Monday, October 20, 2014

Oakland General Election November 4 2014


Write-in VICENTE CRUZ
for Oakland City Council
People’s District 6

Change our priorities:
 
· Oakland youth need education, employment, and housing, and to get away from crime. 
· Our top crime-related issues are substance abuse, homelessness, parolee recidivism, and truancy. 
· Public schools, libraries, and parks are critical needs.
· Use our existing permits and zoning to plant trees, use grey water, modify buildings, and make a practical impact on the environment.
· We DO NOT NEED another land deal, development scheme, or any more pet projects. 

Change how we raise and spend our money:

· We need a STABLE budget that does not threaten to eliminate services at every downturn. 
· Put all of our public debts on a payment schedule.
· The public services needs should be the last thing on the chopping block.
· Our port should pay per container fees.
· Scale business taxes to compensate for Prop 13.

Change how we relate to our police:

· We need a strong Police Commission with the power to supervise, review, and dismiss. 
· We need to stop spending so much on salary, overtime, pensions, workers' comp, and lawsuits.
· We need more civilians in the police department.
· We need the offender diversion programs and community policing that we were promised.
· Stop the gimmick solutions that divide our communities, such as gang injunctions, 100 block plan, curfews, and stop-frisk.




Write-in VICENTE CRUZ
  
for Oakland City Council
               
People’s District 6


Elect VICENTE CRUZ

· Long-time local activist on youth issues.

· Even longer-time environmentalist working in Australia and the Un-united States.

· History of collaboration with the various groups in our city government. 

· Connected to our diverse communities.

· Wide work background as a blue collar worker, teacher and business manager.

· Diverse education as a lighting designer, youth sports educator, program director, athletic coach, and audio video technician.

· Dedicated to social justice as a grassroots organizer since 1989.

Vicente is endorsed by many active, local residents and businesses:
The Alameda Co. Green Party; eek n aak Inc.; Ernie Ernstrom, local business founder; Oakland City Council Candidate People’s District 1 and mayoral candidate Don Macleay and fellow Green Party member; Theresa Anderson, former City Council At Large Candidate; fellow Green Party member, civil rights worker, and social activist, Andrea Prichett; police accountability activist, KPFA board member, and social activist, Rabbit Mathews-Robles Proprietor The Sacred Well, Teacher, and Presenter


Vicente supports District 6 resident: 
Shanthi Gonzales, candidate for OUSD Board People’s District 6, civil rights worker, union organizer, and advocate for full wrap-around services.

You are welcome and invited to contact Vicente directly
with your thoughts: (510) 735-7361
oaklandgreens.org

Write-In Vicente Cruz Oakland City Council People's District 6

Write-In
VICENTE CRUZ
Candidate for Oakland
City Council People's District 6
November 4, 2014
Your voice
Your community

HOW I will deal with Public Safety
I believe we have looked at public safety from a perspective that our current approach has not worked. The proof is the Recidivism, the failing of half our students, and the violence that comes from poverty that effects disproportionally people of color. I will bring forth an approach of education, employment, housing, and health as a priority to public safety. The best public safety plan we could come up with is a better economy. Less poverty, better housing, better health care, more jobs, and more educational opportunities can only help and should be part of every decision a city council member makes.

One of 4 factors is part of most of our city’s crime:  Substance abuse, homelessness, truancy, and recidivism.  
When we work on crime prevention programs we need to know that we are always staying focused on all of these four social problems.  These four are the priority. We need to do the hard work of bridging the divisions, disdain and distrust in our community. Since we agree that there should be enforcement, prevention and community policing, then we should focus on that and spend our time on outreach to all sectors of the community. Volunteer community groups across the city and across our society are working hard on social outreach, violence and crime prevention and neighborhood law enforcement.  City government can reach out to all of them and bring disparate groups together, but it is going to be a long, difficult campaign and each and every one of us will need to be willing to LISTEN to the other views.

