Council Member Bauters Running as Bike/Walk/Public Transit Champion: His Record Refutes That

Alameda County Voters Should Know John Bauters' Transit Record

Mr Bauters Overturned City Ordinance Controlling  Parking to Accommodate a Developer's Wishes

 

What He Says is Different From What He Does

News Analysis

Former mayor John Bauters led a drive to approve a development with 496 parking spaces, an excess of 85 spaces over Emeryville’s maximum as stipulated by a City ordinance, refuting his new official narrative of him discouraging single occupant vehicles in his candidacy for Alameda County Supervisor.  A July 2022 City Council action that highlights this disconnect came when favored developer Rich Robbins, CEO of Wareham Development, asked Mayor Bauters to overturn the City's Planning Commission who had earlier voted to enforce Emeryville’s rules on the number of parking spaces allowed for the Wareham project known as Emery Station Overland, a bio-science lab campus proposed for Overland Avenue.  

The rules on maximum allowable parking spaces are codified by Emeryville’s Transit Hub Overlay Zone, a delineated area around the Amtrak Station of which the Overland project is in, that was certified as a City ordinance in 2013 to encourage commuters to not drive but to take alternative transportation.  Limiting single occupancy vehicle use for development within the zone is central to the goal of the ordinance by limiting the number of parking spaces available.

Mr Bauters, who is running for Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 5 has been receiving donations from developers and YIMBY California (a developer lobbying organization) at a frantic clip, and he has also been telling Alameda County voters he is against single occupancy vehicle (SOV) use as a planning precept.  Developers as a default, want more parking to be made available for their tenants and that is shown by Wareham’s Overland project.  Approving the project as the developer wanted it is at cross purposes to the announcements made by candidate Bauters to Alameda County voters.

Mayor Bauters' Overland project decision allowed 20% more parking spaces than the Transit Zone allowed and would result in a minimum of extra 170 daily vehicle trips to the site.  Bauters downplayed all the extra cars massing on the site by announcing the parking garage would likely be transformed in housing at some future date.

Emery Station Overland will be located on Overland Avenue between 62nd and 63rd streets.

Emeryville’s Bike Committee unanimously urged Mr Bauters to follow the rules and deny the developer the extra 85 parking spaces and one member, Jordan Wax, also personally attended the Council meeting and spoke out, but to no avail.  

The Chairman of Emeryville’s Planning Commission, Steven Keller called the developer’s 496 parking space number “inflated”.  He told the City Council, Wareham “did not convincingly demonstrate that additional parking is needed for the project” and the Council voting to approve would be making a “precedent setting mistake”.  Although the Transit Center Overland project is located right next to the Amtrak Station, Wareham, for its part said Amtrak is no good and people don’t use it as a reason why so many private parking spaces are needed. 

Vice Mayor Ally Medina supported Mr Bauters' idea to overturn the ordinance.  Without providing evidence, Ms Medina announced, “[transportation] Mode shift does not come from denying parking spaces, it comes from infrastructure”, meaning the bike infrastructure alone in Emeryville will be enough to get people out of their cars despite the extra availability of free and easy parking spaces.  Mr Bauters concurred, hinting the extra parking spaces will sit empty.  A Wareham spokesman also agreed, calling the 85 extra parking spaces beyond what Emeryville’s General Plan allows a “win win” for residents and for Wareham.  

Mr Bauters told the attending crowd, “We would love to reduce parking as much as possible”, but Wareham is going to provide a lot of bike infrastructure he indicated.  However, Alameda County Board of Supervisors candidate Bauters, like Ally Medina, never explained to Emeryville residents how providing better bike infrastructure at the same time as an excess of free and easy parking would reduce the number of drivers.

Wareham is planning on breaking ground on their 496 space parking garage later this year.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 5 election is on November 5th.

Below is the video of the City Council meeting.  The Overland project begins at 52:22.  Public comment including those from the Planning Commission and the Bike Committee begin at 1:19:38.  Council comment including those from Mayor Bauters begins at 1:27:40.

Emeryville Scrapes Bottom on Climate Score

Worst in Northern Alameda County:

Emeryville Fails Climate Audit

The Bay Area’s Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force released their Alameda County Climate Scorecard this week, revealing Emeryville to be dead last among cities in northern Alameda County on critical climate issues.  The task force, a Bay Area wide coalition of elected officials, city and county staff, community based non-governmental organizations, youth, environmental and social activists and “front line communities”, released the scorecard Tuesday.  

Below 50 is a fail.

The scorecard shows Emeryville tied with Dublin for 11th place out of the 15 municipalities in the Alameda County, and ranked as dead last among the seven northern County cities.  The three cities of Berkeley, San Leandro, and Alameda received the highest scores, with ratings of 66, 64, and 62 respectively, while Emeryville only managed to score 44.

Emeryville received failing marks in all five public policy categories and failed four of the five transportation measures.  The public policy measures were Emeryville's greatest weakness as both Berkeley and Oakland received top scores in four of those five measures, in contrast to Emeryville's across-the-board failures.  

