This was all in one week people. One week. Exhausting.
A Republican source inside the Trump-Pelosi meeting described attendees as “shaken” and “shell-shocked” by the President’s demeanor.
“He is not in control of himself. It is all yelling and screaming.”
—@jamiegangel reports pic.twitter.com/OMxR0o7sTX
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) October 17, 2019
There were quite a few notable items on Tuesday night’s agenda but if this doesn’t sum up the pandering of Councilmember Tony Daysog in one short agenda item, I don’t know what else will.
Let me set up the scene. The agenda item was on the SAFER grant. The SAFER grant, for those that don’t know, is a federal grant to help fund public safety. The budget had already been approved by the City Council, unanimously, which means that this funding was already allocated in the budget. Voting against it would mean the City would have to find the difference in the reserve or some where else.
This was the end of the meeting so things were moving really quickly. A motion was made and seconded early and the vote was taken which was also unanimous until….
In case anyone was wondering there is a Housing Authority meeting tonight. So maybe folks who think that “yeah, it would be good to add this load to the City Council” should check out a meeting or two.
Here is something that I found interesting while reviewing the agenda packet. It was sort of referenced in the piece by Steven Tavares, but is apparently more complex than was presented in the story. In an overview of September operations there was this notation:
LifeSTEPS and property management staff continued to spend a considerable amount of time on tenant cases this month. There is an increasing number of elderly and disabled tenants facing serious challenges with living independently in our owned and subsidized units. These growing high acuity households need significant additional services. This situation is not unique to Alameda or to AHA. AHA already provides more supportive services than most PHAs and does so entirely voluntarily. None of our AHA owned properties are required to provide services. These issues can also bring pest control, repair and maintenance costs that the tenants cannot pay which must ultimately be borne by the Housing Authority.
On the City Council agenda tonight there is a referral regarding the Alameda Housing Authority which then makes the very random presentation by the Housing Authority in the regular agenda make more sense. By the way the presentation is very informative.
According to the Council referral the genesis of the referral is:
A number of residents have expressed concern to members of the City Council during Oral Communications and informally about their alleged mistreatment by the Alameda Housing Authority. In this current housing crisis, it is critical that some of our most vulnerable residents are treated with dignity and respect and provided housing.
Because the Housing Authority was separated from the City in 2012, there is no accountability to an elected body and/or the City Manager for residents who have been aggrieved by actions of the Housing Authority.
And indeed, at the past few meeting of the City Council there have been allegations of problematic incidents at the Housing Authority. But, naturally, a public comment period is no way to adjudicate issues such as these.
I don’t know if the terms were made more generous after the Innovation Hall boosters started ragging on the City and City Council but this lease being offered seems entirely reasonable for the proposed business model and the space. On the agenda for tomorrow night’s City Council meeting:
The proposed lease term is for 33 years, with one option to renew for an additional 33 years. For the first 33 years, rent will be fully abated to account for the capital improvements that need to be made to the buildings and the substantial cost of such improvements. “Starting 48 months after commencement of operations, the tenant must pay a fee on for-profit special events, in the amount of 2 percent of gross revenue generated from for-profit special events, after the first $300,000 (REVISED) earned.”
All capital improvement and construction projects are subject to prevailing wage and compliance relevant legal requirements, and the tenant must endeavor to negotiate an agreement to ensure labor peace prior to commencement of construction. Should the extension option be exercised by tenant, then starting in year 34, rent will equal two percent of the organization’s gross revenue, minus any income taxes paid by the tenant.
Also there are some reasonable community benefit benchmarks which must be met as well, which shouldn’t be difficult to accomplish:
So yesterday #1 daughter let me know that I needed to buy u-locks for her and #2 son. Apparently at least nine bikes have been stolen from Encinal High School and numerous tires have been stolen off bikes as well.
Evidently administrators have been talking to students class by class to let them know about this. I’m not 100% sure if parents and guardians have been notified since we get SO much communication from the school now it’s almost like white noise.
When I asked #1 daughter about the state of the bike corral she let me know that the gate no longer gets locked because whoever is responsible for the gate leaves before the kids get out and the bikes would all be trapped.
So, the suggestion made for students to not get their bikes stolen is to use u-locks.
NEW: Trump pressed Rex Tillerson to help persuade the DOJ to drop a criminal case against an Iranian-Turkish gold trader who was a client of Rudy Giuliani, according to three people familiar with the 2017 meeting in the Oval Office | per @JenniferJJacobs https://t.co/DdqYjzZviE
— Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) October 9, 2019
Yeah so you might lose power today so I hope every one has charged all their devices beforehand and prepared themselves to pick up their kids early. Just in case.
From AUSD:
As many of you have heard, PG&E is planning Public Safety Power Shutoffs this week, which may start early Wednesday morning due to weather conditions.
Our local utility, Alameda Municipal Power (AMP), does not believe we will experience power outages here in Alameda this week. In the future, however, a PG&E power shutoff could result in a power outage in Alameda, as AMP uses PGE&E’s transmission lines.
Please be assured that we have plans and procedures in place to prepare for such an outage, and we are in touch with AMP, the City of Alameda, and the Alameda County Office of Education about what would happen in those situations and how we should respond.
I think I have now seen it all in the annals of Alameda NIMBYism. At the September Rec and Park Commission meeting there was an agenda item about building a playground at Jackson Park. The suggestions from staff were more along the lines of building a small natural play area. Sounds great right?
Well not if you live directly on the park apparently. Somehow the idea of having any type of playground was super terrible to some neighbors even though the genesis of the idea to have a play area at Jackson Park came from, guess where, neighbors of Jackson Park.
One of the arguments from neighbors fronting the park was that the support for the playground came from people who live near the park but not on the park. Why this makes a difference I’m not sure. You can read a synopsis of the public comment here but let’s just say they are heavily sanitized from the actual sentiments expressed verbally.
It’s like this terrible news cycle does not end.
This is why presidents divest. It is crazy that a president is making national security decisions like the one tonight when he has lucrative business relationships at stake in the country that will benefit. https://t.co/uIrT6vl2BA
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) October 7, 2019
“ ‘I have a little conflict of interest ’cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul,’ Trump said last year. ‘It’s a tremendously successful job. It’s called Trump Towers—two towers, instead of one, not the usual one, it’s two.’ ”https://t.co/ezMoO25eVD
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) October 7, 2019