The police force, like all of city government, needs to be held accountable to civilian oversight. 
Measure Z funding and all other programs need transparency, managerial review and inspection. Do some of this housekeeping and then the cost of hiring more officers would not be the multimillion dollar hamster wheel that it is now and we could expand staff with the support of the public and enough funds to hire them. First, the public needs to feel that our police are held up to a high ethical standard and that they work for us and not the other way around.  If we do not feel that the police serve us, why pay the cost? And the cost of employing people who will not live in our city should be brought into account. That costs us in trust, in support and in flat dollars. 



Write-In VICENTE CRUZ                      
Oakland City Council Candidate
People’s District 6
P.O. Box 20299 Oakland, CA 94620



In Oakland we need to face some facts.  
We have many crises in our city that need immediate attention.


There is as three prong crises facing our community
Which are education, crime and employment we need schools up, crime down and jobs in.

Our city budget has been attacked extensively and designed to solely serve the interest of the elite.
We need to hold a budget convention and together, develop a new, comprehensive budget. We need to deal with the pension’s entitlement problems and have a stable, reliable budget, encompassing the various operations; from parks and recreation to police stations. We need a budget that within its structure also focuses on the fluctuation of an economy, and preventative strategies are prioritized to protect the city’s population. There is a crisis in our democracy. Council districts should look like the neighborhoods of Oakland, (not gerrymandered districts that cut them up) All Oaklanders need to have a voice and be represented in our government. 

Money needs to be out of our local election process
And; we need to formalize the relationship with our grass roots neighborhood groups and local community leaders, devolving part of the city authority and budget to those people that have live in Oakland and transform the city into an autonomous entity instead of upholding an oligarchical governmental system. VICENTE CRUZ proposes to make these and many other’s with the citizens of Oakland and not for them.  Also, our priority is to create and form producers, not consumers, of the politics in our own communities. That means taking ownership of our city, and participating in direct action, wherein we have to get involved with voting. We can no longer make excuses, we have to recognize the power that we have, and challenge the system that is rigged in favor of paid political advertising and the status quo.  

The working-class, the common-person is the solution.  
The running of money-free grass-roots campaigns, the energy behind a reform of the City Charter and budget, the will to deal with our most intractable social problems all can find their solution in an active public.  We need to say NO to money politics and take a definitive position by not voting for it; what we can do to change our city is to help by spreading the word of a real alternative in Oakland, without the usage of corporate media and paid advertising as well as VOTING FOR REAL CHANGES AND A BETTER TOMORROW.

Now in Oakland Green Party member VICENTE CRUZ who has long track record dedicated to real change, is running as a write-In candidate to be your voice for people’s district 6 your and the city’s real needs such as: Schools with vocational training. Schools with arts and sports with healthy food, safe public services, Community Policing, Restorative Justice, Local employment,  Stable economic environment,  Environmental retrofitting, And many, many other basic practical things that our city should be doing, but is currently only doing for show, if at all. VICENTE CRUZ is stepping forward to be one of those committed to a reform of our city from top to bottom, from police practices to budget policies with our faith in a democracy that includes all of us. Please help by registering to vote and getting those who have rightly been put off by voting, the voter marketing, and process to register as well. But no matter how you register, do so.  Otherwise someone else is voting for you. 

Write-In VICENTE CRUZ                      

Oakland City Council Candidate People’s District 6
P.O. Box 20299 Oakland, CA 94620


Monday, October 13, 2014

Write-In VICENTE CRUZ for Oakland city council people's district 6

The foot march that is my attempt a write-in run at city council continues. We passed out a total of 400 voter guides already (Greg get ready I need 2 more boxes) 250 handed out on Sunday with great receptions of "thank you" "good luck" "wait your the actual candidate" and 2 "get the fuck out of here on the evening shift. Today (Monday) was a lighter day for hand outs, we did only 50 houses and one laundry mat. In my defense I had PT in the morning taught 2 kinder basketball classes 15 each (plug for smaller class sizes) so walking another few miles was not going to happen. I still hope to have a video log of this but as of yet not found any one with that much free time. Until next time please remember to vote at least in local elections and vote for who you believe would best represent the interests of the people.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Alternate front to Write-In draft