Looked at numerically, the scorecard should serve as a wake up call to the cities scoring lower than 50; the bottom half.  Across the entire county, only Newark, Union City and Livermore scored worse overall than Emeryville.

The climate task force teamed up with undergraduate students at the University of California Berkeley to produce the document entitled ‘Alameda County Climate Scorecard 2023-2024’.  Motivating the partnership is the desire to “address societal challenges and for more equitable communities across California” the team reports.

The scorecard may be viewed here: 

https://files.constantcontact.com/79bfd5a6601/6d1918e9-1667-42e0-abaf-2c1d953254aa.pdf

 https://files.constantcontact.com/79bfd5a6601/6d1918e9-1667-42e0-abaf-2c1d953254aa.pdf

Emeryville Police Let a Shoplifting Suspect Walk Free

Emeryville Police Let a Shoplifting Suspect Walk Free

BevMo Store Manager Wanted to Press Charges But EPD Said NO

Citizens Reporting Crimes Should "Mind Their Own Frickin' Business" Says Sergeant

Officer body worn camera footage released by the Emeryville Police Department reveals how two officers and a sergeant recently let a shoplifting suspect walk free, ignoring the store manager’s request to prosecute. The minor shoplifting event happened on May 19th at the BevMo liquor store, 5717 Christie Ave in the Powell Street Plaza shopping mall, when a checkout clerk noticed a man walk out of the store without paying for a bottle of vodka.  Police were summoned and the man was apprehended behind the store on Shellmound Street, drinking from the stolen bottle.  After handcuffing the detained man and confiscating the stolen liquor, Emeryville Police Officer Andrew Selby attempted to return the bottle to the store clerk.  After the clerk informed the officer BevMo could not take back an opened bottle, the officer poured out the vodka.  Shortly after that, all three cops were alerted the store manager wished to press charges but ignoring that, the police removed the suspect from detention and released him.

Emeryville Police Officer Andrew Selby
When told the BevMo store manager wanted 
to press charges against the shoplifter he
responded, "Negative" and let the guy go free.

The three videos from the three cops reveal that all three heard from the dispatcher on the police radio that the manager of the store wished to press charges on the man, to which Officer Andrew Selby responded “negative” to his colleagues.  The police believed the store manager earlier claimed to not wish to press charges against the suspect but were not interested in hearing from the manager about his change of heart.   

A witness to the theft, the Emeryville Tattler editor produced a voice over narrative video of the crime scene after the police released the suspect and left the scene and sent that video out via email to the City Council members, key City staff and members of the police department.  The Chief of Police, Jeff Jennings, a recipient of the emailed video, hit ‘reply all’ and then he denied the police had let the suspect go free and he reported that the manager of the BevMo refused to press charges, in direct contradiction of the body worn camera objective evidence.  The Chief of Police, who earns over $200,000 per year incorrectly stated in his May 20th email responce, the EPD's hands were tied because “BevMo, the legal victim of this particular crime did not wish to prosecute the individual for the theft”.  The email from the Chief was misleading about the store manager but it is unknown if the Chief was aware that his officers had failed to ask the store manager about his prosecution change of heart.

"Mind His Own Frickin' Business"

Emeryville Police Sergeant Michelle Shepherd
Emeryville citizens who call in crimes
should "Mind their own frickin' business".

The video footage from Sergeant Michelle Shepherd, who was hanging back with the detained suspect while the other two officers were interacting with the store clerk, reveals she clearly told the shoplifting suspect she thought the Tattler editor reporting party to the crime should “mind his own frickin’ business”, a reversal of the common police dictum ‘see something, say something’.  As the suspect was being released, Sergeant Shepherd offered him advice on how to shoplift better without being caught by “these stores around here”.  Noticing store stickers on new clothing the suspect was wearing, Sergeant Shepherd told the suspect he should “remove the stickers [from your stolen clothes].  It’s a tell tale sign.  People see it and they think he’s gunna steal from us”.  

Ms Shepherd later told the Tattler she was being "sarcastic" when she coached the suspect on more effective shoplifting.

Regardless that the videos were released by EPD to fulfill a Tattler public records request, the last minute or so of the incident was cut from all three body worn cameras by EPD and not released.  The expurgated section of the videos show the Tattler editor approaching the three departing officers, informing them that the store manager wished to press charges on the suspect.  Officer Selby spoke for the group and said NO to that and then asked, “Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?”.  The California Records Act requires government agencies to release in good faith, all requested public records, allowing for redaction of certain sensitive information.  The failure of the EPD to release the full record on all three videos barring an explanation, represents a violation of the California Records Act.  EPD has not provided an explanation about why the videos are edited in the way they are.

The Emeryville Chief of Police, Jeff Jennings was contacted for this story but he did not respond. 

Below are two of the three videos the Tattler obtained in our public records request.  The last minute or so of incriminating evidence against EPD was cut from all three videos by EPD but plenty of incriminating evidence remains.   The first is from Officer Selby's body worn camera and the second one is from Sergeant Shepherd.  The sound takes a minute to begin.  Transcripts are posted below. 

