Thursday, January 8, 2015

Media pass for the farm and Wall Street occupation

Quick plug for the movie and other fabulous Occupy W.S. things to bookmark:

https://www.facebook.com/FacebookDevelopers/posts/10151471074398553

Occupy the Farm general blog with complete topical resources
and of course the official http://occupythefarm.org webpage

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Thomsen sees university land as continuing issue

Top down policy versus evolutionary reform is a bizarre tug-o-war in California. We have restricted the number of political terms any citizen may serve as of the special ballot in June. Is this a strike against democracy or is it a reminder to Sacramento that we are a self-governing people? Enjoy the article in its entirety:


The question asked jokingly around town is, "why would anybody want to serve on the City Council?" Meetings have been known to drag on and on into the night. Projects go through years of community meetings and even then, residents protest that they haven't any input. Occasionally nasty comments are thrown the councils way.
Peggy Thomsen, who is running for another four-year term in November, laughed when she was asked the question.
"There are some things that I feel that I need to help try to get done. I weighted it both ways; on one hand you hope that you can make a difference in some things and I believe that I have. Even when I've been the minority, people have listened and we've gotten some things done."
Thomsen is one of seventeen candidates vying for the three seats on the council and the only incumbent eligible to run. Councilmen Robert Lieber and Farid Javandel are termed out.
Changing offices [via promotion, demotion, selection, or any other means]. She has been a resident for 47 years. She served 16 years for Albany's school board and two terms on the city council from 1996-2004 before being elected to her current term in 2008.
She cited a reason for running for office again was continuity, "I think I bring some of the history. That's the one thing you lose when you have term limits -- you lose the people who have worked on these projects. Let's take a look at the things we did in the past. Let's move the wheel forward. And I think I bring the sense of community because I've been around here so long."
Thomsen said she expects the controversial University Village project to be a major issue in the election. The council approved the project in July at the end of a six-hour meeting after more than four years of negotiations with the University of California.
Since then two lawsuits have been filed and a referendum has been proposed to undo the approval. The project would put a Whole Foods Market and senior living facility on university-owned land along San Pablo Avenue.
Another issue Thomsen expects to be talking about is the Gill Tract, a plot of land also owned by the university adjacent to the project site that is currently used for agricultural research. The property was taken over in April by a group of urban farming activists.
Thomsen and Council-woman Joanne Wile have been working with university officials and activists to try to come to an agreement about the long-termed future of both lands
"I think Joanne and I can work well together collaborating with the university and I think we can make an impact," Thomsen said. "She and I will commit to overcoming the challenge together."
Thomsen said other issues include health benefits in Albany and the beautification of Solono Avenue, which she said the city needs to complete.


Work Cited
Esper, Damin. "Incumbent touts experience." The Journal, page 8, sec. Albany Council Election, Sept 14, 2012. facebook.com/elcerritojournal (accessed September 16, 2012).

Friday, May 4, 2012

Occupy the Farm motions for a decision-making order

History may be made within the Occupy group at the Gill Tract in Albany as the group has motioned to pass a less autocratic and more democratic method for deciding farm-related actions. Details to be shared later.


Albany residents and citizens meeting

On Tuesday, May 1st, all of the neighbors of the occupy the tract in Albany had a hearing to discuss opinions and ideas for how to best use the tract at San Pablo and Marin. It was fully represented and every seat in the room was taken with standing room only for more than a dozen additional Albany citizens. The meeting was a perfect success with 100% consensus and support for the farm and an eager tone to offer assistance. This across-the-board support removes all jurisdiction and authority from police action as it offends nobody in the local community (aside from the regents at UC Berkeley, or in other words the 1%).

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Kuala Limpur = Oakland?

These images seem all too familiar.

"Police resort to violence as Kuala Limpur protesters sit"

Golden Gate Bridge boycott

Threats have been thrown around over the Occupy WS @ San Francisco's landmark bridge. Protesters hope to take advantage of the low-flow traffic due to construction along Doyle and the CA-1, US-101 merge to stage a blockade preventing both incoming and outgoing traffic. Cal trans is prepared to address this credible yet uncompromising (and likely empty) threat by "taking any action necessary." CHP, AAA, and other road workers experienced with the Golden Gate Bridge are aware of the safety issues this would pose and will be prepared to arrest the action at once. Is this what we've come to?

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Need we say more?

Need we say more? Read the following from Matier and Ross this morning (3/28/2012), citing police staffing numbers and the increased rate of crime in Oakland in 2012:

"Oakland 911: For all of Mayor Jean Quan's recent announcements of new hires, new grants and a new academy class, Oakland has fewer cops today than it did after the police layoffs of 2010.

According to a report by the city administrator, Oakland will end the month with 657 officers. That's 30 fewer cops than t...he 687 on duty following the budget-cutting layoffs of 80 cops that became a big issue two years ago.

It's also 175 fewer cops than the department's peak of 832 officers in December 2008.

But "bad as that might be, it was even worse a couple of months back," said Barry Donelan, head of the Oakland Police Officers Association.

The department reached its low point in July, with 631 officers.

Meanwhile, the latest crime stats show that homicides in Oakland are up 13 percent so far his year, robberies are up 33 percent, car thefts are up 28 percent and burglaries are up 42 percent.

In some places it's even higher, said City Councilwoman Libby Schaaf, who lives in the hills near Quan.

"On our beat, burglaries have quadrupled," she said."
Work Cited
Tuman, Joseph. "Need we say more." private editorial via facebook.com (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joe-Tuman-about-Oakland/149905658411755) Web commentary. 28 MAR 2012