Important Need...

Good Saturday Tazer Family:

This update from Tazer friend Mike Ali:

Saturday afternoon about 130pm.

The tent city base camp needs water, food and gas for this up and coming week, Tazer readers!

Drop at 4th Street between Nevin and MacDonald!

Yours in the Struggle for Human and Civil Rights in Richmond

Mike Ali
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The brave folks at Tent City have made an impact. Please help if you can!

Contagious

In tents and with purpose: Peace

By Karl Fischer
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Tent City is spreading.

Across Richmond, people fed up with street violence bedded down for the week in places many would not normally go: drug corners, killing scenes, the infamous "hot spots" referenced by police and politicians.

What began as small gesture for peace at the corner of Fourth Street and Macdonald Avenue on Monday evening has mushroomed, with another camp appearing in Shields-Reid Park in North Richmond, and more organizing Thursday.

Community leaders now say they will live in a lot across from Fourth Street Park for 30 days.

"There has not been a shooting since we have been here," said the Rev. Charles Newsome, president of the Richmond chapter of the NAACP. "Right now, brothers and sisters are being very respectful. This is holy ground."

A group made camp Monday at the central Richmond site, transforming a parking lot into a combination barbecue pit and memorial shrine, where funeral programs for homicide victims festooned tables Thursday.

While the circumstances are sinister, the Rev. Andre Shumake said he was encouraged by the enthusiasm of both his compatriots and the community, which has supplied much-needed food, water and gear.

"At one time, some of these men were shooting at each other," Shumake said. "Now they're sitting around a campfire, talking about how to save their babies' lives."

Richmond police have investigated 32 killings this year. Organizers called upon faith leaders to participate and bring out more people, particularly on the city's south side, where they are still trying to organize camps.

"My sister was killed right in that circle where everyone is sitting," said Regina Guinn, gesturing to a spot where people ate barbecue and sat on lawn furniture Thursday. "We really need change here. We really need for someone to step up."

A second group began camping in Shields-Reid Park in North Richmond on Tuesday. About a dozen people were there Thursday, and Garland Harper said they would stay "as long as it takes."

"We're trying to reach out and touch the young ones in the community," said Harper, whose 22-year-old son was shot and killed in south Richmond on April 14. "But at the same time, we're telling them to stop the violence, we need to give them something else to do."

Harper and Sibb Adell said the community and local government needs to do a better job of providing public education, employment and recreation for young people in Richmond, starting with the dilapidated park where the North Richmond group has set up camp.

Organizers initially planned to march to Richmond Memorial Auditorium on Monday afternoon to unveil a three-year plan for reducing violence on city streets, but they are no longer set on that schedule because they want to give more neighborhoods time to pitch tents.

"We are calling for a truce for peace. We are asking people to go anywhere in town, even to the places where they typically could not go, knowing that nothing will happen to them. Because if anybody breaks this truce, there'd better not be any witnesses," Newsome said. "Because if I see you kill someone, I'm going to tell."

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@cctimes.com.

HOW TO HELP
People camping for peace in Richmond need food, water and camping gear to sustain their effort. Anyone wishing to donate can go to either site, at the corner of Fourth Street and Macdonald Avenue, or in Shields-Reid Park near the corner of Gertrude Avenue and Kelsey Street.

Big Brother?

City, police may use cameras to look out for crime
RICHMOND: Council seeks bids for surveillance system set up to monitor hot spots, illegal dumping areas

By John Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Daily activities such as going to the corner store, strolling in a park or picking up children at school soon could be monitored by Richmond police cameras.

After a presentation by Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus on Tuesday night, the City Council put out a call for surveillance companies to submit bids for wiring up crime hot spots and areas where illegal dumping frequently occurs.

The cost of the surveillance program will not be known until the council decides on the type of closed-circuit equipment and the Police Department works out camera monitoring policies, Magnus said.

"We know crime is repeatedly committed in various areas around Richmond," he said. "If we had cameras in those areas, we could have collected information that may have led to arrests and convictions. It's another set of eyes."

