to the public, announced he will not seek a 3rd four year term on the Council. 
 

City Councilman
Scott Donahue
2014-2022

Council watchers have had to speculate as to why, after he did not offer a reason publicly at the surprise City Council announcement.  However, he privately told the Tattler only that he wished to concentrate more fully on his life-long vocation as a sculptor, leaving aside open speculation about disrespect shown to him by his Council colleagues.  As reported by the Tattler in December 2021, then Vice Mayor Donahue was skipped over for mayor in favor of current Mayor John Bauters after his colleagues refused to nominate him.  Leading the drive to overturn a normally mundane mayor selection procedure, Council member Ally Medina urged the rest of the Council to vote to skip Donahue, citing his lack of experience with budgetary issues. 
 

Council member Donahue, who first became a Council member in 2014 after receiving an endorsement by the premier community activist group Residents United for a Livable Emeryville (RULE), did not offer any comment on the snubbing by his colleagues as a factor in his decision to not seek re-election.  Mr Donahue's running mate in the last two elections, Council member Dianne Martinez did not comment on the surprise announcement. 

Council member Donahue will step down in December as his replacement is sworn in at a regular City Council meeting

Emergency Diarrhea? Tough luck. No Public Bathroom at Emeryville Police Station

 No Public Toilet at the Public Building?

No Shit.

Elderly People, People in Wheelchairs, People With Intestinal Diseases Are All S.O.L.

Have you ever had emergency diarrhea out in public when you’re nowhere near a bathroom?  Yeah, it’s not a nice feeling.  How would it make you feel if you knew there was a public bathroom mere steps away but the police said NO, you may not use it, go find a bathroom elsewhere, you’re on your own.  Good luck with that.  Absurd and cruel though it may be, that’s what people get who go to the Emeryville police station.  The station, built in the 1970s has two public bathrooms, just like every other Bay Area police station, but the police here have closed off the public bathrooms to the public, leaving the public...well, shit outta luck.

That’s right.  Emeryville spent $3.7 million dollars on a remodel of the police station in 2012 but they failed to include even a single bathroom the public can use.  Some remodel.  If you need to use your police station you paid for and you drank too much coffee or you have sudden diarrhea, you will not be allowed to use either one of the original two bathrooms just off the public lobby behind a pair of locked doors.  The police say NO.  Even in an emergency.  NO even with with a requested police escort.  The public was not accounted for when $3.7 million of public money was spent to ‘improve’ the Emeryville police station.

 

Elderly people, people in wheelchairs or with emergency diarrhea are directed to travel three quarters of a mile west on Powell Street to the public bathrooms at the Emeryville Marina.  Again, good luck with that.

We’re making light of it here but it’s not funny actually.  Healthy and robust young people aren’t very inconvenienced by having to hold it while they make a police report or any other police services they’re getting but whole classes of people are not free to use their police station at all because of this.  People like the elderly, wheelchair people or those with any number of conditions or diseases that necessitate them being close by a bathroom.  Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) like colitis or Crohn’s disease alone affect 1.6 million Americans.  2.7 million Americans are in wheelchairs.  Our police station is not available for them unless they’re willing to take a big chance with a terrible outcome. 

People with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
alone make up 1.3% of the population.
That means 180 people just within Emeryville.
They can't wait to go another 3/4 mile
to the next public bathroom.  Government
buildings open to the public should have
publicly accessible bathrooms according to
the government's own regulations. 

 

The State of California stipulates that all public and privately owned buildings where the public gathers be equipped with enough restrooms to meet the needs of the public.  Except in Emeryville apparently.  The no bathroom thing is another a case of a special lack of minimum accommodation to the public the police here are claiming.   Add this to the lack of a fire escape in the public lobby at the police station revealed by the Tattler in 2018.  In that case, after much City Council and staff deliberation, the police, against the advice of the Alameda County Fire Marshall, just said NO to adding a fire escape, the public will have to take a risk of death when they use the Emeryville police station.  So an existing fire escape was taken away from the public at the police station building in the 2012 remodel.

Of course the lack of a public bathroom at a standalone public building isn’t as dangerous as no fire escape but it is a hallmark of a city that is not sensitive to the needs of all.  In a check to see how bad the police here are, we inquired at several Bay Area police stations and we found Emeryville's police stand alone.  Not one other municipal police department in the East Bay (or likely beyond) fails to provide a public bathroom.  Police personnel in the cities we talked with were shocked that the Emeryville police are so mean.

Private businesses where the public congregates like restaurants, movie theaters, churches and shopping malls are required by law to provide public bathrooms.  The government is the agency that polices this regulation.  Like with fire escape law, businesses must comply with the public bathroom law but not the government itself says Emeryville.  Meanwhile, prudence and good will suggests at least a sign warning about there being no bathroom available to the public be placed conspicuously on the front of the building.

Emeryville Police Station Public Lobby
There are two formerly public bathrooms located just behind the locked doors
on the left.  The doors keeping the public away from the bathrooms were
part of the $3.7 million remodel of the police building.  Also locked behind the doors
are the emergency fire escape stairs.