City Government

OP-ED: Channeling the Spirit of Frederick Douglass to Save DMC

Published

10 years ago

August 18, 2014

By John William Templeton
Special to the Richmond Post

Channeling the immortal words of Frederick Douglass, a courageous group of doctors, nurses and civic leaders drew a line in the sand this week (by seeking a Temporary Restraining Order, see adjacent story) to avert the closure of West Contra Costa’s only public emergency lifeline – Doctors Medical Center (DMC).

< p>Invoking thousands of senior citizens who labored in four shipyards to win World War II and now count on their nation, state and county to care for them, the Doctors Medical Center Closure Aversion Committee implored U.S. District Judge William Orrick to choose humanity over despair and stop the closure of Doctors Medical Center

They cited the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, created as a direct result of Douglass’ abolitionist messages. The towering figure’s words “Without struggle there is no progress” are enshrined on a monument in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. The African American Civil War Memorial also carries Douglass’ statement: “Who would be free themselves must first strike the blow.

Legislating from atop that Douglass statue is Rep. George Miller, D-CA, considered the “right hand” of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. Committee members met with Barb Smith, his local chief of staff, and other staffers to discuss how Miller can intervene for citizens whose sacrifice saved the nation after Pearl Harbor

Dr. Otis Rounds, a hospitalist in the facility, leads the committee and joined other DMC physicians as named plaintiffs in the suit. They also held a town hall at Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church Thursday to empower community members with facts about what county officials describe as “catastrophic” impacts of reducing service dramatically or closing the facility.

Rev. Kamal Hassan, pastor of Sojourner Truth Church, is also moderator of the Presbytery of San Francisco, and called on all area clergy to get involved.

Dr. Rounds and other members of the committee cannot reconcile how relevant officials can paint such a bleak picture, yet not act to prevent it. “Many of our patients today were building a ship every week for years when America was in its darkest hour,” said Rounds. “How can we not get decision makers together to keep their hospital thriving for years to come?”

The closure is part of a cycle of declining services for minority and low-income communities throughout the Bay Area despite record tax revenues and explosive growth.

Deleting transit services, schools, libraries and health facilities then leads to a spiral of community decline accelerated by the highest concentration of predatory loans of any metropolitan area in the country and employment discrimination by the fastest growing and cash flush technology companies.

The result is displacement from coastal communities once needed for shipbuilding and unloading cargo that are now viewed as desirable places to put luxury housing, offices and sports arenas. Plan Bay Area, a nine-county document that forecasts through 2040, identifies those minority coastal neighborhoods as headed for rapid growth, but doesn’t address the fate of the people who currently live there.

DMCs fight is then a fight on behalf of all those communities, which are often invisible so that the 25 percent rate of asthma for youth in Richmond is ignored.

But when 60 percent of Contra Costa County’s ambulance traffic gets re-routed within a 25-mile radius to hospitals from Martinez to Oakland to Napa, this problem will become real to the entire East Bay, clogging freeway traffic and extending daily commutes.

The doctors note that closing the hospital actually costs more than keeping it open. Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, and Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, Budget Committee chair, are reviewing ways the state can provide additional assistance as West Contra Costa County bears the burden for providing industrial materials for the entire state.

As West Contra Costa County experiences its most explosive growth since World War II, it is likely that such developments as the University of California’s Richmond Bay Campus will drive population and tax revenues up. Including a new hospital and associated facilities with such growth is consistent with proper land use planning.

Similar construction at UC San Francisco paid for the construction of a new public safety headquarters.

Martin Luther King Jr. has said, “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.”

The advocates for Doctors Medical Center foresee a solution that preserves the access to high quality care for the patients that need it most. It is the right thing to do.

John William Templeton is co-founder of National Black Business Month in August and a consultant to the Doctors Medical Center Closure Aversion Committee.

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

19 hours ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

19 hours ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.

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Activism

Protesters Gather in Oakland, Other City Halls, to Halt Encampment Sweeps

The coordinated protests on Tuesday in San Francisco, Oakland, Vallejo, Fresno, Los Angeles and Seattle, were hosted by Poor Magazine and Wood Street Commons, calling on cities to halt the sweeps and focus instead on building more housing.

Published

19 hours ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

The California Poor People’s Campaign’s Victoria King erected encampments for unhoused Oaklanders. Victoria King and her committee erected these emergency tents to symbolize the needs of unhoused Oaklanders. Photos by Post Staff.

By Post Staff

Houseless rights advocates gathered in Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other city halls across California and Washington state this week protesting increased sweeps that followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision over the summer.

“What we’re dealing with right now is a way to criminalize people who are dealing with poverty, who are not able to afford rent,” said rights advocate Junebug Kealoh, outside San Francisco City Hall.

“When someone is constantly swept, they are just shuffled and things get taken — it’s hard to stay on top of anything,” said Kealoh.

Local houseless advocates include Victoria King, who is a member of the coordinating committee of the California Poor People’s Campaign. She and Dr. Monica Cross co-chair the Laney Poor People’s Campaign.

The demonstrations came after a June Supreme Court ruling expanded local governments’ authority to fine and jail people for sleeping outside, even if no shelter is available. Gov. Gavin Newsom in California followed up with an order directing state agencies to crack down on encampments and urging local governments to do the same.

Fresno, Berkeley and a host of other cities implemented new rules, making it easier for local governments to clear sidewalk camps. In other cities, such as San Francisco, officials more aggressively enforced anti-camping laws already on the books.