Tree Stumps on Horton Street Tell Us How Politics Works In Emeryville

 

The Stumps Are Telling Us How Broken City Hall Is

Emeryville Needs Tree Ordinance Reform 

The Ordinance is Too Weak to Save Trees

News Analysis

Tuesday June 15th 2021 has to go down in history as one of the low points in Emeryville politics.  That’s the date the City Council finally agreed to let the developer Lennar Corporation, kill every public street tree abutting their Sherwin Williams Horton Street project.  But this isn’t just a matter of a developer cutting our trees down.  That’s so common in Emeryville, it’s not even newsworthy.  Why the loss these particular trees is so notable is how revealing of the sycophantic culture at City Hall was the two year circuitous path that led to the stumps along Horton Street.  These stumps show us the how the government works at 1333 Park Avenue — how it works for developers, not for us.

Council members Dianne Martinez and Ally Medina
They're featured on one of the stumps their votes produced.
They steadfastly voted to cut all the Horton Street trees
over the years regardless of the wildly changing reasons
the staff has presented to them.

The final City Council vote to allow the developer to cut all the trees was 3-1 (Donahue dissenting).  The swing vote was delivered by the recently resigned Council member Christian Patz who changed his vote, his last vote as a City Council member incidentally, to allow Lennar to cut the trees.  Mr Patz told the Tattler he changed his vote after Mayor Dianne Martinez publicly announced right before the final vote that Lennar had before the Tuesday meeting, gone to the City staff to obtain a special ‘nuisance’ status for the trees that guaranteed the developer the right to cut the trees with or without the City Council.  Mr Patz said he felt at that point the trees were doomed and that the elected officials should take the heat for killing the trees, not the City staff.

Losing these street trees means a loss for the streetscape friendliness, the shade and cooling they provided and all the other benefits that can be said urban trees provide of course.  But it’s not that collectively we didn’t get anything in trade for agreeing to cut them.  What these stumps on Horton Street have bought us is the realization that our values in Emeryville, as codified by our ordinances, are only as strong as we live them.  As simple as it sounds, our ordinance meant to save our trees, the Urban Forestry Ordinance, can only actually save our trees if we vigilantly guard against developers who would cut them by living the life of the tree appreciators the UFO represents.   

That’s what’s missing at City Hall: tree appreciation.

Regrettable Backdrop

In 2018, Lennar went to City Hall seeking permission from the Planning Commission to kill all the street trees abutting their project.   The staff recommended the Commission permit the killing of all the trees along Sherwin Street claiming the existing trees didn’t match the developer’s desire for a different species and that Lennar had a right to a “unified streetscape” near their project (never mind this is not in the UFO).  After Planning Commission buy-in, the Council let that through and the Sherwin Street trees were all cut. 

Then there was the matter of the Horton Street trees, much grander and more visible than the Sherwin Street trees.  For those trees, the staff told the Planning Commission the Horton Street trees were all “unhealthy” and they must therefore all be cut.  But the Tattler pushed back and proved the City’s own arborist said the majority of the Horton trees were “fair” to “healthy”.  

Former City Councilman
Christian Patz
Frustrated by the vote, he said
'If there's a rule, Emeryville
will get around it'.

Undaunted, the staff, representing Lennar, still in 2018, told the City Council at the April 17th  meeting the Horton trees must all be cut because they would be in the way of underground utilities associated with the project.  Again, the Tattler led the drive to prove this was also false.  But not before the staff told the Council they must vote that night on the fate of the trees.  Council member Patz told the staff he resented the Hobson’s choice being offered that night and said he would therefore vote to save the trees. 

The vote that night was 2-2 with Council member Ally Medina joining Mayor Dianne Martinez in approving the cutting of the trees.  Council members Scott Donahue and Christian Patz voted against the cutting (Council member John Bauters is not allowed to vote on this because he lives too close to the project and state law forbids it).  The tie vote meant Lennar could not cut the trees. 

Backpedaling and still representing the interests of Lennar, the staff then reported the vote COULD be delayed and called for another vote at a later date.  

And delayed it was.  At the September 17th 2019 meeting, the matter of the Horton Street trees was back before the Council.  This time, the staff admitted the trees were not in the way of the underground utilities (save for one) and they had been wrong about that.  An “embarrassed” Council member Ally Medina publicly apologized for her earlier vote to cut the trees.  She said she had believed the staff when they said the trees were in the way of the underground utilities.