VICENTE CRUZ
Candidate for Oakland
City Council People's District 6
November 4, 2014
Your voice
Your community
 
HOW I will deal with Public Safety
I believe we have looked at public safety from a perspective that our current approach has not worked. The proof is the Recidivism, the failing of half our students, and the violence that comes from poverty that effects disproportionally people of color. I will bring forth an approach of education, employment, and health as a priority to public safety. Policing has long been an issue around public safety. We spend millions on police misconduct, now more than ever we need community policing. I would advocate for any new police are hired from Oakland also we need a real police commission independent from internal affairs. Not to have police accountability costs us in the most expensive way possible because we have lost community trust and support.
 
  • Keep youth away from crime thru job training education
  • Police commission with the power to terminate police officers
  • Responsible overtime distribution
  • Review and secure pension programs
  • Work with communities most affected with the greatest needs


Do some of this housekeeping and then the cost of hiring more officers would not be the multimillion dollar hamster wheel that it is now and we could expand staff with the support of the public and enough funds to hire them. First, the public needs to feel that our police are held up to a high ethical standard and that they work for us and not the other way around.  If we do not feel that the police serve us, why pay the cost? Now people want to outsource police services and rent private police?  What will that cost? And the cost of employing people who will not live in our city should be brought into account. That costs us in trust, in support and in flat dollars.  Why are we hiring people who do not want to live here?

Write-In Vicente Cruz People's District 6 Oakland City Council Draft


        VICENTE CRUZ

Candidate for Oakland

City Council People's District 6

November 4, 2014

Your voice

Your community

 

HOW I will deal with Public Safety

I believe we have looked at public safety from a perspective that our current approach has not worked. The proof is the Recidivism, the failing of half our students, and the violence that comes from poverty that effects disproportionally people of color. I will bring forth an approach of education, employment, housing, and health as a priority to public safety. The best public safety plan we could come up with is a better economy. Less poverty, better housing, better health care, more jobs, and more educational opportunities can only help and should be part of every decision a city council member makes.

 

One of 4 factors is part of most of our city’s crime:  Substance abuse, homelessness, truancy, and recidivism.  
When we work on crime prevention programs we need to know that we are always staying focused on all of these four social problems.  These four are the priority. We need to do the hard work of bridging the divisions, disdain and distrust in our community. Since we agree that there should be enforcement, prevention and community policing, then we should focus on that and spend our time on outreach to all sectors of the community. Volunteer community groups across the city and across our society are working hard on social outreach, violence and crime prevention and neighborhood law enforcement.  City government can reach out to all of them and bring disparate groups together, but it is going to be a long, difficult campaign and each and every one of us will need to be willing to LISTEN to the other views.

 
The police force, like all of city government, needs to be held accountable to civilian oversight. 
Measure Z funding and all other programs need transparency, managerial review and inspection.
Do some of this housekeeping and then the cost of hiring more officers would not be the multimillion dollar hamster wheel that it is now and we could expand staff with the support of the public and enough funds to hire them. First, the public needs to feel that our police are held up to a high ethical standard and that they work for us and not the other way around.  If we do not feel that the police serve us, why pay the cost? And the cost of employing people who will not live in our city should be brought into account. That costs us in trust, in support and in flat dollars.



Write-In VICENTE CRUZ                      
Oakland City Council Candidate
People’s District 6
P.O. Box 20299 Oakland, CA 94620


In Oakland we need to face some facts.  


We have many crises in our city that need immediate attention.


There is as three prong crises facing our community
Which are education, crime and employment we need schools up, crime down and jobs in.
Our city budget has been attacked extensively and designed to solely serve the interest of the elite.
We need to hold a budget convention and together, develop a new, comprehensive budget. We need to deal with the pension’s entitlement problems and have a stable, reliable budget, encompassing the various operations; from parks and recreation to police stations. We need a budget that within its structure also focuses on the fluctuation of an economy, and preventative strategies are prioritized to protect the city’s population. There is a crisis in our democracy. Council districts should look like the neighborhoods of Oakland, (not gerrymandered districts that cut them up) All Oaklanders need to have a voice and be represented in our government. 