Extra Reading:

Below are partial transcripts from the Selby and Shepherd videos. The characters are: the Suspect, the BevMo Store Clerk, the Tattler Editor (the reporting party who made the call to the police and was a witness to the crime, the Police Dispatcher, Sergeant Michelle Shepherd, Officer Andrew Selby and Officer Kyle Rice.

Selby Video

.55-1:05 

Selby to Tattler Editor: They [Bevmo] don’t want to press charges.”

Tattler Editor to Selby: “I’m going to go complain to them.”

2:45-2:57 

Tattler editor to Selby: “I’m going to request they press charges.”

3:08-3:25 

Tattler Editor to BevMo Store Clerk: “Will you press charges?”

BevMo Store Clerk to Tattler Editor: “We probably can’t, to be honest.”

Tattler Editor to BevMo Store Clerk:  “Can you tell your boss [Store Manager] I request you press charges?”  

Convo fades out as Selby moves outside to pour out opened vodka bottle.  

During this time the Store Manager tells the Tattler Editor he will press charges (no police present to hear it).

5:35-5:42 

Rice to Selby:  “Where’d the RP [reporting party Tattler Editor] go?”

Selby to Rice “Into BevMo to complain.”

5:50-6:01 

Dispatcher to Selby (and Shepherd and Rice):  “Apparently Donahue (Tattler Editor) went into BevMo, spoke to BevMo and now they’re reconsidering pressing charges.”

“Selby (to himself or maybe Rice): “Negative.”

6:15-6:25

Rice to Selby:  "You want to cut him [Suspect] loose?”

Selby to Rice: “Yeah”

Shepherd Video:

2:02-2:11

Shepherd to Suspect:  "You've got some nice threads on - nice shoes.  Did you take those?"

Suspect to Shepherd:  "No"

Shepherd to Suspect:  "The price tags are still on."

4:06-4:09

Shepherd to Suspect:  "Hopefully we'll be out of your hair soon."

4:45-5:20 

Shepherd to Suspect: “Was that guy [Tattler Editor] bugging you?  The big white guy?”

Suspect to Shepherd: “No…(unintelligible)”.  He mentioned how the Tattler Editor had offered him money to pay for the vodka.

Radio from Dispatcher cuts in to all three police; “Apparently Donahue went into BevMo, spoke to BevMo and now they're reconsidering pressing charges.”

Shepherd in responce to hearing that: “No”

Rice heard on radio, talking to Dispatcher: “Negative.  I talked to the store and they do not want to proceed.  And you don’t need to talk to Donahue anymore regarding this call.”

Shepherd to Suspect (continuing convo from before Dispatcher interruption): “No, that guy [Tattler Editor] was here making things worse for you.  He needs to mind his own frickin’ business.”

5:42-5:55  

Shepherd coaches Suspect on how to get away with shoplifting better in the future.  She speaks to him about his new clothing with the price stickers still on.

Shepard to Suspect: “A way not to draw attention to yourself when you walk into these stores around here is taking off the stickers.  People see it and they’re like, he’s gunna steal from us.  It’s a tell tale sign.”

Suspect to Shepherd:  "All right.  Thank you."

Emeryville's Priest: City Council Majority is Wrong on Gaza War Issue

Gaza Ceasefire Refusal Puts Emeryville City Council "On the Wrong Side of History" Says Local Catholic Priest 

Reverend is "Shocked" at the City Council's Loss of Rectitude

The Reverend Aidan McAleenan
of St. Columba Catholic Church
"War leads to war and revenge to revenge. 
We must sit down, talk and listen. 
There is no other way.
We are called to love, that's why
we must call for a ceasefire in Gaza."

Emeryville's City Council majority, continuing on their steadfast refusal to resolve for a ceasefire in Gaza, threatens to condemn the City in the eyes of neighboring municipalities in the Bay Area as an unprincipled city, "on the wrong side of history" as the Reverend Aidan McAleenan of Saint Columba Catholic Church on Emeryville's Oakland border says.   In the six months since the Council majority led by then Mayor John Bauters voted to reject even to discuss the merits of a ceasefire resolution (4-1, Priforce dissenting), most of the nation (minus the Republican Party) has moved on, and now even the famously reluctant President of the United States is calling for a ceasefire.  Emeryville however, has dug in their heels on the issue.

The Israel-Hamas War has so far claimed the lives of more than 37,000 Palestinian people, mostly women and children, almost 1,500 citizens of Israel as well as 105 journalists and over 224 humanitarian aid workers, including 179 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).  With no end in sight for the war and with each passing day, the calls for a ceasefire in the bloody conflict become less and less controversial.

The Saint Columba Church, located on San Pablo Avenue at 64th Street, one block from the Emeryville border, serves as Emeryville's Catholic church.  As the Reverend explains, "Our parish encompasses all of Emeryville and a little of Oakland & Berkeley.  So Emeryville is in our parish."  And that is likely an extra reason why he is pained to see the City Council's recalcitrance on the issue of a Gaza ceasefire.   "It shocks me to the high heaven that those who supposedly represent us all on the Emeryville City Council would vote against calling for a ceasefire [except Council member Kalimah Priforce], he told the Tattler. 

