Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown Angers Members of Oakland's Black Political Community

This article from the Oakland Tribune appeared today and sheds light on only part of the real problem. In 2000, I accused Jerry of having problems relating to young, intelligent African Americans who didn't fit a stereotype. I was referring to how he treated me as I headed Oakland's Super Bowl Bid.

The story is part of Oakland legend now, but what Jerry did was constantly ignore -- or attempt to avoid -- me and the matter of the Super Bowl, until he realized it was generating good press. Then, and too late, he jumped on the bandwagon. Prior to that, Jerry would tell me he "didn't have time for me" and other comments.

That didn't stop me from pressing the issue of Oakland's Super Bowl Bid, but his behavior was more than annoying most of the time. I think that deep down, Jerry thinks of himself as "intellectual" in a way that's classically race - based , where people he looks to most of the time fit a kind of mold.

That written, I don't think Jerry wants to be this way, or be regarded as having this problem, but he's not found the proper way to avoid it. Really, all it takes is making people feel special in his presence, as Bill Clinton does. In other words, Bill Clinton really enjoys African American people and culture, where Jerry in my experience seems somewhat disinterested in both. I wish he'd change, for his own good.

African-American leaders seething over Brown

Letter to mayor charges their community has been shut out economically and politically
By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND — The long-simmering animosity between Mayor Jerry Brown and some African-American leaders bubbled over last week when several sent Brown a letter accusing him of harming Oakland's black community.
The informal group, which includes former Councilmember Dezie Woods-Jones and school board member Greg Hodge, said they sent the letter "to express our profound disappointment with your stewardship of the mayor's office and the resulting negative impact on the health, welfare and vitality of Oakland's black community."

Brown, who is running for state attorney general, dismissed most of the complaints as without merit. Other charges are just a rehashing of old grievances, he said.

"I don't even know how to respond to such misinformed and inaccurate charges," Brown said, adding that he does not think the letter represents the views of the majority of Oakland's African-American residents.

The letter lays out five specific criticisms against the mayor that center on the belief black-owned firms have been shut out of lucrative municipal contracts and the African-American community's leaders are not consulted on issues facing Oakland.

"It's a wake-up call from a large portion of his constituents who feel completely left out of the process," said Hodge, who wrote the first draft of the letter.

Brown acknowledged political differences with members of the group,

especially over development issues such as affordable housing and the push to require community development agreements as part of large projects.

"There are real philosophical issues," Brown said. "But they are not racial. They're political. They're economic."

William "Bill" Patterson said dozens of black-owned companies have gone out of business because they haven't been able to obtain city contracts.

"There's still ample opportunity for Brown to respond to these issues," Patterson said. "It's late in the game, though."

Brown said an ongoing study will determine whether African-American, Latino and Asian companies are getting their fair share of the city's contracts. That study is expected to be completed next year.

"There is not one shred of evidence" proving black companies have been shut out of City Hall, Brown said. "It's preposterous."

Joseph Debro of the National Association of Minority Contractors and a frequent critic of the mayor, said he signed the letter because he was tired of Brown escaping criticism.

"I don't understand why no one calls him on the rampant cronyism and corruption of his administration," Debro said, criticizing Bay Area media outlets for not being more aggressive in covering the mayor.

The letter's harshest criticism is directed at Brown's handling of the months-long dispute over $575,000 in federal job training funds. It blasts Brown for backing a proposal from Council President Ignacio De La Fuente to take the funds from the $3.2 million allocated to the Oakland Private Industry Council and use it for programs focused on ex-offenders.

Originally, De La Fuente (Glenview-Fruitvale) tried to give the $575,000 directly to two of the most prominent houses of worship in East Oakland — Acts Full Gospel Church and Allen Temple Baptist Church. His effort was thwarted after City Attorney John Russo ruled federal funds could only be allocated after a competitive bid process, and with the concurrence of the city's Workforce Investment Board, the council and the mayor.

The letter calls Brown's support of De La Fuente's action "highly troubling" for someone who wants to be California's next attorney general and denounces the mayor for disrespecting the black leadership of the Workforce Investment Board.

Although De La Fuente said his aim is to spread the city's scarce job training resources to all areas of the city, his critics have accused him of violating federal law in an effort to boost his bid to become Oakland's next mayor, and in the process, pitting the black community against itself.

Brown said he understood some of the group's concerns and had been working as a "peacemaker" to diffuse conflict.

"Whenever you hand out a government contract, people fight hard to get it and keep it," Brown said.

Brown said he expects a compromise will be reached in the next several weeks to end the stalemate about the job training funds.

The deal is likely to include a provision to give $300,000 to Acts Full Gospel Church for its Men of Valor program. Earlier this month, Allen Temple Baptist Church received a $660,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, and withdrew its informal request for federal job training funds from the city.

Although the job training funding dispute is on its face a quarrel about a relatively small amount of money, it has crystallized the frustration felt by many in the African-American community during Brown's seven years as mayor.

"It was the tipping point," Hodge said. "These are hard, intractable issues and you want your city's mayor to lead."