Money needs to be out of our local election process
And; we need to formalize the relationship with our grass roots neighborhood groups and local community leaders, devolving part of the city authority and budget to those people that have live in Oakland and transform the city into an autonomous entity instead of upholding an oligarchical governmental system. VICENTE CRUZ proposes to make these and many other’s with the citizens of Oakland and not for them.  Also, our priority is to create and form producers, not consumers, of the politics in our own communities. That means taking ownership of our city, and participating in direct action, wherein we have to get involved with voting. We can no longer make excuses, we have to recognize the power that we have, and challenge the system that is rigged in favor of paid political advertising and the status quo.  


The working-class, the common-person is the solution.  
The running of money-free grass-roots campaigns, the energy behind a reform of the City Charter and budget, the will to deal with our most intractable social problems all can find their solution in an active public.  We need to say NO to money politics and take a definitive position by not voting for it; what we can do to change our city is to help by spreading the word of a real alternative in Oakland, without the usage of corporate media and paid advertising as well as VOTING FOR REAL CHANGES AND A BETTER TOMORROW.


Now in Oakland Green Party member VICENTE CRUZ
who has long track record dedicated to real change, is running as a write-In candidate to be your voice for people’s district 6 your and the city’s real needs such as: Schools with vocational training. Schools with arts and sports with healthy food, safe public services, Community Policing, Restorative Justice, Local employment,  Stable economic environment,  Environmental retrofitting, And many, many other basic practical things that our city should be doing, but is currently only doing for show, if at all. VICENTE CRUZ is stepping forward to be one of those committed to a reform of our city from top to bottom, from police practices to budget policies with our faith in a democracy that includes all of us. Please help by registering to vote and getting those who have rightly been put off by voting, the voter marketing, and process to register as well. But no matter how you register, do so.  Otherwise someone else is voting for you. 


Write-In VICENTE CRUZ                      
Oakland City Council Candidate People’s District 6
P.O. Box 20299 Oakland, CA 94620

Monday, June 23, 2014

Richard said

Richard Phelps, KPFA LSB Chair 2005-2006. The history I present herein from 2003 on is based on my own direct involvement.






KPFA: Radio Programs for the Community and Social Change, or for SaveKPFA’s Staff Allies and Their Jobs?



Recently KPFA/Pacifica management abruptly cancelled the Morning Mix (MIX), 8-9 a.m. M-F, and replaced it with Uprisings, a program produced in Los Angeles by a person who lives in Los Angeles. The MIX was five (5) separate programs, primarily focused on politics in local communities, workplaces, and unions. They were produced by several volunteer programmers who live, work and are politically active in the Bay Area.



This radical departure away from community based programming in the 8-9 a.m. prime time slot appears to be another consolidation of power by the SaveKPFA political faction. SaveKPFA with their long time ally, Justice and Unity at WBAI and allies at the other Pacifica stations, recently gained a narrow majority on the Pacifica National Board (PNB). For a historical look at their destructive alliance see Pacifica Financial Crisis: Who is Responsible?http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-05-14/article/32873.


Tyranny of the majority has been a mainstay of SaveKPFA’s MO. Abruptly taking away the 8-9 a.m. prime time from several community programmers, none of who are SaveKPFA allies, and replacing all of them with a program produced by one of their allies in LA is just the latest example. No poll was taken of the listeners desires. No public discussions of this major change were held and there was no discussion of this change at a full staff meeting. Another stark example of SaveKPFA’s tyranny of the majority is discussed in Without Due Process http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/search?q=due+process .


This article exposes SaveKPFA’s current PNB Chair, Margy Wilkinson ‘s willingness to blatantly disregard the truth to push their unprincipled politics, denying due process to punish an opponent. She may become the new Interim Executive Director. Since the mid-1990s there has been a constant attempt by a small group of paid staff and some unpaid staff allies to control the allocation of air time and paid jobs to the benefit of their political friends and allies, regardless of the cost to KPFA and often in derogation of the Pacifica Mission. When the Pacifica management moved the station toward an NPR sound in the mid-1990s this paid staff group and their allies sat quietly watching as over 100 community programmers were taken off the air. Seven Long Years by Maria Gilardin is a history of these events covering 1992 to 1999,http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2004/08/old-regimes-legacy-at-kpfa.html .


