ABOUT THIS BLOG

My name it Xavier Viramontes and I created this blog in 2009.  This blog was created to support a resident/homeowners group known as San Pablo Against Eminent Domain in their fight against City Hall.  At that time, the San Pablo City Council was about to grant the power of ‘eminent domain’ to their Redevelopment Agency.  The power of ‘eminent domain’ would have given the Redevelopment Agency the right to take property away from the homeowners and to use this property as they saw fit.  THIS DID NOT HAPPEN.  Our group, San Pablo Against Eminent Domain prevailed and the Redevelopment Agency did not get the power of ‘eminent domain’.  We later changed the name of our group to San Pablo Community Alliance.   THIS BLOG EXPRESSES THE VIEWS OF SOME OF THE RESIDENTS OF SAN PABLO.  WE ARE NOT PART OF CITY GOVERNMENT AND WE DO NOT SPEAK FOR THE CITY COUNCIL.   Along the way, we have encouraged our members to run for City Council.  In this years election we did endorse Rich Kinney for City Council.  We would now  like to withdraw that endorsement and remain neutral in this years election.  The following exchange of comments brought about the withdrawal of our endorsement:

Henry said

August 26, 2012 at 5:17 PM e

where does he stand on illegal aliens ???

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Reply

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  Rich Kinney said

  August 28, 2012 at 7:50 AM eHi Henry, thanks for asking the question. It’s important that people are having respectful, concerned and intelligent dialogue.

  My personal opinion is America is one of the few nations people can come to illegally and get away with it. It would make a good story to research what would happen if we tried that in every other nation. Sometimes our exercise of Constitutional freedoms are stretched beyond what and whom they were intended for.

  The Law is the Law, and should be upheld the same in every State of the U.S.
  I do not believe it’s healthy or wise for San Pablo to try to copycat the big local Cities, in this one way especially, the ‘Refuge City’ mentality. Perhaps San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Richmond are massive enough to absorb the extra cost of responsibility, but our City is less than three miles in total circumference, there’s not much leveraging resources to accommodate without taking away tremendous opportunity to build our small community to meet the needs of our citizens.

  I’ve gotta run to work, but would love to talk about issues more later.

  Have a great day everyone!

  MY REPLY TO HENRY –

  What everyone should keep in mind here is that this land, California and the other western states once belonged to Mexico.  This land became part of the United States by way of war.  This area and the entire United States was built by immigrants. Until just recently, immigration has been encourage.  My parents came to this country from Mexico.  They were illegal.  All my brothers and sisters were born in this country, so we are legal .  My parents later became legal citizens.  The brown people you see on the streets of San Pablo are part legal and part illegal immigrants.  It ought not to matter.  We’re not going to put people in trucks and haul them away.   What I see on the streets are hard working people trying to make a living and doing the best they can for their families.  These hard working people also buy goods from the local markets and pay taxes.  They are contributing to the community.  As far as people coming here to take advantage of the social services, I don’t see that.

  As far as a law is a law, my question is, is a law a law if it was made by a fool?  There are plenty of stupid laws on the books.  There once was a law that did not allow women to vote and we all know what happened to that law.

  Henry, I’m glad you posted your message.  I would like to encourage you to get as much education as you can and if you are an illegal immigrant try to become a  legal citizen.  In our little way, we can all work together and help make this city and this country a better place for all its  people, be they legal or illegal.      Xavier

  Reply

COUNCIL TO APPOINT REPLACEMENT

From this morning’s paper (West County Times) :

San Pablo Council chooses appointment over election to replace ailing councilman

By Tom Lochner
Contra Costa Times

mercurynews.com

Posted:   03/20/2012 02:02:45 PM PDT

March 21, 2012 4:18 AM GMT Updated:   03/20/2012 09:18:20 PM PDT

 

The San Pablo City Council this week chose appointment over election to fill a council vacancy created by the resignation of Arturo Cruz, whose term ends in December.

