WORFORCE TRAINING IN SAN FRANCISCO IS A MESS WITH CITYBUILD WASTING MILLIONS (04/19/10)
It is a shame that a City that is suppose to know and shine in doing things correctly has fallen prey to outsiders, corrupt Union leaders, and labor leaders who will accept money with no accountability and transparency. Bribes.
Recently, on the steps of City Hall you had hundreds of union workers and some labor leaders - shout, scream, and trucks going round and round City Hall, blowing their horns and spewing particulates in the air. The leaders were demanding a change in the permit fees. Begging City Hall to exempt Developers and hopefully not Big Developers like Lennar from paying - permit fees up front - hoping against hope that they would get some work, while forging ahead with new construction. Joining them were the Residential Builders Association ö they must be some reason these normally intelligent men and women joined these Union fools - but, knowing what I know - I would have requested them to stay away from the buffoonery on the steps of City Hall. While this ploy and drama of sorts sound and looks good - it clearly shows a lack of sound leadership. The jackass Mayor Gavin Newsom joined leaders like Michael Theriault, Tim Paulson, and others and made some silly remarks. So, I ask where is the sound process in all of this is - buffoonery. Do you think any organization and the poor unorganized, failing Unions can strong arm City Hall and change some policies without due process? Am I missing something - or am I wrong - when I state that Unions should be ashamed of themselves and this blatant and unwarranted behavior, when they have failed their members and continue to fail them in the thousands - today? Over the years the various Unions have not taken care of their members. Local 22 has many Black Union Members with skills but they have not worked - some in years. However, within the ranks - certain Local Union 22 members will jump the list and give jobs to the many White members and all this happening in the year 2010. Some years ago you had a mess at Apartment Investment Management Company (AIMCO) up on the Hill at Bayview Hunters Point. I had to step up, get a number of attorneys, take depositions, and reveal to folks like Rhonda Simmons and the AIMCO Management that they were playing Latino workers against Black workers. All this, under the watchful eye of Local 22 Union leaders who were abusing the workers and cheating the workers by helping themselves to the workers' pay checks. This is worse then the Mafia. We had to have a hearing at City Hall. Citybuild could not answer questions and Rhonda Simmons who heads Citybuild - was no where to be seen at the hearing. Labor leaders like Tim Paulson was no where to be found and did not have the guts to enquire about this fiasco. I guess he likes the clean cut operation, taking his cut as he did with Proposition G. Accepting money from a Rouge Developer like Lennar - and then pretending that all is well. Or backing California Senator Mark Leno on his Senate Bill 792 - going all the way to Sacramento to back the taking of our State Park against the principles of Public Trust Land and the moral conscience of all Californians. Tim Paulson is that weasel who thinks he can get away with murder - but he is worse with less accountability and no transparency. Anyone that makes his bed with Lennar is like a flea infested - pariah dog. Such leaders must not be embraced less acknowledged by the Unions members and their rank and file. I belong to a Union and have for over 30 years. www.sflaborcouncil.org It is not uncommon to see Manny Flores from Carpenters Local 22 make some general statement at City Hall. "We want to see this project go forward and our members need the jobs". The Carpenters Local 22 is a joke in San Francisco and anyone will tell you that. The leaders had it good when the economy was good but now that the Union leaders cannot get easy money - they are doomed. This particular Union is a disgrace to any Union worker and the high standards and moral integrity that good, hard working Union members adhere to in good Unions. There was a time when the San Francisco Unified School District worked hard with Unions and provided quality trade schools. Of course that was when we had thousands of Union workers and the memory of Bloody Thursday and other Union memorable dates were a constant reminder that Unions made this City. Today most Unions have fewer members and the Union that Tim Paulson heads has less then twenty five percent of the members that once were on the rolls say twenty years ago. He may not admit that but I have done my home work. No more can San Francisco say that and the Union leaders we have are true leaders but more a disgrace to anything decent. We have Union leaders in San Francisco that invest the pensions of their Union members and blow it all. It does not matter if the father does it and the son endorses it - both of them make hay while the sun shines. Union members especially from the Plumber Union are hurting on all levels. But, there is no one to stand to the truth, tell the truth - but lots of folks to listen to the hot air and all the steam that leaks from all the fake inferior rusty - pipes. Citybuild and Rhonda Simmons who is an import from the State of Washington is making a six figure salary just wasting money, while giving our youth and others, precious few career jobs. Millions of dollars down the drain and now more with the Stimulus Package offering her - many more crooked avenues. Time will tell. Imagine spending $2.3 million to place a pre-fabricated building on Parcel A, Lot D surround with the worse toxins - a building that will be operated as a Community Center and do some little training for those that will be exposed to the worst pollution - much of it radiological in nature. The City Attorney has just realized that for all these years he could have done better with language that HE did NOT pay attention to words like" "good faith efforts". Such language has favored those with connections and nepotism and pitied San Franciscans and hard working young women and men against odds. More, forcing them to be discriminated. More depriving them of good jobs and often forcing them to survive and seek avenues of survival that often lead them down a path that Law Enforcement and others will use to incarcerate these victims - given no opportunity and treated like second class citizens. I have always said