1-14 - Community Alliance

1 OCTOBER 2008

! E E FR

Bubba and the Farmworkers By Lloyd G. Carter

The Mayor worked himself into a fervor as he talked on the Appleton show, Appleton fawning over Autry’s every word. It’s probably just coincidence that pesticide companies flood the KMJ morning airwaves with commercials and it’s clear KMJ toes the Farm Bureau party line.

Is Fresno Mayor Alan Autry the new champion of farmworkers in the San Joaquin Valley? Well, if it means keeping their poverty level jobs in agribusiness, maybe. If it means he is acting to provide clean drinking water, decent housing and safe working conditions for those migrant workers, probably not. Referring to Valley Ag’s demand for more water, Autry told Appleton, “It’s almost like keeping somebody in One thing is certain. Whatever agribusiness wants, more chains and starving to death and here’s a piece of bread dams for the East Side, or more Northern California wa- just outside of their reach. That’s what they’re doing to ter for the West the small towns in Side, the Mayor has the San Joaquin made it clear he Valley – all towns won’t hesitate to for that matter. The use the downtrodproblem today is den farmworker as M e n d o t a , the poster boy for Firebaugh. Tomorthe needs of Big Ag. row the United States of America.” For example, in the past year Autry has SayBywhat, Mayor? been the most vocal The United States is David cheerleader for a imperiled because Sirota taxpayer-funded 600 or 700 growers dam on the San don’t get all the waJoaquin River at ter they want for Temperance Flat their marginal, se(six miles upstream lenium-tainted Fresno mayor Alan Autry cynically uses farm workers to enrich his from Friant Dam) lands in western political allies while grassroots groups are in a life and death struggle and additional Fresno County? A for clean drinking water. Delta water suplittle political hyplies for the perbole perhaps? Westlands Water District. In both cases, he has used the potential loss of And who is the boogeyman in Autry’s end-of-the-world farmworker jobs as one of his main selling points. drama? The Mayor’s water issues rhetoric is usually an amalgam of homespun homilies and overblown apocalyptic catastrophe. For example, the day after a Congressional Subcommittee on Water held a field hearing on Valley water issues at Fresno City Hall on July 21, Autry appeared on the Ray Appleton noon hour talk show on KMJ radio to preach the Valley water gospel.

“You are talking about some people driving this process that are kissing cousins to some of the more radical components of PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] that truly believe a human life and an animal life are equivalent,” the Mayor claimed, not naming a single individual. “There is a mindset out there, and it’s growing day by day, that the future farms of this country are Third World countries, that it [Valley agriculture] is ex“There could be no more important issue,” the Mayor pendable.” insisted, referring to the West Side’s demand for more Delta water, which was cut back to 40 percent this sum- Now in full self-righteousness on the Appleton show, the mer due to the current drought. “This is devastating the Mayor fumed, “I’m calling for an all-out rebellion in the state. It will literally destroy the state. It will literally streets – I’m going to go as far as to say unless they fix this destroy the San Joaquin Valley as we know it if we don’t water issue in the state of California, I’m going to call on get our water storage, if we don’t get the policies turned people who believe, to not pay their property taxes. Just around, I mean in a hurry.” don’t send it to Sacramento. This is nothing less than socioeconomic murder. It’s a moral abomination what’s going on.” (A He failed to mention the devastated salmon fishery in the few days earlier, Autry had told an editorial board meetDelta or the fact that Westlands growers are the last farm- ing of the Fresno Bee that he would actually go to jail for ers in line for precious federal water supplies, which are withholding his taxes because it was the morally right distributed on a priority basis depending on when fed- thing to do.) eral water delivery contracts were signed. The Mayor simply ignores the fact that the Westlands growers are Socioeconomic murder? Well now, that’s a pretty strong last in the federal water bucket line but would like to be charge for a country boy who likes to knock down homefirst. The Mayor also ignores the fact a few hundred grow- less camps with bulldozers or offer millions from the ers in Westlands normally get more Northern California Fresno City treasury to help Donald Trump make a killwater annually than the cities of Los Angeles, or San ing on a West Fresno golf course project that mercifully Diego or the Bay Area. died a quiet death.

It must be understood there are comedic aspects to the Mayor’s public tirades. Following a commercial break on the Appleton show, the Mayor adjusted his rebellion call by asking listeners to not pay their state income taxes rather than their property taxes. City Manager Andy Souza had to explain to him during the break that property taxes go to the county, not the state, and that withhold-

Continued on page 25

Count Down of Shame It has been over a year since the lead plaintiff in the homeless lawsuit against the City of Fresno was savagely beaten and later ended up dead, having fallen four stories while at Community Hospital. The only known eyewitness to her beating says the Fresno Police Department was involved. The police, who interviewed Pam in the emergency room following the beating, made a decision NOT to investigate the crime. Over one year later (Pam died on August 1, 2007) we are still waiting for the release of the autopsy report from the Coroner’s office that would describe the cause of her death. The Community Alliance, which has paid for but not received a copy of the autopsy report, would like to know why it has taken so long for justice to be delivered in this case. Maybe the answer can be found in Fresno mayor Alan Autry’s repeated references to “A Tale of Two Cities,” where you have one form of justice for the more affluent citizens of this community and another if you are a poor homeless woman. The Community Alliance newspaper will continue this “Count Down of Shame” until there is equal justice under the law. We demand that the Coroner’s office immediately release the autopsy report so the circumstances of Pam Kincaid’s death are revealed.

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The Community Alliance is an independent voice for workers and progressive groups in the Central San Joaquin Valley. The goal of this monthly newspaper is to build a powerful progressive movement that will support social, environmental, & economic justice; immigrant rights; and a living wage for all working people. We seek to expose social and political injustices and to link the diverse network of activists working in our community. EDITOR: Mike Rhodes EDITORIAL BOARD: Carol Bequette • Jean Hays • Pam Whalen Richard Stone • Dan Yaseen • Al Williams Francine Ramos

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I appreciate the good article on the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba. I would like to correct the photo caption, though. Although I organized the collection of funds for the medicines and purchased them, the moneys, and therefore the medicines, were donated by many individuals, mostly Fresno area physicians, and by Peace Fresno. (An excellent Fresno pharmacy sold them at cost for this good cause.) I had intended to take the medicines - antibiotics and chemotherapy agents - on the Caravan but a serious illness in the family prevented me at the last moment from going. Many thanks to Gerry for his superb transpoert: bookmobile, medicines and comptuters. Next year in Havana! Leni V Reeves Auberry Hello, I’ve been told I could receive the Community Alliance here in prison. Yes I would very much appreciate that, me being from Fresno and all. Also. . . I don’t have the address to KMJ news talk 580 AM. But there is a very confused and ignorant morning host, a Mr. Ray Appleton, that knows enough about prison reform to only contort & make things worse than they already are by confusing an already biased and uninformed audience. Anyway, my message to Mr. Appleton is a word and its meaning to me: Idiot (n) A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The idiots activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action but prevades and regulates the whole. He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions of opinion and taste, dictates the limitations of speech, and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line. Mr. Sean Parker Avenal I love reading the Community Alliance. Your paper always tells it like it is. The article on Arts in Corrections was well written and the photos were great (August 2008 issue). I was wondering if there is any way you could do something on our Arts in Corrections program. We have some artists in here that would blow your mind. Just a thought. L Haddadeen Chowchilla, Ca. I am looking for volunteers interested in raising aware-