Under the state Election Code, it was too late to get an election onto the June 5 ballot. In view of the greater cost of a special election, and the shortness of Cruz’s remaining council term, a staff report recommended appointing someone to serve out the last seven months.

The council agreed, by a 3-0 vote; Mayor Cecilia Valdez was absent after fracturing her shoulder last week, according to an announcement.

Applicants must be registered to vote in the city. Applications are available online at www.sanpabloca.gov and at San Pablo City Hall, 13831 San Pablo Ave. Completed applications must be in the City Clerk’s office by 5 p.m. April 3.

The council will conduct interviews of qualified applicants in open session at a special meeting April 11. Immediately afterward, the council is expected to appoint Cruz’s replacement, who would be sworn in at the April 16 regular council meeting.

Cruz resigned March 1. In a letter to Valdez and City Clerk Ted Denney, Cruz announced he had recently undergone surgery for liver cancer and that although he was bouncing back, he needed to resign from the council to focus on his recovery for the sake of his family, including his young daughter. Last year, Cruz underwent cardiac surgery and suffered a stroke the

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following day.

On Tuesday, the council issued a proclamation to Cruz praising his service. Cruz thanked officials and the community for their support and prayers as a gallery of well-wishers gave him several standing ovations.

The council made Councilman Leonard McNeil the new vice mayor, the title that was held by Cruz.

Cruz, a longtime advocate for social justice, education, immigrant rights and young people, and a parishioner at St. Paul Catholic Church, was serving his first term on the council. He has worked with numerous church and community organizations.

 

COUNCILMAN CRUZ RESIGNS

San Pablo City Councilman Cruz has resigned due to medical problems.  The San Pablo Community Alliance hopes that the Councilman makes a complete recovery and our best wishes go out to Councilman Cruz and his family.

From the West County Times:

Ailing San Pablo councilman resigns

By Tom Lochner
Contra Costa Timescontracostatimes.com

Posted:   03/02/2012 05:21:35 PM PST

March 3, 2012 5:37 AM GMT Updated:   03/02/2012 09:37:43 PM PST

 

 

San Pablo Councilman Arturo Cruz announced this week he will step down after recently undergoing surgery for liver cancer.

Cruz, 37, had been mostly absent from the council since September, when he underwent cardiac surgery and suffered a stroke the next day.

Cruz had collapsed at a friend’s birthday party Sept. 23 from what later was diagnosed as a tear in his aorta. After about a month of hospitalization followed by another month of recuperation, he returned to the council in late November to an emotional reception from his fellow council members, city staff, colleagues from his job at the Contra Costa County Health Services Department’s Women, Infants and Children office in Richmond, members of his union and fellow parishioners of St. Paul Catholic Church.

In a letter Thursday to Mayor Cecilia Valdez and City Clerk Ted Denney, Cruz said he was diagnosed with liver cancer in January and has since undergone surgery and gotten better.

“I know that I will continue to bounce back from these temporary setbacks, and I will continue to fight to get healthier and stronger for myself, my daughter and my family,” Cruz wrote.

At its March 19 meeting, the council will officially acknowledge Cruz’s resignation and discuss how to fill the resulting vacancy. The announcement came too late to add to the agenda of Monday’s meeting, according to a news release from the city.

“This was a very difficult decision for Councilmember Cruz,

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but a necessary one at this time, so that he may take care of his health and be with his family during his recovery period,” Valdez said in a statement Friday. “Being a council member was a great source of pride for Arturo, but we all understand that he needs time to recuperate and get stronger. I am confident that we will see Arturo Cruz return one day — he is a community leader who still cares deeply about his community.”During his term on the council and in previous years when he appeared before the council as a private citizen, Cruz was an advocate for social justice, education and immigrant rights as well as young people.

In his spare time, Cruz worked with more than a half-dozen church and community organizations, including Hiz-Kidz Youth Group, the Latin hip-hop group Hiz-Panic, Bay Area Peacekeepers, United Latino Voice of Contra Costa County and Promoción Latina.