As the dispute about job training funds heated up this fall, many of those outraged by De La Fuente and Brown's actions began a campaign to urge former Congressman Ron Dellums to run for mayor. They succeeded.

Many of Dellums' backers — who are quick to note he has broad support throughout Oakland — say they believe he will be a progressive mayor and more inclusive than Brown.

"There have been too many backroom deals, too much cronyism, too many insider deals," said Hodge, who dropped out of the mayoral race after Dellums announced his candidacy.

First Review of Peter Jackson's "King Kong"

If this review is any indication (click on the post link to read it), Peter Jackson's "King Kong" will not only sweep the Oscars, collecting best picture and best director awards, in addition to a slew of technical nods for editing, sound, and cinematography, but it will be regarded as a modern classic. I can't remember when a sci-fi/monster/horror movie has been so effectively formed into a true Oscar contender.

I still think the first Godzilla film deserves a dedicated remake as well. It had much to say regarding technology, war, and nationalism. Moreover, like the original "King Kong", the first Godzilla movie's special effects are still remarkable.

A Great SF / Oakland Bay Area Weekend - Society's Changing

I write to report a weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area. On Saturday, I spent most of my time watching the UCLA / USC game at The Balboa Cafe. Then I went over to The Grove -- a great indoor / outdoor cafe on Chestnut and Avila that I discovered for myself when I was taking a screenwriting class at Fort Mason. After that, I went to the home of my good friends Bob and Barbara to help them trim their Christmas Tree. But what I loved about the day so much was how nice everyone was. The holiday and Christmas sprit was certainly in the air. Moreover, it made me very happy to be in the San Francisco Bay Area and to be an Oakland resident.

I write that society here is changing in that I observe the Bay Area's maturing to a level of social interaction that's certainly hyper-integrated, and yet it not only doesn't matter, people actually want to know each other. Heck, maybe it was an planetary alignment, but I don't think so. Bay Area society has moved in this direction slowly over the past 20 years. It may also be a statement of how life in urban America is changing, since people in our country are so mobile.

Toledo Ohio To "Host" Neo - Nazi "White Supremacists" March Again - Why?

I discovered this news on Fox Television. There's also a rather sick individual who has nothing better to do than write a blog entirely devoted to this matter. Anyone holding or participating in "white race" marches is certainly free to do so in America, but let's face it folks. The practice is sick.

The Neo-Nazis are not contributing anything good to America. The time they will spend doing this could be better invested in volunteering at the local humane society, or cooking meals to serve those who can't afford them, or writing a business plan to start a new company.

There's a reason people like Bill Gates go on to establish successful companies like Microsoft, while this group complains about -- nothing really. By contrast, the Bill Gates of the world are far too busy creating things to worry about what someone else looks like.

The Neo Nazi's want someone to give them something. They're too afraid to really get out in America, be a positive force in society, and really help make others happy. Why? Because they don't feel good about themselves.

People like this are dangerous to good humans like you and me. Their hate is so great that they would seek to threaten the very lives of others who don't look like them. The Toledo Police should arrest this group the very moment they make any kind of threat to anyone. As far as I'm concerned this organization is full of criminals. They should be watched at all times of the day and night.

Note. I've never been to Toledo, Ohio, and never plan to go. Moreover, any intelligent person should not waste their time visiting the city.

What does the Toledo Chamber of Commerce think of all this? Is the city's economy so great, it can stand this kind of crap?

According to this news report the very state of Ohio had the largest increase in unemployed workers of any state in America. Toledo has a near 7 percent rate of people out of work and at about $32,000 has a household income below the national average by about $10,000. It's 70 percent white and just over 20 percent black. So the city is mostly poor and Caucasian, which is why the Neo-Nazis are there, claiming "take your city back?"

It just goes to show you how stupid the Neo Nazis are to say to whites "take your city back" when Caucasians are the majority population. But one could never accuse the Neo Nazis of being logical in thought.

So it's no wonder Toledo's a haven for people who hate: they're unhappy with themselves and feel that someone else has what they don't have. (Well, I guess that's true if one considers self-esteem.) I do hope the normal people in that town -- black and white -- ban together and fix that city before it's too late.

The Toledo Regional Growth Partnership is attempting to "sell" that city as a great place for tech workers. They can't even dream of successfully doing that with Neo-Nazis running around. It's a proven fact that tech innovation happen in cities where everyone is welcome and a diverse society is not only expected, but wanted.

That's certainly not Toledo, Ohio. That city has to get with the program.

Why Am I Reading What David Brooks Thinks?

Ok. He has a column on Irag as the begining of "American Skepticism" but why am I being encouraged to read his take? How did his view become "the one." Is this the NY Times PR machine at work? Someone tell me. Please.

Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown's Office Behavior Has Not Improved - A Note To Jerry From Zennie

As I was walking along Lakeshore Avenue, preparing for Thanksgiving, I ran into an old co-worker from my days in The City of Oakland and in The Mayor's Office. This person still works for Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown; all I did was try to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland under his watch. Both of also worked for Elihu Harris, who was a much better Mayor than Jerry.

