Anti-prop 8, pro-equality rally at City Hall on Saturday

The passage of Proposition 8, which eliminated the right of same sex couples to marry in California, put a serious damper on what should have been an amazing election night for many of us. While 52.2% of California voters said yes, we can take maybe a little bit of comfort in the fact that bigotry isn’t quite so much in vogue in our neck of the woods - 62.2% of Alameda County voters said no. (Just for fun - our no vote was bested only by Marin, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma Counties, and we tied with Mendocino County.)

It was a banner day for intolerance, not just in California, but across the country. Read more

Sean Sullivan: The Hope of West Oakland

In June 2008, I had the opportunity to blog about food security. The election happened. Despite its outcome, food insecurity in West Oakland persists. Until now and no, its not what you think.

What you’re probably thinking is that V Smoothe’s long ballyhooed Mandela Food Cooperative has finally opened. Longtime readers of this blog will remember this, this, and this.

Well, Mandela Foods, a food cooperative funded by large payout from the Councilmember as well as the citizen driven West Oakland Project Area Committee (WOPAC) had its “ground-breaking ceremony.” I was not in town that particular day. No, I wasn’t off in Jamaica looking for cocoa beans while Oakland businesses were robbed and the city needed leadership. I was in Los Angeles, working on the largest and most successful fundraiser for an LGBT organization in the history of California.

From what I understand from neighbors who attended, the ground-breaking ceremony included breaking down walls in the continuing construction of a store that is still, one month later and years after it was promised, still not actually operating. Don’t get me wrong, I have wanted this store to open but I, personally, don’t need this store to open. Many neighbors absolutely do need a grocery store to open. The average income of homes in West Oakland and the Prescott neighborhood is below the poverty line. With such a limiting income, maintaining a working vehicle can be a challenge as well and the two work against each other.

For me, living above subsistence and, not transit dependent, I do not face food insecurity, I face inconvenience when I need an ingredient or its late at night and I just want an apple. It’s a drive to Emeryville Pack and Save. What many West Oaklanders face is real food insecurity.

Read more

Sean Sullivan’s post-election plans

Now Chip Johnson wants term limits. I still don’t get it. Am I the only one who thinks that maybe term limits in Sacramento haven’t exactly led to a well-run State government? But hey - we get lots of fresh faces, so apparently that makes up for it. I still haven’t heard anything that makes me more inclined to support term limits for Councilmembers (although people are welcome to keep trying), but what I have heard quite enough of in the last week is bitching about the election results and how entrenched the incumbents are from people who didn’t lift a damn finger to help unseat any of them. Anyway, I have no interest in sitting around and moping about how unfair the the world is. Losing sucks. We’ll just have to do it better next time, and that’s that.

One person who is decidedly not sitting around pouting about the system is 2nd place finisher in the District 3 City Council race, Sean Sullivan. Sullivan will soon be starting an awesome new job as the director of development for Equality California:

In the past decade, EQCA has successfully passed more than 45 pieces of civil rights legislation for the LGBT community – more than any other statewide LGBT organization in the nation. Working in partnership with California’s LGBT Legislative Caucus, EQCA is committed to building a better future for all Californians by protecting youth, strengthening families and empowering communities.

Sullivan will be joining the organization as they ramp up to raise funds to defeat the marriage ammendment that has been placed on the ballot for November. The organization will need to raise millions of dollars to get their message out in the next few months. Sullivan’s experience as the director of development and community relations with a shiny homeless shelter in the heart of the Jack London District, as well as raising over $60,000 as a first time political candidate, demonstrate that he has the skills for the job.

Congratulations, Sean!

The debate on government

So last night, I checked the early returns on my way out the door to Sean Sullivan’s party, and my heart sank. Even then, I really thought we’d make it to a run-off (which is still a possibility), but it was crushing nonetheless. Now, I usually cry at the drop of a hat, so I was incredibly proud of myself for holding it together and not bursting into tears during the party, or the after-party, or even the after-after-party. But when my last guest finally left early this morning and I closed my apartment door behind him, I just fell apart. It’s tough to take.

I really thought it would be different this time, but it wasn’t, and like I do after what seems like almost every single election day, I found myself thinking about my man Herodotus, specifically a section in Book 3 usually referred to as the debate on government. It’s this awesome story about a group of Persians, all excited over their successful coup against the ruling Magi, sitting around and having, like, the Greekest discussion ever about what kind of government they should adopt next. Read more

Election Day!