“In 2008, I answered my higher calling and was elected to the San Pablo City Council,” Cruz wrote in his resignation letter.

“It is through public service that I have been able to pursue a stronger community for San Pablo — by securing the safety and security of our residents, by providing our youth healthier alternatives from a gang lifestyle and (by) providing job training for our disenfranchised population struggling to find gainful employment and (by) providing future resources for local business development to survive in this downturned economy.

“I have greatly cared for my community and will continue to support the city in these efforts and for years to come.”

 

CLEAN WATER BALLOT ‘SMELLS’

Property Owners Beware:

(from the Contra Costa Times)

Vorderbrueggen: Clean water ballot smells

By Lisa Vorderbrueggen
Contra Costa Timescontracostatimes.com

Posted:   02/25/2012 06:18:00 PM PST

February 26, 2012 5:18 AM GMT Updated:   02/25/2012 09:18:05 PM PST

Contra Costa property owners received their “clean water initiative” ballots in the mail last week, and it left quite a few folks holding their noses.

In truth, it is a legal election conducted by a consortium of the county and its 19 cities called the Contra Costa Clean Water Program. State law permits public agencies to seek a majority landowner approval for fees through a direct mail election.

And, yes, people have fierce and disparate opinions about the program itself.

Nonetheless, the cities and the county say they need the fee to meet tightening federal and state regulations intended to reduce pollution from stormwater runoff into San Francisco Bay, creeks, lakes and groundwater.

But the bulk of the irate callers hate the way the clean water program managers are running the election.

The critics call it an attempt to sidestep the two-thirds vote threshold imposed on new taxes, and an untenable departure from democratic balloting procedures.

No one denies the former. Unfunded federal and state mandates often land on the shoulders of local agencies, which are forced to become increasingly creative in finding ways to pay for them.

As for the latter, the election procedures are troubling.

The ballot literature contains no independent analysis of the fee. There are no opponents’ statements. Both are required of initiatives and referendums that appear on traditional ballots.

Instead, the documents

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sent to voters — using public money — are unabashedly promotional and clearly skirt the fine line between express electioneering and educational material. Public agencies cannot legally use taxpayer money to promote or oppose measures, but they can spend it on “public education” materials.“I have no way to make an intelligent decision based on the materials provided in my ballot,” said one property owner. “This material was prepared entirely by the proponents, who are then responsible for tallying the votes. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Then there is the question about why the election does not use a secret ballot.

The ballot requires the property owner to sign and date the actual ballot. In a traditional election, the voter signs the outside of the envelope, and election officials extract and separate the anonymous ballot that contains the actual vote.

“It’s un-American,” said another property owner. “How can this be legal?”

Looking at the campaign materials in his ballot, Supervisor John Gioia says he now regrets voting to put the fee before property owners.

“I am very unhappy with how this campaign is being conducted,” Gioia said. “This program has some clear benefits, but the campaign is, well, screwed up.”

PROPERTY OWNERS VOTE:   NO!  ON THE CLEAN WATER BALLOT

 

 

 

EMINENT DOMAIN

The following information comes from the Institute of Justice.  This is the organization that helped San Pablo residents successful fight against the San Pablo Redevelopment Agency.

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  December 29, 2011

California’s Redevelopment Nightmare Coming To An End

California Supreme Court Upholds Law Abolishing Redevelopment Agencies

Arlington, Va.—In a landmark victory for private property owners in the Golden State, the California Supreme Court today upheld a statute abolishing the nearly 400 redevelopment agencies across the state.  The court also struck down a law that would have allowed these agencies to buy their way back into existence.  The final outcome of the case is that, in 2012, California’s decades-long redevelopment nightmare will finally come to an end.

