Comments From Our Readers

Comment re: Emeryville City Council to Developers: The Laws We Make, We'll Break for You:

This seems to be a ongoing theme from the city council. It seems John Fricke is the only one not in the back pocket of developers. Why can't the other council members stand up and represent the people who actually elected them? They are carving the city's history up into little pieces and serving it on a silver platter to whichever developer comes along, ignoring critical quality of life concerns which the municipal code was created to protect. Emeryville has a long history of corruption and it seems to be continuing on unabated.

I, for one, have had enough. When are the people of Emeryville going to stand up and throw out those elected officials who care more about helping developers increase their profit margin than the quality of life for people who actually live here? I am sick and tired of the constant pandering that goes on from the majority of the city council to developers who are only interested in making money while Emeryville residents suffer.

We need to recall those council members who betrayed our trust.

We need a municipal code that is strong enough not to be simply swept aside whenever a developer comes around and sheds a tear.

We need to make ourselves heard by complaining to the media and marching in the streets to embarrass those rascals into stopping their attacks on our quality of life.

If you all want to organize a demonstration, count me in.

If anyone wants to read more about the two projects, here are the links:

Project at 39th and Adeline:
http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/ceda/revised/planningzoning/MajorProjectsSection/39th-and-AdelineEIR.html

Papermill Project:
http://www.ci.emeryville.ca.us/planning/majorprojects.html

Doug Bright

Emeryville City Council to Developers: The Laws We Make, We'll Break for You

Developers Get to Make Noise, Chop Down Trees, Demolish Historic Buildings, and Exceed Height Limits - Despite Laws That Say They Can't

Here's a list of the laws recently ignored by the City Council majority (edited excerpt from Nov. 19 email to residents from Council Member John Fricke):

Significant commercial structures shall be preserved
Ordinance adopted by the City Council in 2007. However, each time a developer has sought to demolish a significant commercial structure, the Council majority has said yes. At last night’s meeting, this happened with two structures (pictured above), one at Doyle & Powell Streets (above, left) and the second at Adeline & 39th Streets (above, right).

Strict Height Limits on New Buildings
The City's zoning ordinance places strict limits on the height of new buildings to be constructed. However, in addition to allowing the demolition of the historic brick building now located at Adeline & 39th Streets, the Council approved the new project proposed for the site, even though it exceeds the maximum building height allowed.

Limits on Density (residential units per acre) allowed in certain neighborhoods
The Council last night approved the project at Doyle & Powell even though the project exceeds the density allowed, and significantly exceeds the residential density at the nearby Elevation 22 and Doyle Street condominium projects.

Street trees must be preserved
At last night’s meeting, the Council postponed a decision on the developer’s request to remove 12 mature street trees at Doyle & Powell until an arborist’s report is prepared.

Construction noise is strictly limited to weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
At last night’s meeting, the Council voted to allow construction at the Bay Street shopping mall on 10 Saturdays (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and 10 Sundays (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) through the holiday shopping season. These 10 Saturdays and Sundays are in addition to 10 Saturdays already granted and that the contractor has used. The second waiver granted last night was to the City's public works department to dredge the marina boating channel on Saturdays (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) through December, and to work 24 hours a day on weekdays until completion of the project.
______________________________

No wonder developers propose projects in flagrant violation of the City's zoning laws. They know those laws are meaningless.

Ken Bukowski Tax Story Hits Front Page of East Bay Express

East Bay Express Calls Mayor's Explanation of Financial Hardship "Suspicious."

The latest issue of the East Bay Express features Mayor Ken Bukowski's failure to pay Emeryville business taxes for the past four years.

The article also reports that Bukowski is being sued by the widow of a man he accidentally hit and killed while driving his SUV on a rainy night last December. The victim, Michael Smela, a Novartis security guard and former San Francisco police officer, was struck and killed by Bukowski's vehicle while walking across Hollis Street in Emeryville the evening of Dec. 6. Bukowski had just left a community meeting held at the Novartis complex. The city is paying Bukowski's legal fees in connection with the wrongful death suit.

Here is the story in the Express:



A Mayor Who Doesn't Pay Taxes

Emeryville's Ken Bukowski disagrees with a city tax and is behind on property taxes. And that's just part of his problems.