No specific camera sites have been chosen yet, but the most likely areas would be in the Iron Triangle and parts of south Richmond and the Shields/Reid Neighborhood. The cameras would monitor areas known for homicides and drug dealing. They would also monitor some public parks and isolated streets near the West County Landfill and in south Richmond where illegal dumping commonly takes place.

Magnus was quick to point out that closed-circuit surveillance is not a cure-all for crime and illegal dumping, but it could help police investigations, lead to more arrests and support witness testimony.

Longtime Iron Triangle resident Odessa Green said it's high time the cameras were installed.

"I've lived in Richmond for 65 years, and it's not Richmond anymore," she said. "It's a slaughterhouse, and it's filthy. When are we finally going to get these cameras?"

But others argued that closed-circuit monitoring of public streets is an invasion of privacy and won't deter crime, but rather move it.

"The remedies to the crime problem go way beyond anything a camera can offer," said Jim Hausken, a member of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The idea that we have to give up our civil liberties for a false sense of security offered by a camera is outrageous."

Magnus said the cameras would only monitor public right of ways and not private property.

"There are going to be people concerned about civil liberties," he said. "But we're talking about something that could help protect the civil liberties of the 99 percent of residents who are affected by crime."

City staff is expected to put out a request for proposals within 30 days and prepare a report for the City Council in about 90 days.

Contact John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or jgeluardi@cctimes.com.

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We at the Tazer have mixed feelings about video surveillance around Richmond...

It can put a very good eye someplace for an extended period of time, but someone still needs to watch a monitor or review footage. Thus, we wonder if it might not be about as cost effective to have an officer in the camera's place. However, since the ACLU has weighed in against them, we're apt to think that cameras must be OK. Just fine and peachy-keen, in fact.

The intrigue is still to come, of course. When the City Council starts talking money and new technology, holes appear in budgets. Anyone else remember "Solutions Applications Processes"?

And the winner is...?

Many interesting things going on today, Tazer Faithful! There's the situation at Tent City, and we're going to leave a spot open for Mike Ali and any other Tazer friends who wish to make a report.

Meanwhile, there are items that might be considered unrelated to violence prevention, such as the letters to the editor from Juan Reardon and Tom Butt. We at the Tazer think that there are plenty of issues that SURROUND violence prevention, and things like that give insight into how city business is (or might be) managed.

This time, it's an interesting revelation about Councilman Jim Rogers from the East Bay Express. It's part of Will Harper's "Bottom Feeder" column published today, entitled "800-XLAWYER."

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Embattled People's Lawyer quits profession

So why did the People's Lawyer really give up his once-lucrative TV-fueled law practice earlier this month? That's what legal and political insiders are wondering, but so far no one has been able to figure out what the bar, the organization that polices attorney behavior, had on Jim Rogers.

Rogers resigned his license to practice law on September 6 with disciplinary charges pending against him. He sold his personal-injury practice to his partner, Judith Marsh. By resigning with charges pending, the details of what the bar dug up on him remain secret.

For his part, Rogers says that for the past year or two he has been looking to get out of law — his career for 26 years now — and into real-estate development anyway. (So you see, dear Feeders, the bar's plan to file charges against him couldn't have come at a better time.) He adds that his practice hadn't been profitable in recent years. "It was the right time to get out," he says.

Yeah, no doubt. Rogers also is in the midst of a re-election bid for his Richmond City Council seat, so who wants to give his opponents fistfuls of mud to throw?

Those familiar with Rogers' career beyond his cheesy late-night ads know that he's been hounded by accusations of professional misbehavior for a decade ("Settling for Less," feature, 1/8/2003). In 1997, the bar issued Rogers a "private reproval," the equivalent of a wrist slap for, among other things, overcharging clients. Since then, he has been sued for legal malpractice at least a half-dozen times.