St Columba Church, noteworthy for its quest for "radical inclusivity" as Father Aiden puts it, is unafraid of practicing what is preached.  The church is identified with its yearly growing collection of wooden crosses alongside San Pablo Ave representing those killed by gunfire in Oakland, a large 'Racism is Sin' banner and now a banner calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.  Other churches in the Emeryville area have also loudly called for a ceasefire in Gaza, among them the Berkeley Methodist United Church on Carlton Street.  That church, led by Emeryville resident Pastor Pamela Kurtz had, until recently, a banner out front proclaiming "Love Demands Permanent Ceasefire Now' (since vandalized). 

Banner at the Berkeley Methodist Unified Church
A few blocks from Emeryville.

                  

The City Council moved to refuse even a discussion of a ceasefire resolution in December, a few months after they unanimously approved a resolution calling out Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, a fact not lost on Council member Priforce who invoked it when he made his Gaza resolution discussion presentation to his colleagues.  Noteworthy is that none of the other four Council members, including Mr Bauters will comment publicly why Ukraine is good for the City to opine on but not Gaza.  For the record, there is a large Ukrainian solidarity flag flying on the front of St Columba Church.  Council member Sukhdeep Kaur did ask Mr Priforce at the December 5th meeting how supporting a ceasefire could be seen as unifying for Emeryville citizens after calling it "polarizing".  Mr Priforce explained that by its nature, a resolution IS unifying but he added, "We can choose language that best reflects Emeryville".  That was not enough to sway Ms Kaur and she quickly voted NO along with Mayor Bauters and Council members Courtney Welch and David Mourra.

A moral counterweight to the overly circumspect Emeryville City Council majority, the Reverend McAleenan noted over 140 countries have called for a ceasefire in Gaza.  "Speaking as a northern Irish man who grew up in war and was a second class citizen as a Roman Catholic, I hurt with those who hurt and those who are 'othered'.  Ceasefire is the only way." he said.  Suggesting the City Council majority may be too timid, the Reverend added, "Criticizing Israel is not anti semitic.  We are called in our humanity to call out inhumanity everywhere.  Israel is not the Jewish faith.  All governments need to be held accountable, including our own."

Council member Priforce is an active parishioner at St Columba Church.  

Council member Bauters is running for the position of Alameda County District 5 Supervisor in November and will give up his Emeryville City Council seat no matter the election outcome.  

Mr Bauters and the other Council members against the ceasefire resolution discussion were asked but did not comment for this story.

Emeryville's St Columba Catholic Church
Located at 6401 San Pablo Avenue in Oakland.

Mayor Welch Reverses Ban On Citizen 'Time Yielding' at City Council Meetings

 Former Mayor John Bauters' Tight Control on Citizen Free Speech Lifted by Mayor Courtney Welch (a little)

Citizens Now Allowed to Yield Their Time to Other Citizen Speakers

Mayor Courtney Welch
Tuesday's action means more rights for citizens
addressing their government.  Accountability is
increased (slightly).

In a rare opening up of government accountability, Mayor Courtney Welch announced Tuesday she is reversing a former ban on citizen ‘time yielding’ at City Council meetings.  As is the case in most cities, Emeryville citizens will now be allowed to yield their (two minute) speaking time to another citizen, thereby doubling the speaking time of those granted the extra time, up to four minutes.  

While Mayor Welch did not indicate she would permit more than one citizen to yield their time per go as many other cities in the East Bay do, this expansion of citizen free speech in Emeryville is nonetheless unprecedented.  Over the last decade plus and picking up speed under the tenure of former Mayor John Bauters, citizens wishing to engage with their government by offering up public comment at Council meetings faced nothing but increasing constraint.

The time yield concept was tested Tuesday by members of the staff, who’s union; SEIU, was expressing their disfavor over a City Hall planned 6% roll back on their pay when a staff member called out from the gallery, “I yield my time to the speaker” who’s two minutes speaking time had run out.  It was an outburst that would have brought the gavel down during the time of Mayor John Bauters.  Instead of dropping the gavel, Ms Welch calmly acquiesced and then granted it again to another SEIU member later in the meeting.  And, because all citizens must be treated fairly and equally by the government, citizens are now granted the right to yield their time at Emeryville City Council meetings.

In Emeryville, mayors are given the power to grant or forbid the yielding of public comment time and also the number of minutes citizens are allowed to speak.  California law requires a minimum one minute per citizen for each agenda item but most cities grant three minutes.  Commonly, mayors will lower the speaking time if there are large numbers of speakers.

Former Mayor John Bauters
Not a fan of accountability, Mr Bauters moved to constrain
citizen's ability to speak at City Council meetings making it 
less free than any other time in more than 40 years.