IN THIS ISSUE: Bubba and the Farmworkers ........................................................................................................................................................................... Page 1 Count Down of Shame .......................................................................................................................................................................................... Page 1 Letters to the editor ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Page 2 & 3 Hip Hop Icon Davey D comes to Fresno ..................................................................................................................................................... Page 3 Perea & Swearengin on the issues ............................................................................................................................................................. Page 4 Election Grid ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ Page 5 Making Democracy Work ................................................................................................................................................................................. Page 5 Green Party Electoral Strategy ...................................................................................................................................................................... Page 6 Queer Eye .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Page 6 Fresno Cohousing ................................................................................................................................................................................................ Page 9 Fresno’s Ten Year Plan to end Homelessness ..................................................................................................................................... Page 10 Grassroots Profile .............................................................................................................................................................................................. Page 11 Poetry Corner ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... Page 11 The Cannabis Compromise ........................................................................................................................................................................... Page 12 Voters Sue Madera Unified School District .......................................................................................................................................... Page 12 SEIU-UHW Stands for Justice ........................................................................................................................................................................ Page 13 Artistic Community Emerges in Downtown Fresno ........................................................................................................................... Page 14 Jessie Morrow Mountain Revisited ......................................................................................................................................................... Page 15 It Ain’t So Funny When the Rabbit has the Gun ..................................................................................................................................... Page 18 My Impressions of Cuba ................................................................................................................................................................................. Page 19 Teaching about the Middle East ................................................................................................................................................................. Page 20 Intersectional Lessons of Latina Drag .................................................................................................................................................... Page 21 Opinion and Analysis from the Grassroots ............................................................................................................................ Pages 22 & 23 Peace and Social Justice Calendar ......................................................................................................................................................... Page 24 Progressive Religion is not an Oxymoron ........................................................................................................................................... Page 26 ness about the importance of spaying/neutering com- I just accepted that most people I have contact with panion animals. Great public speaking skills are NOT have something like a medical condition, macular degeneration with regard to reality; that means they sima requirement. ply cannot envision evil and America at the same time. Volunteers would go into libraries, schools, commu- I’d write occasional letters to the Bee, usually before nity centers, etc. to show compelling videos, read/dis- presidential elections, repeating that America was foltribute articles on the importance of sterilizing our lowing an evil course, giving a few specifics, and urganimals, and hand out applications for free/low-cost ing a write-in vote to let both parties know we didn’t spay/neuter services. If interested in this noble en- support it. That kept my conscience clear but occasiondeavor, please contact me at [email protected] ally I would talk with someone who had no apparent difficulty holding the two concepts of evil America in Krishnapriya Mallela mind and then I would vent. Fresno During Reagan’s first term I was speaking with such a Dear Editor, person, a Protestant minister and friend of some years, Reading some of the articles posted by the Department and we were sort of topping each other’s examples of of Water Resources in California News, I get the picture American evil: Gulf of Tonkin, fire bombing of Hanoi, that we need to look at Southern California to find how East Timor, Allende, Grenada, Iraq-gas-Kurds-armsnot to become an asphalt Region and , thus, lose our Contras, etc, and noting that it was happening regardopportunity to conserve water. Southern California has less of the party in power. I said that I was going to do plenty of water according to Managing Water by Dor- another write-in vote in the upcoming election and the othy Green. The problem is that in constructing the minister became agitated and told me that was a waste megalopolis, storm drains and concrete channels have of my vote at a very serious time because Reagan was been built that carry the run –off to the ocean. In the so bad that he had to be defeated and the only way to Sept.9th Pasadena News the recommendation is install- do that was to elect the Democrat. Now I was aghast. ing bio-swales. These are earthen ditches that collect polluted street run-off and instead of a one –way trip to the ocean, it gets I remind you I specified evil, the dark side, behavior returned to the water table. The soil and rocks act as a natural God condemns, which may not carry a lot of weight cleanser. Another green idea is to install a cistern underground, with some people but this man was a professional then allow the water to percolate into the aquifer. Unfortunately, Christian, so I asked how he could willingly vote for these kinds of projects go against the grain of entrenched gov- any party that had not disavowed a policy he knew to ernment, and private water agencies that could lose revenues be evil. He said it was the only practical choice and it and profits. Instead it is much easier to ask Northern was very much the lesser of two evils and therefore the California to give up the rest of its water with the pe- only option. ripheral canal. I told him it was stupid to knowingly support evil when This is very unsettling taking into account Keith you didn’t have to, but he adamantly repeated that Berghold’s article in the July Community Alliance en- Reagan was so bad that it justified voting for the lesser titled “Fearfully and Wonderfully in the Making.” In of two evils, the only practical course. This began a this article he refers to the four county focus areas which series of correspondence covering a period of several according to him can barely add one million people years in which I demanded an explanation from this with the current water consumption, waste, and man- minister and other religious professionals in Fresno: agement practices. It seems to me that it is most im- What would justify a Christian voting for evil? The portant that we, the people, demand an up to date wa- only response I ever got was, ‘when it’s the practical ter policy which would stop bottling plants and farm- thing to do’. So I finally decided it was another seemers from making money on our water, protect the wa- ingly ‘medical condition,’ a kind of reverse macular ter from pollution by fining severely processes that degeneration, that allows professional Christians to see dump, and protect the aquifer by saving our agricul- nothing wrong with voting for evil if it’s practical. I tural land. This must be written ASAP before the de- gave up corresponding with religious professionals and velopers move in to asphalt the area and water is a returned to minding my own business, while voting trickle. my conscience. That worked until I read columns by David Roy in the past two issues of Community AlliLydia Flores ance. Fresno The first column got me a little huffy, like when he said the veil has been lifted on American imperial foreign In 1970 I became convinced that America was follow- policy and I wondered what veil? since the CIA in Iran ing an evil course. I’m specifying evil as opposed to im- and the Congo and Angola and in etc had been cover moral or wrong although those terms are correct in stories in Time magazine 35 or 40 years ago. Later in other circumstances. I told relatives, friends, acquain- that first column he recommends a book on the topic of tances and strangers what I thought in the strongest the Christian response to the American empire and terms with lots of specific examples such as the instal- notes that the authors call for citizens to make radical lation of the Shah of Iran and his secret police, and the changes in keeping with the deepest values of Jesus and torture teaching School of the Americas. Before the elec- I’m thinking: why call for radical changes when you tion of 1972 I told people, my parents for example, that could suggest simply not voting for evil. a vote for Nixon was abetting murder. Nixon was reelected by the greatest landslide vote ever. Still I wouldn’t have sent the packet of prior letters to religious locals plus the xeroxed theological pages origiI quit talking about America being evil to most people. Continued on page 3

By Frank Delgado

Davey D, whose Hip Hop roots date back to the Bronx in 1977, has spent his lifetime promoting the social and political aspects of the artform. On the weekend of October 25 and 26, Fresno residents will have a chance to hear the DJ, journalist and community activist speak at two different speaking engagements. Central Valley residents may be familiar with Davey D as one of the hosts and deejays on “Hard Knock Radio,” a radio program originating from Berkeley’s KPFA and heard weekdays from 4 to 5 pm on 88.1-FM KFCF. His onair talents are only a small part of what has made Davey so widely recognized. He maintains one of the oldest and largest Hip Hop websites “Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner,” which acts as a clearing house for a variety of reference materials on all things Hip Hop and politics: from political commentary and links to Hip Hop related news to a page dedicated to poetry and spoken word.

Most recently, he reported from both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and interviewed no- “As if it wasn’t already really exciting that we’re getting table personalities in the worlds of both Hip-Hop and Davey D to come to speak to the youth,” said KFCF board politics, including Green Party candidate Ralph Nader member Vickie Fouts, “we’re able to host an event that’s one hundred percent free. The parking and the presentaHis visit to Fresno is in association with the fortieth an- tion are both completely free.” niversary of the Fresno Free College Foundation, who own and operate Central Valley free speech radio station In order to be able to accommodate a larger crowd, Fouts 88.1 KFCF. collaborated with Francine Oputa of the campus organization The Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute in The Saturday event is co-sponsored by the Black Stu- order to secure the Peters Educational Auditorium indents United, Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute, side the new Student Recreation Center at the corner or the Uprooting Racism Project, and several other com- Woodrow and Shaw. munity and on-campus organizations and will be held on the campus of California State University, Fresno. The “There will be plenty of parking and people won’t have evening will feature a lecture presented by Davey D titled to worry about getting a ticket since the parking enforceHip-Hop Today: The Ups and Downs, Ins and Outs , Hip-Hop ment is relaxed for our event,” said Fouts. History and How To’s. The FFCF Annual Banquet is scheduled on Sunday and As a noted Hip Hop historian Davey D has been privy to will feature a complete dinner, music from Lance Canales both the culture’s inside information and its insider: his and a presentation by Davey D. Pre-sale tickets to the list of interviewees reads like a who’s-who of Hip Hop banquet are available for $40, or people can opt for a $10 icons like Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Russell speaker-only ticket (or $5 for students). Simmons, 2Pac and the Pharcyde. The lineup will also feature a question and answer session and a spoken word Davey will address issues of media reform at the Sunday engagement, a topic which has been a centerpeice in his recent lectures and presentations. “We’re at a crossroads right now…and we should never forget the type of assaults that we’ve had to deal with over the past ten or twelve years,” said Davey. “Assaults from the Bill O’ Reilleys, the Rush Limbaughs, the Fox news and the Clear Channels of the world…making you feel like you’re not patriotic enough, or maybe you’re a traitor.”

His page also provides resources to artist looking to enter the business, including an “affordable trademark attorney who can help you lock down your name and other important characteristics that separate you from the rest of the field…essential in this highly competitive field.”

Davey has been an advocate for activists taking the power of the media back by creating their own information outlets. “Many of us have started our own radio stations, put out the blogs, and filled the void that corporate media took away from us,” he said “(we’re) building, reconnecting, and resurrecting community once again.”

Davey has been featured on a laundry list of media outlets: CNN’s Talk Back Live, Nightline, BBC Radio, Fox News, BET, VH1, The Tavis Smiley Show, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New York Post, USA Today, The San Francisco Chronicle, Vibe, The Source and DemocracyNow! as a music and community activism expert.

A MySpace page has been established to help promote the events to a diverse audience, which features video clips of Davey D’s speech at the 2007 NCMR , notable interviews with Hip Hop’s elite, as well as direct link to purchase tickets.

At the 2007 National Conference for Media Reform he spoke alongside FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Amy Goodman. “We can’t fall into the trap of telling people that the media distorts us and undermines our perspectives,” said Davey D, “and then we listen to those same media outlets and then come away with false perceptions…about

Letters continued from page 2 nally included to Dr. Roy, except that I had heard Dr Jeremiah Wright on Bill Moyers Journal and again on the CNN broadcast from the Detroit NAACP before I read his second column which, it seemed to me, to damn Dr Wright with faint praise. The Bishop of Fresno does a weekly talk on the local Catholic station, the one that also broadcasts Democracy Now, and he often repeats that it is the position of the Church, the Pope, and himself, that what the USA is doing is wrong. I am proud of him but he is not a rousing speaker as evidenced by the many Catholics, as well as media and other religious people , who are ignorant of this position.. This was different I thought. I wrote to the Bee immediately saying how refreshing it was to hear Dr Wright say the truth that God condemns the oppressor and that in Libya and Viet Nam and Grenada and Panama, etc, we, America, had been the oppressor and that I was looking forward to his defense of his remarks against

performance featuring some of the Central Valley’s notable and provocative poets.

For more info contact: Francine Oputa at Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute 278-6946 or Vickie Fouts 6588260.

Davey D will speak at the FFCF/KFCF annual dinner on Sunday, October 26. Photo credit: Rebecca “B FRESH” McDonald

the continued slings and arrows of the mass media. The Bee didn’t publish my letter, though it was short and pithy, and the media quit covering Wright except to label him as an albatross around Obama’s neck. I had forgotten, in my pleasure at hearing the erudite fiery professional minister of Christ speak, that most people are simply unable to hold evil and America in the same thought but was roused to renewed awareness by Dave Roy’s column. If he had said Ohama’s rejection of Dr Wright as a religious leader was a rejection of Christ’s message I’d have been amazed but understanding. However, what he said was that there were problems of style and, even worse, Wright was preaching something too few other preachers were saying. I don’t think Dr Wright needs any defense but find myself moved to write anyway because he deserves better treatment.

Frank Delgado is a local entrepreneur, designer and Creative Director at 88.1-KFCF in Fresno. He can be contacted by email at [email protected]

My advice to Dr Roy, and any other Christian, is to get one of those What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) bracelets before voting this fall. Think, “Given the choice to vote for evil or write ‘Dennis Kucinich’ (or whoever you like) what would He do?” I take the trouble to write at such length because the professional religious should fear God. Anything except an exhortation to never willingly vote for evil makes a mockery of that. For all the non-religious who believe in the American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all, the same goes. What we have done and are doing under the guidance of the National Security Counsel is wrong and an affront to democracy and basic human rights; a vote for either Democrat or Republican makes you an accomplice. Eric Parsons Fresno

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OCTOBER 2008

When one mentions the term “Hip-Hop” it can evoke many different emotions, preconceptions, and definitions. Popular corporate culture is quick to display images of champagne-drinking, misogynistic rappers with lyrics based in nightclubbing and inflated bank accounts – but that’s not the Hip Hop that Davey D is endorsing.

people of color, people in the Hip-Hop generation.”

