Maybe Perata “Won” in Oakland After All
One year ago this week, the voters or Oakland went to the polls to choose a new mayor. Former President pro tem of the State Senate Don Perata finished first in the initial wave of voting with 34% of the vote. But Oakland has a ranked-choice voting system (also known as instant runoff voting) in […]
Occupy Movement – The Root of All Oakland
Crossposted at SFGate The morning after Occupy Oakland’s midweek violent protests, the take in the Bay Area was that it was a dirty, rotten shame that a few bad-egg anarchists hijacked a mostly peaceful protest and made an otherwise good cause look bad. That is so delusional. From the start, troublemakers have advocated violent protest […]
Somethin’ Happenin’ Here; What It is Ain’t Exactly Clear . . .
“There’s somethin’ happenin’ here What it is ain’t exactly clear… I think it’s time we stop, children, What’s that sound Everybody look what’s going down” -Buffalo Springfield: “For What It’s Worth;” Lyrics- Stephen Stills OWS. Three letters that stand for a wildfire spreading across not just the United States, but, quite possibly, the world. “Definition […]
Los Angeles Mayor’s On-Again, Off-Again Relationship With Business
Crossposted in PublicCEO October was a good month for the sometimes troubled relationship between Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the business community. It was a month where Mayor Villaraigosa proposed permanently extending the three-year old Business Tax Holiday. He created the Los Angeles Regional Export Council, a public-private partnership, to coordinate export services in […]