 In 1999 the struggle with Pacifica management went into the streets and then into the courts after a leaked document exposed the plans to sell a station. Out came new Bylaws with a democratic process for the governance of Pacifica and its stations. The SaveKPFA group, formally Concerned Listeners and KPFAForward and often referred to as the “entrenched staff”, prior to the Wellstone Democratic Club joining with them, have done their best to dismantle the democratic process when they can’t control it. Everyone that fought against the “hijackers”, Pacifica management in 1999, didn’t do it for the same reason. Most listeners and community activists and some staff, paid and unpaid, fought for a democratic governance that allowed listener input. The entrenched staff fought the “hijackers” to be able to impose their own patronage and cronyism control at KPFA. The following article documents several of their moves to consolidate control for their group from 2003-2009.


http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2011/06/ten-years-after-1999-hijack-attempt.html


 SaveKPFA is willing to dismantle the democratic governance, not refine it, if they can’t control it. An internal email from Brian Edwards-Tiekert to the strategy group for the entrenched staff was found at the station and it exposed their true feeling about the struggles at KPFA and Pacifica. You will find this email and a discussion about how their selfish politics have hurt KPFA/Pacifica in an article titled Me First politics and Financial Responsibility,http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2012/07/me-first-politics.html .


 The majority of the programming is done by unpaid staff, like the MIX producers. The small group of paid staff that works with SaveKPFA to maintain control takes advantage of all the volunteer labor to support their paid positions. The following article reviews their practices from a labor perspective.http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2010/12/kpfas-working-majority-gets-screwed-by.html .


In 2003 after the US invaded Iraq there was no question that Democracy Now! (DN!) was the most popular/listened to program on the air. However, it was not given prime time status since prime time, 7-9 am, was reserved for the “entrenched “produced Morning Show. It is long established radio knowledge that you put your most popular program in prime time to increase your audience when the most people are listening. During 2003 KPFA had a Program Council. After continued attempts by the “entrenched” to stop a discussion of a DN! time change to prime time, it finally got on the agenda. The program council voted to move DN! to prime time. The issue was taken up by the newly elected Local Station Board (LSB). At a meeting in April 2004 the DN! time change to prime time was on the agenda and the “entrenched” and their allies on the LSB stalled the meeting until it ran out of time before getting to the DN! time change motion. Sarv Randhawa, an “entrenched” ally continually made amendments to the motion after each one was voted down. You could see Sarv writing down each new amendment as the previous one was being voted down. Many of us always wondered about Sarv’s politics and our concerns were reinforced when he appeared on TV at Republican fundraisers for the 2012 election. At the May 2004 meeting of the LSB the motion to move DN! to prime time was thoroughly debated and passed. As in April the room was packed with listeners, the overwhelming majority in favor of the DN! move to prime time.


The time change was not instituted since the Interim Station manager, an entrenched ally, refused to make the move. With a slim majority the SK/CL selected Roy Campanella Jr. to be the new station manager. His tenure was going along so so until he announced that he was going move DN! to prime time in the spring of 2005. Roy had worked in media and understood how important it was to put your best/most listened to program in prime time. The preverbal shit hit the fan! All of a sudden there were flyers up around the station demonizing Roy. Claims that he was sexually harassing staff appeared. There were two investigations of these claims; one by an HR expert and one by the LSB who hired Dan Siegel to do the investigation. As an LSB member I suggested a woman professional investigator who had a PhD in criminology and who was not on any side in the dispute. I felt that the alleged women victims would be able to talk more openly to a woman investigator, but the SK/CL folks wanted their man, Dan Siegel, on the job. Both investigators found no evidence of sexual harassment. The LSB voted 15-5 against firing Roy. The entrenched staff message was clear: mess with “our program schedule” and you will regret it. After all the turmoil created by the unfounded accusations and the posting of demonizing flyers around the station Roy left as station manager and LemLem Rigio was appointed interim station manager. She was one of the recipients of Brian Edwards-Tiekert’s 2005 email discussed and linked to above. SaveKPFA and their allies have used their power over the program schedule to punish those at the station that don’t go along with their desires to maintain control. At an LSB meeting discussing the hiring process for a new station manager in 2007 a couple of women who work on the Women’s Magazine program, the only program specifically for women’s issues, suggested during public comment that qualified women candidates should be given consideration and at the same time they stated that they didn’t think the current interim station manager, Lemlem Rigio, a SaveKPFA/Concerned Listener ally, should be promoted to permanent manager.


