Susan Bush comment-55324 2011-08-17T21:06:06Z 2011-08-17T21:06:06Z Some of the statistics scattered around in this article are just plain silly, considering that the sampling is infinitesimal, and that this is what Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates do. Who would hire them if they were going to find anything other than that the project their clients have in mind, is just what the people want. I’m no journalist, but I wonder that you did not think to ask who paid for this survey. If the city did, then voters are entitled to know who authorized it, how much was spent and from what funding source did the money come. Please reassure us readers that the city did not close almost every pool in the city and shutter the neighborhood community centers but have enough money in the coffers to fund anything as ridiculous as this survey. Dare I ask if anyone at SACPRESS checked on the survey questions, and how these questions were posed? Also interesting was the fact that the article states that those polled were equally divided between Democrat and Republicans. Were there no American Independents, no Greens or other third parties? It doesn’t matter because this is just one more of the not-facts sited in this article, and used as window dressing to make this survey sound like something that should be taken seriously. But what we should take seriously is whether the city council and the mayor are ignoring the actual votes of the people and allowing themselves to be influenced by this kind of flim-flam. Also possibly a more troubling question--what kind of journalism is it which does not question its sources, and which allows the public to be misled? Susan Bush 2011-08-17T21:06:06Z Susan Bush comment-54572 2011-08-05T19:01:58Z 2011-08-05T19:01:58Z Let's end this this battle of misleading and misquoting, and personal attacks. Everyone has advised me that it would too boring to quote the relevant bylaw sections as they relates to this issue. But with misinformation abounding the time has come for just that, and so here paraphrased and quoted (as marked) are the relevant sections of the Bylaws. Please download from the sacfoodcoop.com, or call the co-op and ask for a copy 455-2667 so that you can read along with me! Section 10 deals with what goes on the ballot. 10.02 is the Election Code, it is rather lengthy so again, please go website and read it. There is nothing in it about Board oversight of Member Initiatives. Next is 10-03 Board Elections, then 10-04 covers Recall of Directors, and then we have 10-5 Bylaws Amendments. Here is where the Board and all its misquoting minions go off the rails—in my opinion. Of course 10.05 mandates that the board should read and certify that a Bylaws Amendment meets all legal requirements, is clear and concise and that it does not affect other than that Bylaw that is being amended; it also mandates public discussion of the proposed Amendment in 10.05.b.3. Now we come to the section that actually covers Initiatives-- Section 10.06 Referendums and Initiatives. 10.06.a states that these (referendums and/or initiatives must be in line with the Election Code (10.2) Continuing now with 10.06.a This outlines the (3) three ways an initiative may be put on the ballot "10.06.a.1. A petition stating the action requested, must be signed by at least that number of Members which constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business as set forth in section 7.05.a (and) is received by the secretary of the board. 10.06.a.2 (If) A majority of the members present and voting at a duly called or regular meeting deem it necessary. Section 10.06.a.3 The board so directs. Section 10.06 (ends with) b. The results of any referendum and/or initiave shall be binding on the Board and Membership." These Bylaws, not unlike the founding documents of our Nation, are elegant in their clarity and simplicity, and folks: depending how you print them they are less than 10 pages long. I beg everyone to download and print them and for heaven's sake please read them yourselves. Don't let these online Rush Limbaughs tell you what they say!!! And yes there are other issues involved here as well, but let's untangle this misquoting and misinformation one issue at a time. Thank You if you have read this far, I do appreciate the time you and everyone has devoted to these contentious issues. Susan Bush 2011-08-05T19:01:58Z Susan Bush comment-54177 2011-07-30T05:13:19Z 2011-07-30T05:13:19Z "spend some time reading the Bylaws... It says specifically member initiatives need to be reviewed to make sure they comply with the law, the Coops principles, and the bylaws." Yes the bylaws do say this as quoted BUT as regards amendments to the Bylaws proposed for the ballot. Initiatives are a separate section and no such prescription