California redevelopment agencies have been some of the worst abusers of eminent domain for decades, violating the private property rights of tens of thousands of home, business, church and farm owners.  The Institute for Justice has catalogued more than 200 abuses of eminent domain across California during the past ten years alone.  In California Scheming: What Every Californian Should Know About Eminent Domain Abuse, the Institute for Justice exposed the enormous amounts of taxpayer money used to fund these illegitimate land grabs.  In fiscal year 2005-2006 alone, redevelopment agencies’ revenues were an astonishing $8.7 billion.  In other words, 12 percent of all property taxes in California that year were sent to these bureaucrats.

As part of the state’s response to its fiscal emergency and to stop this drain on the state’s resources, the legislature passed, and Governor Jerry Brown signed, two laws:  Assembly Bill 1X 26, which dissolves redevelopment agencies, and Assembly Bill 1X 27, which exempted agencies that agreed to make payments into funds benefiting the state’s schools and special districts.  The California Redevelopment Association and the League of California Cities, among others, challenged both laws, arguing that they violated the California Constitution.

The court held that AB 1X 26, the law barring the agencies from engaging in new business and providing for their windup and dissolution, was “a proper exercise of the legislative power vested in the Legislature by the state Constitution.”   The court concluded that the Legislature has both the power to create such agencies “and the corollary power to dissolve those same entities when the Legislature deems it necessary and proper.”  In contrast, the court concluded that AB 1X 27, which allowed the agencies to continue to exist if they made certain payments, violated a provision of the California Constitution that prohibits the Legislature from requiring payments from redevelopment agencies to the state.

“This decision represents the worst of all worlds for California redevelopment agencies—and the best of all worlds for California property owners and renters,” said Dana Berliner, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice.  “The agencies managed to achieve a decision that upholds their dissolution while striking down a law that gave these agencies a way to stay in existence.  The agencies’ arrogance, so often employed against property owners, finally proved their undoing.”  The Institute for Justice is a public interest law firm that is the nation’s leading defender of victims of eminent domain abuse—when the government seizes perfectly fine property not for public use, but for private development—across the country, including in California.

While the decision focused on specific provisions of the California Constitution, its practical effect represents a significant victory for California property owners.  “Redevelopment in California has been a billion-dollar, state-subsidized boondoggle that has completely eroded private property rights through the abuse of eminent domain for private gain,” said Christina Walsh, the Institute’s director of activism and coalitions.  “With the court’s decision, redevelopment has finally met its long-overdue end, and property owners who have been living in terror across the state can finally rest safe in what they’ve worked so hard to own.”

IJ attorney Bill Maurer said, “Today’s decision reaffirms the common-sense conclusion that state agencies do not have a constitutional right to perpetual existence.  More importantly, it means that California is no longer lagging behind the rest of the country in respecting private property.  Rather than interfering with California’s recovery, this decision should encourage it, as people considering moving to or staying in California now know that their property cannot be seized and transferred to a private entity by out-of-control, unaccountable redevelopment agencies.”

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Best,

Christina Walsh
Director of Activism and Coalitions
Institute for Justice
901 N. Glebe Road, Suite 900
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 682-9320
(703)-682-9321 (fax)
www.ij.org
www.castlecoalition.org

This message was sent to letsgosolar@yahoo.com from:

NEW MAYOR FOR SAN PABLO

West County Times:

New San Pablo mayor celebrates labor and praises old mayor

By Tom Lochner
Contra Costa Times

Posted: 12/13/2011 04:26:01 PM PST

Updated: 12/14/2011 08:45:18 PM PST

 

Cecilia Valdez began her tour of duty as San Pablo’s new mayor by touting project labor agreements as a kind of win-win-win: a way to raise wages of low-wage workers while ensuring labor harmony and increasing quality and productivity.

The agreements set basic terms and conditions for all workers on a project before its start, including prevailing wages and benefits, and often contain local hiring as well as apprenticeship provisions and no-strike and no-lockout pacts.