Not too long after that meeting a new pilot program produced by a SaveKPFA ally was put on the air for a test run. It was given the Women’s Magazine time slot for several weeks before it was given a Monday - Friday one hour time and the Women’s Magazine was allowed back on the air. It should be noted that when this was done there were 30+ music programs on the air and only ONE program covering women’s issues. The message was again quite clear; don’t speak out against any of the control group’s plans for control or you will pay. But for the numerous complaints that came in when their program was abruptly replaced, it is quite possible the Women’s Magazine would have been kept off the air. So much for KPFA being a “Free Speech” radio station, at least internally. Based on the generous donations during 2003 after Iraq was invaded based on WMD lies, the entrenched increased the paid staff by 50%., mostly with their friends and allies.


The payroll went from 28 to 42 full time equivalents. Many of us in the minority on the LSB constantly suggested that we needed to cut down the payroll. KPFA’s payroll was the largest in Pacifica. Our pleas were ignored despite reduced revenue and lower membership numbers each year until the crisis got very serious and layoff were necessary. The SaveKPFA folks and their staff allies consistently accused us of being anti-union for wanting to have layoffs if necessary for fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget. During an LSB meeting discussing the budget in the Fall of 2010, Shahram Aghamir made a motion to have the budget coordinated with the union contract if any layoffs were required. This would mean that layoffs would be done by seniority, unless there were exceptional circumstances. The SaveKPFA response was a major surprise given their constant anti-union charges against all their political opponents for almost any criticism. The SaveKPFA LSB members ALL voted NO! They obviously didn’t want to follow the union contract seniority rules. They wanted to control any necessary layoffs in the same patronage and cronyism manner that they have ran the station for years. More information on their duplicitous pro-union rhetoric can be found in the following article. http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/search?q=Playing+the+union+card .


Prior to getting involved in KPFA and Pacifica I worked in commercial radio, AM and FM, doing music programs, public affairs and some news casts. One of the many things about radio that I learned in those 5+ years was that cross promoting helps build your audience. When I became involved with KPFA I encouraged consistent cross promoting to build our audience and create more loyalty. What the SaveKPFA folks have done at the station I would call sectarian cross referring. During the entire time of the MIX I never heard Brian Edwards-Tiekert or any of their allies mention the MIX other than to say when his program ended the MIX is next. Always when he was pitching during DN! from 6-7 he would promote his upcoming 7 am show and never mention the MIX at 8 am. SaveKPFA’s sectarian practices take other forms such as how the Evening News, SaveKPFA allies, report on LSB elections. They only interview folks from their slate. When I was Chair of the LSB and brought back to life the monthly LSB Report to Listeners I would always invite people from their side to be on the program and give them equal time to state their positions on any issues before the LSB or station. When they took over the majority and producing the LSB Report program they didn’t always do a monthly LSB Report and generally when they did it was tightly controlled as to who would be on and who got to speak, almost exclusively their allies. Their practices don’t square with the KPFA Mission which is to allow the expression of minority opinions in our society to be aired, especially the ones that those in power don’t want the people to hear. From all my experiences at KPFA, I must conclude that the SaveKPFA folks have run and want to run KPFA and Pacifica with the same anti-democratic methods that our ruling class uses: Win power by controlling the information the masses receive; preach democratic principles and practice tyranny of the majority and deny due process to your opponents whenever possible. KPFA and Pacifica are in deep financial trouble, primarily due to sectarian practices by SaveKPFA and their allies at other stations, always putting their power, control, jobs and airtime, over and above the health and survival of KPFA and Pacifica. During these tenuous times please ignore their rhetoric and judge them by their consistent unprincipled actions, detailed above, that are always designed for their benefit and most often to the detriment of the Pacifica Mission and progressive movements. These neo-progressives, folks that espouse progressive politics but practice like Karl Rove, winning power is Rove’s only principle, must not be allowed to destroy KPFA and Pacifica. Taking off the Morning Mix and replacing it with a program by one of SK/CL’s Los Angeles allies is just their latest attack on the Pacifica Mission and the need for progressive community radio that is responsive to the day to day struggles of people in the Bay Area who are fighting for social and economic justice every day. Demand that the Morning Mix be put back on the air and if there is a LSB election; please do not vote for any SaveKPFA candidates.


