The Oakland News is dominated by the Oakland Raiders trade for now-former Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Carson Palmer. In case you missed it, here’s the first seven minutes of today’s press conference at Raiders Headquarters:
What cracked me up about the start of the press conference was that Coach Jackson said “There’s a report out there that this deal was Hue Jackson’s..” And then went on to congratulate the Raiders Organization.
At that time, the number one Google News result in a search for “Carson Palmer” was “Carson Palmer Trade To Raiders Has Hue Jackson Mark” – by this blogger!
Some of the questions concerned Palmer’s quitting the Bengals in protest, and wondered if he still has passion for the game. I think of it as the reverse: the fact that Carson quit in protest means he has passion for pro football.
The Lawsuit Against CEDA On Code Enforcement
I got this email today that was sent by Gwin Martin and to Michael Kilian, who ran for Oakland City Auditor and lost to Courtney Ruby, whom this blogger endorsed (and no, I do not regret the endorsement one bit, even though the auditor needs to show real guts and look at the Coliseum):
Hi Michael,
As you know I have filed a lawsuit against City and CEDA officials alleging illegal and aggressive code enforcement by CEDA and illegal use of code enforcement and building permit fees towards the City’s general fund.
As a professional auditor I have asserted that CEDA charges exorbitant code-enforcement and permit fees in violation of a City ordinance, the California Constitution, and the California Housing Law, which require that such fees reflect the actual costs of building department activities.
The suit also alleges illegal transfers of CEDA funds to the City’s general fund in violation of the same laws, all of which specify that such fees be used only for building department activities. My complaint claims that CEDA and the City are illegally using aggressive code enforcement to bolster the City’s budget and accuses CEDA and the City of preying on homeowners, forcing many of them, through excessive fees and liens, into an inability to pay for the required abatements, thus subverting the laws CEDA is charged with enforcing.
The complaint, which names City Administrator Dan Lindheim as well as other high-ranking officials, asks for a recalculation of the CEDA fees in accordance with CEDA costs and a refund to the CEDA fund of monies illegally transferred to the general fund
I am only asking for injunctive relief for all of Oakland and reasonable attorney’s fees. Please invite whoever you think might find this case interesting. I would love it if the press was in the room. The case management hearing is scheduled for Wed. Oct. 19, 2011 at 9:00 am. My attorney and I will be happy to answer any questions after the hearing.
Sincerely,
Gwill
Oakland Notes From Looking At Twitter and YouTube
What kills me are the number of Twitter accounts for Oakland businesses where the tweet flow stopped months ago, and yet the page is still up. So what happens is you see a tweet on the page, as in the case of Sidebar on Grand Avenue, and think it applies to today, only to look at the fine print, which is the date, and discover that it’s not.
Like this:
@sidebar_oakland Sidebar
Tonight’s sweet: Chocolate & Cinnamon cookies w/caramel ice cream
15 Jun via Facebook Favorite Retweet Reply
Note, that was something I’d love to have, but it was offered on Jun 15th! That’s the most recent tweet from Sidebar!
What’s upsetting is that Sidebar’s doing great business at 542 Grand Ave, but the inactive social media effort makes it look like nothing’s happening if you’ve never been there before.
Not true:
Sidebar! Time to go to work!
Don Macleay At Occupy Oakland
Last year’s Oakland Green Party Candidate for Mayor Don Macleay supports the Occupy Oakland movement, and made a series of videos that he’s place on his personal YouTube channel. Here’s one of them:
And speaking of restaurants on Grand Avenue, @isobelCarr recommends this offering at Coach Sushi at 532 Grand Avenue, just three doors down from Sidebar:
The Oakland Hills Fire Of 1991
Tomorrow marks the 20th Anniversary of The Oakland Hills Fire. For those who weren’t in Oakland then, it started when someone tossed a cigarette in the brush in the Oakland Hills just around the Caldecott Tunnel, and over time it mixed with an unusually hot wind gust and a humid day. By Sunday morning, the fire grew to enormous proportions.
On that day I was to meet my high school friend Vallery Ostrom at Lynn and Lue’s, which is still going strong near the corner of Grand Avenue and Elwood. We had an outdoor table; the perfect place to see a group of people standing in the middle of the street looking toward the hills. From our perspective, we could not see what they were looking at. Then we walked to where they were and saw the largest column of smoke I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
Stay tuned.