By Robert Gammon

November 19, 2008

Ken Bukowski.

The mayor owes property taxes on his home (above, left) and city taxes on his rental property (above, right).

_______________________

Emeryville is the Little City That Could. Over the years, it has built a retail and high-tech business juggernaut along Interstate 80 and has become the envy of cities throughout the East Bay. Emeryville's tax revenues from all that retail also have kept the city afloat, while other cities have floundered, and will help it weather the current recession. But there is one Emeryville leader who is not doing all he can to contribute to the city's financial well-being — Mayor Ken Bukowski.

Bukowski, who has served on the Emeryville City Council for 21 years, has not paid his city business license taxes for the past four years, according to City Manager Patrick O'Keeffe. The 56-year-old Bukowski said in an interview last week that he hasn't paid the tax because he's broke, although he acknowledged that he has publically opposed the tax and thinks it's unfair. Public records also indicate that although Bukowski has fallen behind on his property taxes and is by no means a wealthy man, he has managed to pay some of his other bills over the years — just not to the city he serves and leads.

Bukowski's beef with the city business license tax began in 2004. In September of that year, city officials decided to start enforcing the tax on residential property landlords without informing all of the city council. The tax itself had been approved by the council in 1986, but the city had only enforced it on commercial property owners for its first eighteen years. Bukowski, who owns and rents out a modest six-unit building next to his small home on Doyle Street, immediately protested the decision. "It may be legal, but it's not right," he said at a council meeting, according to a report at the time in the Oakland Tribune. "I disagreed with how the tax was implemented," he told Full Disclosure last week.

Still, the mayor maintained that his failure to pay the tax is not some sort of protest. "I'll pay it as soon as possible," he said. Bukowski's income consists of the rent he collects from his tenants and the $800 stipend he receives from the city for serving on the council, although he said he recently got a new job as a telecommunications consultant.

According to O'Keeffe, Bukowski hasn't paid the city business license tax since Emeryville officials began enforcing it in 2004. The tax is only $25 a year, and as of last week, Bukowski owed $100 plus interest, O'Keeffe said. Public records also show that the mayor didn't pay his property taxes on his home last year. According to the Alameda County Assessor's Office, he owes $1,719 in back property taxes, including late fees. The mayor's tax problems were first reported last month on The Secret News, a blog that covers Emeryville.

Yet despite his unpaid debts, Bukowski's claim that he hasn't paid the city's business license tax because of monetary problems — and not because he opposes the tax itself — is suspicious. After all, the tax is minimal, and public records show that his financial problems haven't stopped him from paying his other taxes, including his property taxes on his rental property. A public records search found no liens against him for failure to pay state or local income taxes or any other bills. In addition, records show that while he wasn't paying the $25 he owed the city each year, he somehow had enough money to pay about $3,000 annually to the county for his property taxes on his rental property — on time, without incurring penalties.

At least one of Bukowski's colleagues on the city council is concerned about the message the mayor is sending by not paying his city taxes. "That troubles me a lot — the fact that he apparently has not paid because he doesn't agree with it," said Councilman John Fricke. "I believe it encourages others to not pay the tax." According to public records, the city placed liens on thousands of pieces of rental property throughout Emeryville, including Bukowski's, for not paying their business license taxes. That's a lot of tax scofflaws for a city with only 6,815 residents, according to the 2006 Census estimate.

But Bukowski's taxes are only part of his problems. Prior to last year, he was best known as the East Bay's leading advocate for adding a rail line to the new Bay Bridge. After he lost the battle in the late 1990s, he receded into obscurity until late 2007 when he suddenly shot back into the headlines after striking and killing a pedestrian while driving his SUV. On the evening of December 6, Bukowski killed Michael Smela, 56, of Oakley, on an Emeryville street during a light rain.

Bukowski had just left a community meeting that night at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics. The mayor was driving on Hollis Street (not far from this newspaper's office) when his SUV slammed into Smela, a security guard at Novartis and a former San Francisco police officer. Smela, who was wearing a brightly colored jacket, appears to have been crossing the street outside of the crosswalk. Bukowski told police that he didn't see Smela and that he was driving below the speed limit. Bukowski was not arrested, and according to published reports, police did not test the mayor for drugs or alcohol.