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HIP HOP ICON DAVEY D COMES TO FRESNO

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Perea & Swearengin - Where do they stand on the issues? By Mike Rhodes views, but I’m really not willing to go into it.” A member of the audience at the CVPPAC meeting asked how she felt about blacks and whites getting married. Swearengin did not answer that question.

OCTOBER 2008

Perea is opposed to proposition 8. He said “When you are mayor, you have to be mayor for all people, not just some people. I can’t support an amendment to the Constitution that creates a class that is meant to be discriminated against.” Swearengin was much more interested in talking about the Independent Police Auditor issue, which she supports, and Perea opposes. She said “I do support an Independent Police Auditor. I think it is an important piece, but it is not the entire solution either. There are additional things that need to be done to make sure police are serving the best interests of the citizens and that the citizens have that level of comfort that I know people are looking for.” If Henry T. Perea is elected mayor of Fresno on November 4, he will be the first Democrat in that office since 1993. Political analysts believe that Perea will benefit from a national movement for “change” and be swept into power by voters unsatisfied with business as usual.

Mayor Alan Autry and Police Chief Jerry Dyer have supported the establishment of an Independent Police Auditor for years and Autry has consistently included funding for an IPA in his budget. Every year the City Council removes the IPA funding from the budget. Henry Perea, who is on the City Council, has opposed the IPA each time it has been presented. Most progressives want more police accountability and have been frustrated with Perea’s intransigence on this issue. Perea explained his position on the IPA to CVPPAC members who were clearly not supportive of his stand on this issue.

The next mayor of Fresno will have a big impact on what this community looks like ten years from now. How will the homeless be treated? Will the next mayor push to have a nuclear power plant built or advance clean alternative energy like solar and wind? Who can insure that there is police accountability and who believes in mar- Perea started his explanation with “Well, I’m probably riage equality (the right for members of the same sex to not going to be the most popular guy in the room right marry)? now on this question, because as you know I currently do not support an IPA.” What he proposed was bringing the The Central Valley Progressive PAC ( www.cvppac.org ) supporters of the IPA into a dialog with the Fresno Police held meetings with Ashley Swearengin and Henry T. Perea Officers Association. He said “I want to see if we can come where they were asked these and other questions. Their up with something that everybody feels comfortable with.” answers are a guide to what their policies, if they are elected Perea said that if he becomes mayor he will bring people mayor, will look like. together to discuss difficult issues like this. He also pointed out that simply having a mayor who supports an IPA will Perea is widely perceived to be the more progressive of the not necessarily make it happen - look at mayor Autry’s two candidates. He is backed by organized labor, he is a inability to implement an IPA. Democrat, and as a City Council member has been supportive of a variety of projects that make Fresno a “greener” Both Swearengin and Perea support the installation and community - like public transportation and alternative use of video surveillance equipment to “fight crime.” When energy. asked about how this technology had a potential for violating our civil liberties, Perea said “I do think that we Swearengin is a Republican, but has gained some traction need to have protections in place so that people’s civil libwithin the progressive community with her pledge to bring erties are not violated. For example, the last thing we an Independent Police Auditor (IPA) to Fresno. Other want to do is to start using these things to monitor politiprogressives have commented favorably about her acces- cal protests or identifying folks on either side - left or right.” sibility and talk about how well she listens to their con- Swearengin said that “nothing should be done to comprocerns. mise people’s civil liberties.” While both candidates were vaguely reassuring on the civil liberties question, neither In the CVPPAC meetings it was clear that both candidates of them communicated an understanding of the potential are articulate and bright, they come from different back- misuse of video surveillance technology or what they will grounds, and bring different skills and talents to the table. do to protect our civil liberties. Both Perea and Swearengin both expressed concern with the North/South splitting of votes in the primary election. Both candidates came down firmly against nuclear power. Mapping software showed Perea winning most of the pre- Swearengin said “my position hasn’t changed since May cincts South of Shaw and Swearengin winning the over- when all of the candidates were asked this question and whelming majority of precincts in North Fresno. Both the Community Alliance did a great spread on a number candidates say they want to represent all of Fresno and of these issues - I don’t support building a nuclear power object to the implication that this is a divided city. But, plant in Fresno. Simply put, I do not support it, it is not my with current mayor Alan Autry always talking about a cause.” “Tale of Two Cities,” it is hard not to take a second look at a map that illustrates so graphically that the more affluent Perea said “I’m against having a nuclear power plant in (north) side of town voted for the white Republican and southwest Fresno and I’m on record against moving forthe other side of town voted for the Latino Democrat. ward on a project like that because I don’t believe it is the kind of economic development we need to spur growth in Swearengin loses support in the progressive community southwest Fresno. I find it interesting that nuclear power because of her support of proposition 8, which would de- is the only source of power that comes with medication. If fine marriage as between only a man and a women. At the we locate a nuclear power plant by your home or by your CVPPAC meeting Swearengin said “my personal view on children’s school, the federal government will come and that is that I’m supporting proposition 8.” When asked knock on your door and hand you a packet of pills, just in about the civil rights of same sex couples she said “I’m case of a nuclear meltdown.” happy to let you know what my personal views are, but I’m not getting into this issue. I don’t think it is a central Asked about the Autry administration and what he might issue for the City of Fresno and I think it is something that do differently, Perea said “I enjoyed working with him, we divides. To be fair to you I want you to know my personal don’t always agree, we were on the opposite side of the

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Ashley Swearengin is a Republican who has never been elected to political office. Political analysts believe that she will benefit from her image as an outsider and the “Palen effect” that has energized the McCain campaign. ‘Tuff Shed’ issue - he wanted to put the homeless in tool sheds and I was against it. But, I’ve got to tell you, some of the most significant things that I accomplished as a council member was because I partnered with him.” Perea said that “if you want to be effective in this job, you have to reach out across the aisle.” Building coalitions and bringing people together would be an important part of a Perea administration. Swearengin said that when Autry was elected, morale in this community was pretty low, then “Bubba came along and because of his charisma and his celebrity status. . . he has been able to grab people’s hearts and minds and convince them that Fresno can and should be a better place.” She added “I think he has done an amazing job of raising the profile of this city.” Swearengin said that Autry has opened doors in Sacramento and Washington DC that she will use to bring more resources and jobs to Fresno. She would like to take over where Autry leaves off. There are significant differences in both substance and style between the two mayoral candidates. Those differences are clear in the positions they take on the issues of interest to the progressive community. When progressives vote on November 4 they will decide whether to vote for the continuation of a conservative Republican led city government headed by Ashley Swearengin or a change, represented by the Democrat Henry T. Perea. If you are happy with what has happened in Fresno for the last 15 years of Republican leadership, then vote for Swearengin. If you belief Fresno needs a change in leadership, if you want to join with your brothers and sisters in organized labor, and shake up the “good old boy” network in Fresno, then you will vote for Perea. Voters are not likely to find any candidate that they agree with on every issue and a few progressive activists will vote for Swearengin because she supports establishing an IPA. Perea will get votes because he supports organized labor/unions, is a strong proponent of alternative energy, understands the human rights implications of proposition 8, and votes for issues benefitting poor and working people. The CVPPAC was established to analyze all of the issues, strategically look at local elections, decide which candidates most closely share our progressive values, and give them support. When the progressive community comes together as a unified political force, capable of electing good candidates, we will start to realize what the right has known for a long time - that there is a huge benefit in holding political power. On Saturday, September 13, the CVPPAC endorsed Henry T. Perea for mayor. For more information, see: www.cvppac.org . You can also see videos of Perea and Swearengin discussing the issues above at: http:// www.youtube.com/user/MikeRhodes93705

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‘STATE BALLOT PROPOSITION RECOMMENDATIONS NOVEMBER 4, 2008 ELECTION STATE BALLOT PROPOSITIONS 1A * Y Y * Y

2 * * * * Y

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Prop. 5 Prop. 9 Prop. 1A Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Nonviolent Drug Offenses. Sentencing, Parole Criminal Justice System. Victims’ Rights. Parole. and Rehabilitation. Initiative Statute. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and StatAct. ute. Prop. 2 Prop. 6 Standards for Confining Farm Animals. Initia- Police and Law Enforcement Funding. Criminal Prop. 10 Penalties and Laws. Initiative Statute. Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy. tive Statute. Bonds. Initiative Statute. Prop. 3 Prop. 7 Children’s Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. Renewable Energy Generation. Initiative Statute. Prop. 11 Initiative Statute. Redistricting. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute. Prop. 8 Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Prop. 4 Prop. 12 Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Initiative Constitutional Amendment. Veterans’ Bond Act of 2008. Termination of Minor’s Pregnancy. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

FRESNO CITY & COUNTY ORGANIZATION Central Labor Council CVPPAC CHAMBER-FRESNO Fresno Teachers Assoc. LA RAZA LAWYERS Republican Party

L * Y

JUDGE * Treisman

* * *

* Treisman *

MAYOR Perea Perea Perea Perea * Swearengin

FUSD #2 Nunez Moore Nunez Moore * *

FUSD #5 Mills Mills Clark Mills * *

FUSD #6 * Hermosillo Ryan Hermosillo * Ryan

* = No position/recommendation

Making Democracy Work By Lydia Flores Democracy is never fully in place. It is always in flux, a work in progress. It evolves in response to the action of citizens. Want to help get out the vote? Which one of these appeals to you? . Register voters: It does not matter which party a person wants to register for, the idea is to sign him/her up as a voter. Call Jay Hubbell (292-4905) to help at the Democratic table at the upcoming Fresno County Fair. Contact the Democrats in Action Office for voter registration forms and information at (559) 486-5422 or [email protected]. Would you prefer to help new citizens? Volunteers are needed to register voters at the naturalization ceremonies held October 6 and December 1. Call Jason Carn at (559) 287-0064 or 2527306 for details. Alternatively go to www.sos.ca.gov and click on Voter Registration to download an application form that can be completed and returned to the County Clerk’s Office. Campaign involvement: Many of the candidates need volunteers. Call the Democrats in Action Office at (559)

486-5422 for candidates’ office headquarter contact numbers. If you are a good walker, you may enjoy precinct walking with a buddy. If there are two of you, one drives and keeps a log and the other passes out literature to residences. If calling is what you like best, sign up for phone banking or calling on your cell phone at home. Each candidate has precinct lists that contain phone numbers, addresses and party affiliations. You may wish to walk or phone your own precinct or others. You will be given a script to follow, which you may modify as you get proficient. Some people like to talk and there are others who are kind enough to say I already voted absentee. Specific tasks are explained at each candidate’s headquarters.