Nonunion contractor groups and advocates say rules requiring project labor agreements add costs to projects, a notion unions dispute.

Valdez’s elevation to mayor was part of last week’s annual City Council reorganization. Arturo Cruz is the new vice mayor.

It is the first tour for each in their respective leadership posts since they were elected in 2008 with the support of labor unions and the Contra Costa County Democratic Party.

Several labor and party officials attended the ceremony.

Valdez was vice mayor this year.

Valdez praised outgoing Mayor Paul Morris for “the fantastic job he’s done,” thanked the city’s staff and senior administrative officials, and acknowledged several dignitaries in attendance, including representatives of Rep. George Miller and state Sen. Loni Hancock; former San Pablo Mayor Joe Gomes; West Contra Costa Unified School District trustee Antonio Medrano; West Contra Costa Business Development Center Executive Director Alex

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Gomez; former Richmond City Council members John Marquez and Ludmyrna Lopez; and former Pinole Mayor Maria Alegria.About a half-mile from City Hall, at the San Pablo Lytton Casino, low-wage workers and their union remain locked in a bitter standoff with management over wages, benefits and labor practices. A city subcommittee is studying the situation, although the city has no legal power to intervene.

The casino contributes about $14 million annually to the city’s general fund under terms of a 2003 Municipal Services Agreement between the city and the casino’s owners, the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians.

Morris, in a statement titled “2011 Year of Accomplishments” posted on the city’s website, said the city eliminated a $3.2 million budget deficit in collaboration with its unions. He also noted the opening of several new businesses, including Las Montanas supermarket and several stores at the College Center shopping center, and ongoing construction of the Helms Community Center, the Rumrill Boulevard Bridge replacement and a Contra Costa County health clinic on part of the former Circle S mobile home park site.

HELMS STUDENT

The following article comes from the West County Times:

Richmond eighth-grader featured in commercial

By Hannah Dreier
Contra Costa Times

Posted: 12/14/2011 06:30:18 PM PST

Updated: 12/15/2011 04:22:46 AM PST

Click photo to enlarge

Helms Middle School 8th graders Christian Barragan, left, Fernando Ochoa, Kaisaiah Clark,…

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Until this fall, 13-year-old Kaisaiah Clark had never flown on a plane or been on a warm beach. Now his face can be found on television from Los Angeles to Florida.

The Richmond eighth-grader is the newly minted star of a national Chevron commercial.

In the ad, Kaisaiah sits in a mock classroom and demonstrates a robot that can lift a cup. In a split screen, a Chevron geologist talks about the corporation’s support for science education.

After a two-day casting call at Helms Middle School in San Pablo, Chevron flew Kaisaiah and four classmates to a Los Angeles soundstage. The producers chose Kaisaiah for the final cut.

“I would call myself very lucky,” said the youth. “The plane was really scary, but after that, it was really exciting.”

“One of my favorite parts was the beach — I don’t think I’ve ever been to a real beach.”

Earlier this month, Latricha Baker had the startling experience of hearing her son’s voice calling out to her from the television as she was getting ready for work.

“It was so surreal,” she said. “I had ‘Good Morning America’ on and I heard a familiar voice. I look up, and it’s my son.

“It was a proud moment.”

Like many of the adults on set, Baker was surprised at how her son kept his cool as he recited the same handful of lines over and over during the two-hour shoot.

Kaisaiah said he is considering doing more acting, but his primary goal is to become a mechanical engineer.

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He loves building things in his spare time.”When I create things, it keeps me satisfied for a long time,” he said.

At a reception at Chevy’s restaurant Tuesday, Kaisaiah remained calm, making eye contact and keeping up conversations as supporters swirled around him. He said he is getting used to the attention. At school, students he has never talked to have been congratulating him.

Kaisaiah is taking a Chevron-sponsored engineering class at Helms and will be building robots like the one he demonstrated in the ad.

Principal Jose De Leon said that the program provides important job skills and praised Chevron for making it possible.