Undaunted, the staff, still working for Lennar in 2021, accepted the developer’s claim the Horton trees were “nuisances” before the final Council meeting on the 15th.  The nuisance designation meant that the trees would actually have to be cut by order from the City of Emeryville as an abatement against Lennar (never mind it was Lennar’s idea).  The nuisance designation also meant Lennar would not have to plant equal replacement trees as the UFO mandates.  The final deal was all the trees would be cut and a two inch sapling would be planted for each tree as well as five other small saplings planted elsewhere.

None of this stopped the two Councilwomen from claiming victory for the people of Emeryville.  Council member Ally Medina said the five saplings would make for a “greener and more beautiful city” while Mayor Martinez, told her colleagues she would not listen to their deliberations in the matter of the Horton trees, she said she had already made up her mind to kill the trees before the debate, “Let me indicate for you tonight, how I’m going to vote” she said.  Later, before the 3-1 vote, Mayor Martinez told everyone that despite her 2018 vote to kill the trees and despite her earlier in the meeting admitting she had already made up her mind, she told a shocked crowd, “Before, I was on the side of doing everything we could to save the trees, but now I’m on the side of having the healthiest and most vibrant trees we can”. 

The staff, working in the interest of Lennar Tuesday said the roots of the trees were close to the surface and that’s why they lifted the sidewalks there and that’s why they should be killed (the nuisance abatement notwithstanding).  The two Councilwomen seized that argument and ran with it but Christian Patz was incensed.  He admonished his two colleagues for their votes to kill the trees because there were no new facts presented Tuesday night he said, “The arborist said [back in 2018] these are known facts” he told his colleagues.  

It was after that, the Mayor, feeling the vote could be another 2-2 affair like the 2018 vote announced, “If we deadlock tonight,  the developer has the opportunity to go straight to our city administration and ask for waivers.  I just want to put that out there.”  And then Christian Patz changed his vote to a YES to allow Lennar to cut all our trees, his last vote as an Emeryville City Council member.  

Casting his last vote, Council member Patz, clearly pained, announced "I'm frustrated by the nature of Emeryville, which is, there's a rule, but we'll get around it".  And those were the final parting words to the people of Emeryville from the former Councilman.

The Former Sherwin Williams Horton Street Trees (on left)
The staff, working in the interests of the developer, falsely told the Council the trees
were unhealthy and in the way of underground utilities.  Those arguments weren't enough 
to convince the Council majority.  Only after the staff said the trees were designated as
"nuisances" and legally required to be cut, did Councilman Patz join his two women
 colleagues and vote to kill the trees.

All The Sherwin Williams Trees Killed Today

The chainsaws started up this morning at 7:00 and by 2:00 they were just a bunch of stumps.  Photos of Mayor Martinez and Councilwoman Medina were nailed on the top of each stump.

Before 

After

Before

After

Come Say Goodbye to the Trees

The last weekend for the Sherwin Williams trees

Chainsaw Looming Next Week After Citizens Lose a Multi-Year Battle to Save the Trees

Emeryville tree lovers have likely lost a multi-year battle to save blocks of public street trees on Horton Street after a contentious City Council meeting on Tuesday night.  Lennar development workers today removed the protective straw wrappings from around the public street trees joining the Sherwin Williams project after the developer, working with the city staff, invoked a little known and never before used ‘nuclear option’ back door in Emeryville’s Urban Forrest Ordinance (UFO) enabling the for profit development corporation to cut down all the people’s trees without oversight from the elected officials.  The removal of the protective wrapping for the trees, running for three blocks along Horton Street, indicated Lennar and the City will likely move forward with their plan to cut down all the trees despite an announced emergency grassroots citizen proposal to save the trees until voters can weigh in on the issue in November.  

In the days to come, the Tattler will report a detailed piece on Tuesday night's last ditch use of the UFO nuclear option by the staff and Lennar.  The option, inserted into the UFO by staff several years ago, has never been optioned and was considered by many to be too bold for a developer to leverage barring some kind of emergency. The Tattler reported that the trees were saved after Lennar lost a split Council vote two years ago to cut them all.  

In the meanwhile come and say good bye to the trees that will likely all be killed to enhance Lennar’s profit margin in the controversial Sherwin Williams housing project.

The corner of Sherwin and Horton Street looking north.

Workers took the protective wrappings off the trees today
(seen cast against the building).

Come Say Good Bye
By Friday evening they'll likely all be cut down.

Public Meeting Called About Controversial Sherwin Williams Toxic Waste Cleanup

 State Toxic Waste Regulators Hosting Important Update on Emeryville’s Contaminated Sherwin Williams Redevelopment Site

A century of chemical and paint manufacturing left behind dangerous levels of industrial contamination at a large site along Horton Street being redeveloped for housing.