Propositions: At this time there are twelve propositions on the ballot. The League of Women Voters has a nonpartisan Smart Voter’s Guide and more at ca.lwv.org. Another website www.mivcalifornia.org has six of the twelve propositions that impact immigrants in six different languages. Democrats in Action also has materials on the twelve propositions and bond measure. Their website will have the state Democratic Party recommendations.

Get Out the Vote: Information about this can be found at Democrats in Action Office (486-5422). Volunteers are needed for phone banking and precinct walking. Calls are made to remind citizens to vote. Volunteers answer calls for help from citizens who are searching Candidates: Obama’s official campaign headquarters for their polling place. is at 421 W. Shaw at Maroa. His phone number is 2262976. If you are interested in the state or local candi- Despite the magnitude of our society’s problems, we dates, call Democrats in Action at 486-5422, open from can make a difference. We take little steps; getting out 10 to 5 P.M. They have literature from the Democratic the vote is most important, for the vote is our voice. candidates. Their website is http:// fresnodemocrats.com. For information about county ### candidates call the Fresno County Clerk‘s Office, 4883246. As candidates file papers to run for office, the The writer has been a community activist for six years County Clerk’s Office posts them on the Internet. Cen- and has participated in all the items reported above. If tral Valley Progressive PAC has posted the local candi- you wish to contact her, her e-mail is dates’ answers to questionnaires on their website, [email protected]. www.cvppac.org.

OCTOBER 2008

ORGANIZATION ACLU-NC AFL-CIO Central Labor Council Cal Teachers Assoc. CVPPAC Chamber of Commerce-CA Common Cause Democratic Party Green Party League of Women Voters P & F Party Planned Parenthood MM Republican Party Sierra Club

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Green Party Electoral Strategy

OCTOBER 2008

By Larry Mullen Green activism or electoral politics—the argument rages in alternative parties at election time. “Where is the best place to put our efforts?” Partisan or nonpartisan races? A presidential candidate? Issue-centered protests? Ultimately all political parties put candidates in front of voters to say, “We will do something!” Greens are no different. The Green Party wins its share of non-partisan races in areas where Green registration is high. Greens win, not because they have a registration advantage, but because someone got the vote out and the candidate appealed to Democrats, Republicans and decline-tostate voters who care about issues over party. Simply put, Green values resonate with people.

reflected in public policy.” Greens’ quest for proportional representation and ranked choice voting, like Instant Runoff Voting, will be revolutionary when enacted. McKinney represents the voters’ opportunity to elect representative, participatory, democracy and Cynthia speaks to Green Party values. First and fore- protest the status quo at the ballot box. most the Greens are the peace party. Other major issues of Greens are access to media, corporate influence Cynthia and the Green Party need to win five percent in government, and fair elections and proportional rep- of the vote. The result is national party recognition, resentation. Ms. McKinney will speak at every oppor- ballot line status in every state, future funding, and a tunity to promote education, health, economic and so- seat in the debates and a place in the media. Every cial reforms, which have long been standards on Green pundit and commentator has California in Obama’s platforms. By naming Rosa Clemente as her running column. It is time for progressives, regardless of party, mate, Cynthia McKinney is making a bold and delib- to rise to the occasion and vote their conscience for erate overture to young, disenfranchised, first time vot- true change and representation. Vote McKinneyClemente in 2008. Send a message. ers, and voters of color. date who has a mathematical chance of winning the election should be allowed in the debates,” said Cynthia at the August Green Party plenary in Orange County.

Gerrymandering and large geographic areas are the stumbling blocks of alternative-party campaigns in partisan state and federal races. These races, however, highlight party issues providing candidates are invited to forums and get press coverage. During her presidential acceptance speech Cynthia said, “Twenty years ago, Green party activists saw The presidential race is the showcase of the Green Party. through this two-party box that voters have been put Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney has real into in this country and started the Green Party. And Congressional experience, is a dynamic speaker and what we have to remember is this: whatever it is that experienced campaigner. Her candidacy puts the Green we want in the realm of public policy, we can get if we Party on ballots in 30 states and growing—enough to have the right elected officials in office. Nothing for us win the election if she won every state. “Any candi- is impossible. Politics is about shared values being

Contact: www.runcynthiarun.org votetruth08.com/

or http://

### Larry Mullen is a Green activist and member of the Fresno County Green Party County Council. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]

on the queer community in general. Perea is noted for either ‘doesn’t get back to you’ or ‘doesn’t have time’ to talk with you, and lived down to that reputation for several weeks. Swearengin declined to be interviewed. Perea eventually agreed to an interview but seemed not to address community concerns.

The Fresno Mayor’s Race—A Queer Eyeview by Dan Waterhouse It’s a little more than a month until the election, when Fresnans will choose their next President and their next mayor. In the mayor’s race, is it boiling down to choosing the lesser of two evils?

munity and the city working together on matters of mutual concern, Perea claimed not to have any memory of the attempts, according to a recent interviewer.

Shana Kaspian of Gay Fresno.com initially posed the following about Perea and Swearingen: “It is still unclear whether Perea is truly progressive when it comes to LGBT issues. He has only commented on one of them. From that single statement, one could infer that he sees this as a state matter beyond his control, but would take anti-gay positions within a local context. It could be that he believes gay people are constitutionally entitled to full equality regardless of his personal feelThe debate in the queer community about which one ings that they are not. He could just be parroting the to vote for began when Jon Carroll, the director of least offensive response in order to win the election. Fresno’s Reel Pride film festival, sent out this email to Either way, why should we have to guess? community leadership: “Her opponent, Henry Perea, is on the record as opposing Prop 8 and I will be sup- “Swearengin’s position was arguably more problemporting him and I encourage you to do so as well. I atic. Swearengin had previously stated she was against will be donating to Henry this week and IF you can, Prop. 8. When she stated more recently that she supplease do so as well or volunteer for his campaign. ported the proposition, she cited that the new version Also, please encourage your friends and neighbors to of the proposition was ‘less restrictive’. In actuality, the new version of Proposition 8 was slightly redo the same.” worded to ensure that heterosexual partnerships could Carroll’s message was triggered when Swearengin flip- not be jeopardized. The limitations on gay marriage flopped and endorsed Proposition 8, which would re- went unchanged. This heightened the outrage of some move the constitutional right of same-sex couples to members of the gay community. Not only were they marry in California. Swearengin had originally come suddenly aware Swearengin did not support full equalout in opposition, saying “initially she believed prop 8 ity between gay and straight citizens, she had only would violate the Domestic Partnership Act, which hesitated in supporting the proposition because it offers certain unmarried couples the same privileges might hinder straight unmarried couples. as those who are married.” She said that she’s always supported the notion that marriage should only be “Swearengin received votes and support from the gay between a man and a woman, and after speaking to community based on her other attributes as a maymembers of her campaign advisory board (which in- oral candidate, but also due to the impression that she cludes Pastor H. Spees) she decided to endorse the ini- wouldn’t work against those same supporters. How tiative. Many suspect she was told she would lose the could anyone have been so misinformed? Precisely because no one asked specific questions - many voters support of evangelical voters otherwise. just assumed Swearengin’s previous anti-Proposition But where is Perea on queer issues? It’s hard to say. He 8 stance meant she cared about gay people. Even now, said he won’t support Proposition 8, but personally he some voters are assuming Perea is in our corner even believes that marriage should be limited to opposite- though he simply categorized gay marriage as a civil sex couples. So his “opposition” to Proposition 8 might rights “issue” and never directly referred to it as a be considered lukewarm at best. Does his “stance” on civil “right”. Both candidates have gotten away with Prop 8 justify the queer community supporting him? I being vague. People have already cast votes based on wonder. He has been mostly silent on other issues of false assumptions.” concern to the community. When questioned about repeated attempts over a period of several years by com- Kaspian contacted each candidate’s office and requested munity leadership to meet with him about the com- that both candidates clarify their views on Prop. 8 and The mayoral choices are two-term City Council Member Henry T. Perea and political newcomer Ashley Swearengin. Swearengin is currently the director of Community and Economic Development at Fresno State and a founder of the Regional Jobs Initiative. They have similar positions on the major policy issues facing the city. However, Swearengin supports the concept of an independent police auditor and Perea does not.

Kaspian says that in light of Ashley Swearingen’s recently reversed stance to support Prop. 8, Perea contends that he has held a more consistent stance on gay issues than his opponent. He also notes that this could work against him in the upcoming November mayoral race. “The way Swearingen flip-flopped can say a lot about the politics of where we are in the city,” Perea told Kaspian. “We are going to find out on Election Day if this was the gamble.” He added that his opponents will use this to work against him in the upcoming election. “I would anticipate some covert mailers to go out to certain households reminding people of my stance.” Perea says “cultural events are not sponsored by the city for one reason only: the current administration does not want to give city money to Reel Pride. The comments he made (Mayor Autry,) and anyone else has made, have been made in open session. “Because they do not want to give to this group, they say that we cannot give to anybody. I am going to reverse that and make sure the City of Fresno is going to fund everybody, because I do think the City of Fresno should be financial sponsors for different groups and cultural events.” He told Kaspian, “nothing is going to truly change until our politics change, and in this election I think my opponent and her supporters are going to work hard to remind certain voters of three things: that I’m a Democrat, that I support working families and three, my position on Prop 8. I think there is going to be a very strong stealth campaign on that. I am starting to see evidence of that as I go to speak to different Rotaries and different political groups; I am starting to get planted questions out there.” Perea also commented “it is about being inclusive and those are the positions we are going to take. We are going to unite the city and stop perpetuating the divides, whether it’s a North versus South attitude, business versus labor, now it is traditional marriage versus same-sex marriage, or whatever divided groups we encounter. We have over 88 cultures represented in Fresno, over 109 languages spoken in our city. We do not need leadership that will represent one side of town or one view. We need to listen.” Kaspian writes that Perea “seems to be in the formative stages of working out a guiding philosophy on how to approach those differences. He ideates instead of answering in tangible terms. At the same time, it is hard to argue with his fundamental ideas. He says, ‘The first thing you have to do is create trust. Different communities are going to have to say: he, [Perea] may not agree with us on any one issue, but at least we know we are getting a fair shot.”

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HOWARD’S HOPEFULS Here are my voting recommendations for the local races in the November 4, 2008 general election. Most are clear choices, some are close calls. I hope you find this list helpful. However you choose to vote, PLEASE VOTE! Thank you.