The ad, entitled “Science Rules,” is part of Chevron’s “We Agree” public relations campaign.

IT SURE WOULD BE NICE IF CHEVRON COULD HELP FINANCIALLY WITH  PROVIDING EQUIPMENT NEEDED IN OUR AUDIO/VIDEO SECTION  OR PROVIDE NEW COMPUTERS FOR OUR  COMMUNITY CENTER BEING PLANNED FOR HELMS.

Watch the commercial
The television ad is on
YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpP2mH6jSoI.

Save Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security – Occupy Posters

Save Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Xavier Viramontes, screenprint

See and download more Occupy Posters (including this one) at http://occuprint.org/

People over Profits, Occupy Poster

People over Profits

See and download more Occupy Posters (including this one) at http://occuprint.org/

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

The City is planning on developing land directly across from  the new Medical Center being built on San Pablo Avenue.  This development will contain shops and restaurants.  The plan was to call this area, ‘The Avenue’.  Unfortunately, this name belongs to some other city.  So, we have to come up with a new name for this new development.  I think we should call it ‘The Circle ‘S’ Roundup’ in recognition of the Circle S Trailer Park that once stood on this land.  If you have an idea for a name, send it to City Hall.

article West County Times:

San Pablo to try again for name to planned development

By Tom Lochner
Contra Costa Times

Posted: 11/23/2011 11:32:26 AM PST

Updated: 11/23/2011 09:17:46 PM PST

 

After a first try fizzled, San Pablo will conduct another community naming contest for the retail-and-entertainment destination that is supposed to rise up some day on the former site of the Circle S and Alvarado mobile home parks.

The winner of the first naming contest in September was “The Avenue,” the choice of more than half of the 473 respondents. But within weeks, a Georgia company with a chain of eight “The Avenue” shopping centers in three Southeastern states gave notice that it has a trademark on the name.

“The Avenue” had trounced two other finalists selected by an ad hoc committee that included Mayor Paul Morris, Councilman Leonard McNeil and City Manager Matt Rodriguez; the other two were Chattleton Square and Chattleton Promenade. A namesake street, Chattleton Lane, exists on the site’s northwestern edge.

A write-in candidate, Placita San Pablo, fetched 62 votes, or 13 percent, to finish in third place. Placita’s strong showing persuaded the committee to include it as a finalist this time, along with Chattleton Square, Chattleton Place — tweaked from the previous contest’s Chattleton Promenade — and La Avenida — Spanish for “The Avenue.”

“This time, we’ll research the names to make sure they’re not trademarked,” Assistant City Manager Kelsey Worthy said Monday, shortly before the council authorized the new contest.

Chattleton Square and Promenade survived the first round without anyone claiming the

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rights to the names. Placita San Pablo as yet is untested. And if anyone should lay claim to La Avenida, it apparently won’t be the Georgia company, Cousins Properties Inc.Worthy said Cousins has no trademark on “La Avenida” and that it has no objections to San Pablo’s use of the name.

Rich Kinney, pastor of Revival Generation Ministries in San Pablo, asked the council to add Huichun Village to the mix; the name is a reference to a subset of the Ohlone tribe that is native to the East Bay. But Mayor Paul Morris said the ad hoc committee had done its work and that it was too late to add another finalist.

Kinney could follow Placita’s playbook and campaign for Huichun Village as a write-in candidate, however.

“We walk on their blood; we walk on their burial sites; we trampled all over them,” Kinney said after the council meeting. “We owe them the courtesy of some memorial, that they haven’t been forgotten.”

At the very least, Kinney said, he will advocate installing a historic display in a central part of the shopping center to bring attention to the area’s indigenous people.

These days, the city’s most common reference to Indians is the San Pablo Lytton Casino, owned by the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians, a tribe native to Sonoma County.

The new naming contest will likely begin in the new year, to give San Pablo officials time to vet the names.