November 20, 2008
San Leandro Police Chief Attarian to Retire by End of 2008
According to a press release issued November 20, 2008, San Leandro Police Chief Dale Attarian will retire at the end of 2008. In the press release, Attarian cites the housing market and the "goal that the City’s Chief live in town" as one of the reasons for his decision to retire.
Attarian served with the San Leandro Police Department for 29 years and replaced Joe Kitchen, who retired in January 2007. When Attarian was promoted to Chief in January 2007, he said that he intended to move from Dublin to San Leandro.
San Leandro's Interim City Manager Steve Hollister noted that Attarian "has had an outstanding career with the San Leandro Police Department, and his professionalism and dedication are widely respected."
See below for the complete text of the press release.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jane McCrea
November 20, 2008 Public Info Officer
(510) 577-3363
Lt. Tom Overton
PD Public Info Officer
(510) 577-3232
Police Chief Dale Attarian to Retire in December
San Leandro Police Chief Dale S. Attarian will retire at the end of 2008, after serving with the San Leandro Police Department for nearly 30 years. In his role as Police Chief, Attarian had targeted several key goals for the department, first among them was to foster greater interaction with the community in an effort to deter crime. He reinstituted and expanded a formal Crime Prevention Program for both residents and businesses and recently launched an interactive web site where residents and businesses receive crime statistics and trend information quickly and easily. He also worked to reduce quality of life issues related to blight through stepped up code enforcement, an effort that has significantly reduced citizen complaints to City Hall. In addition, Chief Attarian initiated annual reports and organizational updates to better layout the accomplishments and resource needs of the department.
“The decision to retire has not been easy, given the recent successes of the department and the many programs yet to be pursued,” stated Chief Attarian. “But many issues have weighed into this decision, not the least of which is the important goal that the City’s Chief live in town. When I was appointed just a couple of years ago, the housing market was already in decline and other stagnating home sales in my neighborhood made it fiscally impossible for my family to move. Unfortunately, my retirement may be one more victim of the housing crunch. I have been truly honored to serve the San Leandro community these many years and have worked hard to accomplish some important goals early on in my tenure as Chief. I know these programs will continue to enhance the Police Department’s already high quality of services to this community into the future.”
As a member of the San Leandro Police Department for nearly 30 years, Attarian had previously served as the Department’s Police Captain, overseeing both the Bureau of Operations, which includes all uniformed personnel, and the Bureau of Service, which includes all support services and staff for communications, records and the jail.
“Dale Attarian has been an effective and progressive Police Chief, accomplishing many important goals in his tenure,” stated Interim City Manager Hollister. “He has had an outstanding career with the San Leandro Police Department, and his professionalism and dedication are widely respected. He will be missed throughout the community.”
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November 15, 2008
Council Set to Approve Shoreline-Marina Committee Members
At its meeting on Monday, November 17, 2008, the San Leandro City Council will approve the 30 members of the Shoreline-Marina Committee. The 30 members of the Shoreline-Marina Committee will provide input to the City Council and Cal Coast on the development of the Marina shoreline area. The 30 members were selected by Mayor Tony Santos and Councilmember Joyce Starosciak from 63 applications that were submitted by the September 29, 2008, deadline. Three other applications were received after the deadline and were not considered.
The members represent all six council districts, with seven members each from Districts 1 and 6, five members from District 4, four members from District 5, three members from District 3, and two members from District 2. There are 18 men and 12 women.
The members of the committee are shown below:
Name Home Address Dist Yrs in SL M/F Alfred Frates 739 Bridge Rd 1 44 M Clinton Bolden 117 Rantoul Cir 1 10 M Gil Raposo 1445 Daily Dr 1 46 M John Dilsaver 1766 Astor Court 1 22 M Marilyn Fong 2762 Lakeview Dr 1 28 F Michael Cook 1306 Scenicview Dr 1 65 M Susan Leiga 2633 Darius Way 1 12 F Dan Walters 1616 140th Ave 2 1 M Ronnie M Turner 1273 Dorothy Ave 2 1 M Caryl Ann Symons 1257 Victor Ave 3 47 F Lee Thomas 3770 Carmel Way 3 2 M Robert G Leigh 1388 Drake Ave 3 34 M Bob Haynes Jr 15512 Harbor Way 4 8 M Jeff Houston 1465 Burkhart Ave 4 40 M Marie S Chiu 15598 Baypoint Ave 4 7 F Matt Maloon 15096 Dewey St 4 33 M Michael C Nolan 1074 Trojan Ave 4 31 M Adrienne Granger 82 Dutton Ave 5 30 F Peggy Hynd Combs 61 Georgia Way 5 22 F Rezsin Gonzalez 970 Ramona Way 5 8 F Tom Fitzsimons 953 Helen Ave 5 7 M Audrey Albers 2037 Marina Ct 6 59 F Babs Freitas 14410 Outrigger Dr 6 3 F Carole A Rinaldi 2453 Bermuda Ave 6 39 F Dave Clark 13057 Neptune Dr 6 2 M Diana L Cin 12903 Neptune Dr 6 16 F Kent W Myers 14180 Santiago Rd 6 44 M Rene Mendieta 2254 West Ave 136 6 20 M Kevin Jones 2458 San Pedro Dr business Santa Rosa M Rebecca Jewell 12330 Paru business Alameda F
November 9, 2008
Last Chance to See Metamophoses at the San Leandro High School Pool
After Saturday night's performance of Metamorphoses was rained out, it will be performed for the last time on Sunday, November 9, 2008. The performance is based on the myths of Ovid and takes places in the pool at San Leandro High School. This unique performance was a hit with audiences, including a standing-room only crowd for the Friday night show. Click here to view scenes from the performance.