Richard Phelps, KPFA LSB Chair 2005-2006. The history I present herein from 2003 on is based on my own direct involvement.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Corperate Labeling In Exchange For Community Funding




When I started at Playworks it was called Sports4Kids, we did all the same things: running recess, classroom game time, after school programs, and school sports teams that play against other schools within our district. My first interview was by the founder Jill Vialet, and Coach Bill Vanark. First thing I noticed was the relaxed casual manner in which they were dressed, which for me was a great first impression. The first question asked to me was, “How comfortable I would be dealing with racial, gender, and LGBTQ issues?” Sports4kids was a social justice organization addressing some of the most difficult of our community problems and doing it through play. As it grew, we sacrificed a city for expansion and refused large corporate donations. Even with the statistics showing that bullying is down in schools, this research does not show any real impact on the conditions affecting our most needy children. I know many coaches who have lost students and had to attend their funerals many times in a year. The social justice model first started and how I was trained in my school the 84 students who passed thru my program none has given in to a systemic racist system that would rather lock them up then educate them (Not sure what you are trying to say with this sentence, needs to be re-written to be clearer). I hope that this will spark a discussion that through play and sports we can change a culture of austerity and all the negatives that comes with it.

 

 Was having their corporate logos on the recess presented by sign a requirement from Mattel and New Balance as part of the donation agreement?

Yes. Logo recognition is stipulated in the partnership agreement. 

Op-ed: I was not surprised by this; we see over and over that corporations do not donate because they care about the community. They donate because they hope it will boost sales and also for tax breaks.

 Is there a conflict of interest for Playworks as a Non/Not for profit taking corporate donations? What about companies getting their products thru free trade agreements?

Our goal is to serve as many kids as possible by creating a safe and inclusive place for them to play every day at school. We rely on foundations, individuals and corporations who meet our guidelines to help fund our program. Playworks is the only organization in the country to provide a trained, full-time program coordinator ("coach") at low-income schools specifically to make the most of recess and other play opportunities so that every kid has the opportunity to belong.  Playworks schools have less bullying and exclusionary behavior than other similar schools, transitions from learning are faster; students feel safer during recess and engage in more inclusive play and teachers are more satisfied (Stanford/Mathematica Research randomized control trial). The coaches supervise recess activities, manage a student leadership program, work with the teachers in the class during a regular "class game time," run before- or after-school programs and manage developmental sports leagues at their schools.

Op-ed: I was not expecting a direct answer to this question not only for the truth to power within the question, but I am sure it would affect their donations current and future. The idea that in it’s current state Playworks is allowing kids to belong is not happening. I know this not from the true fact of the statistics stated saying, “Playworks schools have less bullying and exclusionary behavior than other similar schools, transitions from learning are faster; students feel safer during recess and engage in more inclusive play and teachers are more satisfied (Stanford/Mathematical Research randomized control trial).” The kids do well in that semi-controlled environment; learning is better in an education system that under-serves them. You can not have a real positive outcome here while taking money from multinational corporations that do business with countries that have even worse human rights issues than we do. It is a conflict of interest!   