San Francisco is a Racist city. I will say it again and again until those that practice Racism stop doing so. Gavin Newsom thinks nothing of Gentrification but if you speaks to him - he will pick on some stories about how he helped some unfortunate mostly Black youth - but, the matter of fact is he has single handedly remove Blacks from Public Housing and from other areas - and deprived them of a livelihood. He is the master of GENTRIFICATION. Gavin Newsom has divided the little land that is available. Potrero Hill to Bridge Developers, Hunters View and more to the corrupt John Stewart Company, and more to Mercy Housing - giving them over 600 acres of Sunnydale and more. Why do we permit these vermin to come into our living rooms and re-arrange our furniture without our permission. Whose land is this anyway? www.muwekma.org I was the Proponent of Proposition F and one reason I joined the campaign as the Proponent was to see to Workforce Development. The opposition was Proposition G and backed by Lennar a rogue developer. We spent $5 thousand and Lennar spent $5 million backed by Senator Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, Supervisor Sophie Maxell, Gavin Newsom , and corrupt folks like Lola Whittle, Aurelious Walker, Angelo King, and others that all got paid by Lennar. Nothing is happening with Proposition G and all the "should" that litter that Proposition. So, where are the jobs that Lennar keeps saying that it will offer? When will the construction of the homes start? When will the people get to see and more to live in the thirty three percent so called affordable housing? We hear Tiffany Bohee from the Mayor's Office of Economic Development and Workforce - look at you in the eye and lie. She is not from San Francisco and so are the many other that come here to San Francisco and dictate terms to us. So, where are the jobs, the open space, and the many conceptual plans that look good on paper but are just plain dreams? You know dreams are good but you could wake up and it could be your worst nightmare. Well, Lennar has just screwed Mare Island that is tied to Vallejo. Promised Vallejo 10,000 homes and with it jobs and other things galore. After 10 years Lennar had nothing to show and Vallejo declared bankruptcy and so did Lennar with its Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) - gimmick. Let this be a clarion call to those that can see! The economy has hit us all very hard. In the Bayview Hunters Point unemployment, especially among Blacks is as high as fifty percent. Tied to this is crime and other incidents that make it on to the Crime and Incident Lists that Law Enforcement is quick to brag about - but little do they or others offer in terms of opportunity and Quality of Life issues. Not, to long ago I was at the ground breaking of the John Stewart Company project at Hunters View up on the hill, better know as Middle Point. As the Mayor and others were talking those that did not have jobs - were demanding for jobs and protesting aloud. I did not see Michael Theriault and Tim Paulson step up and say anything. Well, these vermin cut deals and the John Stewart Company does not have the better interests for the community. I know him and his kind from the days of the Geneva Towers. www.jsco.net Four year ago Citybuild wasted $7 million and as the years go by - Citybuild with its One Stop ploys and machinations continues to waste exponentially more and more millions. We have a Mayor who talks the talk but cannot walk the walk. But, it is time Rhonda Simmons is sent packing - walking or running out of town. Crooked folks with ulterior motives and no sound workforce experience have set up shop in the Western Addition and Visitation Valley. So called One Stop stations that make no sense and less serve the community. I see them wheeling and dealing, gathering statistics from those that come for jobs, giving them no training. Now and then setting them with some small company for a few weeks after which these workers - are let go. This type of operation mostly run by Blacks and corrupt Whites - divide the community and fails San Franciscans and this great City of San Francisco. These corrupt vermin want a piece of the pie and they will get it. You see them appear at some meetings at City Hall. They want to say something that makes sense but all they do is speak in generalities. No progress can come with folks like Jessie Mason on your team. No good can come from Dwayne Jones that has divided the community and was one in charge of Young Community Developers at one time and now directs Communities of Opportunity. This time around he used his folks fleecing the Census 2010 and exploited jobs from the Federal Government. So, where are the millions of dollars that he took from Private Corporations and Foundations? Did anyone read the article in the Chronicle about the rampant corruption at Dwayne Jones' so called COO. Talking about Young Community Developers after Dwayne Jones left and the stench he left cleaned out we can report some good news after a long time. The only decent fact that can be registered in recent times is the appointed of Mr. Dereck Tolliver who hails from the Community and wants to give back his very best directing Young Community Developers that has been in shambles until now - thanks to Dwayne Jones. Is there anyone ready to help him make the difference? At the San Francisco Planning Department idiots with no workforce experience will repeat again and again that they are capable of offering San Franciscans fifty percent of the slots for job opportunities. This cannot be done with the corruption and the poor leadership at all levels. No workforce policy that spells the details. Developers today do not have the money. The Banks will simply NOT lend. The City and County of San Francisco under Mayor Gavin Newsom has started a trend of large deficits - this year, next year and the years to come. What Gavin Newsom does best is spew hot air and tells lies, move those large arms like a wind mill and always trying to convince him that he is the best when he is the worst. Caligula. Citybuild must go with its poor performance and wasting of millions of dollars. The City Controller and the Budget Analyst have spoken before but a new audit is called for and some who wastes so much - must go to jail this nonsense must stop. Rhonda Simmons is an abject failure and someone with ulterior motives is keeping this good for nothing individual - floating.
|