FEDERAL President/VP US Rep. #18 US Rep. #19 US Rep. #20 US Rep. #21 STATE St. Assembly #29 St. Assembly #30 St. Assembly #31 LOCAL Superior Ct. #10 Proposition L SCCCD #2 SCCCD #5 Mayor FUSD #2 FUSD #5 FUSD #6

The Valley’s Voice for Progressives The results of the November 4th election will shape the future of our community for years to come. The members of the CVPPAC urge you to help elect the following candidates we have endorsed. Be sure you are registered to vote, volunteer to help these candidates, then vote and get your friends to vote, too. Together, we can change Fresno by supporting our endorsed candidates.

SUPERIOR COURT: Doug Treisman ................ [email protected] MAYOR OF FRESNO: Henry T. Perea ............................ [email protected] FRESNO UNIFIED SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEES: #2 Larry Moore ................................................................. [email protected] #5 Carol Mills ......................................................... [email protected] #6. Virginia Hermosillo............................................................... [email protected] MEASURE L: YES

YES on 1A, 2, 5, 12

STATE PROPOSITIONS: NO on 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11

NEUTRAL 3, 9

Things you can do to help elect these outstanding candidates: —be sure you and your friends are currently registered to vote. —contact the candidates & volunteer to help by walking precincts, donating money, making telephone calls, hosting a coffee, putting up a yard sign, e-mail your friends to support these candidates. —vote by absent ballot or on November 4th.

Remember—your vote will make a difference for our future! All ads on this page are paid political advertising.

OBAMA/BIDEN CARDOZA Write-In COSTA JOHNSON AVILA FLOREZ ARAMBULA TREISMAN YES SMITH FORHAN PEREA MOORE MILLS RYAN

STATE PROPS. 1A Yes 2 Yes 3 Yes 4 No 5 Yes 6 No 7 No 8 No 9 No 10 No 11 Open 12 Yes

OCTOBER 2008

Howard K. Watkins

8 OCTOBER 2008

This is a paid political ad.

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Fresno Cohousing Celebrates Its Grand Opening! - A Free Community Event by Lorenzo Bassman

Looking south through the community. The inviting deep front porches and the distinctive overhangs that shade all the windows during the peak sunlight hours are two important green features. The long-awaited moment has arrived at last! After four years of planning, residents of LaQuerencia, the area’s first Cohousing Community, have begun moving into their homes! And on Sunday, October 5, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., the Greenest Neighborhood in the Central Valley will celebrate its Grand Opening, and we are inviting the whole community to join us. There will be music, food, and visitors will have an opportunity to tour the project and take a look at the shared facilities and many of the homes. The site tours will be led by our architect, project managers and members of the community, and guest speakers will include both Fresno mayoral candidates. LaQuerencia is the first residential building project to be recognized by the mayor’s Fresno Green program, and a representative of that agency will join us for the celebration. The event is open to all ages and in part will honor all who have been involved with the project from the beginning, and all who have been supporters of the project.

LaQuerencia is a supportive, intergenerational community, with an emphasis on including families with young children as well as every other family configuration.In addition to the obvious social advantages of living near friends, residents have more free time because many of the routine activities of life are shared such as meal preparation and yard work.Expensive or rarely used tools and recreational equipment owned by the group are available to all. Carpooling and childcare are easier to arrange. As in any healthy community, people are tolerant and respectful toward others. Members value privacy as well as social contact, and our neighborhood design reflects a respect for each other’s needs for privacy. Each independent home includes its own kitchen, laundry hook-ups, dining and living rooms, bedrooms and baths, large front porches, and individual back yards. Our architect has worked with us to maximize efficiency of space and energy, and you see evidence of sensitivity toward the natural environment including reduced home size, sharing of resources and community recycling. By giving careful consideration to the placement of residences, parking, walkways, swimming pool, play and garden areas, open spaces, and the common house, cohousing maximizes opportunities for neighbors to cross paths throughout the day. The private residences are clustered on the site leaving more shared open space, the dwellings face each other across a courtyard, and cars are parked on the periphery allowing for pedestrian walkways and gathering spots between the homes. Cohousing puts people-friendly way ahead of car-friendly.

LaQuerencia/Fresno Cohousing, the host of this event, is a group of families, couples and individuals creating an Earth-friendly intergenerational neighborhood of 28 beautiful homes custom-designed by the residents themselves with a commitment to using less of the Earth’s resources. The 2-, 3-, 4- and 5 bedroom homes range in price from the mid $300,000’s through the $400,000’s, and residents have already started to move in and are continuing on with the process of building community and learning to live and work together. Solar panels, Energy Star appliances and high quality construction are standard for every home, exceeding California energy requirements by 35% and minimizing energy bills. Homebuyers Inspired by the search for something betwill receive a solar rebate of $3,149 after move-in. Stateter than what was being offered in the of-the-art internet access makes this truly a community area, the future residents teamed with a st designed for the 21 century. nationally recognized, award-winning design and building team known for their The community clusters privately-owned, self-sufficient energy-efficient communities. Through homes around common facilities to provide an old-fashdecades of experience creating sustainable ioned neighborhood feel where neighbors know each neighborhoods, this team knew how to get other and kids run and play in between the houses. The our homebuyers the highest value that shared facilities will include children’s play areas, a fullywill withstand the test of time. The Naequipped workshop, a pool, spa and exercise facility, a tional Association of Homebuilders teen hangout, and a beautiful common house with gour(NAHB) recently awarded McCamant &

Durrett Architects, designers of LaQuerencia, the Silver 2008 Energy Value Housing Award for another recent project. The NAHB searches for the best in the country for top honors in energy-efficiency, design and innovation. Upon receiving the award, firm principal Chuck Durrett responded, “We are honored to have been selected from a field of 500 other projects. The irony is that we don’t even know how to build homes that aren’t greenbuilt and sustainable. It’s what we have been doing since the 1980s.” Durrett continued, “We combine beautiful, livable design with sustainable features. And with cohousing we can take sustainable design to new heights because of the way future residents are involved in the process.” John Suppes, president of Byldan Corporation, designers of sustainably-built homes such as the awardwinning Sunset Magazine Demonstration Home and general contractor for LaQuerencia, recently pointed out that “nobody builds to this high of spec in the Valley! You are getting a level of quality and sustainability that has not been built in attached housing in the Central Valley since the Native Americans were building.” If you are interested in hearing more about our community and how you can be a part of it, or if you just want to show your support and wish us well, please join us. Our Grand Opening Celebration will take place Sunday, October 5, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., on the premises of LaQuerencia, 2658 East Alluvial Avenue (between Willow and Chestnut Avenues).There’s no charge to attend, and the location and all buildings (first floors at least) are wheelchair accessible. Look for the “Parking” signs. For more information, call (866) 246-7717, email [email protected] or visit www.fresnocohousing.org . If you can’t make it that day, you can come to an open house any Sunday in the Common house between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. ### Lorenzo Bassman is a musician, and he and his family are residents of LaQuerencia. He can be reached at [email protected]

Looking north towards the common house. The trellis-covered dining terrace is a focal point of community activity, and solar photovoltaic array on the roof provides 2 Kw of clean energy.

OCTOBER 2008

met kitchen, large dining room for community dinners and other gatherings, a sitting area, guest apartment, kid’s room and a shared laundry facility. The homes are the most energy efficient in the Valley and also feature bright, naturally daylit rooms and lowtoxicity building materials, shared organic gardens and edible landscaping, a bicycle storage facility, and proximity to schools, parks, shopping, restaurants and bicycle paths.

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Fresno’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness Approved

OCTOBER 2008

By Mike Rhodes The City and County of Fresno approved the final draft of a ten year plan to end homelessness in this community. The plan was the product of a city/county Task Force which was mandated with the goal of eliminating homelessness. Philip Mangano, the executive director of the Bush administration’s Interagency Council on Homelessness, came to Fresno on the day the plan was adopted. Mangano said “your goal in this 10 year plan is that your children will have to go to a museum someday to see what homelessness once was.” Mangano urged both the City Council and the Board of Supervisors to support the Task Force plan to end homelessness.

west coast social justice-based homelessness organizations, says that it has been policies of the Federal Government that has exacerbated homelessness. Some key findings in their 2006 study are that: * HUD’s budget has dropped 65% since 1978, from over $83 billion to $29 billion in 2006. [editor’s note: a representative from HUD contacted me to dispute this figure, stating that: “In fact, HUD’s budget was $38 billion for FY 1978 and $52.4 billion in FY 2006 (including all mandatory, discretionary and supplemental funding).” Paul Boden, quoted later in this article, responded: “Fact: Compared to 1978, the United States government is now spending nearly 65 percent less on developing and maintaining affordable housing for poor people. ($83 billion was appropriated in 1978, while only $29 billion was allocated in 2005, in 2004 constant dollars). Source: Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget. Public Budget Database, available http:// www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget]

Fresno mayor Alan Autry, speaking before the City Council, said that he made a decision last December to move his homelessness policy in a new direction. Autry said “I have been a miserable failure in terms of the homeless issue in this community. I didn’t know it at the time, I felt that we were doing pretty much all that we could. . . there was a feeling that it would never get better, let’s make their (homeless people’s) inevitable passing a little more comfortable. That is not only wrong but it’s im- * The Emergency Shelter phenomenon was born the same moral” Autry urged the City Council to pass the 10 year year that HUD funding was at a drastic low point. In plan. 1983, HUD’s budget was only $18 billion, the same year that general public emergency shelters began opening in Mangano explained that by shifting from a policy that cities nationwide. maintained/managed homelessness (such as the Rescue Mission, Poverello House, etc) to a Housing First model, * HUD has spent $0 on new public housing, while more Fresno could not only end chronic homelessness, but save than 100,000 public housing units have been lost to demomoney too. According to Mangano, the current method lition, sale, or other removal in the last ten years. of addressing homelessness costs between $35,000 $150,000 per year per homeless person. The cost is high *Federal housing subsidies are going to the wealthy. In because of emergency medical services, police interven- 2004, 61 percent of these subsidies went to households tion, and the money that goes to social service providers. earning more than $54,788, while only 27 percent went In contrast, Mangano says that for between $13,000 and to households earning under $34,398. $25,000, this community could provide the homeless with descent affordable housing and get them on the way to * More than 600,000 identified homeless students went living a more productive life. He encouraged the Task to public schools in the 2003-2004 school year, according Force to write a cost benefit analysis, showing what Fresno could save by switching to a Housing First model. Mangano, who works for the Bush administration, said that the Federal Government was spending record amounts of money on homelessness. He said that “the 2009 budget has $5 billion targeted to homeless people. That has been good for Fresno. More than $25 million has come to Fresno over the last five years. You have received increased resources for the last two years and in 3 of the last 4 years Fresno has received record resources from Washington and just very recently, a new award of HUD housing vouchers plus veterans affairs support services have come to Fresno.” Al Williams, a Task Force member, veteran, and homeless man, said he would like to know where that money has gone. Williams, speaking moments after Mangano’s presentation, said “too much money has come here that is not accounted for. Mangano said that $25 million has come to Fresno. Well, how many people are still homeless on the street? Where did the money go? It is in somebody’s pocket, I guess. I think these social service providers should be held accountable for their spending.” Williams has in the past referred to parasitic social service providers as “Poverty Pimps,” because of their ability to benefit from the suffering of the homeless. For an alternative view of the Federal Governments role on the homelessness issue, see: http://wraphome.org/ wh_press_kit/Without_Housing_20061114.pdf . Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), a coalition of