On Thursday, officials from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) will present a “Five year review” of attempts to remove and mitigate contamination, and detail the potential health threats to those choosing to live at the site, or spend long periods of time there. 

DTSC Officials will collect public input at the on-line meeting, though members of the public must RSVP. You can do so here: https://dtsccagov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pwIiJEamSkOhYkqmKkOB4Q

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 17 from 6:30-8 pm

A DTSC employee and former Sherwin Williams project manager has criticized both the developer, Lennar Multi-family, and  DTSC colleagues, accusing Lennar of cutting corners, changing testing criteria in order to reduce costs and speed the project. 

Toxic concentrations of the following compounds have been documented on the site.

Arsenic 

Lead 

Petroleum 

Volatile Organic Compounds 

In the early decades of operation, it was common practice to dispose of such waste in unlined pits. 

Technical issues left from the cleanup include possible VOC intrusion into ground floor residences at the future Sherwin Williams development, the arbitrary changing of soil cleanup levels by DTSC and groundwater arsenic concentrations flowing unchecked from the site according to the former project manager.

Thursday's public meeting is being held in response to citizen complaint about the Sherwin Williams site.

Project related documents: https://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/public/profile_report?global_id=60000189

Breaking News: City Action Leads to Rob Arias, E'Ville Eye Editor to Sell His Former Emeryville Home

 Breaking: City to Take Back its Affordable Home Previously Owned by E'Ville Eye Editor

Tattler Initiated Investigation Prompts City Action

BMR Program Beneficiary May Have Violated Conditions

Tonight, the Emeryville City Council effectuated the sale of the former home of embattled local gadfly and self styled political pundit Rob Arias who had been enrolled in the City’s Below Market Rate housing assistance program since 2003.  The Council took the action unanimously in a ‘consent calendar’ vote at the regularly scheduled Council meeting.  Mr Arias’ unit was taken back by the City in a responsive action to complaints after an investigation into the legitimacy of the contract Mr Arias had with the City regarding the habitation of his unit.  Under contract, all recipients of BMR ownership assisted housing in Emeryville must sign a yearly contract holding the unit as a ‘primary residence’ for 10 months out of every year, a condition the City may have found to be false in the case of Rob Arias.  A January 11th Tattler story revealed Mr Arias had purchased a two bedroom home in the city of Pleasant Hill in 2019.  Tonight's Council action was initiated by the City of Emeryville and initially challenged by Mr Arias but ultimately agreed to.

E'Ville Eye Editor Rob Arias
He has owned a home with his wife 
and child in the city of Pleasant Hill 
since 2019.

As a result of  tonight's action in the Council chambers, Rob Arias' unit, #322 at 1500 Park Avenue, will soon be wholly owned by the City of Emeryville and will be put back into service as affordable housing for low income people who want to live in Emeryville.  The City will buy back the below market rate unit from Mr Arias for $338,200.  After an inspection of the unit, a list of repairs was issued before the sale happens and the City takes possession. 

The Tattler first broke the story of the Arias residence in Emeryville after it was found Mr Arias and his wife purchased a home in Pleasant Hill in May 2019 for $630,000 while continuing to hold his Emeryville government assisted affordable unit.  The City launched an investigation as a result of the Tattler story and citizen complaints that came from it.  The current value of the two bedroom two and a half bath Pleasant Hill home is $751,000.  

Rob Arias, the editor of the right wing pro-business E’Ville Eye ‘community’ news site, has continued to tell his readers he lives in the Park Avenue district and that his “hyper local” E’Ville Eye is the voice of the community.  

Simultaneous with the Arias unit, the City of Emeryville is reviewing the entire BMR program for compliance city-wide in a process that is ongoing and has not been completed yet.  

The Tattler will continue to file public records requests investigating the sale of unit #322 at Park Avenue and other BMR units in the city and report in the days to come.  Watch this space.

BioMed Project Brings a Traffic Diverter to Horton Street

Councilman Bauters' Letter to Planning Commission Delivers Long Needed Traffic Diverter to Horton Street Bike Boulevard

With a number of major traffic inducing projects coming online for Horton Street, the first major attempt by the City of Emeryville to use provisions of its 10 year old Bike Plan to reduce vehicle traffic for the benefit of bicycling in the form of a full traffic diverter has been secured by Councilman John Bauters the Tattler has learned.  Mr Bauters, working behind the scenes and as a private citizen, managed to get the developer of the BioMed project, BioMed Realty to agree to pay for and install a full traffic diverter on Horton and Stanford streets just before a vote of the Planning Commission that would have not required such a traffic calming measure.  The diverter will allow bikes and emergency vehicles through but will block all other vehicle traffic on Horton Street, both north bound and south bound.  