The new increase in ability for citizens to speak to their government in Emeryville is rare indeed.  Twenty years ago, speaking time for public comments was five minutes and multiple citizens could yield their time to speakers at the podium for each agenda item.  This was chipped away at over the years.  The speaking time was first lowered to three minutes and then down to two minutes by Mayor Bauters.  The ability for citizens to yield time was also then taken away by Mayor Bauters.  So draconian were the anti-free speech policies at City Hall by the end of Mayor Bauters tenure, Emeryville had the ill fortune of having the harshest constraints on citizen engagement of all neighboring cities.  Mayor Welch’s increase in Emeryville citizen's free speech rights, incremental though it may be, reverses the nearly two decade long slide.  

Pixar's Broken Promises Affect Schools, Affordable Housing

 Pixar Said it Would Fund Our Schools...

Where is the Money?

Tattler Protest Causes Pixar, Schools, City to 

Unite in Resistance 

City Hall, Schools Don't Seem to Want the Promised Money

Emeryville’s schools and affordable housing problems are worse today because two decades of broken promises by a local successful and beloved company that’s become one of the biggest corporations in the world.  In a deal made two decades ago for a corporate campus expansion that failed to deliver for local residents, Pixar, now a division of Disney Corporation told Emeryville voters they would fund Emeryville’s schools and give $700,000 yearly to help pay for affordable housing, neither of which has materialized. 

An election, held on November 2nd 2004, concerned whether Pixar, who wanted a major campus expansion, should be subject to a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that would bring improvements to the Emeryville community.  Pixar, who didn't want to be beholden to a CBA said its promises to fund the schools and provide money for affordable housing were enough.  To help assure victory, Pixar told the City and residents, they would pack up and leave Emeryville if the two ballot measures allowing for the expansion didn't pass.  

The promises were not a part of the development agreement but Pixar spent more than $200,000 and went around the City of Emeryville, making their promises directly to the Emeryville voters in their 'Yes on T&U' campaign mailers sent to every household.  The majority of voters said yes, handing Pixar a victory and as a consequence, there was no CBA but the promises to fund the schools and to fund affordable housing are still in effect.    

The Tattler will continue the protest against Pixar's 
broken promises over the next few months despite the 
threats from the City of Emeryville.

The campus expansion agreement gave Pixar a very large parcel of land that was previously earmarked in the General Plan for housing and also an entire public street, the former Emery Street between Park Avenue and 45th Street.  The land consolidation made in the agreement created Emeryville’s largest ‘super block’, stretching all the way from Hollis Street to nearly San Pablo Avenue.  Super blocks are antithetical to pedestrian activity and other goals of mixed use zoning.   They are generally seen in planning circles as a hallmark of broken public policy. 

Since 2004, Pixar has failed to fund the school district at all and it has failed to pay the City for affordable housing at a rate any higher than it did before the campus expansion.  The promises were made in campaign literature mailed to every voter by the ‘Yes on T&U’ campaign committee registered with the State of California.

As the 20 year anniversary of Measures T&U approaches, the Tattler has stepped up the pressure on Pixar with a 12 foot protest banner placed at the main gate on Park Avenue.  The protest will continue on occasionally and unannounced through the summer and into November.

Pixar spent $200,000 to convince Emeryville voters, threatening
to leave if they didn't get everything they wanted.

Noteworthy in the protest, nobody from the City of Emeryville or the School District has shown any interest in getting Pixar to honor their promises.  Odd because those two agencies stand to benefit from Pixar paying the money they said they would.  In fact, the City has ‘sided’ with Pixar in the imbroglio.  In a January 19th letter obtained in a public records request, City Manager Paul Buddenhagen told Pixar Facilities Manager Patty Bonfilio, the impending protest banner would be considered a “threat to property” and he added, “we will be on alert to him”, referring to the Tattler editor.

We reached out to the School Board and the Superintendent of the District for this story but our letters and calls were not answered.  Also, Paul Buddenhagen was contacted but he did not return calls or emails.  Rounding out blanket refusals to comment was Pixar’s Director of Public Relations, Eric Zerton.  

We tried to hand out literature explaining about the broken promises to employees driving in
in the morning but none would take a flyer.  One employee expressed fear of reprisals from Pixar,
"There are cameras out here", they said.
One interesting thing we learned: Virtually EVERY Pixar employee
 drives to work.  We saw zero bikes and only one pedestrian in the hour and a half we were there.

Emeryville’s then City Manager John Flores sells the Pixar expansion to the Planning Commission (above).  

He said the suburban style development “will better meet the City’s vision for providing a more dense, vibrant urban city”.   In fact Pixar has not provided community vibrancy at all, locked away as they are in their sealed campus, with no community interaction whatsoever.  But he saved the biggest canard for last; “Pixar has been and will continue to be a major benefactor to the community, supporting the schools”, he told the decision makers.  No City Manager since then has explained the broken promise and what should be done about it.

Emeryville City Manager Announces He's Quitting

 Paul Buddenhagen Lasts Less Than Two Years as Emeryville City Manager

Is City Hall Dysfunction a Reason For His Departure? 