Was Playworks Started as a reaction to cuts in public education?

Playworks was started in response to a principal's suggestion that Jill Vialet, who was visiting her school on behalf of MOCHA (the previous organization she founded) "do something" to keep kids positively engaged during recess and away from trouble.  You can read the story here.  


Op-ed: There is no reason why this model could not have been put in place by any school district through public funds; the taxes are yours and should be used for you as much as needed for this unsustainable economic model that bails out the few at the expense of the many. The need was there because our poorest, and mostly people of color, always take the economic hit and the first places they take money from are our education and healthcare. Until we take over our local government and elect not career politicians, but people of the people and for the people, the great work of Playworks cannot effect real community change. This is due to the fact that Playworks has to take money from the same people that run exploitative companies.

 How much did each company donate and how much comes directly to Oakland?

The amount of financial support provided by any donor is proprietary information. The funds provided by Mattel and New Balance support all 23 Playworks direct-service regions around the country. We currently serve 175,000 kids every day with our direct-service program. We serve in 31 East Bay schools in Alameda and Contra Costa County and have a hefty waiting list of additional schools who want the program. 

The partnership with Playworks marks the seventh signature philanthropic partner for Mattel. Over the next two years, Mattel has pledged more than $1 million from the Mattel Children's Foundation to support Playworks initiatives.


New Balance Foundation's $1.2 million investment over two years

http://www.newbalance.com/Responsible-Leadership_Philanthropy-and-Community-Investment_Playworks/about_responsible_leadership_philanthropy_playworks,default,pg.html

op-ed: Actually corporate donations are public records as are nonprofits. I know Playworks is at fewer schools now here in Oakland then 2006.

Is there a way thru play to address the specific needs of our youth of color in both affluent and poor communities?

Absolutely. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the national PTA, principals and teachers have all come out publicly and vocally in support of play and recess. Through play, kids can practice and learn crucial skills such as collaboration, teamwork, and conflict resolution. Of course it also increases kids' levels of physical activity and improving their health and well-being. Sadly, it is our most underserved and impoverished communities that are most likely to have recess and play time cut. Playworks helps schools restore healthy playtime and fosters opportunities for all students to participate in inclusive and healthy play. Play and recess, in this way, are equalizers. Every kid deserves the opportunity to play every day. 

I encourage you to watch Jill Vialet's talk at TEDx Albuquerque. I think you'll like it :)

op-ed: I have known Jill for a very long time, and she would not place the name with the face. She has never failed to recognize me, often giving me advice on starting my own endeavors. I believe with all that I am that we need a complete renewal of our education system and that healthy play and arts are a big part of it.

 Is Playworks moving from having a social justice component a direct effect of accepting multinational corporate donations? 

Our goal is to serve as many kids as possible. We work exclusively with low-income schools and in many communities, recess and school activities are the only time students attending these schools can play safely and learn the values of teamwork, cooperation and respect modeled by our coaches. We rely on donations to serve kids, as under-funded schools cannot cover the cost of a fulltime Playworks coach.

op-ed: Without a social justice part of how rock, paper, scissors as a conflict management translates into reduced violence within poor communities we will never change the culture that has created the crisis our youth are having.

 Are there signs at every Playworks location? Do they all have the same corporate logos?

Yes. Mattel and New Balance are our national partners.  Banners in some Playworks regions also carry the logos of local sponsors. 

Has the issue of having the logos on OUSD campuses come up before?

Our logos are on banners. They are not permanent parts of the campus. We have not had an issue with the district. 

op-ed: The Oakland Greens have been talking about the hierocracy of corporate money within public spaces for quite some time. Here in Oakland we discussed it publicly during several political civil disobedience actions.

 

All questions & opinions written by

Vicente Cruz Oakland Green Party

Opinions edited by

Amani Liggett Chief Editor Contributing Writer of The Oakland Green Party

Answers written by Cindy Wilson Playworks Director of Communications

No part of the responses were edited in any way