In May of this year, Smela's widow, Lynda Lopez-Smela, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bukowski and the city. The city is paying Bukowski's legal bills, and according to court documents, lawyers representing the mayor and the city maintain that Smela was responsible for his own death. "There was no question that this was a tragic accident," attorney Mark Hazelwood told Full Disclosure. "It's apparent from the evidence that Mr. Smela was jaywalking in the middle of the block."

Lynda Lopez-Smela has yet to reveal how much money she's seeking in damages. The two sides tried to settle the case with the help of mediation, but got nowhere. Lopez-Smela adamantly denies that her husband was to blame. "We are confident," her attorney Daniel Crawford said in an interview, "that the facts will show that this was caused by the negligence of the mayor."

Channel 7 Picks Up Secret News Story About Emeryville Mayor

Channel 7 Reports Mayor Failed to Pay Business Tax

One of the top stories on Channel 7 ABC News at 6 p.m. last night was Mayor Ken Bukowski's failure to pay business tax on his Emeryville rental units. The story was first broken by The Secret News on October 20.

The text and link to the video are below:

Video

Emeryville Mayor Can't Pay Business Taxes

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 | 7:04 PM

By Cecilia Vega

EMERYVILLE, CA (KGO) -- One East Bay mayor is refusing to pay his business license tax. It's an important source of revenue for any city, but the Emeryville mayor has a reason for not paying -- one that many people around the Bay Area understand all too well.

Mayor Ken Bukowoski opposed Emeryville's business tax license when it came before the city council four years ago.

"I do think it should be changed," said Mayor Bukowski.

And ever since then, he hasn't paid a cent on the tax. Even though, as a landlord who owns rental units, he is required by law to do so. Exactly how much Mayor Bukowski owes is unknown. It's likely a few hundred dollars.

"I don't encourage anybody not to pay the biz license tax," said Bukowski.

It's not his opposition to the tax that's keeping him from paying. The mayor is like thousands of others around the region. The property he lives in and those rental units are on the brink of foreclosure.

"It's embarrassing to have a financial hardship especially in my position where people, I guess, expect that a mayor is supposed to have a lot of money," said Bukowski.

He says it's been a rough year. Just days after he became mayor last December, he hit and killed a pedestrian crossing the street while driving on a rainy night. And Bukowski lives off his rental income and the small stipend he gets for being on the city council. He says he fell behind on his mortgage after a series of vacancies.

Emeryville is predicting it got could lose about $500,000 in revenue in coming years and the city council is currently debating whether to raise taxes for business and property owners here.

"I would be uncomfortable saying, 'Look we need to raise revenue,' if for example I was not paying the business license tax," said John Fricke, on the Emeryville City Council.

Others say they pay their share and the mayor should too.

"It does kind of make me mad to see that someone is not paying their business taxes," said Sebrena Flennauch, owner of It's A Breeze One Hour Photo.

The business license tax brings in about $2.5 million a year for Emeryville. The city attorney's office has warned Bukowski he needs to pay up.

"I really feel sorry for people out there who have a similar condition. It's a crime to be broke in America," said Bukowski.

(Copyright ©2008 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Immigrant Housekeepers Continue Fight for Back Wages at Woodfin Hotel

March for Woodfin Hotel Workers' Back Wages
Monday, Nov. 17 at 5 pm

Join the march from the Woodfin Hotel at 5800 Shellmound, Emeryville to Emeryville City Hall (1333 Park St., Emeryville).

by Reem Assil

It's been close to three years since Woodfin owner Sam Hardage refused to pay about $200,000 in back wages to dozens of hotel housekeepers. Meanwhile, Hardage's business has spent about twice that on largely unsuccessful lawsuits trying to throw out Emeryville's living wage law. Next week, on Mon, Nov 17, the latest chapter in this struggle opens with a hearing at the Emeryville City Council and a 300-person march called "Let justice roll down."