is made for Initiatives, because the Co-op founders wanted to preserve this small reservation for Direct Democracy. So please don't all be so sanctamonious when you haven't yourself read Carefully these Bylaws. Susan Bush 2011-07-30T05:13:19Z Susan Bush comment-54071 2011-07-29T02:25:35Z 2011-07-29T02:25:35Z Wow, I was right when I said you should not disagree with Mr. Maviglio. Actually I am not associated with BDS although I share their concern for the indigenous people of Palestine and the decades-long occupation by the state of Israel with American taxpayer funding. But BDS seems to be the BIG smear mechanism, and also it seems, guilt by association. Mr. M. is mostly right in that I have only taken sporadic interest in the governance of the Co-op since I first joined in 1985. Partly that was due to often working and living out of the region, in San Francisco and in LA for long periods of time, but I kept my membership up and did in fact attend many member meetings. I am sad that I could not have done more, but many of us have to wait till retirement to do the things we always wanted to do. I certainly never expected to be attacked for this; after all I am not a professional political hack with obviously lots of time to grind out these sad little attacks on anyone with an opinion contrary to his own. This is the problem in a nutshell of why I decided I had to run for the board. Here is the Board President leveling anyone and everyone in his path, belittling their opinions and their membership, even by god, the amount of money they spend. Precisely this lofty distance and open distain from some members of the board, toward the general membership is just what will bring the Co-op down, not some insignificant Dead Sea salts. You can take this as notice that I may be old, and I may have missed many Co-op activities over the 25 years that I have been a member, because of work and family, but I will not be silenced by your insults. Susan Bush 2011-07-29T02:25:35Z Susan Bush comment-54046 2011-07-28T20:32:40Z 2011-07-28T20:32:40Z Membership at the Co-op confers one vote, regardless of whether that membership is an individual, a household or a partnership. One membership can be composed of two catagories, a primary member and a (non-voting) secondary member for the proposes of work and membership discounts. Usually it doesn't matter which partner is the named member, except when it comes to the vote, or as we learned in this election, if you want to express an opinion. It must be noted that membership in our Co-op has become more expensive since the fiasco of the Elk Grove store, so most families choose to share their membership and one vote. Mr. Mandel was not the primary member on the member roles although he and his partner have been members of the Co-op for as long as I can remember. However, Mr. Mandel was told that he could not submit his argument because he was a “household shopper” (non-voting) rather than a primary member. Therefor he had to take out a new membership in his own name. Really quite simple! Mr. Maviglio knows this very well, and it is really quite undignified of a member of the board and in fact the Chair of the board to use such a distortion of fact as an argument. As to our “many names”-- yes we are a loose coalition of many groups, and individuals with many interests and many names, but the one name we share is Member/Owners. The other thing that we share is our increasing frustration with the Board's direction toward corporatization and away from democratic principles, and respect for the opinions of its members, and for the Co-op own bylaws. It is our contention that it is this arrogance of power on the part of some on the board which has escalated a simple initiative drive into this imbroglio, which Mr. Maviglio then also blames on us—for disagreeing with him. Yes we are a diverse coalition, but it must make people wonder why such a large organization as the Co-op, has to stoop to such low tactics to quiet its member’s right to free, fair and open discussion. Susan Bush 2011-07-28T20:32:40Z Susan Bush comment-53781 2011-07-22T20:19:27Z 2011-07-22T20:19:27Z Broadway makes the most sense if you don't live in the upper Land Park or Southside Park neighborhoods. We already are cut off and cut up by the 50 & I-5 Interchange. Also the argument that there can be a "Neighborhood Friendly" bridge, is completely bogus. There is a reason that there are no small bridges crossing the river. A bridge must be engineered to withstand flood, earthquake and other natural occurrances. It must meet Coast Guard height requirements for maintaining a navagable river. For these reasons any bridge must be a substantial structure--read substantial cost! Are they going to put tons of money into a bicycle, pedestrian or even a 