Fresno mayor Alan Autry said “I have been a miserable failure in terms of the homeless issue in this community. I didn’t know it at the time, I felt that we were doing pretty much all that we could. . . there was a feeling that it would never get better, let’s make their (homeless people’s) inevitable passing a little more comfortable. That is not only wrong but it’s immoral”

Philip Mangano, the executive director of the Bush administration’s Interagency Council on Homelessness, spoke about the cost/benefit analysis of ending homelessness. estimate - in the 2% range of homeless people in their city. The 2002 estimate assumed that because of our chronic double digit unemployment, poor economy, and the highest concentration of poverty in the country, Fresno’s number of homeless was closer to 2%. The report instead, relied on a “Point in Time” survey recently conducted by the Continuum of Care that found the number of homeless in Fresno was well below the national average - .05%. Most observers, including a majority of the Task Force members who worked on the report, believe that number is too low and underestimates the number of homeless people in this community. I have been assured that this shortcoming of the report is recognized and that a new study will be done that more accurately access the number of actual homeless people There are enormous pressures on the City and County of Fresno to successfully confront the homelessness issue in this community. The financial burden alone is motivating local government - if they can spend $20,000 instead of $100,000 per homeless person per year, that would save millions of dollars that could be better spent. Business people, developers, and builders in the downtown area are demanding a change. In order to commercially develop and revitalize downtown, homelessness must be eliminated or at least dramatically reduced. Those two powerful economic forces, an alliance of business and government, have led to the 10 year plan to end homelessness.

Homeless advocates, the homeless themselves, and many people in Fresno want to see an end to homelessness beAl Williams, a Task Force member, veteran, and homeless cause they know our community can do more for those man, describes some of the social service providers that who are living on the streets. But, will this convergence of forces be enough for the 10 year plan to succeed? take money meant for the homeless as Poverty Pimps. Homelessness is now on the political radar screen in this community, there are powerful forces in support of the to the US Department of Education. (Fresno Unified plan, and those forces have a great deal of motivation to School District recently identified 3,000 homeless students end homelessness. Both the City Council and Board of Supervisors think the plan will succeed - they both unaniin their district) mously approved the 10 Year Plan. * Federal support helps homeowners instead of poor people. In 2005, federal homeowner subsidies totaled more The challenge ahead is for local government to shift policy than $122 billion, while HUD outlays were only $31 bil- from the current system of managing homelessness to lion - a difference of more than $91 billion. providing housing. There will likely be opposition from the social service providers (Al Williams would call them According to Paul Boden, executive director of WRAP, Poverty Pimps) that have something to loose in this tran“The Administration’s current ‘Chronic Homeless Ini- sition. The Rescue Mission, for example, has built a fortiative’ is just the latest in a series of inadequate flavor- midable empire by providing services to the homeless. of-the-month distractions from the real problem. It does They are not going to support a paradigm change that nothing to address the huge cuts to federal affordable dries up their funding sources and they have significant housing funding that caused mass homelessness. Hous- friends and allies in local government. ing is a human right, which a democracy should adHousing First, the model outlined in the 10 Year Plan, vance, not restrict.” will take chronically homeless people and give them deSeveral speakers, including Al Williams, questioned the scent, affordable housing. The program will provide them 10 Year Plans accuracy and the number of homeless people with housing even if they have a drinking problem, need they say are living in Fresno. The report presented to job training, or have a disability. Housing First will put city and county officials says there are only 4,247 home- homeless people in housing, the housing will stabilize less people in Fresno. This is down from an estimated their lives, and give them an opportunity to address 8,824 homeless people listed in the City of Fresno Con- whatever issue(s) they need to work on to live happier solidated Plan, just a few years ago. The numbers in the and more productive lives. Consolidated Plan were themselves a large reduction in what previous studies had found. A report from the Does Fresno have the ability to make the 10 Year Plan Fresno/Madera Continuum of Care in 2002 put the num- work? That will be determined by who the City/County put in charge of this project, how much authority that ber at about 16,000. person or group has, and their skill at bringing deep and Since the homeless are extremely hard to count in a street institutional change to an entrenched bureaucracy. survey, most communities across the country estimate that 1 - 2% of the residents are homeless. 1 - 2% is the For a list of articles and documents about the struggle for national average. Communities with more unemploy- civil liberties for homeless people in Fresno, see: http:// ment and a poor economy will be on the high end of that www.fresnoalliance.com/home/homelessness.htm

By Richard Stone

Al’s “town” is the Roeding Park area. He used to camp out in the Park proper and the locals came to call him, a la Harvey Milk, “the Mayor of Roeding Park.” Now he’s staked out some turf on an arid lot nearby, a homestead he and his compadre call The Ditch. But he still patrols the Park vicinity, establishing relations with businesses, the police and the relevant city officials of the area, as well as with the homeless population. These relations, though, can be either cordial and respectful or downright nasty. “One of our regular patrolmen here just has it in for me. The other day he pulled his gun on me and detained me for crossing private property — a parking lot for a business that knows me well. And he didn’t say a word to my buddy who walks there all the time, too.” In talking with Al, I detected a familiar aspect to his demeanor and asked if he was a veteran. “Yeah,” he says. “Viet Nam.” He came back in one piece and relatively sane, at least enough to marry, have kids and hold a job. “But one day in ’91, I came home to an empty house. She’d taken everything and the kids. And whatever savings I had went down the drain in useless custody proceedings.” That episode led to Al’s first stint as a man without a home. He was able to pull himself together and get a job as a motel manager. “But people at City Hall already didn’t like me, and they had Code Enforcement tell the owners either get rid of Williams or we’ll slap a big fine on you.” Since then, he’s lived as one of the self-proclaimed “Great Outdoors People.” Al’s experiences on the street have darkened his perceptions of a social system steeped in injustice and disrespect for human rights. “For one thing, no one who has fought for this country should be homeless, unless they want to be. It’s a matter of simple fairness. But anyone out here, for whatever reasons, is entitled to basic protection and civility. Instead law enforcement and code enforcement are used to make our lives even harder.”

Al greatly appreciates the other volunteer projects that serve the homeless: the Catholic Workers who serve meals outside the prison; Dr. Lasher and his free clinic on wheels; Dallas and the Needle Exchange folks; the Sleeping Bag Project; the Bike Clinic. But he has nothing but contempt for the official homeless programs. “When Father Mike [McGarvin] was at Poverello House, they did real work. But now Poverello and the Rescue Mission are run like businesses with no heart. My goal right now is to force the CEOs of those places to resign, and remake them into institutions that provide services we need. Now they get all kinds of grants and donations — but no one gets off the street.”

IDENTITY BOX Al Williams Birthplace: Chickasha, Oklahoma Ethnic background: Black & Cherokee Religious affiliation: A believer without the mediation of a church Political affiliation: The Green Party Usual Fresno haunts: Roeding Park area Heroes: Zapata, Che, Marcos (it says so on his T-shirt) Motto: “If it needs to be done, get a gun” Non-political involvement: Women Unexpected pleasure: Barbecuing

And what would he do if he were in charge? “First off, I’d provide real housing, not tin cans. Second, I’d want a nonprofit employment center that provided places for people to clean up and have access to phone and computers, and to help with transportation. [Ed.note: such programs exist for low-income people in various categories, but none are set up to serve the particular needs of the to discomfort, and I’m not averse to work. I’m a profeshomeless.] sional painter. I’d like to set up a business for myself and ”Also, I’d get rid of the prioritizing of services for ‘chronic find a place to live.” homelessness.’ If you’re cold and hungry and need help, does it matter if it’s been two months or a year? Accord- In the meantime Al serves on the Homeless Task Force, ing to the City, there are ‘officially’ 941 chronic homeless. trying to steer attention to direct services and away from By my calculations there are more like 10,000 who need what he call “supporting the poverty pimps.” He has no regrets or apologies for the life he’s been living — “a Ph.D. help to get off the streets.” in self-sufficiency” that has left him prepared for the kind In the course of his political engagement, Al has become a of social disaster we may well be on the brink of. working associate of Alliance Editor Mike Rhodes. The two have worked closely on the recent lawsuits against Al Williams is a hard man but a good man, the kind the city and the police; and Al will be one of the beneficia- you’d like as your friend when you’re down to your last... ries of the settlement. What does he plan to do with his dollar, bite to eat, strand of hope, whatever. If you’d like to meet him, his “office” is usually open on the north side allotment? of Olive Avenue across from the Park. Or call his cell, ”I’m accustomed to this hard life when it’s been neces- 978-6585. sary. I won’t work for slave wages. But I’m not addicted