In a February 24th letter to the Planning Commission, Mr Bauters, who is recused from deciding anything about the BioMed project as a City Council member (owing to his residence proximity to the project), told the Commissioners to require a full diverter as a condition of approval and reassuringly, he informed them that after discussions between himself and company representatives, BioMed was amenable to a full diverter.  The Commission voted to make the full diverter at Horton and Stanford Street a condition of approval at their meeting the following evening.

The BioMed 'Emeryville Center for Innovation'
Hollis Street at Stanford looking south.
Will bring 4000 new cars but also a long needed
traffic diverter to Horton Street.

The future of Horton Street is a future with lots of cars, in excess of 11,000 per day.  The Sherwin Williams residential project, now being built, will add almost 4000 cars per day to the street and the BioMed project will add a 2000 space 11 story parking garage to Horton Street, also netting a total of 4000 vehicle trips per day for a total of almost 8000 more cars per day on the street.  Horton Street is a designated bike boulevard that is not allowed to have in excess of 3000 vehicle trips per day, an amount that’s lower than what’s on the street now.  This new BioMed diverter promises to significantly lower the number.

The design of the diverter will be built as planned in the City’s Bike Plan drafted 10 years ago and, other than a diverter placed on Doyle Street as a result of the COVID pandemic eight months ago, represents the first time the City has attempted to calm traffic by following the Bike Plan.  The diverter might still not be enough to reduce the traffic to the 3000 per day threshold and more could be added at a later time.  The Sherwin Williams project is in discussion with the City to possibly add a partial diverter at 40th Street.  Up until now, the City has not entertained adding diverters to Horton Street, the premier north/south bike route in town, and the street has been out of compliance with the Bike Plan since its inception.  Of the five bike boulevards in Emeryville, only Doyle Street has been in compliance with the traffic volume as delineated by the Bike Plan.  

The diverter at Stanford and Horton streets will mean many vehicles will divert over to Hollis Street, likely loading that thoroughfare up with much worse rush hour traffic jams.

The BioMed proposal originally included a traffic calming device at Horton and Stanford but as it was designed, it would only serve as a partial diverter according to Councilman Bauters.   The original design would not reduce vehicle traffic enough to meet the required threshold the Councilman told the Commissioners.  In his February 24th letter, he showed the Commissioners how the design was substandard both in traffic reduction and in safety.  “The current design does not prevent a northbound driver from making a right hand turn, followed by an illegal left or U-turn maneuver at Stanford Street, he said.  “Inadequate design at this location, coupled with the location's intersection of the Emeryville Greenway will result in not only drivers colliding with pedestrians and bicyclists, but also with other drivers coming southbound through the new proposed curve.”  He also showed how southbound drivers will be encouraged to use a newly opened Chiron Way to cut through the traffic diverter as originally planned.  The improved Bauters design will function as a real full diverter, just like how it’s supposed to according the the Bike Plan.

The BioMed project, also called the 'Emeryville Center for Innovation' represents a major expansion of the existing biotech research lab campus at Hollis and Stanford streets, extending south almost to 45th Street along Hollis Street.

Neither the City staff nor the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee raised any objections to the original pre-Bauters design and in fact both gave their approvals.  Interestingly, on the night of the Planning Commission meeting after they received the Councilman's letter, the staff did not object to his revision as presented to the Commission and the BPAC did not lodge any complaints after the unanimous Planning Commission vote to approve the full traffic diverter.

Correction: The City is considering adding one partial traffic diverter at 40th Street and Horton blocking northbound traffic onto Horton.  This is the only diverter under consideration to ameliorate the traffic generated by the Sherwin Williams project.  We initially reported a second partial diverter was being considered at 45th Street.

From the City's Bike Plan: Full Traffic Diverter at Horton and Stanford streets.
The BioMed diverter uses this exact design. 

Breaking News: Councilman Christian Patz Announces He Will Quit the Council

 Breaking: City Council Member to Quit Position

Christian Patz
Will leave his position as
City Council member.

Tonight, Emeryville City Councilman Christian Patz announced he is "formally stepping down" from his position on the City Council, effective as soon as is practical as he has accepted employment out of the Bay Area.   Mr Patz shocked his colleagues at the Council announcements section held at the beginning of the meeting.  Member Patz expressed he has lived in Emeryville for 18 years and that he is "truly saddened" at his leaving the City Council. 
He indicated he will keep his home in Emeryville but he and his family will be moving to Redding where he will be Executive Director for Shasta County 's special education program.   Mayor Dianne Martinez, after expressing she is "shocked and saddened" by the surprise announcement, stated future Council agenda items will address how the vacant position will be filled.  She stated she expects there will be "no gaps" on the Council as a result of Council member Patz's leaving.