One worker, Lorena, had this to say about conditions before the living wage and fair workload law went into effect: "Sometimes I couldn't even stop to get a glass of water. I would get home with my feet very swollen, my hands swollen, and with a headache. When we couldn't finish, they made us punch out after 8 hours and told us to finish. I even started wondering if we were living in times of slavery."

Go to for the http://www.workingeastbay.org/woodfinblog for the full story.

Please join the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE) on Monday, November 17th at 5 PM at the Woodfin Suites Hotel (5800 Shellmound, Emeryville) for a march from the hotel to Emeryville City Council before the hearing. For more information or to RSVP, visit www.workingeastbay.org/Woodfin_hearing.

Reem Assil is a community organizer for EBASE. Reem is inspired by both her love for community and her understanding of the importance of building power in the labor movement. Her formative experience with coalition building and community organizing comes out of organizing in the Arab American community, in which her heart lies.

(Photo courtesy of EBASE, www.workingeastbay.org)

"Stop The Noise" Say Residents Near Anna Yates Construction

Residents Protest City Council's Refusal to Hear Their Concerns;

City Manager Grants Contractor Waiver of Noise Ordinance to Work Saturdays

by Brian Donahue and Marc Albert

After officials refused to hear their grievances, a group of residents living near Anna Yates Elementary School took to the streets Saturday morning, protesting the city’s decision to waive its noise ordinance to allow Saturday construction at the school.

“There’s no accountability, that’s the problem,” said resident Mike Pirsch, referring to the City Council. Pirsch, who led the protest, said he is incensed that Mayor Ken Bukowski refused to allow public comment on the issue at the City Council meeting last Tuesday. More than 50 neighborhood residents have signed a petition asking the Council to enforce the noise ordinance, which prohibits construction work on weekends.

Said Pirsch, “Ken Bukowski has been in office for 21 years and he doesn’t have a clue about parliamentary procedure.“

Local police made a strong showing to keep watch over the protest, at times outnumbering the actual picketers, who lined up on the 43rd Street sidewalk outside Anna Yates. In an apparent attempt to appease the protestors, Wanda Stewart, public information officer for Emeryville Unified School District, offered free tickets to a nearby movie theater.

Neighbors said contractors began firing up their heavy equipment at 7:25 am Saturday, more than an hour and a half before the start-up time granted by City Manager Patrick O’Keeffe’s waiver. Neighbors cited numerous other noise violations, including two occasions when diesel power generators rumbled through the night. Extensive remodeling has been underway at the school for months. School officials hope to have construction work completed in time for the start of classes in January.

When residents tried to present their complaints to the City Council last Tuesday, they were told that because the Council lacked a quorum, citizens would not permitted to speak. Then, City Manager O’Keeffe granted contractors a waiver of the City noise ordinance, allowing Saturday construction. O’Keeffe explained at the meeting that “administrative” waivers are warranted when an “urgent situation” exists.

At the onset of construction, School District officials assured the City that work would be completed on time and that there would be no need for weekend construction. However, they now say that contractors must work every Saturday in order to meet the January deadline.

________________________________________

Photos (from left): Construction at Anna Yates Elementary School; A picket sign protesting the City's Council's refusal to hear public comment on the issue of construction noise at the site; and residents Mike Pirsch and Reggie protest City's waiver of noise ordinance to allow Saturday construction.

Emeryville Mayor Failed to Pay Business Tax for Four Years; Also Owes $1,700 in Property Taxes and Fines

By Tracy Schroth, Marc Albert and Brian Donahue

Emeryville Mayor Ken Bukowski owes at least $2,000 in business and property taxes and the fines continue to stack up.

The City sent Bukowski a certified letter several months ago demanding that he obtain a business license and pay the business tax on his Doyle Street rental property, which he has failed to pay every year since the tax law was enforced in 2004. But Bukowski said he doesn't have the money, and is concerned that the law would allow the city to inspect the property "at any time, 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week,” which he said he is not comfortable with.

Meanwhile, Bukowski says he was unaware of his property tax debt - more than $1,700, according to the Alameda County Assessor's office.