So they walk in the park, that their plight may not worsen; So they come eat lunch under the Mexican Fan trees. By Richard Stone They come look for a coat and soon find one to wear to replace clothing that’s badly torn. Just in time to accompany this month’s profile, we re- They might bring along bicycles for a repair ceived this submission from our philosopher/analyst/ done by Chris, who’s removing a thorn. poet-on-the-street Paul Jackson. He then patches the tire and mounts on the wheel, as the B.N.S.F. sounds its horn. A Walk in the Park He explains how to prepare the tube for a seal, how to seal, and how to install. Into Roeding Park, by the defunct roller rink, Those without homes come tell the doctor how they six score people perambulate, some in a hurry. feel. The fresh salad has everything but the kitchen sink; He drives into the park to make house calls. the brown rice has a light touch of curry. In this world we’re all living right on the brink, Volunteers serving food wear purple-latex gloves, although we need not suffer with worry. symbolizing their welcome of people. We are not far away from society’s fringes; The “Comida No Bombas” sign, hoisted above, but together, we live in this uncertain world. is in lieu of a flagstaff or steeple. In emergency, addicts get sterile syringes, Soup is served by Tom, known as a soul-soothing stuffed in bags held by fingers, each tightly curled. greeter, We have all seen injustice in our life’s experience: while Marlena serves sliced watermelon. Those who, without homes, are mocked by Veterans’ In a reverie, one of the guests starts to teeter Day, as Ron hands a roll to the ex-felon. of all homeless, two fifths of the weariness; How might groups with nonviolence as their motto those laid off who will never get severance pay, handle challenges? (How did the cat get her bell on?) whom reality hits when the theory ends; On this Saturday, Bruce and Al got themselves blotto, and those who have assessed the whole matter and say but they still pick up their bottle tops. they take life one dear day at a time (they are serious). And a streetwalker asks a man up to her grotto. Regardless, Food Not Bombs needs no cops. On my bike I ride, crossing a street named Vagedes, But if someone pushed drugs, volunteers would not then the train tracks onto Roeding Park. need At the light, I pass drug dealers in a Mercedes. to serve food till such time as it stops. Are the Fresno police short a nark? Under cosmic law, no one should use crank or speed. All I see are these people, malnourished and needy; Notwithstanding, the needle exchange has saved lives. cosmic-law breakers; drug dealers’ targets. Under cosmic law, it is not we who give grades; No, this pained part of town, stricken by diabetes, In the school of life, each of us stumbles and strives. could, I feel, use more grocery markets “Let us have clean needles, lest we spread AIDS. with whole grains, produce, and natural pleasantries. Lest we steal a coat, give us one so we’ll be warm. Before our state of health so degrades, What injustice is done to forgotten, shunned persons intervene in our lives to reduce needless harm. without homes or with homes but no food in their Before doubt and despair can come near, pantries! dare to cross lines of class and talk with us today.

Poetry Corner

OCTOBER 2008

Alfonso Williams is one face of the homeless, one you’ll see only in these pages (and a voice heard only on KFCF). Al is self-reliant and fearless. He has inured himself to a life on the streets, doing whatever it takes to protect himself — and whoever constitutes his “tribe” of the time. If he rode a horse instead of a bicycle, he could be the badgeless antihero of a Western movie, defending the vulnerable and demanding justice from the business wolves and corrupt politicos trying to take advantage of a semi-lawless town.

Al has found allies primarily from the volunteers that come with open hearts to help. “I found a place with Food Not Bombs from the first day Tony Mello had them come to the park to provide a meal. I’ve worked with them ever since — with Alvin and Tom and Jean, Kelly and Tina, and the others; and I’ve traveled with them to East Oakland, to San Francisco for the big Mumia rally, and to Ward Valley where we cooked for the antinuclear protesters.” Al notes that these trips widened his political perspectives and gave him insight into the workings of the government... and the need for political activism. “As a matter of fact, we’re going to have a voter registration drive among the homeless before this next election. A few hundred votes make a difference in our local elections.”

11

Grassroots Profile

Who are all of these great volunteers? Like heroes and heroines, they serve without pay. And they know we have hopes and real tears. They know we, like them, came in this world for a stay.” Underneath the tall cedars and Mexican Fan trees, like true love whose expression’s spontaneous, six score people find food to take home to their pantries. (No, the people on this side of town aren’t extraneous.) Dr. Lasher sees patients this long afternoon, or until the last patient is served. To them, he and his task force are clearly a boon. And his accolades are well deserved. He asks, “What’s going on?” before grabbing a scanner. He communicates well in his practice of medicine with his friendly sleeping bag-side manner, even if patients are shy or reticent. Riding off, I see Tom, who is still giving greets, and the others whom I raise my thumb to. Then I see a whole family out on the streets and think, What has America come to? Could the system be stuck with a serious flaw? From a tube, Eugene takes out a thistle, while I ponder a harmony on cosmic law. Then the Amtrak train blows its loud whistle! If your bike’s broken, Chris and the crew can repair it; but eleven repairs takes persistence! Al’s new coat came this winter, he might want to wear it. It looks good on him with wind resistance. Food Not Bombs will recover the food and prepare it; and for some, it’s the merest subsistence. Dr. Lasher, blessed with good health, would like to share it as he does with the task force’s assistance. And although Fresno County’s top board won’t declare it, an emergency is in existence! P.T.J.

12 OCTOBER 2008

The Cannabis Compromise

of the Fresno chapter of Americans for Safe Access. Though many see this as a victory, Kirby sees it in another light. “It doesn’t make sense to me that a person who is sick and needs this medicine (marijuana) has to carry around a card and fight to get it. By Daniel Ray You don’t see people who are on Vicodin or Oxycotin carrying around a card to prove they need it. They’re After much debate, the Fresno County Board of Su- not going to get arrested. They are not going to lose pervisors finally agreed in a 3-1 vote to join the their homes. The federal government needs to end California’s Medical Marijuana Program registry. By this prohibition.” participating in this agenda, it will give Fresno residents, who smoke marijuana for medical purposes, In reality, this agreement does nothing to change the a chance to purchase identification cards in Fresno culture of medical marijuana in Fresno. It is a step in so they can prove to police they have a doctor’s pre- the right direction, but it does nothing to protect scription. “It’s a statewide card where officers can citizens from raids and/or arrests from DEA agents. immediately run the ID card to find out if it’s a legiti- It does nothing to protect patients from being fired mate card or a legitimate patient,” says Diana Kirby from their employers for testing positive for marijuana in their drug tests. If anything, it calms people’s fears of being arrested, critics have claimed, although the federal government has proved: that with medical marijuana, no one is safe from arrest. On top of that, it is the county who will decide how much a card costs. According to the Fresno Bee, an identification card can cost over several hundred dollars. The Health Department expects over 8,000 new cards to be issued in the upcoming year.

Police Arrest Record 870,000 in 2007 on Marijuana Violations In news about the so-called war on drugs, police in the United States arrested a record 870,000 people last year on marijuana violations. That’s an average of nearly 2,400 people a day. Annual marijuana arrests have nearly tripled since the early 1990s. Source: www.Democracynow.org of thousands of medical marijuana patients in California from employment discrimination. Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has introduced AB 2279, a bill that, according to Americans for Safe Access, would protect employers from liability by carving out an exception for safety sensitive measures. By allowing patients to use marijuana for medicinal purposes outside of work, it would also give employers the right to take action on anyone who comes to work impaired or who has consumed medical marijuana during work hours. For many, the future of medical marijuana lies not here in California, but in the Oval Office in Washington D.C. Whoever wins the presidency will decide the fate of medical marijuana for years to come. Because of that, drug-reform advocates fear a McCain presidency. Dale Gieringer of the California chapter NORML is one of them. “McCain has said that he doesn’t support medical marijuana and that [cannabis] is a gateway drug. He’s old generation. Lets face it; the man has a record supporting unwinnable wars. He’s gun-ho on Iraq, and he’s gunho on the war on drugs. He just likes to fight mindless wars. Obama, on the other hand, has said he would end the raids in California. I think the hopes of the drug-reform community are with Sen. Obama on this.” So it could be said that the future of medical marijuana is up in smoke.

In California, Prop. 215 was enacted in 1996 to remove criminal penalties for patients who use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Currently in Fresno, there are no cannabis dispensaries. The closest shops are in Visalia (American Caregivers Facility, Medicinal Marijuana Awareness and Defense, and C.C.I.C). But before you can purchase medical marijuana, you have to get a prescription from a doctor. The most popular site to get a referral nearby is actually in Fresno, from a group called MediCann. Located on 2120 N Winery Avenue, you can get a prescription from a doctor, which includes a MediCann identification card for around $130. It ### lasts for up to twelve months and needs to be renewed yearly. Daniel Ray was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. Now living in Fresno, he is a Union organizer for SEIUAs of right now, there is current legisla- UHW West. He can be contacted by email at tion being presented to protect the rights [email protected]

Voters Sue Madera Unified School District Citizens Challenge Racially Polarized Voting System MADERA — The Lawyers’ Committee filed a lawsuit on August 21 on behalf of Latino voters against the Madera Unified School District (MUSD), charging that the school district’s at-large method of election is racially polarized and violates the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA). The suit challenges the school district’s discriminatory voting system and seeks to protect the Latino community against vote dilution. Latinos constitute approximately 44% of MUSD’s voting eligible population. Yet, only one of the current school board members is Latino. And over the past 25 years, no more than one Latino has ever occupied a seat on the board. This is a result of MUSD’s at- large voting system, which along with a racially polarized electorate, has repeatedly resulted in a school board with little or no Latino representatives despite the significant Latino population in MTJSD. The at-large method of election prevents Latino residents from electing candidates of their choice or influencing the outcome of school board elections. The Lawyers’ Committee recently sent letters to 25 school districts encouraging them to voluntarily end their practice of at-large elections or risk litigation. Approximately 90% of the school boards in the state are elected at-large.

J. Lichiman, a renowned voting rights expert, found that non-Latino voters unilaterally dictated the results of the seven elections he analyzed. He explains: “From 1996 to 2004, as a result of racially polarized voting, four.. . Latino candidates failed to win school board positions. These candidates. . . would all have been elected based on Latino votes, but were defeated by bloc voting from non-Latino voters.”

Modesto City Council ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where the constitutionality of the CVRA was upheld. In thc Modesto case, the city paid $3 million in attorneys’ fees. Private practitioner Joaquin Avila is also co-counsel on the case.

For more information or to request a copy of the comEnacted in 2001, the CVRA allows voters to chal- plaint, contact Anayma DeFrias at 415-543-9444, ext. lenge at-large voting systems that are characterized 221 by racially polarized voting patterns. Once racial polarization is demonstrated, the voters can then demand that the jurisdiction convert to a district system, generally thought to provide minority groups a greater opportunity to influence elections and elect candidates of their choice. The CVRA applies to any governing body for any jurisdiction, including but not limited to, a city, a school district, a community college district, or any other district organized pursuant to state law. George Brown, co-lead counsel, is a partner with the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, which is providing pro bono assistance on the case. He said: “The cases we are bringing under the California Voting Rights Act will prove to be important in helping to empower voters who have been excluded from the electoral process for many years. School Districts throughout the State who use at-large election systems should seriously consider whether they should immediately begin the process of converting to district- based election systems.”