Letter to the Tattler: Charlotte Danielson-Chang

 Letter to the Tattler: Charlotte Danielsson-Chang

Racism, Ageism Charged in City Council Planning Commission Selection

Watergate resident Charlotte Danielsson-Chang (bio below) writes to the Tattler about a recent selection of two new Planning Commissioners by the City Council whom she says were not properly selected.  Ms Danielsson-Chang, an applicant for the position of Planning Commissioner herself, was among four rejected  by the Council on March 16th (https://emeryville.granicus.com/player/clip/1949?view_id=5&redirect=true)   She charges the City Council with bias and racism among other improprieties in their selection of  Erica Zepko and Henry Symons (pictured below) to serve on the Commission.  As a preamble to her letter, Ms Danielsson-Chang sent the following to the Tattler:

“Ethics rules for public officials require fair process and public officials also have a duty of impartiality and merit-based decision making. With the exception of Scott Donahue, I believe the other City Councilmembers violated these ethics rules during the Planning Commission appointments process.  There were also elements of systemic racism and ageism in the process; a city council that considers itself progressive should at a minimum understand that electing insiders has the effect of bolstering systemic racism, ageism, and discouraging wider civic involvement by the community.” 

— Charlotte Danielsson-Chang

To the Emeryville Tattler Readers-

by Charlotte Danielsson-Chang

After days of complete shock over the bias and ethical violations I witnessed at an Emeryville City Council meeting on March 16th, I felt compelled to write an apology email to Dr. Eugene Tssui, a renowned Asian-American architect with over 30 years experience, for the treatment he received by the Emeryville City Council during his application for the Planning Commission. As a fellow Planning Commission applicant, I had no say over what happened but I felt like someone…anyone…needed to say the simple words of “I’m sorry that you were not treated fairly and not given the respect you deserved.”  

Ethics rules for public officials require merit-based decision making.

Dr Eugene Tssui has 32 years of experience and holds multiple advanced degrees in Architecture and City & Regional Planning, including two masters and a PhD from UC Berkeley. He is the author of 7 international books on architecture, city planning, ecology, biomimicry and ecological behavior change and has served as professor and instructor at 5 different universities including UC Berkeley. During his time as a Visiting Research Scholar at Harvard, he researched and developed biomimicry principles for developing construction materials that mimic the characteristics of zoological and botanical organisms. There has even been a documentary made about him. Before climate change, green building, conservation, using recycled materials were even words that existed in our vocabulary, Dr. Tssui was championing these concepts in urban planning and architecture.  The two candidates the City Council chose over Dr. Tssui? One is a mortgage broker working for a startup who graduated in 2010 that has only lived in Emeryville for 1.8 years; the other, a legislative liaison that graduated in 2016 that has lived in Emeryville for 7 years. Current Planning Commissioner C Tito Young  commented, “Dr. Tssui is what I would call a true ‘Renaissance Man.’  This is not a title, this is not a job description, and cannot be learned or taught. It is the ability to problem solve using multiple backgrounds, professional or otherwise, to obtain a solution.  It is more than a being purely sensitive because it entails a multidimensional level of observance.  In my lifetime, I have only met a handful of persons that may fall in that category.  They have the ability to realize the scope as a whole and not a scope as a part.  They are not swayed by popular belief or by any similar gains.  They simply want to make the built environment better, more interesting, and challenging to the social norm for people of many walks of life.”

Ethics rules for public officials require fair process and public officials also have a duty of impartiality.