Tickets for Metamorphoses are $10 for adults and $7 for students. The performance begins at 7:30pm and doors open at 7pm. The entire performance takes about an hour and there is no intermission. Dress warmly as it is outside. The show is not appropriate for children younger than 13.
November 7, 2008
Updated Vote Totals Show Bigger Wins for Mack-Rose and Reed
Updated vote totals from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters released late on Friday, November 7, 2008, showed slightly bigger wins for Morgan Mack-Rose in the San Leandro School Board At-Large race and Ursula Reed in the District 2 San Leandro City Council race. Mack-Rose now has more than 50% of the total vote, In the Area 1 San Leandro School Board race, the win for Hermy Almonte over Rick Richards slightly narrowed.
At-Large # of Votes % of Total Morgan Mack-Rose 8751 50.74 Ray Davis 6359 36.87 Don J. Grundmann 1204 6.98 Mark Tichy 796 4.62 Write-in 136 0.79
Area 1 School Board # of Votes % of Total Hermy B. Almonte 9821 58.28 T.W. "Rick" Richards 6840 40.59 Write-in 189 1.12
District 2 City Council # of Votes % of Total Ursula Reed 12113 56.32 Linda Perry 9225 42.90 Write-in 168 0.78
The end result for the San Leandro tax measures was the same, with Measures RR and SS easily passing and Measure TT missing the needed two-thirds by 12 percentage points.
In a very tight race for the second spot on the Eden Township Healthcare District Board, Rajendra Ratnesar has a 96-vote lead over Frank Rico. With more votes to count, this race is still too close to call.
Updated election results can be found at http://www.acgov.org/rov/current_election/index.htm.
Second Kaiser Community Meeting
Artist rendering of Kaiser Permanente's new San Leandro Facility
Kaiser Permanente held a second community meeting at the San Leandro Library on November 6, 2008, to show off its planned development for the former grocery distribution center at the intersection of Marina Boulevard and Interstate 880. The presentation included a two-minute fly-over that incorporated a 3D rendering of the facility superimposed on an aerial photograph of the area.
Construction of the facility is expected to start in 2009 and it should be completed by 2012. The construction is expected to generate 3,000 short-term construction jobs.
Current designs include 263 beds for patients, all single rooms. According to the Kaiser Permanente representative, patients in single rooms have less hospital infections because they have less traffic than shared hospital rooms. The rooms also have accommodations for family, which also results in better outcomes for patients. The emergency room will have 41 beds.
The project will also include 250 residential units.
Attendees of the presentation received bags made from recycled soda bottles containing a flyer showing the proposed facility and a list of groups in San Leandro that received community grants from Kaiser in 2007 and 2008.
Another artist rendering of the new Kaiser Permanente facility in San Leandro.
November 6, 2008
San Leandro School Board Approves Bid for Ninth Grade Campus
At its meeting on November 6, 2008, the San Leandro School Board approved a bid by Jeff Luchetti Construction to build a Ninth Grade campus at the intersection of 138th Avenue and East 14th Street. There were 13 bidders for the project and the lowest bid was $21,258,000. The next lowest bids were $21,457,000 from S.J. Amoroso Construction and $21,807,000 from Gonsalves & Stronck.
The winning bid was $1,442,000 under the initial construction budget of $22.7 million.
The Ninth Grade Campus is one of the projects funded by Measure B, the $109 million bond passed by San Leandro voters in November 2006. The Ninth Grade Campus is intended to alleviate overcrowding at San Leandro High School. Measure B will also fund construction of an arts education center at San Leandro High School, expansion of the high school library, and a new parking lot to make way for the arts education center. Measure B will also fund modernizations at many schools, including replacements of roofs at many schools and new restrooms.
November 5, 2008
Results for Other Local Races of Interest
Democrat Mary Hayashi successfully defended her California State Assembly seat from Republican Lou Filipovich.
Mary's husband, Dennis Hayashi, prevailed in the runoff election for Superior Court judge against Phil Daly, who currently serves on the San Leandro Board of Zoning Adjustments. Hayashi won with 61.36% of the vote.