Emeryville's Business License Tax

“I didn’t pay the thing,” Bukowski said of the business license tax, explaining that he voted against it when it came before the Council in 2004. “I was against it." He added that he was one of many residents who didn't pay the tax, arguing that the ordinance should be amended to exempt property owners earning less than $100,000 in gross rents. He said he would see if the Chamber of Commerce would support such an amendment.

Bukowski estimates that he owes a few hundred dollars and said he will pay it when he can. "I'm having financial problems and it's a low priority. Do you want to see a list of my creditors? Right now, my PG&E bill is more important," he said. "Is it a crime to be broke in America?" City Finance Department officials did not return calls asking how much Bukowski actually owes.

He said he gets income from his rental property and a monthly stipend of $1,100 as a City Council member.

Bukowski owns two residential structures, a six-unit building at 5876-78 Doyle Street, and a two-unit next door at 5880, which he claims as his primary residence. He said he currently rents six of the eight units but would not say how much rent he collects.

The business license tax is calculated based on the amount of gross rent. For most businesses, the tax is equal to the greater of $25 or .0008 % of annual gross receipts. Business license taxes declared delinquent are subject to a penalty of 5% a month up to a maximum of 25%. In addition, anyone who fails to pay the business tax is subject to interest at 1-1/2% per month on the amount of tax and penalties from the date on which the business tax first became delinquent.


Property Taxes

According to the Alameda County Assessor's office, Bukowski has fallen behind on his property taxes for the structure at 5880 Doyle Street, but is current on the property taxes levied against the second, larger rental structure next door. He owes $1,719.56 and counting.

Tracy Schroth is an Emeryville resident who believes in honest and transparent government that is accountable to the people it serves. She is concerned that the City Council majority is putting monied special interests before the needs and desires of the community.

Marc Albert has been a reporter at three radio stations and seven newspapers over the past 20 years. An East Bay resident since 1987, he lived in Emeryville from 1997 to 2008 and is still keenly interested in a community he considers home.

Brian Donahue has lived and worked in Emeryville for 28 years. He and his wife, and young daughter, live in the Emeryville Artists' Cooperative. Brian has been a longtime activist, working for transparent government and better of quality of life for the residents; he's not very popular with the City Council majority.

Emeryville's $70 Million "Bailout"

Subsidies to Developers Will Cost $7,000 per Resident -- Three Times that of the Federal Bailout

Edited version of Council Member John Fricke's Letter to Emeryville Residents
(sent via email on Sept. 28, 2008)

The Bush Administration’s $700 billion bailout of Wall Street has been characterized as the largest government bailout of private enterprise in U.S. history. The bailout will cost about $2,300 per man, woman, and child in our country. That sounds like a lot, but from the perspective of an Emeryville resident, this figure is quite modest.

The Emeryville City Council majority has expressed support for granting tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to developers for a series of projects likely to be approved in the next year or two. By my count, total subsidies for these development projects will reach at least $70 million - $7,000 for each and every man, woman, and child in Emeryville, three times the amount per person of the federal bailout.

Here's the tally (these numbers are estimates, as the City Council has refused to divulge the actual amounts):

Bay Street Mall Site B -------------- $48 million (based on 2006 figures)
30-story hotel, chain department
store, and parking garage slated for site

Public Market Expansion ------------- $10 million
Office space, 52,000 square feet
of retail, and up to 340 new
housing units

Transit Center ------------ $3-6 million

EmeryStation Triangle ------------- $3-6 million

Gateway ----------------- Unknown

"Upgrade" of Pac & Save to
Safeway ----------------- Unknown

Council Disregards Residents' Concerns about Bay Street Development

by Sandra Stewart and Reem Assil

About 20 residents and workers packed Emeryville City Hall for the Sept. 16th City Council meeting to urge the Council to guarantee more community benefits out of the future (Site B) Bay Street project. The project is an extension of the Bay Street Mall on Shellmound Street. The developer, Madison Marquette, is proposing a 30-story hotel -- the city's sixth hotel -- condos, and more retail, including a chain department store.