With the exception of Councilmember Scott Donahue, the remaining Councilmembers violated all of these ethical rules on March 16th.  ”Are you familiar with the City of Emeryville’s Proposed Housing Expenditure Plan for Measure C?” asked Councilmember John Bauters of the applicants. Of course, no one but the two candidates selected who had spent time on the Housing Committee recently were likely to know the answer to that because it wasn’t one of the 5 questions interviewees were given in advance of the interview.  It also wasn’t even under the Planning Commission documents that your A+ type applicants would have reviewed prior to the interview; in fact, it was something that the Housing Committee (not the Planning Commission) had worked on recently. True, the City Council had voted on it at a meeting a few weeks prior to the March 16th interview for Planning Commissioner but the minutes of that meeting were not published until March 17th…the day after the Planning Commission interview.  Knowledge of Measure C’s Housing Expenditure Plan became the pivotal deciding factor for all of the Councilmembers with the exception of Scott Donahue.  This could lead any reasonable observer to wonder if this was not just a violation of fair process but also a violation of impartiality…or even a sign that the two chosen applicants had been preselected. “It baffles me that the city would not jump at the chance to have a pre-eminently qualified architect to be on the planning commission, one that is in the forefront of conservation and sustainability. The decision was not in the best interest of Emeryville, and I believe something was not right with the process.” Joe Lutz, former Emeryville Planning Commissioner for over 12 years and 45+ year resident of Watergate.  The Planning Commission handles a wide variety of issues of which affordable housing is only one element. Per the municipal code, the planning commission’s duties include residential, commercial, and industrial districts, traffic and parking conditions, boulevards, street openings and widenings, public parks, playgrounds, and other recreational areas, flood control, subdivisions.  Measure C was passed in July 2018 and numerous City Council planning commission selection meetings have been held since then.  Interestingly, knowledge of Measure C was not a deciding factor in those appointments…in fact, it was never even brought up as a question.  Note, also that appointment as a Planning Commissioner does not require any prior experience on another committee per the municipal code nor per prior practice of the City Council. “All of the candidates seemed reasonably qualified, however, in light of the mandate of the Planning Commission I was surprised that the Council chose not to select Eugene for one of the two Commission positions given his extraordinary qualifications. It’s a shame not to take advantage of this long-time Emeryville resident’s experience and commitment to city planning,” stated Steve Shane, Vice Chairperson of the City of Emeryville’s Commission on Aging.  

During the decision portion of the meeting, there wasn’t even a pretense of impartiality.  As Mayor, Dianne Martinez was responsible for leading the discussion and laying out the impartial criteria for decision making--a task she delegated to Councilmember John Bauters. Councilmember Bauters started off the discussion by stating that knowledge of Measure C was the deciding factor for the Planning Commission appointments.  He then proceeded to personally vouch for one of the applicants chosen because of his interactions with him. Councilmember Ally Medina then followed suit by herself endorsing that applicant as well.  Both Councilmembers then shared personal details about both applicants not in the record and actually used those details as additional criteria for their selection.  Of the first chosen applicant, Councilmember Bauters stated “he would be a phenomenal addition…..with his young family here in Emeryville I just think he offers a really excellent perspective.”  Councilmember Medina stated she was very impressed by the second chosen applicant who failed to attend due to a family emergency and stated “in an emergency situation she took the time to fill up the answers to our questions so she could still be considered tonight and I think that speaks to a level of commitment and quite frankly this committee requires a great deal of commitment.” Mayor Martinez, complicit in her silence during the inappropriate comments, ultimately took the path of least resistance by whole-heartedly agreeing with Bauters and Medina. 

What’s the cost of the bias to the community?

Narrow vision hurts Emeryville

“Housing already has its own committee.  Using housing as the deciding factor for Planning Commission appointments, that is just beyond dumb.  It’s such a narrow criteria, it makes me question whether those City Councilmembers are smart enough to be directing the city,” Celeste Burrows a 14 year member of Emeryville’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, 2 year member of the Council on Aging, and a resident of Emeryville for 27 years. State law requires that each city submit a general plan (i.e. blueprint for meeting the community’s long-term vision for the future) and provide annual updates on the progress of the city towards that plan.  The 9 elements of the General Plan are Land Use, Circulation, Housing, Safety, Noise, Conservation, Open Space, Urban Design and Sustainability and the General Plan is broken down into 79 specific actions that are to be completed in a 20 year period starting in 2009. Note, affordable housing is a subsection of the general housing element.  In the General Plan Annual Progress Report for 2020 (report date 2/18/2021) that the Emeryville city staff submitted to the Emeryville Planning Commission, it was noted that out of the 79 actions required in the General Plan, only 16 have actually been completed, 59 had some progress made on them in 2020, and 4 had no progress. 11 years into a 20 year plan, only completed 20% of the required actions have been completed!