2 lane capable bridge? I don't think so! In order to justify the cost, it would make sense to make that bridge carry 4 lanes of traffic at the very least The rail yards has been planned for years to be an intermodal transportation center. For that reason and many others Rail Yards and/or Richards Blvd would disturb the least and be the most logical choice for the Sacramento foot of the bridge. Susan Bush 2011-07-22T20:19:27Z Susan Bush comment-35394 2010-08-23T16:38:36Z 2010-08-23T16:38:36Z Cogmyer, What exactly is the false premise of unions that you refer to. Could it be the right to a living wage, perhaps it is the 8 hour day instead of 12, or 14 or even 16 hour days that you fault. Maybe it is the right to have 2 days free of the workplace. These are just a few of the things we take for granted today, but which would never have been granted, and did not come without the power of organized workers demanding these rights, and standing their ground in picket lines, deprivation , the brutality of paid goons, and often even against the police and state militias. Someone up there has already said it, union wages raise everyone's wages--or at least this was once more evident before most unionized jobs were ship overseas. Susan Bush 2010-08-23T16:38:36Z Susan Bush comment-32837 2010-07-14T19:41:34Z 2010-07-14T19:41:34Z Mayor Johnson did not look all that humble to me, but clearly he backed away from his own Ad Hoc Committee's position--actually for a moment I though he was going to forsake them altogether. But the lessons to be learned here were not for the mayor so much as for the three city councilmen who turned their backs on their own constituencies. Neighborhoods, Activists, Preservationists and the Organization across the city who have staunchly supported them in years of elections, and especially this pertains to the recently elected Steve Cohn. He along with Rob Fong and Ray Trethaway are certainly entitled to take a different view of how downtown, K street and the two blocks in question should be developed, but that is not the point. The real stab to the hearts of their constituencies is that they went behind closed doors to do it. They consulted no one, and I know in the case of my own councilman that there was no outreach whatsoever, not one single word, despite repeated emails sent by me to him and to his staff. Yes the lessons to be learned here are for these three, who it will be hard to believe in the future, and hard to support ever again for election. Again, it was not that they saw things differently, it was that they went 180 degrees in the opposite direction from what they had come to stand for over the years, and that they did not let their supporters in on the switch. I for one have been dumbfounded by this. Susan Bush 2010-07-14T19:41:34Z Susan Bush comment-32833 2010-07-14T18:39:55Z 2010-07-14T18:39:55Z What a great first paragraph. It was a grabber. I read all the way through to the end thinking there was a point to it. Alvarez goes on to talk about the volunteers, wow I though, he is going to point out that these are senior citizens too, but no, I read on, and on, but no tie back to the exciting near crash that was such an attention getter. I am not a sports fan so I this article grabbed my attention because I too am a senior citizen. I drive competently, sensibly and safely so I know we seniors are still capable of safe driving, I was looking for where was he going with this incident. Did he notice that most volunteer are senior citizens, because that does not mean that younger people are heartless and uncaring, just that seniors often have the luxury of time. Anyway, I don't mean to put too fine a point on this, just to point out that this paragraph hardly supports the article and might just as easily have been left out, just as it would have been if the driver had been Asian, Mexican or Black. Susan Bush 2010-07-14T18:39:55Z Susan Bush comment-32735 2010-07-13T21:07:04Z 2010-07-13T21:07:04Z Has anyone got any information on who this Rubicon Development Entity is? It seems funny that the city and my councilman have web pages which list important and upcoming events, as well as ways of polling their constituents and isn't it funny that none of this makes it onto those pages? My councilman has zoo days listed all the way back to January on his calendar of events, yet something important enough to meet privately with the mayor, or I see now the story is that the mayor was never there at his meeting, anyway this is so important that the carefully considered report of a staff of redevelopment experts is tossed aside and we are back to step one and this cannot compete on the councilman's calendar with zoo doings? Also in going back to square one, where is the review? Where is the time for the councilmen and