The Citizens' appeal to the Council was coordinated by a group of concerned residents and the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), a social and economic justice organization committed to responsible development in Emeryville and the East Bay. Residents expressed concern with the City’s approach to the development, including private promises to developers of tens of millions in public money to fund the project, and giving them exclusive rights to the site. On September 16th, Madison Marquette requested an extension of their Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA), which guarantees that the City will not open bidding to other developers. While the usual timeline of an ENA is 6-9 months, Madison Marquette has repeatedly received extensions from the Council for the past 4 years.

Residents demanded more tangible benefits of public investment and asked the Council to prove how the community will directly benefit from the development relative to what it will cost them in taxpayer dollars -- an estimated $47 million -- and quality of life.

“I’m not anti-development,” said Ruth Majors, a Watergate resident of 24 years, “ We need developers to pay the bills, but show us how they are going to pay the bills.”

Many residents expressed concern about City officials’ willingness to accommodate developers at any expense to the taxpayers. North Emeryville resident Judy Timmel noted that Emeryville has become one of the most desirable locations for development in the East Bay. It is no longer necessary to lure developers with big subsidies (the $47 million, for example).

Residents defended their right to be involved in every step of the development process and expressed disappointment in the Council for conducting agreements with developers behind closed doors. Most recently, the city met with Madison Marquette to discuss subsidy amounts but refused to disclose them publicly.

“This is our money. This should be above-board and transparent. We’re trying to make a community here," said Brian Donahue, a 28-year resident.

To ensure meaningful community engagement in development decisions, residents asked that the Council require Madison Marquette to enter into a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). Such an agreement is a legally enforceable contract negotiated between the developer and the community. In exchange for a series of benefits, the developer would receive the community's support for the project.

Hilton Garden employee Elijah Esquival, who spoke on behalf of hotel workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 2850, urged the Council to ensure that future workers have a right to organize a union without intimidation and/or retaliation from employers. Community member Juanita Carrol Young reminded people of the spectacle that transpired at the Woodfin Hotel in Emeryville. The management retaliated against housekeepers who stood up for their rights by firing them and refusing to pay them nearly $250,000 in back wages. Young, who was living at the Woodfin with her young daughter while their nearby condominium was being repaired of a construction defect, was evicted for standing in solidarity with the housekeepers.

“Workers should have a peaceful process; they should not be subjected to the working conditions Woodfin workers had to experience. We don’t want to see picket lines, we don’t want to see boycotts,” Esquival said.

The only union shop in Emeryville, Hilton Garden workers receive wages above $10/hr (higher than other hotel employees in Emeryville), health benefits, pension, and provisions like a new diversity program to hire more African American workers. However, Esquival noted, being the only union in town poses great challenges because of the difficulty in negotiating wage increases because of the low wages paid by competing Emeryville hotels. He said this project is an opportunity to raise standards for hotel workers in the City.

City Council members Nora Davis, Dick Kassis, and Ruth Atkins responded to residents' concerns by espousing the virtues of Reagan trickle-down economics -- that massive amounts of money given to wealthy developers will eventually trickle down to residents and workers. The three councilmembers refused to acknowledge the economic and social costs of their decisions around various developments in the city. Nora Davis boasted about Emeryville's low and moderate income housing, even though the average working person, particularly a retail or hotel employee, cannot afford it.

The Council's message was loud and clear: we know best and the residents should be thankful. Mayor Ken Bukowski revealed that “this project was not meant to be local anyway,” admitting that the Madison Marquette project was simply a regional mall. Despite residents' concerns, the Council voted 4 to 1 (with Councilmember John Fricke dissenting) to grant Madison Marquette continued exclusive rights to the site.

Council member Fricke (who was interrupted six times by Mayor Ken Bukowski while trying to speak to residents) called for a critical evaluation of the Bay Street Site B development, which the Council ignored.

Reem Assil is a community organizer for EBASE. Reem is inspired by both her love for community and her understanding of the importance of building power in the labor movement. Her formative experience with coalition building and community organizing comes out of organizing in the Arab American community, in which her heart lies.

Sandra Stewart has lived in Emeryville for 19 years. After attending a neighborhood meeting in 1999, she became interested in the issues of the North Hollis area. She realized that Emeryville’s government needed more transparency in addition to a better response to the opinions of the residents and is now working towards these goals.

Footage from 9/16 City Council Meeting