And so another Emeryville City Manager bugs out.  

Paul Buddenhagen announced to the people of Berkeley yesterday he will be leaving his Emeryville job where he’s been for less than two years, to take up the position of Berkeley City Manager.  While he will take a much larger salary than the $280,000 he receives in Emeryville, that fact was not mentioned as a contributing factor.   Mr Buddenhagen is familiar with Berkeley, having served as Berkeley’s Deputy City Manager before his Emeryville stint.

During his short stint in command at Emeryville, Mr Buddenhagen’s governing style dovetailed with the City Council majority.  One of his first acts was to close down Emeryville’s formerly popular ‘Coffee With the City Manager’ program that invited average citizens to come to City Hall to freely ask questions and solicit ideas.  Coffee With the City Manager has been a once a month scheduled event since 2015 (with a break during Covid), started by then Manager Sabrina Landreth.  Every Emeryville City Manager up until Paul Buddenhagen continued on with the tradition. 

Paul Buddenhagen
Emeryville's newest former City Manager.
Despite a guiding philosophy matching the 
City Council majority, he departs in September.

 

The curtailing of citizen engagement has not happened in a vacuum.  The City Council majority, led by the two termer John Bauters, has largely forgone accountably, commanding a government famously unresponsive to its constituents.  Mr Bauters and now Mayor Courtney Welch have tightly controlled citizen participation, disallowing constituents or the local press access.  Unlike previous Council members, they are not available - not by phone, emails or any other venue.  The only way the Tattler has been able to get any answers to questions at all from Mr Bauters has been as a result of rushing him with our camera as he is caught in public.  Mr Buddenhagen has also governed with a ‘no public access’ policy, probably taking his cues from Mr Bauters.  Notably, two Council members do make themselves available to answer constituent’s questions, Vice Mayor David Mourra and Council member Kalimah Priforce.

Mr Buddenhagen has managed City Hall with an illiberal undemocratic guiding philosophy with timidity as a default.  In response to a man with a camera, he permanently closed down more than 90% of the people’s building in 2023.  More recently he closed down the popular Zoom capability for citizens to remotely speak at meetings because of some Nazis who had called in with racist comments. 

While it is compelling that the City of Berkeley is offering Mr Buddenhagen more money than Emeryville is willing to pay, we can’t be sure that's the only or even the primary reason for his leaving.  For the last two years, the Council, controlled by Mr Bauters and gladly taken up recently by Ms Welch, has been a locus of uncivil and boorish behavior.  Recriminations are routinely handed down from the dais against citizens as well as against the dissenting Council member Priforce.  The dysfunction and turmoil may have contributed to Mr Buddenhagen’s decision to depart.  

City Manager Buddenhagen will leave for Berkeley in September.  He did not answer calls for this story.

Apple Gets Free Use of Emeryville Police Cars in Security Deal

Apple Corporation, Worth $2.8 Trillion, Gets Free Use of Emeryville Police Cars

EPD Officers Get Overtime Pay for Security, Courtesy of Apple 

But

Taxpayers Pick up the Tab for the Extra Wear and Tear on the Cars

The Apple store at the Bay Street mall recently entered into a mutually beneficial security agreement with the Emeryville Police Department wherein the corporation pays the City of Emeryville in full, for any cops who volunteer to pick up overtime pay to guard the store but the agreement does not compensate for use of City owned police cars, the Tattler has learned.  The EPD officers who sign on to become Apple security guards use the same City owned cruisers they use while on regular City time.  Apple mandates the guard duty requires officers to be in the store or to sit in their car in a specially designated police only parking spot directly in front.  For that, Apple is willing to pay for one officer at all times during business hours 10-8 pm M-S and 11-6pm Sunday.  EPD officers, wishing to bolster their income, have been filling up almost every time slot offered by Apple according to officers questioned.

There's an EPD officer and car at the Apple store
whenever the store is open.  What do we call
them when they're working the security detail?
Officer Blart?

Officers wanting to accrue more overtime pay than what they can get through the Department can sign on for Apple duty before or after their Emeryville shifts.  The offer has turned out to be quite popular for the officers who note the job is considerably easier than what the Department expects of them.

One officer who wished to remain anonymous, told the Tattler the free use of the patrol cars is warranted in their opinion because Apple doesn’t have exclusive use of the cars while they are being used for the security detail.  The agreement does provide for free use of the City’s police cars but the police are permitted to go after a perpetrator, with the car, if they see a crime being committed close by, the officer said.  Alternatively, they can take the time to radio other officers on patrol to go after a criminal they see.

A check of rentals for police cars in the Bay Area revealed prices usually start at $300 per day for a retired but still ‘fully loaded’ Crown Victoria police car with lights and sirens.  A currently operational vehicle, like what Apple is getting, would rent for more than $300. 

The costs associated by extra wear and tear on the vehicles for the Apple agreement is paid by Emeryville taxpayers.

Apple, who did not respond to requests for comment about this story has a market cap worth of at least 2.8 trillion dollars according to Google.

