City Government

Kernighan Moves to Censure Desley Brooks

Published

12 years ago

July 15, 2013

Councilwoman Desley Brooks, District 6

At the City Council’s Rules and Legislation Committee meeting on last Thursday, Council President Pat Kernighan requested a special council meeting to censure Councilmember Desley Brooks for allegedly violating the City Charter.

< p>Brooks, along with Councilmember Larry Reid, have been under fire since the City Auditor Courtney Ruby released a report in February citing wrongdoing on both members alleging they had attempted to steep a public contract to a local construction firm.

Citing City Auditor’s Report and a recent similar Alameda County Grand Jury report, Kernighan asked for a Motion to Censure Councilmember Brooks to be placed on the agenda “regarding certain of her actions pertaining to the Rainbow Teen Center,” located in Brooks’ district.

However, District 4 Councilwoman Libby Schaff, in an email to City Administrator Deanna Santana, also discussed city business and exactly what she was going to ask a staff member to do. This action directly violates section 218 of the Non-Interference Clause of the city’s Charter, according to some observers.

Schaff’s email was included in the City Auditor’s “Non-Interference in Administrative Affairs Performance Audit,” but action against her has not been taken possibly because it falls into “grey areas,” according to a spokesperson from the City Auditor’s office.

According to a source at city hall, Ruby “chose to ignore” Schaff’s violation because it was outside of the scope of time she was looking at.

The Post has received inquiries, asking: what constitutes a gray area? Is this a case of selective enforcement of the charter, or is this a move seeking to find fault with minority members of the council? How can the council censure a member when it does not even have a censure policy?

The special meeting to discuss Kernighan’s censure motion is scheduled for Tuesday, July 25 at 6:30 p.m in the city council chambers.

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
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“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.