So last night, exhausted and sore from walking all weekend and calling all day, and with nothing left for me to do to help Sean Sullivan’s campaign, I went out and had a couple beers, then went home and tried to sleep. Like a kid on Christmas Eve, I was way too nervous, so instead I turned on the TV for the first time in months and watched one of my all-time favorite movies, Street Fight. If you haven’t seen it, go rent it immediately, because it’s completely awesome. And although, like most great movies, it has a sad ending, the postscript is happy.

Anyway, as I watched Cory Booker and crew on their downright frightening campaign trail, I thought a lot about the campaign I’ve been spending basically all my free time on for the last two months. Read more

Sean Sullivan on Food Security

Oakbook today has a great op-ed from Sean Sullivan on food security and food access.

June 2008 Endorsements

So one of the funnest parts of having a blog, or so people tell me, is that you get to make endorsements. I wouldn’t know. I’ve somehow managed to find myself so busy that I’ve run out of time to write them. So here’s A Better Oakland’s endorsements. I’ve already said who I’m supporting in most of these races, and I’m linking to my previous explanation for the decision because I just don’t have the time to write a new, short one. Sorry. Next time around I’ll do it right. Read more

OPOA endorsement of Sean Sullivan

Bob Valladon wrote a great endorsement of Sean from the OPOA. He seems to have a lot of the same reasons as I have for supporting Sean, which actually surprised me a little. But the whole thing is great and everyone should read it. Read more

Why I’m voting for Sean Sullivan for Oakland City Council District 3

So I’d been holding onto a draft version of yesterday’s blog for over a month, and only ended up finally posting it at the forceful urging of a number of friends. I thought that the reason I couldn’t bring myself to post it was because I just wanted so badly for it to be really good and damning and persuasive and that I just couldn’t let go because it would never be good enough. But by the time I hit the publish button, I realized that it wasn’t about those things at all - the reason I waited so long to make an elaborate case against Nancy Nadel was because I didn’t really want to. Not because I didn’t believe in what I’d written (I do), or because it wasn’t all true (it is), but because I just don’t care about it anymore. Last winter, this election for me was about replacing my incredibly ineffective and unresponsive Councilmember. But I realized yesterday that over the last few months, it hasn’t been about that for me at all. It’s about getting someone into office who I really, really, really believe in. Read more

Irresponsible endorsements

So we’ve got what, 11 days before the election? I’m so nervous! Anyway, next week’s blogs are going to be all elections, all the time, and since I’m finally done with some big projects I’ve been working on, I’ll actually have the time to write them! Part of next week’s election coverage is going to be endorsements. I take this seriously, and have spent a great deal of time researching the candidates, especially in races that I’m not terribly familiar with, because I want to be able to stand behind what I say and feel like I’ve made a recommendation based on as much information as possible.

Apparently, not everyone takes the responsibility so seriously. dto510 wrote last week about the misplaced ideology behind the Central Labor Council/Sierra Club/Central Committee/Green Party/Bay Guardian slate, a post which generated a number of comments from endorsers of the “progressive” candidates. The commenters were unable to provide any justification of the logic behind their endorsements, or answer questions about Nadel’s troubling record, instead falling back on vague statements like “V Smoothe, I know it must be eminently gratifying to pretend that people who reject your analysis only do so because of ignorance, but you know some of us pay attention and still think you’re wrong.”

What a horrible thing to say! It isn’t gratifying in the least to see people making bad choices about their government because they’re uninformed! In fact, it’s incredibly depressing! It keeps me awake at night. Anyway, while some of these groups, such as the East Bay Young Democrats, continue to fail to offer any argument supporting their endorsements (making it impossible to then rebut said argument), other endorsers of this slate have done so, and, as expected, their choices are, well, completely uninformed.

Take, for example, the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s endorsement of Nancy Nadel: Read more

District 3 Candidate Forum tonight

I’m pretty sure this is your last chance to see all three candidates in action before the election. If you can’t make it, a recap with video will be provided here by the end of the week (and the Downtown Lake Merritt debate recap will be posted tomorrow, I promise!, along with District 1 School Board stuff). But everything’s better live, so if you can swing it, head down to Jack London Square tonight.

6 PM
Regatta Room at the Portobello Condominiums
11 Embarcadero West (entrance at corner of Oak and Embarcadero)

HarriOak All Candidates Forum Video and Recap

I’ve finally managed to upload all the video from the All Candidates Forum last week. Big thanks to Elise Ackerman for all her hard work organizing the event. District 3 candidates Nancy Nadel and Sean Sullivan were there, but the third candidate, Greg Hodge, was not. (His wife managed to make it.) Of the at-large candidates, Kerry Hamill was absent. The group questions lasted until about 8:20, and all the candidates (except Nancy Nadel) hung around for a while to talk to residents one on one. Anyway, recap, video, and response for all the group questions below. Enjoy! Read more

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