Promised "Destination Restaurant" Site Sits Empty For Nine Years

 Developer/City Scams Emeryville Citizens 

"Non-Chain Destination Restaurant" Promised for Parc-on-Powell Project Was Never To Be 

5700 Hollis Street
This was going to be a non-chain restaurant 
serving the community.  Instead, for nine years it has been
vacant like so many other Emeryville storefronts.

With promises of a non-chain destination restaurant made to the public from City Hall and a very visible prime central Emeryville location opening directly onto a park, people may wonder why the storefront retail at the ‘Parc on Powell’ project at 5700 Hollis has remained empty since the site was developed as a mixed use project more than nine years ago.  The storefront, over 3000 square feet in size sits below a large apartment block and has been ready for a tenant for almost a decade.  But it remains vacant like so many other empty storefronts in Emeryville, a festering wound on the town’s retail streetscape.  A recent Tattler investigation found there was never any intention to bring a restaurant here despite all the promises from the developer and the City.

A quick check reveals money is the primary reason this has not rented out to any retail tenant.  At $13,000 per month and the encumbrance of a minimum five year lease, so far no retailer feels they can turn a profit at this location at that price.  On top of that, we found out recently the space was built back in 2015 in such a way as to preclude a restaurant, so says Megan Basso of Walnut Creek’s Lockehouse Realty, the retail broker assigned to the address.  Ms Basso has been trying to rent out the space to anybody for years, it’s just that no takers have surfaced she says. 

The storefront sits right on a park, with an outdoor seating
area adjacent to the green.  Perfect for a restaurant.

After publicly made verbal guarantees from Emeryville’s former Planning Director, Charlie Bryant to the whole community that a restaurant would rent out the space, we find out nine years later that was never going to happen.  Plumbing, HVAC and other infrastructure necessary for restaurant use with apartments above, was not designed into the space from the beginning, rendering the space unworkable for restaurant use.

Heading off any opposition from the community for the proposed development back in 2015, the City sweetened the pot by dangling a destination restaurant before the public.  The development proposal sailed through the approval process without substantial community objection.  That might have been the only use of the "restaurant" to the City (and the developer).   

This is the green just off the small plaza fronting the 
would-be restaurant.  Perfect for outdoor dining with kids.
But, protecting the developer, the City lied to us.

Restaurant or not, libertarians among us might wonder why the property owners don’t start lowering the rent until they get any taker; the whole supply and demand thing.  In reality, many if not most apartment tower owners in Emeryville (usually large real estate investment trust corporations) are not interested in renting out their storefront retail spaces and they just write it off as a loss for tax purposes.  It’s the same reason why the Sherwin Williams developer on Sherwin Street  (called ‘The Emery’), Lennar Corporation, hasn’t rented out the retail associated with that property.  After years of promising local neighborhood serving retail at both the Emery and Parc on Powell and after the City of Emeryville refused to get the assurances in writing, now these developers are letting the storefronts sit empty, bringing down the neighborhoods.  

This scenario has repeated itself over and over again over the years in Emeryville.  The only reason why there is retail storefront at each new apartment tower is because the Emeryville Planning Department is forcing the developers to put them in so they can sell the project to the public as a General Plan conforming ‘mixed use’ development.  After that planning box is checked, there’s nobody minding the store (so to speak) and the retail sits empty for decades as the developer takes his tax write off.

Director Bryant has since retired and was unavailable for comment for this story.

Mayor Welch Becomes the ‘Candace Owens’ of Emeryville, Lashing Out Against Critics

Mayor Courtney Welch Makes a Slashing Power Play For a Rare Political Opening

Lame Duck ‘Strongman of Emeryville’ John Bauters Leaves Political Vacuum Welch Seeks

Emeryville’s Mayor Goes on Bullying Offensive Against Her Constituents, Colleague and the Local Media

News Analysis

Emeryville residents might be wondering and alarmed at Mayor Courtney Welch’s increasing childish attacks against critics, especially her social media tirades against her council colleague Kalimah Priforce and the editors of both of Emeryville’s online news journals.  Giving away her pugilist and impolitic impulses, many citizens have noted how Mayor Welch finds comfort in unleashing streams of invective rhetoric against anyone with the temerity to challenge her. What many hoped the City’s recently adopted Code of Ethics would temper, Mayor Welch’s increasing attacks have continued undiminished, even increased.  This sort of divisive politics, rampant across much of America, has landed in Emeryville to the dismay of many.

Mayor Courtney Welch: Bully
Ask for accountability and wait for the fireworks.
All chaotic dysfunction mode all the time.
Regardless, she says she's "fighting for the people".
Which people?  Developer people?

The pettiness coming from Ms Welch may be illiberal but it is not without reason as it turns out.

After former mayor and indubitable ‘Strongman Leader of Emeryville’ John Bauters’ announcement in December that he would be seeking an Alameda County Supervisor Board seat, he  automatically vacates his council seat come November. This has created a gaping political vacuum of influence with potentially one of four council members to fill.  Ms Welch appears to be seizing the strongman position with her style of ‘mean girl cheerleader’ rancor against any would-be challengers.