In the most damning case, Todd Wilson, a construction worker, suffered an injury that resulted in amputation of his lower leg. According to court records, Rogers pressured Wilson to accept an $85,000 settlement for what a judge later figured was a million-dollar case — and to lie under oath. Wilson's malpractice lawyer, Ross Meltzer, exposed Rogers' practice of settling cases at lowball prices in order to avoid going to trial. Rogers conceded then that he hadn't actually tried a case in court in more than twenty years, even though his practice handled hundreds of cases annually. In July 2002, Judge Ken Kawaichi ordered Rogers to pay Wilson $300,200 for screwing up his case, although the People's Lawyer settled out of court before the final judgment came down.

Rogers has since settled a couple other malpractice lawsuits. One involved Anita Ashford, who blamed him for pressuring her to accept a $6,700 insurance settlement in July 2003 to compensate her for injuries she suffered after falling through a wooden deck. When she initially resisted, Rogers "became abusive toward her and told her to lose weight if she wanted to feel better," her malpractice complaint alleged. Afterward, Ashford's back pain persisted and she had to have two surgeries to correct a herniated disc.

Rogers left a message for Feeder saying that the recent bar case didn't involve any of the malpractice suits filed against him, but he declined to clarify the accusations. He explained that didn't want to violate People's Lawyer-client privilege and get into a "blow-by-blow thing discussing a lot of details."

Sit-in For Peace

Residents camp to promote peace on streets
RICHMOND: The Rev. Newsome says he and supporters want a truce to stop the city's violence

By John Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

A group of Richmond residents has set up camp in one of the city's most violent neighborhoods to call for a truce on the streets.

Led by the Rev. Charles Newsome, about 20 people spent their first night Monday in a parking lot on Fourth Street across from Nevin Park. Newsome stood about 10 feet from a makeshift memorial that marks the spot where his cousin, Donald Bonner, 47, and family friend Shelia Givens, 42, were shot and killed in a July 22 drive-by.

"There are 31 of these (memorial) sites around Richmond, and this has to stop," said Newsome, president of the Richmond chapter of the NAACP. "We're here to call for a truce. We want people in the community to come together and say enough."

Newsome and his supporters say they will remain in the tent city until Monday afternoon, when the group will head to the Richmond Memorial Auditorium for the unveiling of a three-year plan to reduce violence. The faith-based Richmond Improvement Association has been working on the multipronged plan for 15 months. It will include youth tutoring, parolee support programs and a truancy component.

News of the camp spread quickly, and within an hour of the first tent being pitched Monday, people began to arrive on Fourth Street with food, water, cooking equipment and, more importantly, their support, said Freddie Jackson, a resident of central Richmond who has joined Newsome.

"We want other people who are tired of the killing and have not said anything to come forward and speak," Jackson said. "When we come together, we can talk to the young people."

Many of those who stopped by to show their support or spend the night had been touched by the violence that has plagued Richmond for more than 25 years.

This year there have been 31 homicides in Richmond -- two more than last year at this time. Two weeks ago, a spate of shootings took four lives in two days, and the community was shaken Saturday when a 42-year-old man was shot in face in front of 250 mourners in a funeral chapel. The victim survived but is in critical condition.

Albert Lee, a retired cook, brought cooking gear and food to the tent city. He spoke as he prepared a hot meal for his fellow inner-city outdoorsmen.

"My niece, Shelia Givens, was killed right there," he said, gesturing toward the curbside shrine. "I don't normally get involved in things like this, but things have gotten too bad. If I'm out here, you know it has to be real bad."

Prominent anti-violence activist the Rev. Andre Shumake said it was great to see the community show support.

"People were coming down right up until 11 p.m. (Monday) to bring food and water, and then starting at 6 in the morning (Tuesday), people were showing up with coffee and donuts," he said. "The support has been incredible."

Newsome, a former drug dealer who spent eight years in federal prisons, said he has wanted to set up the tent city for a long time.