Although Dr. Tssui and I had never met, or even spoken, before that City Council meeting, we both applied for the Planning Commission with the same thought…that it’s ridiculous that Emeryville is falling behind when it could so easily achieve its General Plan goals well in advance of its anticipated timeline if it stopped trying to reinvent the wheel! We both held decades of experience and connections from different parts of the world that had already successfully accomplished all of the things that Emeryville’s General Plan was attempting to do in short timeframes.  My 22 years as a California attorney helping US tech companies and companies from throughout the world establish here along with my nonprofit work bridging innovation between Europe and Silicon Valley has given me unique knowledge of and connections in cities such as (1) Copenhagen, Denmark—a city that has already successfully built a giant network of bike paths and lanes and even an extensive Cycle Super Highway that joins over 25 municipalities and the Capital.  That city has accomplished these goals to the point that 9 out of 10 people there now own a bike and 40% of all commutes are via bike and only 29% of households now own a car; (2) Stockholm, Sweden—a city that has the highest number of eco hotels in the world and it is one of the only cities in the world that recycles all of its household waste; (3) Oslo, Norway—the city that has the most electric cars per capita in the world and has a car-free city center; (4) Estonia—a country that has been named “the most advanced digital society in the world” because it has efficient, secure and transparent ecosystem where 99% of governmental services are online. Dr. Tssui’s architectural and city planning expertise and network extends to China. He has taught architecture and city planning at four of China's greatest universities and has designed two towns and cities in China.  Dr. Tssui commented that “China has proven itself in its seriousness, know-how, and be on-time and on-budget mentality, to create infrastructure, buildings, and landscapes. In only two generations, China has gone from a back-water, agrarian society with no economic ranking, to the most powerful economic engine in the world. It has moved from absolute poverty to the middle class, and has cornered the market on 5G electronics, pharmaceuticals, and bought the entire continent of Africa.” Dr. Tssui continued enthusiastically saying “China is a country that finished a 57 story skyscraper in 19 days and rebuilt a 4-way, 8-lane, uni-directional, freeway intersection in downtown Beijing in 18 hours! Imagine what even just a fragment of that know-how could do for Emeryville!” 

Lack of Geographical Representation Leading to 25% of Emeryville being voiceless; enforcing ageism and systemic racism

Per the municipal code, the City Council “shall attempt to appoint Planning Commissioners in such a manner that the various geographic districts of the City are represented by a Commissioner.” The two applicants chosen were from districts already represented on the Planning Commission.  “Watergate represents a sizable portion of city residents, it remains unrepresented on the planning commission, and has so for years,” commented Joe Lutz. Both Dr. Tssui and I are residents of Watergate on the Peninsula, a community that represents roughly 25% of the city’s population and continues to be voiceless in planning matters because it has no representation on the Planning Commission. Watergate was built in the 1970s and many of its original residents still reside there.  When Dr. Tssui talked with Councilmember Bauters after the City Council meeting about the Planning Commission decision, Councilmember Bauters told him “Eugene, you would be perfect for our Commission on Aging…you should apply for that.” Surely, someone in their 60s is still capable of using their professional expertise to benefit the city in their area of expertise and not only regarding issues of aging! In addition to that, 30% of the population of Emeryville is Asian but our city committees and commissions don’t reflect that and the addition of Dr. Tssui would have been an important step toward balancing out the representation within the city. In the current climate of increased anti-Asian hate that affects so many the actions of the City Council seem especially egregious. A city council that considers itself progressive should at a minimum understand that electing insiders has the effect of bolstering systemic racism, ageism, and discouraging wider civic involvement by the community.  Emeryville’s current City Council has very much benefitted from the low civic involvement of the city. Councilmembers Bauters, Medina, and Patz just received new four year terms without an election because no one came forward to challenge them so the formality of an election was avoided altogether.  In a city of over 12,000 people, Mayor Martinez holds her office because of a mere 1471 votes.  

What’s next?

Dr. Tssui says his goal for Emeryville is “to initiate and reinforce a higher degree of development and constructable conceptual design for the City, to create a dynamic and proactive program of ecological behavioral change, and to introduce design concepts that support a zero to minimum footprint on the planet, restore the natural environment, minimize energy use, create disaster-free architecture, help to unify the City's east, west, north and south sides, and give a new future thinking character and excitement to the City” and he states adamantly that he “will not give up.” 

As for me, I don’t give up either.  This experience inspired me to organize a free virtual conference (www.futurecitiestoday.com) for June 10th where Dr. Tssui, along with other innovators and leaders from around the world, will show us how we can combat climate change through innovative architecture; how we can build a people-focused work environment and wellness based city with a focus on sustainability, pedestrian focused city, bike highways, carless city centers…now, not 10 years from now; how we can prepare our energy systems for our “new normal“ of extreme weather events (avoiding Texas winter storm outage and California rolling blackouts); and how innovative startups from around the world already have the solutions for our local issues.

Charlotte Danielsson-Chang received her JD from Stanford Law School and her Bachelor’s degree in Economics & Political Science from Berkeley.  She has practiced corporate law & business immigration law for technology companies since 1998. She is committed to pro bono/nonprofit work focusing on increasing the exchange of technology & innovation between countries around the world and the United
States.  Charlotte is an Ambassador for MIT Technology Review and is responsible for nominating Innovators Under 35 who have made outstanding technological achievements as entrepreneurs, inventors, visionaries, pioneers and humanitarians. Charlotte currently serves as a Commissioner for the Alameda County Human Relations Commission. 