Anyway, I asked how things were going and this person remarked that they were OK, but that was more than could be said for some other workers in Jerry's office.

See, when Jerry took office in late 1998 (unofficially then in 1999 for real), he quickly established a reputation as being a real ass toward his secretaries: yelling at them and throwing tantrums. His top aide and friend Jaques Bargazhi didn't help with alledged exploits featuring in-office advances toward women, and other actions that eventually cost him his job. I thought Jaques departure might make Jerry himself "nicer." Some may have believed the days of Jerry the Tormentor were over.

I don't dislike Jerry. I understand -- as a person who's driven -- that he has high ambitions and wants those around him to share his passion. But he's got to learn to hold how he treats his workers in check. I thought he was better. On a personal note, he can be funny, as he was when he remarked -- as I was having my photo taken by Lake Merritt -- "Getting married?"

But he's not changed how he treats his staffers.

"He's still the same, Zennie," my friend said. "He runs around throwing tantrums and having screaming fits and going up to secretaries and clapping at them in the face when he needs something in a hurry," this person reported. "There's no staff loyalty; they can't stand him."

Jerry, listen up. If you want to win friends and have a great life, stop treating people this way. At the end of your political run, you will have few real friends, a lot of leaches, and nothing to show for all of your years in office. Ultimately, God will remind you of how important those who work for you really are.

In other words, be nice to your people.

Former Powell Aide Wilkerson: President Bush "Aloof" From Foreign Policy Making

(11-28) 15:50 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --


A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that wrongheaded ideas for the handling of foreign detainees arose from White House and Pentagon officials who argued that "the president of the United States is all-powerful" and the Geneva Conventions irrelevant.


In an Associated Press interview, former Powell chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson also said President Bush was "too aloof, too distant from the details" of postwar planning. Underlings exploited Bush's detachment and made poor decisions, Wilkerson said.


Wilkerson blamed Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and like-minded aides. He said Cheney must have sincerely believed that Iraq could be a spawning ground for new terror assaults, because "otherwise I have to declare him a moron, an idiot or a nefarious bastard."


On the question of detainees picked up in Afghanistan and other fronts in the war on terror, Wilkerson said Bush heard two sides of an impassioned argument within his administration. Abuse of prisoners, and even the deaths of some who had been interrogated in Afghanistan and elsewhere, have bruised the U.S. image abroad and undermined support for the Iraq war.


Cheney's office, Rumsfeld aides and others argued "that the president of the United States is all-powerful, that as commander in chief the president of the United States can do anything he damn well pleases," Wilkerson said.


On the other side were Powell, others at the State Department and top military brass, and occasionally Condoleezza Rice, who was then national security adviser, Wilkerson said.


Powell raised frequent and loud objections, his former aide said, once yelling into a telephone at Rumsfeld: "Donald, don't you understand what you are doing to our image?"


Wilkerson said Bush tried to work out a compromise in 2001 and 2002 that recognized that the war on terrorism was different from past wars and required greater flexibility in handling prisoners who don't belong to an enemy state or follow the rules themselves.


Bush's stated policy, which was heatedly criticized by civil liberties and legal groups at the time, was defensible, Wilkerson said. But it was undermined almost immediately in practice, he said.


In the field, the United States followed the policies of hard-liners who wanted essentially unchecked ability to detain and harshly interrogate prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, Wilkerson said.


Wilkerson, who left government with Powell in January, said he is now somewhat estranged from his former boss. He worked for Powell for 16 years. Wilkerson became a surprise critic of the Iraq war-planning effort and other administration decisions this fall, and he has said his Powell did not put him up to it.


On Iraq, Wilkerson said Powell may have had doubts about the extent of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein but was convinced by then-CIA Director George Tenet and others that the intelligence behind the push toward war was sound.


He said Powell now generally believes it was a good idea to remove Saddam from power but may not agree with either the timing or execution of the war.


"What he seems to be saying to me now is the president failed to discipline the process the way he should have and that the president is ultimately responsible for this whole mess," Wilkerson said.


Powell was widely regarded as a dove to Cheney's and Rumsfeld's hawks, but he made a forceful case for war before the United Nations Security Council in February 2003, a month before the invasion. At one point, he said Saddam possessed mobile labs to make weapons of mass destruction, but they have not been found.


Wilkerson said the CIA and other agencies allowed mishandled and bogus information to underpin that speech and the administration case for war.


He said he has almost, but not quite, concluded that Cheney and others in the administration deliberately ignored evidence of bad intelligence and looked only at what supported their case for war.


A newly declassified Defense Intelligence Agency document from February 2002 said that an al-Qaida military instructor was probably misleading his interrogators about training that the terror group's members received from Iraq on chemical, biological and radiological weapons. Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi reportedly recanted his statements in January 2004.


A presidential intelligence commission also has dissected how spy agencies handled an Iraqi refugee who was a German intelligence source. Code-named Curveball, this man, a leading source on Iraq's purported mobile biological weapons labs, was found to be a fabricator and alcoholic.