The persistent brashness of relentless attacks by Mayor Welch serves to highlight the rare and seductive power that the unwritten position of ‘Strongman Leader of Emeryville’ embodies. Indeed, there have only been two of this archetype in Emeryville politics over the last 35 years; long term Council member Nora Davis (1987-2016) and John Bauters (2016-2024). Owing to our peculiar and seemingly entrenched political culture, since the mid 1980s, the Strongman Leader of Emeryville exercises unwarranted power over our town with the aid of a compliant, subservient council majority made up of sycophantic minions. 

In this way, both Davis and Bauters employed developer-friendly stances with no effective opposition.  Dissident Council members in the minority over the last 35 years have been progressive but ineffective.  Council member Priforce now serves as the lone dissenting progressive voice.  Through the 80s, 90s and 2000s, Jennifer West, Jac Asher, John Fricke and Greg Harper stood where Priforce currently stands, but Mr Priforce’s Brooklyn born scrapper-style bravado seems like a new kind of opposition. 

With a conspicuous onslaught of unprecedented public taunts and attacks against her critics online and in the council chambers, Ms Welch’s combative style is conjuring up the bad girl Candace Owens of Fox News fame - the bombastic political commentator that vilifies progressives and utilizes social media as her most powerful tool.

Notable is a fresh series of tweets against E’ville Eye editor Rob Arias who has been critical of her online behavior.  In the past, Mayor Welch outed Mr Arias online for defrauding Emeryville’s Below Market Rate (BMR) housing program, leaving herself open to investigations into her own BMR rental status to be challenged by the Emeryville Tattler after discovering inadequate reportings of her household income; violations which would have disqualified most people.


Lame Duck City Councilman John Bauters
He replaced Nora Davis as Strongman Leader
but now his star is beginning to set in Emeryville.




Attacks against Mr Priforce’s dissenting voice on the Council have emanated mostly from Council member Bauters, but notable is the co-joining and ramping up of attacks by Mayor Welch of late.  On numerous occasions, Ms. Welch has retweeted (the “X” platform formerly known as Twitter) Mr Priforce’s tweets with spurious charges thrown against him.  Regardless of provocation, Mr. Priforce, it should be noted, has never taken to social media to attack Ms. Welch, and has shown restraint from criticizing his colleague's posts.  

Given our town’s proclivity for enabling the ‘Strongman Leader of Emeryville’ role beyond that which is normal, it is easy to imagine how the Mayor’s recent power play will work out to her advantage.  The barrage of attacks against the local media and her lone progressive council colleague can be interpreted as a show of force directed at her remaining colleagues, Council members David Mourra and Sukhdeep Kaur.  Lacking the audacity of Mayor Welch, Mr Mourra and Ms Kaur are being expected to fall-in-line as her minions, as they did earlier for Mr Bauters.

Calling herself “A fighter for the people,” without specifying which people (corporate developers and landlords are people) and without recognizing the irony, the ambitious Courtney Welch, like John Bauters, is likely using the position of Strongman Leader of Emeryville, as a launching pad for her quest for higher political office beyond Emeryville.

After realizing the path was closed to her by way of the Oakland City Council in the city she lived up until two years ago, Ms Welch saw our town as a place where she could bide her time and build her name. Less than two months after moving to Emeryville she began her campaign for City Council.  Less than a year after winning, she along with former Council members Dianne Martinez and Ally Medina, requested a collegiality pledge from Democratically-endorsed candidates to sign, agreeing to always be respectful and courteous as Council members.  The promise for comity was short-lived after Priforce faced attacks of “sexism,” for suggesting that Welch or Medina be selected as mayor rather than a second term for Bauters.

In an attempt to decrease hostilities in City Hall, an Emeryville Code of Ethics, inspired by Emeryville residents Elizabeth Montgomery and Eugene Tssui, was adopted which all five Council members supported.  Regardless, Mayor Welch sees her next step is to become Strongman Leader of Emeryville now that John Bauters will be leaving us and she feels the best way forward is to publicly attack all critics.

From Emeryville’s Code of Ethics:

“The professional and personal conduct of Council Members must be above reproach and avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Members shall refrain from abusive conduct, personal charges or verbal attacks upon the character or motives of other Members, the public, and staff. This requirement is applicable to Members at all times.”

“The constant and consistent theme through all of the conduct guidelines is “respect.” Members are called upon to exhibit appropriate behavior at all times.  Demonstrating respect for each individual through words and actions is the touchstone that can help guide Members to take appropriate action even in the most difficult situations.  In all cases, this common goal should be acknowledged even though individuals may “agree to disagree” on contentious issues.”

Below is just a small sampling of the witty repartee from our Emeryville mayor (dishonor yourself much?).  It's all about punching down and remaining unaccountable.  It's too bad our Code of Ethics has no teeth.

Mayor Welch can't stand journalists that hold her to account.

How convenient!  What other pol also trashes journalists?  

Hint: initials are DJT.