Erica Zepko
Newly selected Planning Commissioner

Henry Symons
Newly selected Planning Commissioner

New Police Chief Moves to Increase Police Accountability

 New Chief Unilaterally Increases Police Accountability

Town Hall Public Debate on Militarization,

Citizen Complaints Democratized

Emeryville’s new Chief of Police, Jeffery Jennings, indicated this week he will usher in greater accountability and transparency at the police department by agreeing to a open town hall style public meeting addressing police use of force and re-writing the citizen complaint code against officers with a higher degree of probity and openness.  The town hall meeting will likely be held off until the fall owing to the COVID pandemic but the re-write of the complaint code will begin much sooner says the Chief.

The Chief’s democratic demeanor, representing a thawing of previous intractability at the EPD on these two issues, will bring a new local level of community engagement for the department against a backdrop of greater calls for police accountability nation-wide. 

As it stands now, a citizen who wishes to make a complaint against an Emeryville police officer is asked to surrender their name, their address and their date of birth, all expressly counter to citizen’s right to make complaints anonymously.  Chief Jennings agrees the way the code is written now is improper and he told the Tattler April 20th he “will make it right” so that it better comports with state law.  The questions about complainants’ identity will be clearly qualified that answers given are strictly on a voluntary basis.  The date of birth question will be dispensed with altogether according to Chief Jennings.

Chief Jeff Jennings

These questions, as currently asked of would be citizen complainants, besides being of dubious legality, have a stultifying effect on accountability owing to their coercive and intimidating nature.

The public town hall style meeting will be attended by police department employees including the Chief himself and will focus on the militarization of EPD including specifically the quiet issuance of AR-15 assault rifles some years ago to officers for use in their daily rounds in Emeryville.  The police will answer citizen's questions and the Chief will weigh in himself on the issuance of these weapons to the rank and file he says.  The Council chambers will likely be the location of the meeting and it will probably take place before a regularly scheduled City Council meeting.

Assault rifles are considered weapons of high firepower and great lethality by the state legislature and are illegal for most citizens to carry in the State of California.  Emeryville police started carrying these weapons about six years ago, around the time former Chief of Police Jennifer Tejada took office during a period when police forces began acquiring military grade weapons systems nation-wide.  Citizens requested accountability for the new level of force the police acquired in Emeryville but were rebuffed by Chief Tejada.  The department would not attend any such town hall meetings set up to debate the militarization of the department Chief Tejada said.  “The weapons of my officers are not going to be up to a public debate” Chief Tejada opined at a public safety meeting at the time and City Hall dropped the issue.

By reversing the department’s wall of silence around the assault rifles issued to police and the unilateral rewriting of the citizen complaint code, EPD signals it is open to a new period of glasnost.  It is hard to say if this democratization of Emeryville’s police comes as a result of the new Chief or from pressure from below, taken on as citizens demand greater police accountability nation-wide.  Perhaps it’s a bit of both.  But it is taken as a public good that the police department has more citizen support as they strongly pronounce their embrace of and need for ‘community policing’.  

Emeryville's Current Police Complaint Form
Complainant's name, address, date of birth not optional.  Many citizens, seeing these questions will drop the complaint. 
Accountability is effectively thwarted.  Is that the function of this?    

Former Emery School Board Trustee Miguel Dwin fined $4000 by the FPPC

Former Emery
School Board member
Miguel Dwin

California’s Fair Political Practices Committee named former Emery Unified School District Board Trustee Miguel Dwin in a March 18th $4000 enforcement decision against Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson’s 2016 election campaign of which Mr Dwin was the treasurer. Mr Dwin, who lives in Emeryville, was charged with failure to file two required campaign statements on Mr Carson’s behalf as well as four ’24-hour’ reports in violation of Government Code Section 84203.  

Former Emery Board member Dwin was hired by Supervisor Carson in a successful run for the the county’s District 5 office in June 2016 following Mr Dwin’s failed November 2014 re-election attempt for Emery Unified’s Board.  Commission Counsel Jenna C Rinehart’s ruling against Mr Dwin is highlighted in the March enforcement report on the FPPC website (see link below).  

Mr Dwin managed the account for Supervisor Carson who's political campaign netted more than $100,000 that year. 

Former Board member Dwin, who lists as his forte community policy leadership and fiscal management, works for the Berkeley Unified School District as a budget analyst.

Mr Dwin did not return calls for purposes of this story.

FPPC Enforcement Decisions March 18th, 2021