woman's own staffers to review the information that will be presented tonight? This is especially important in light of the last minute fiddling with financing by Rubicon. To call it a travesty is not enough--people we have to look at our local government and see what is wrong, because when our elected leaders stop serving us with economy and good sense--what are we paying them for? Susan Bush 2010-07-13T21:07:04Z Susan Bush comment-32731 2010-07-13T20:40:24Z 2010-07-13T20:40:24Z Ever heard of a fighter throwing a fight? Sounds like that is what happened here and West Sacramento's Mayor Cabaldon is probably in on the take too, because it enhances his arguement for the bridge that he wants. We would have heard from him if he wanted it and saw Sacramento jeopardizing it. But Sacramento, what on earth do we have transportation planning for? Millions in subsidies and construction jobs and we could not even get the train from the bridge to somewhere? What is the Regional Planning Commission doing--were they out getting a manicure? What was CALTRANS doing? Even if we had no route, could we not at least have routed it down third street and east on S Street which would have served many neighborhoods on the south side of town wh desperately need access to the light rail, a supermarkets and drugstores. It sure seems like we are paying an awful lot of people who appear to be sitting on their !assembled backsides, but doing what appears to be NOTHING AT ALL--and that is if we are lucky. Susan Bush 2010-07-13T20:40:24Z Susan Bush comment-32725 2010-07-13T19:49:02Z 2010-07-13T19:49:02Z The only thing Johnson is leaning on is the councilmen whose support he has somehow coerced from otherwise good men of sound judgement. It appears Gentle Bloggers, that we now have got our "Strong Mayor. Susan Bush 2010-07-13T19:49:02Z Susan Bush comment-32723 2010-07-13T19:41:47Z 2010-07-13T19:41:47Z I'll second that Camille! Have these foolish councilmen thought this through? Have they considered what would happen if the Big Dream side actually wins tonight? By the time any of them are up for election, that ridiculous Boqueria tent will be falling down around our ears. The bond measure will have failed as everyone knows it will. The high rise more than likely will go bankrupt and the city will be left with another Big World Class Exciting City Dream (name it what the mayor will) MESS. Fong, Trethaway and Cohn will be lucky to win office as Dog Catchers, because their constituents are not going to forgive or forget this one, how can we? We will be paying for this blunder for decades to come and have nothing to show for it. Susan Bush 2010-07-13T19:41:47Z Susan Bush comment-32722 2010-07-13T19:27:09Z 2010-07-13T19:27:09Z This tourist thing Bill. What are we--Chopped Olives? We have local people who support local business and that is what tourists really want to see. It is called "the real thing!" --not some trumped up circus tent with a fancy European name. The only name this plan should have is Flim-Flam! Susan Bush 2010-07-13T19:27:09Z Susan Bush comment-29984 2010-06-11T04:24:05Z 2010-06-11T04:24:05Z Sounds like some of you guys hang out at some hip places. Maybe it's places where you think they think you are hip, because if you were where the work of citizenship and governance is practices every day you would be seeing the real Roger Dickenson. Working for children, chairing 1st Five last Monday, oh yea, you weren't there. Saturday, Memorial weekend at the Old City Cemetery at the Veteran's ceremony--oh yea, you weren't there either. Just old vets, and boy scouts and girl scouts and moms and dads, but I guess these are not the a hip or politically correct crowd. But Roger was there, as he has been for years, to honor the fallen, and to be with the community in remembrance. And today, a graduation ceremony for Conservation Corps Youth, no newspapers or TV cameras, just young people,graduates of a tough course, in school and life.. And Roger Dickenson? Yes he was there to hand out diplomas and honor them. Maybe it is true that good guys finish last. I hope that not true, and when they get the AD 9 primary vote certified we get a " win" this time for the good guy. Susan Bush 2010-06-11T04:24:05Z Susan Bush comment-2748 2009-01-26T16:21:10Z 2009-01-26T16:21:10Z Thanks Joel for the website "howtogetridofstull" My compost is in bins as is trash and it's ages since I left food out at night for the cats, but as the website points out, gubs and insects which live under fallen leaves and in the garden beds are a tasty substitute for purina cat chow, as is fallen bird food. Great solutions offered and a great trick with chalk. Thanks and I highly recommend www.howtogetridofstuff.com/pest-control/how-to-get-rid-of-skunks to anyone else. Susan Bush 2009-01-26T16:21:10Z