What a long, strange spring.
One week on from the final vote count, I wanted to give a huge shout out to the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds (likely over 1000) of volunteers who helped make the effort such a success, even if the measure didn’t pass.
Rules are rules, and we knew them going in, so [...]
To me, Measure B is a choice between moving forward to develop a very good, sustainable (environmentally and economically) vision for Alameda Point. The question before us is, will we (the city) be able to see this vision come to fruition, and after much research and thought, I’ve decided that yes, it does.
I really think that when the dust settles and the lawsuits begin (those filed by SunCal for breach of contract and not negotiating in good faith), last Tuesday’s meeting will be included in the list of places where City Staff stepped away from their legally required neutrality and fell head first into advocacy by presenting inaccurate (or more specifically, incomplete) information to the City Council, the School Board and the citizens of Alameda.
A while back, I wrote about how the City posted a press release on their website in a manner that was incredibly inappropriate. And it’s fair to suggest that my characterization of the incident leaned towards it being a purposeful act on the part of the City (read: staff).
I can’t assume to know why Boardmember Spencer has voted against Lesson 9 and the explicit inclusion of LGBT issues in the curriculum, but I can question why it is that she’s taken to using the same talking points of the explicitly homophobic SERVE group and hanging out with the lawyer from the Pacific Justice Institute if her intentions are indeed not anti-LGBT.
Alameda’s Lesson 9 will be featured on KQED’s Forum tomorrow morning at 9am and I’ll be one of the speakers. Thanks to Susan Davis for her write up at SFGate’s InAlameda (If you haven’t been reading her almost daily posts there, you’re missing something, check her out!)
A few months ago, our community was called to action to support tolerance and respect for all people. Thanks to you and many others, there is no doubt about where our community stands on issues of compassion and tolerance! However, work remains to be done.
The final judgment in the lawsuit against Lesson 9/Tolerance teaching in Alameda is out and the court doesn’t mince words. The District has prevailed! And what a smackdown of the petitioners it was.
Tomorrow (Tues) is the first hearing in the Lesson 9 court case, one of the two efforts to allow parents to avoid having tolerance for gays/children of gays taught to their children. Of the two efforts, the lawsuit is the less pernicious in my mind, though still depressing.
Over the last few months, it has become clear that I needed to institute a comments policy because some folks are abusing the comments.
Alameda news and opinion
Mindfulness in the face of challenge.