"I'm tired," he said. "I'm tired, the community is tired and I know the people who are out there committing these homicides are tired. It has to stop."

Reach John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or jgeluardi@cctimes.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you would like to contribute food or cooking supplies, call 510-860-3681 or 510-478-7448.

The Times won't like how we sign our letters

Cool and patchy cloudy Tuesday in Tazerville! A couple letters to the editor in the Times caught our eye, and we figured we'd offer our thoughts...

Though we don't have anything like the readership of the Times, we nonetheless grant space on this humble blog for balance, so if any of these letter writers would like to respond to our response, please feel free.

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Sept. 25, 2006

Utility tax cap allows Chevron to pay too little

Joshua Genser, a member of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, misleads the readers of his Sept. 19 letter, "Taxpayers will lose," when he states Chevron has paid "the maximum required of any taxpayer" for the utility users tax.

The "cap" perk was created for Chevron more than 20 years ago. Chevron has always used this perk, and the city always accommodated.

However, contrary to Genser's statement, the amount paid each year by Chevron is really the "minimum amount required" under the cap-perk option of the UUT ordinance, as well as the "only amount required" under that ordinance.

If the cap is removed from the ordinance, or if the city chooses not to enter into the yearly agreement with Chevron to allow the use of the cap, or if Chevron chooses not to pay with the cap-perk method, as it has done at the beginning of the current electoral cycle, there is no maximum. The amount depends on usage.

Chevron, however, would not let anyone know about its usage. Chevron provided a lower payment than under the cap and sent its fear-mongering allies to scare the voters against change.

Chevron pollutes our democracy.

Juan Reardon
Richmond

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"Chevron pollutes our democracy." Sigh. Many eyes rolled to that one...because it makes us think of bad bumper stickers and protest drumming on 5 gallon buckets...

Gotta love the utopian "what-ifs" from the "progressives" in their quest to either drive Chevron out of business (because business, especially big biz, is evil) or try to squeeze as much money out of Chevron as they can (because money is evil and only made right through confiscation).

But that was yesterday, and there's another letter today...

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Sept. 26, 2006

Response to letter

A Sept. 19 letter from Josh Genser accused Gayle McLaughlin and me of rudeness toward Chevron and acting unwisely in insisting on transparency in Chevron's utility user tax calculations.

He seems to even gloat that McLaughlin and I are somehow responsible for Chevron changing the method by which it calculates its tax liability, which is trending nearly $5 million less than the city anticipated. Genser even goes so far as to conclude that this somehow makes McLaughlin unfit to serve as mayor.

In 1984, Richmond adopted the UUT and gave Chevron two ways to pay because otherwise Chevron would have vetoed it. Although Chevron has paid, using the maximum tax payable method (the "cap") for many years, Chevron made the decision to switch to the 10 percent method this year. The decision was solely Chevron's.

What Chevron has not done is to provide the city with the basis for its tax calculations. It's as if you sent the IRS a check for $100 and didn't bother to send your income tax return. But Genser would have us simply trust Chevron.

The IRS wouldn't let you get away with that, and Chevron shouldn't be able to either.

Councilman Tom Butt
Richmond

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We love you, Tom. Honestly, we do. We just think you and Gayle and any other council member who wants to ride Chevron need to exercise caution.

You're right when you say that the IRS wouldn't let you just pick your taxes, but then the City of Richmond let Chevron basically pick theirs. Now that the City of Richmond is dissatisfied with the results (and need $$$), the hands of the Council are out.

Well, residents and most businesses are already being pinched, and doing much more pillaging on them would be even more unpopular. Where to go? Chevron, of course. They're the "haves," so it's only right to take "have" dough for the "have-nots." Like the mis-managers of the City Council. Right is right, of course, but if Chevron is paying what was agreed upon, whose fault is that?

And the moral of this story, Tazer Faithful, is to be careful what you wish for. The Tazer believes that the City of Richmond would be greatly vexed by Chevron having the ability to prove that it owes far less than the City Council "anticipates."