Robert Rubin, Legal Director of the Lawyers’ Committee and co-lead counsel, said: “We have put on notice city councils, school boards and other bodies throughout the state that conduct at-large elections that we will sue them if their voting is characterized by racially polarized voting. Voting is perhaps The suit against Madera is one of the first cases to be our most cherished liberty and any attempt to di- filed under the CVRA. The Lawyers’ Committee litilute that vote will be challenged.” gated the first two matters filed: one case against the Hanford Joint Union High School District sucIn a report prepared for the litigation, Professor Allan cessfully settled, and the other case against the

Carlos Uranga is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Madera Unified School District

13

SEIU-UHW Stands for Justice By Mike Rhodes

SEIU-UHW’s dispute with the International, which has heated up in recent months, is about differences in how to organize workers, union democracy, what health care legislation to support in Sacramento, and the balance between growth and securing good contracts for workers. SEIU-UHW president Sal Rosselli, the local’s president, elaborated on these issues earlier this year, when he wrote a letter to Andy Stern, the president of the International. Rosselli wrote, “In United Healthcare Workers West (UHW), we have always believed that our international union should be about more than numbers and headlines. Over the past two years, a stark difference has evolved between SEIU’s projected image and its real world practices. An overly zealous focus on growth—growth at any cost, apparently—has eclipsed SEIU’s commitment to its members. As labor leaders, we are obligated to place the needs of our members first and to uphold democratic principles not only in the workplace, but also in our union. That is increasingly being blocked, circumvented and manipulated.” Rosselli continued, “It is said that ‘democracy dies in the darkness.’ It is with deep disappointment and great concern that I have watched dark shadows fall upon SEIU, diminishing our hopes for revitalizing the labor movement.” To read the full content of Rosselli’s letter, go to: http://harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc90002386 , where he goes on to detail the specifics of the local’s objection to the direction of the International. The International retaliated against SEIU-UHW, by threatening to remove approximately 65,000 home care and long term care (convalescent) workers and putting them in a Los Angeles local. 8,500 of those workers would come from Fresno. The Los Angeles Times ran a series of articles in August, 2008 about the SEIU local in L.A. that would rep-

OCTOBER 2008

The largest and arguably most progressive union in Fresno, Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), is facing unprecedented challenges that threaten its very survival. SEIU-UHW is the “local” affiliate of SEIU International, which is the largest and fastest growing union in the country. But, the rapid pace of growth has not been easy for SEIU. The local (SEIU-UHW), with approximately 10,000 workers in Fresno County and150,000 workers statewide, is under attack. The attack is not only coming from corporations that would like to weaken organized labor’s influence at the workplace, but by the International, that has threatened to dismantle the local and give a significant number of SEIU-UHW’s members to a local in Los Angeles.

Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West, the largest union in Fresno County, is under attack. Will the workers be able to save their union from a takeover by the International? That question should be decided this month. resent Fresno health care workers. According to the Times, the United Long-Term Care Workers union is under investigation for corruption and its president, Tyrone Freeman, was forced to step down. Among the allegations is that Freeman used the dues from union members to pay for projects that benefitted himself, family members, and friends.

With a federal investigation into the corruption at the LA local looming, the International appears to have changed strategy in how they intend to retaliate against and destroy UHW. In September, the International announced its intention to put SEIU-UHW into trusteeship. That would mean the International would take over the local, install their own leadership, and run the union their way. A hearing on the The Times wrote “Freeman’s local has paid nearly trusteeship will be held September 26 & 27 in San $178,000 to a video firm operated by his wife at the Mateo. couples home.” They also reported annual payments of $96,000 to Freeman’s mother in law for day care A take over of SEIU-UHW by the International, or the services run out of her home, a $16,000 contribution transfer of a significant number of their members to to a minor league basketball team run by his brother another local, would have a significant impact on orin law, and $219,000 to another video firm operated ganized labor in Fresno. SEIU-UHW has been a powby a union staff person who is Freeman’s friend. erful force for progressive change in this community, counter balancing the influence of the Republican Freeman was appointed by Stern to run the 160,000 Party and business interests with the needs of workmember United Long-Term Care Workers union and ers and their families. SEIU-UHW has supported and was working on an election that would move SEIU- helped to elect progressive candidates, worked on UHW workers into his union. The way the election voter registration drives in Southeast and Southwest was expected to work was that the 65,000 SEIU-UHW Fresno, and been involved with getting out the vote. home care and long term (convalescent) workers and the 160,000 United Long-Term Care Workers union SEIU-UHW is also engaged in an organizing drive to members would vote on the merger. Many SEIU-UHW unionize the non-Registered Nurse staff at Commumembers did not think that was a fair process, since nity Regional Medical Center. For more information their members would be vastly outvoted. They sug- about the Community Hospital campaign, see: http:// gested an alternative election process where only the www.fresnocmcworkersunited.org/ . For more inforhome-care and long term (convalescent) workers ef- mation about the struggle between SEIU-UHW and fected by the election would vote. In an internal elec- the International, see: http://www.seiuvoice.org/ tion, SEIU-UHW found that over 96% of home care and 98% of long term (convalescent) workers wanted to stay in UHW.

14

Artistic Community Emerges in Downtown Fresno

OCTOBER 2008

By Rick Flores

my present location, and I have been in this building for five years. As an advocate of downtown Fresno and in particular this Cultural Arts District where I am located, I feel this is a developing and growing neighborhood very supportive of the arts. The Metropolitan Museum, the Arte Americas Museum, and the African American Museum are all within a couple of blocks of my studio.” Bill points out. I am lost for a few minutes in a sort of art trance while staring at an obsolete toaster with silverware sticking out of it. He goes on: “The Vagabond Lofts are here, and another new work space/live space is under construction just two blocks away.”

If you’re like me, for starters, someone who has spent a lot of time around Fresno, than you might also occasionally experience an odd disconnect between what is truly the grim faced reality about you, while having a dream of a loftier more aesthetic sleepy little town. Bill describes his studio as roughly a A recent work by Glen Delpit - “They said there would be brotherhood.” 1750 square foot solid brick building. I was once again struck by “It gives me adequate space to have a this paradox while on re- studio work space in half the building, and allows me to but I don’t create for that reason, and I can’t really say how search for this story you are have a gallery atmosphere in the remaining front part of or why it communicates with someone. Everyone is difGlen Delpit reading right now. In the building. The total space provides visitors, especially ferent and the work means different things to different downtown Fresno, on Van during ArtHop a comfortable place to view the art, my people. I love to sell the work, but I would be doing the Ness near Divisadero Avenue to be more exact, is an artist work space, and get a feel for the atmosphere of a working same thing if I didn’t sell, because this is what I do. The enclave called the Cultural Arts District. artist,” he says. He mentions ArtHop, which on the sur- work is a personal journey made public, like the songs I face looks like a major shot in the arm for local artists write.” What I enjoy about Glen’s art is how he incorpoIt is here where a small group of artists have somewhat judging by the amount of people who take advantage of rates found objects into his work - some, like an old broken indirectly banded together by leasing out less expensive the monthly event - though one has to temper this with wooden ladder, were found right out of my own barn. rentals to give space for their work. Amongst these older, how many who come out are actually serious art lovers mostly vacated, retail buildings where a generation ago with an intent to purchase and how many have come Glen mentioned the songs he writes, and yes he is also a were finance companies, sporting good retailers and the only to mingle and drink free wine. musician, which brings me to the third part of what I like S&H green stamp redemption center, you can see a strange to think of as a burgeoning bohemian community. This is sort of rebirth. It is here where you’ll find a hog biker church not to get carried away, I pinch myself remembering it is with a large red hammer for a front door handle, while still Fresno and not Greenwich Village or North Beach out across the street pit bulls howl in cages at the Fresno Bully

Bill Bruce painting: 2006 acrylic on canvas

Bill Bruce http://www.billbruceartist.com/

Bill Bruce, 2007 painting. Rescue. At the bus stop a tired and soiled derelict sleeps in the hot September afternoon, reminding us once again of the stark reality of the situation. Bill describes his work as combining abstract painting and sometime abstract photography in an edgy way. But it is also here where individuals like Bill Bruce, Robert There are some serious and also some lighthearted three Arreola, Roger Perry and Glen Delpit have decided to cre- dimensional pieces. “Many paintings on my wall allow ate something better. I took an afternoon to browse around the viewer the opportunity to see what they want to see. I their spaces and see for myself what they are up to. Bill have created a display of a number of retro toasters each Bruce has been there the longest. In fact, it is his building with many kitchen knives stuck in the bread slots to rethat heralds the Cultural Arts District with a large plac- mind visitors of their youth when they were warned by ard. Bruce is closing in on a decade of creating art around their mother never to stick anything in a toaster,” he exhere. “My first downtown studio was a block away from plains. The studio also features several cloth wrapped mummy shapes hanging on the wall, along with a few voodoo dolls. Bill points out that across the street from him are buildings that were once constantly vacant, but now are occupied by artists.

The secret history of America (Texas 1896) covers the south wall of Delpit’s studio.

of the mists of time, but hey it’s still a start.

Glen just finished an acoustic album in the adjacent building where Roger Perry and Robert Arreola have a sound studio. Their space, inside, is quite comfortable, looking more like a hip bachelor pad than a sound engineering business. Roger, also a longtime Fresno musician and guitar instructor, says “We are supporters of anything artistic. Working here is my musical career unfolding in real time.” Robert backs that up with “We bring music to the people. Every day I am in the studio working with an artist.” Despite the laid back feel to their digs, the sound studio employs cutting edge technology and their recordings made there, judging by what I’ve heard, have a crisp clean sound. In fact, on the day I visited with Roger and Robert, Roger was going over a piece of music from an upcoming Subterraneans album (Glen’s rock band) over and over again. He was so focused and absorbed in the work, I began to think for awhile he had forgotten me and One of the building fronts still has the our interview. sign of a former tenant. It reads “Libreria Cristiana Piedras Vivas” in large black So take heart, the sky is still open to a vastness of possibilitype, but that moniker no longer applies. ties. And individuals like Bill, Roger, Robert and Glen are attempting to live out their creative art desires amongst Glen Delpit is now in the house. all the glaring urban flaws of downtown Fresno. You can Glen’s work space and gallery reflect his see for yourself during ArtHop, every first Thursday of personality. I say this because I have the month. known Glen for a very long time, and I can safely assure you his studio is pure ### Glen. He describes his work as intuitive. “Most artists work alone and I’m no dif- Rick Flores lives on his family farm west of Easton. He has ferent,” he says. “When the work two good dogs, and loves horses. touches someone I’m extremely happy, Bill Bruce painting: 2008 “Untitled”