In the San Lorenzo Unified School District, Measure O, the $83 million bond measure to modernize and improve school facilities passed with 73.29% of the vote. In the race for the School Board, incumbents Norm Forbert and Helen Foster were re-elected, while Jim Sherman unseated incumbent Gene Judson. Lou Filipovich also lost out in this race.
Chris Peeples overwhelmingly won the At-Large seat on the AC Transit Board and Measure VV, a parcel tax increase of $48 per year won with 71.4% of vote.
The East Bay Regional Park District's Measure WW, which would extend an existing property tax, passed with 71.7% of the vote.
Doug Linney retained his seat on the East Bay Municipal Utility District with 64.73% of the vote. Linney's firm also served as campaign consultants for Ursula Reed.
In the Eden Townshi Healthcare District Director race, Vin Sawhney was the top vote-getter with just one vote separating Frank Rico from Rajendra Ratnesar.
In Lou Filipovich's third race, he lost out to Tim Becker for a seat on the Oro Loma Sanitary District Board.
For more local results, visit http://www.acgov.org/rov/current_election/index.htm
Voters Approve Two of Three San Leandro Tax Measures
San Leandro voters approved a change in the utility users tax and a 911 tax, but a police services parcel tax failed to get the two-thirds majority needed for approval.
With all 48 precincts reporting, Measure RR passed with 83.01% of voters in favor (18,000) and 16.6% (3,684) opposed. RR reduced the existing utility users' tax, but widened the number of services that are now subject to being taxed.
Measure SS passed with 77.94% of voters in favor (16,864) and 22.06% (4,773) opposed. SS converted an existing 911 Emergency Communication System Access Fee into a tax. The City Council approved this ballot measure because of a court decision that invalidated a similar fee in Union City.
Measure TT failed with 55.08% of voters in favor (11,739) and 44.92% (9,575) opposed. TT needed a two-thirds majority to pass. TT would have instituted a parcel tax of $48 per year for single-family homes and differing amounts for other types of properties to maintain current levels of police services.
Since Measures RR and SS are essentially revenue neutral, the City Council will be forced to look for alternatives to raise revenue or cut expenditures to close its budget deficit.
The "Yes for Public Safety" committee campaigned for the three measures, with the San Leandro Police Officers Association providing most of the funding. The committee was chaired by former San Leandro Mayor Shelia Young and former San Leandro City Manager John Jermanis served as Treasurer.
Newcomers Storm to Victory in San Leandro Elections
Hermy Almonte and Morgan Mack-Rose defeated current San Leandro School Board members Rick Richards and Ray Davis by substantial margins on November 4, 2008.
With all 44 precincts reporting, Mack-Rose had 49.87% of the vote (7,887) to Davis' 37.36% (5,908). Candidates Don Grundmann and Mark Tichy each had less than 10% of the vote.
Almonte had an even larger lead over Richards with 58.41% of the vote (9,027) to Richards' 40.42% (6,246).
Davis currently holds the Area 5 School Board seat, but decided to run for the At-Large seat after Diana Prola filed papers to run for the Area 5 seat. Davis became a member of the School Board when he was unopposed in 2004. Current At-Large School Board member Stephen Cassidy endorsed Mack-Rose to replace him after he decided not to run for re-election.
Richards has held the Area 1 School Board seat since 2000. Almonte is the first opponent Richards has faced since he was unopposed in 2000.
In the race for San Leandro City Council District 2, Ursula Reed defeated San Leandro School Board member Linda Perry. With all 48 precincts reporting, Reed had 56.19% of the vote (11,343) while Perry had 43.03% (8,686).
Reed becomes the first African-American to be elected to the San Leandro City Council without first being appointed. Previous African-Americans on the City Council include Surlene Grant, who was appointed in August 1998, and Orval "OB" Badger, who was appointed in July 2001.
Grant currently holds the District 2 City Council seat and supported Reed to replace her.
November 1, 2008
San Leandro Tax Measures Seek to Raise Millions for City
Just a week before the election, the campaign for the City of San Leandro ballot measures, RR, SS, and TT, placed signs all around town and purchased ads in the recent issues of the San Leandro Times. The ballot measures are for a change in the utility users tax, a change of the 911 fee into a tax, and a parcel tax to maintain police services. The San Leandro City Council has taken action to reduce its budget deficit, but still faces a shortfall unless the ballot measures pass on November 4, 2008.
Until recently, the only organized opposition to the ballot measures had been an argument against the parcel tax in the voter guide by Tom Silva of the California Apartment Association Political Action Committee. However, in the most recent issue of the San Leandro Times, a full-page advertisement against the City's ballot measures was purchased by San Leandrans for Taxpayer Equity. According to Justin Agrella, San Leandrans for Taxpayer Equity is a loose-knit group of about 25 people that has successfully campaigned against previous tax measures.
Members of the San Leandro City Council have been advocating in support of the ballot measures and Councilmember Surlene Grant sought support for them at a candidate forum held at All Saints Church on October 19, 2008: