Los Alamitos wants nothing to do with California’s ‘sanctuary state’ laws.

Spectators cheer as the Los Alamitos City Council votes to oppose California’s sanctuary state law. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 

Will it start a new resistance?

By CINDY CARCAMO, ANH DO and ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN  MAR 19, 2018

With about 12,000 residents spread across a few miles of suburban Southern California, Los Alamitos is better known for its good schools and small-town charms than political activism.

But the city now finds itself at the center of a rebellion against California’s “sanctuary” policies, which aim to protect immigrants here illegally as President Trump vows to ramp up deportations.

Los Alamitos leaders on Monday approved an ordinance that exempts their Orange County municipality from Senate Bill 54, a law that took effect Jan. 1 and restricts local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It marks a rare effort by a city to challenge the sanctuary movement, which has wide support among elected officials in left-leaning California.

Many cities have faced the ire of Trump and his administration for policies they say are too lenient toward those here illegally. The president slammed San Francisco over its sanctuary law, which he said had allowed a Mexican national who fatally shot a tourist to remain on the streets. And Oakland’s mayor is now the subject of a federal investigation after she sent out an alert warning residents of an immigration sweep.

Los Alamitos, by contrast, is moving in a different direction, with some residents and officials saying they want nothing to do with those policies.

About 160 people showed up to Monday’s regular City Council meeting, a monthly event that rarely draws enough people to fill the 40-seat chamber. Speakers lined up late into the evening to address elected officials, who eventually voted 4 to 1 to approve the ordinance.

“Sometimes things are bigger than we are,” said Mayor Troy D. Edgar.

Cheers erupted inside the chamber after the vote, with some shouting “Patriots!” and “This is a win for America!” as others waved pro-Trump flags.

Councilman Mark A. Chirco was the sole dissenter, suggesting the initiative could expose the city to litigation.

“We disagree with Sacramento on a lot of things. Are we not going to follow state law every time we disagree with them?” he said. “I don’t think that would be prudent.”

It’s unclear how the ordinance will be implemented, and Mayor Pro Tem Warren Kusumoto, who proposed the initiative, said it may end up being largely symbolic.

“Is it going to hold up? I don’t know,” he said.

Read more at Los Angeles Times

 

 

The post Los Alamitos wants nothing to do with California’s ‘sanctuary state’ laws. appeared first on Oath Keepers.

1,000s Of "Micro-Homes" Sprout Up All Over Bay Area To House The Growing Homeless Population

Roughly one year ago we shared the plans of a billionaire real estate developer in San Francisco who wanted to build communities for the homeless in Bay Area neighborhoods using stackable steel shipping containers (see: San Fran Billionaire Luanches Plan To House Homeless In Shipping Containers).  Not surprisingly, the efforts were met with some resistance from the liberal elites of Santa Clara who, despite their vocal support of any number of federal subsidy programs for low-income families, would prefer that those low-income families, and their subsidies, stay far away from their posh, suburban, "safe places."

Alas, as the San Francisco Chronicle points out today, like it or not, the boom in "micro-houses" is just getting started in the Bay Area with nearly 1,000 tiny homes, with less than 200 square feet of living space, currently being planned in San Francisco, San Jose, Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland and Santa Rosa.

Planners say that’s just the beginning. “We’re very excited about micro-homes,” said Lavonna Martin, director of Contra Costa County’s homeless programs. “They could be a big help. They have a lot of promise, and our county is happy to be on the cutting edge of this one. We’re ready.”

 

Contra Costa has a $750,000 federal homelessness grant to pay for 50 stackable micro-units of supportive housing, and Richmond Mayor Tom Butt would like to see them in his city. Developer Patrick Kennedy brought a prototype of his MicroPad unit to Richmond in November, and county and city leaders say they are leaning toward choosing it.

 

“They’re very fine, and they make a nice-looking building,” Butt said. “They’d be good for anybody looking for housing.”

The beauty of the tiny units is that they can be built in a fraction of the time it takes to construct typical affordable housing, and at a sliver of the cost, which means a lot of homeless folks can be housed quickly.

The homes have also caught on in San Jose where the City Council just approved $2.4 million to build a village of 40 units to help house the homeless.  Of course, just like in Santa Clara, San Jose residents are lashing out at city officials over plans that they say will only serve to increase neighborhood crime.

San Jose resident Sue Halloway told the council she was afraid putting the village near residences would increase “neighborhood crime, neighborhood blight (and) poor sanitation,” and predicted that it would be “a magnet for more homeless.”

 

City Councilman Raul Peralez said he understands such concerns, but that “there are no facts surrounding these tiny homes and whatever blight or crime they might bring, because we haven’t done them yet.”

 

“I tell people you really have two options,” said Peralez, who said he wants the village in his downtown district. “You can allow the homeless to live on the streets, or you can provide not only shelter but services in a confined area — with security. In my mind, that’s a way better option for managing this community in an organized way.”

So, what do the stackable units look like?  As seen in the video below, prototypes from one manufacturer, MicroPad, come complete with full bathrooms and kitchens and have up to 160-180 square feet of living space...

“These micro-homes may seem small at 160 to 180 square feet, but they’re actually pretty spacious when you’re in them,” she said. “And they go up very fast.”

 

Kennedy’s MicroPads have showers, beds and kitchens. Individually they resemble shipping containers, but once they’re bolted together with siding and utilities, they look like a regular building.

...which is more or less considered a mansion by struggling New York artist standards...

What Went Wrong In Charlottesville: At All Levels, Government Is Still The Problem

Authored by John Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

Corruption. Graft. Intolerance. Greed. Incompetence. Ineptitude. Militarism. Lawlessness. Ignorance. Brutality. Deceit. Collusion. Corpulence. Bureaucracy. Immorality. Depravity. Censorship. Cruelty. Violence. Mediocrity. Tyranny.

These are the hallmarks of an institution that is rotten through and through.

We have been saddled with the wreckage of a government at all levels that no longer represents the citizenry, serves the citizenry, or is accountable to the citizenry.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about the federal government, state governments, or local governing bodies: at all ends of the spectrum and every point in between, a shift has taken place.

“We the people” are not being seen or heard.

Everything happening at the national level is playing out at the local level, as well.

Take my own hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, for instance.

In the summer of 2017, Charlottesville became ground zero for a heated war of words—and actions—over racism, “sanitizing history,” extremism (both right and left), political correctness, hate speech, partisan politics, and a growing fear that violent words will end in violent actions.

In Charlottesville, as in so many parts of the country right now, the conflict was over how to reconcile the nation’s checkered past, particularly as it relates to slavery, with the present need to sanitize the environment of anything—words and images—that might cause offense, especially if it’s a Confederate flag or monument.

That fear of offense prompted the Charlottesville City Council to get rid of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that has graced one of its public parks for 82 years.

That’s when everything went haywire.

In attempting to pacify one particularly vocal and righteously offended group while railroading over the concerns of those with alternate viewpoints, Charlottesville attracted the unwanted attention of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and the alt-Right, all of whom descended on the little college town with the intention of exercising their First Amendment right to be disagreeable, to assemble, and to protest.

When put to the test, Charlottesville did not handle things well at all.

No one—not the armed, violent, militant protesters nor the police—gave peace a chance on August 12 when what should have been an exercise in free speech quickly became a brawl that left one dead and dozens more injured.

The police, who were supposed to uphold the law and prevent violence, failed to do either.

Indeed, a 220-page post-mortem of the protests and the Charlottesville government’s response by former U.S. attorney Timothy J. Heaphy merely corroborates our worst fears about what drives the government at all levels: power, money, ego, politics and ambition.

When presented with a situation in which the government and its agents were tasked with protecting free speech and safety, Heaphy concluded that “the City of Charlottesville protected neither free expression nor public safety.”

Read Heaphy’s report for yourself.

It’s full of drama and intrigue, plots and dueling egos, petty tyrants and ambitious politicians. (There’s even mention of a personal email account and deleted text messages.)

Not much different from what is happening on the national scene.

Commissioned by the City of Charlottesville, this Heaphy report was intended to be an independent investigation of what went right and what went wrong in the government’s handling of the protests.

Here’s what went wrong, according to the report:

1. Police failed to get input from other law enforcement agencies experienced in handling large protests.

2. Police failed to adequately train their officers in advance of the protest.

3. City officials failed to request assistance from outside agencies.

4. The City Council unduly interfered by ignoring legal advice, attempting to move the protesters elsewhere, and ignoring the concerns of law enforcement.

5. The city government failed to inform the public about their plans.

6. City officials were misguided in allowing weapons at the protest.

7. The police implemented a flawed operational plan that failed to protect public safety.

8. While police were provided with riot gear, they were never trained in how to use it, nor were they provided with any meaningful field training in how to deal with or de-escalate anticipated violence on the part of protesters.

9. Despite the input and advice of outside counsel, including The Rutherford Institute, the police failed to employ de-escalation tactics or establish clear barriers between warring factions of protesters.

10. Government officials and police leadership opted to advance their own agendas at the expense of constitutional rights and public safety.

11. For all intents and purposes, police abided by a stand down order that endangered the community and paved the way for civil unrest.

12. In failing to protect public safety, police and government officials undermined public faith in the government.

The Heaphy report focused on the events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, but it applies to almost every branch of government that fails to serve “we the people.”

As the Pew Research Center revealed, public trust in the government remains near historic lows and with good reason, too.

This isn’t America, land of the free, where the government is “of the people, by the people [and] for the people.”

Rather, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, this is Amerika, where fascism, totalitarianism and militarism work hand in hand.

So what’s the answer?

As always, it must start with “we the people.”

I’ve always advised people to think nationally, but act locally. Yet as Charlottesville makes clear, it’s hard to make a difference locally when the local government is as deaf, dumb and blind to the needs of its constituents as the national government.

Still, it’s time to clean house at all levels of government.

You’ve got a better chance of making your displeasure seen and felt and heard within your own community. But it will take perseverance and unity and a commitment to finding common ground with your fellow citizens.

Stop tolerating corruption, graft, intolerance, greed, incompetence, ineptitude, militarism, lawlessness, ignorance, brutality, deceit, collusion, corpulence, bureaucracy, immorality, depravity, censorship, cruelty, violence, mediocrity, and tyranny.

Stop holding your nose in order to block out the stench of a rotting institution.

Stop letting the government and its agents treat you like a servant or a slave.

You’ve got rights. We’ve all got rights. This is our country. This is our government. No one can take it away from us unless we make it easy for them.

Right now, we’re making it way too easy for the police state to take over.

Stop being an accessory to the murder of the American republic.

Chicago Politician Pushes Ban On Businesses Banning Cash

In July, Visa officially entered the global "war on cash", adding to a long list of academics, elites, and bankers urging the removal of one of the last freedoms "for the good of the rest of us". However, if Alderman Edward Burke has his way, that "war on cash" will end in Chicago after he submitted an ordinance at last week"s City Council meeting to ban businesses from banning cash.

According to the ordinance, "credit card giant Visa announced it is "launching a major effort to encourage businesses to go cashless," through a campaign called the Visa Cashless Challenge offering $500,000 for 50 businesses to go cash-free.

As DNAInfo.com reports, the ordinance cites Argo Tea, SweetGreen, Epic Burger and Goddess and the Baker as Chicago businesses that have already gone cashless, but the stores themselves don"t seem to have had any issues...

Xuan Tea, a shop at 1816 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Bucktown, opened in September and is credit card-only.

"It"s been working out fine. Some are taken aback initially, but we haven"t had any problems with it," manager Will Quanstrom said.

"Mostly everyone has a credit card in their pocket, even if they"re just out for a jog. It"s easier and it"s simpler for us. We don"t have to go to the bank, or count drawers out." The tea shop has a sign at the front counter that says it only takes credit cards.

Nevertheless, as DNAInfo.com notes, the ordinance, however, points out that credit card companies typically tack on a 1 percent to 3 percent fee on transactions, "a business cost typically passed on to consumers via increased pricing."

 Burke called his ordinance a "fair and equal access" issue and calls out Visa"s repression of the poor and young...

"A "no cash" sign is a "not welcome" sign for many without ready access to credit, including those who are low- or fixed-income, homeless, undocumented, young or victims of identity theft," he said.

It adds that those under 18 can"t apply for credit cards, making a cash ban "de facto age discrimination," while many low-income families can"t even afford to open a bank account.

The ordinance would make it illegal to decline cash as payment at any business in retail sales or food and drink, under the penalty of fines starting at $1,000 and up to $2,500 a day.

*  *  *

As we noted previously, this ongoing push for a cashless society in Europe, Asia, and the Americas is about much more than just phasing out paper money - it’s about central planners solidifying control over the public’s wealth. This ongoing merger of corporate and government interests is the definition of crony capitalism. Regardless of the blatant collusion, the choices individuals make will still ultimately decide the direction for the future. Buying material goods on credit has become a lifestyle for millions, but the long-term costs of those decisions must be understood if there’s any chance for progress.

Americans have made a huge mistake by running up a staggering $1 trillion dollars in credit card debt with an average interest rate of over 16%. Thanks to the Federal Reserve system, companies like Mastercard, Discover, and American Express can issue bonds paying extremely low-interest rates to the investors while simultaneously lending that money out to credit card holders at sky high rates. Companies will always take advantage of opportunities to increase profits, but the people’s willingness to keep borrowing from them is at the core of the problem.

Access to cheap capital has been extended to the largest corporations for over a decade, but when it comes to small businesses or individuals there is a completely different set of standards. The pressure to consistently increase revenues and stock prices has led to an unnatural parasitic relationship between these companies and their customers. Cash is one of the last options that allows people a way to avoid dealing with this kind of shakedown.

More than 30% of all payments in the U.S. are still conducted in cash, but financial intermediaries that charge processing fees are joining with the State and central banks to ensure the public has no room to innovate.

Another piece of our country’s history erased by the Alt-Left, this time in Dallas

DMHinIrving/Flickr

DALLAS, Tex. (INTELLIHUB) — The 14-foot tall statue of American Confederate soldier Robert E. Lee was removed from its pedestal on Friday after members of the City Council voted on September 6 to erase it from history.

Workers removed the statue on Friday under armed police escort as some onlookers and members of the press captured a glance.

ABC News reports: “The statue was lowered onto a flatbed trailer for transport to an abandoned naval air station owned by the city on its western outskirts. It’s expected to remain there until city officials decide the statue’s future.”

Ladies and gentlemen, this is how the communists erased history in the past and it is being done right here in America and few seem to care.

Will the Alt-Left succeed at erasing all Confederate monuments from American history?

Will the #AltLeft succeed at erasing all Confederate monuments from American history?

— Intellihub (@intellihubnews) September 15, 2017

©2017. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.

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Shepard Ambellas is an opinion journalist, analyst, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Intellihub News & Politics (Intellihub.com). Shepard is also known for producing Shade: The Motion Picture (2013) and appearing on Travel Channel’s America Declassified (2013). Shepard is a regular contributor to Infowars. Read more from Shep’s World. Follow Shep on Facebook and Twitter.

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Pay-To-Play: Chicago Tribune Blasts Rahm As Data Reveals 70% Of Donors Get Lucrative City Hall Contracts

What do you get when you combine the most corrupt city in the United States with a mayor that got his political debut serving in the Clinton White House?  Well, according to data presented by the Chicago Tribune today, it may just all add up to the second most sophisticated "pay-to-play" operation in history...you know, because no one will ever come close to beating the Clintons at their own game.

After reviewing more than 500 contributions made to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel of at least $5,000 since July 2015, the Tribune reports today that nearly 70% of them came from people who have received, or are seeking, lucrative contracts with City Hall.  Frankly, we are "shocked."

As Mayor Rahm Emanuel ramps up his campaign fundraising toward a possible third term, he continues to rely on donors who have received City Hall benefits, ranging from contracts and zoning approvals to appointments and personal endorsements from the mayor, the Chicago Tribune has found.

With the February 2019 mayoral election still a year and a half away, Emanuel has collected $3.1 million in high-dollar contributions. And more than $2.1 million of it — nearly 70 percent — has come from 83 donors who have benefited from actions at City Hall.

Among the contributors: law firms seeking approval for their clients" projects or lucrative bond business for themselves, developers needing City Hall permission to build here, an events promoter negotiating the financial details of a major music festival and restaurateurs wanting coveted space at Chicago"s airports.

So how does he do it? 

Turns out there are plenty of examples which include the following "doozy" in which Rahm raked in nearly $40,000 at a law firm fundraiser and then approved their zoning plans for a new McDonald"s facility the very next day.

For example, Emanuel has received blocks of campaign contributions from DLA Piper, one of the go-to firms for real estate developers to get zoning approval at City Hall. The firm"s zoning law practice was built up by David Reifman, a onetime zoning attorney who now holds substantial approval power over all new projects as the city"s commissioner of planning and development.

During Emanuel"s first run for mayor, DLA Piper lawyers and relatives gave him $54,000 in political contributions. In his bid for a second term, it was more than $75,000. This time around, 15 of the firm"s lawyers gave $35,700 after Emanuel stopped by DLA Piper"s downtown office for a Sept. 13 breakfast his official calendar listed as "non-city," the label often given to campaign events or fundraisers.

Emanuel"s fundraiser took place as DLA Piper zoning attorneys were lobbying City Hall to sign off on the new West Loop headquarters of McDonald"s Corp. The Emanuel administration approved the plans the day after the fundraiser.

And here"s another great example whereby Rahm hired the law firm of Schiff Hardin for the city"s $1.2 billion bond issue, an engagement on which they made over $200,000 btw, then strolled through their office just a couple months later for his kickback fundraiser.

Schiff Hardin is another firm whose lawyers have contributed to the mayor"s campaign and benefited from decisions made by the Emanuel administration.

The firm made at least $205,000 serving as co-counsel on the city"s January $1.2 billion bond issue, a massive borrowing plan to patch city debt, records show. About three months later, Emanuel attended a lunch at the firm"s offices on South Wacker Drive, another event labeled "non-city" on the mayor"s calendar. A week later, Emanuel"s campaign deposited $17,800 from 11 of the firm"s lawyers, records show.

Schiff Hardin partner Bruce Weisenthal said the mayor was invited to speak at the firm. He said Emanuel spoke for about an hour, giving an uplifting talk about the state of Chicago and where the city is going. "He was very generous with his time," Weisenthal said.

That lunchtime event came after a fundraiser in 2013. That year, Schiff Hardin made $96,000 in fees from a $276 million city wastewater revenue bond project. Three months later, Emanuel collected more than $16,000 from 13 Schiff Hardin lawyers at a campaign event.

But, it"s not just law firms that seem to be able to buy special access in Chicago.  No, this concert operator got his Lollapalooza music festival extended by a day for the bargain basement price of just $106,000 in donations.

While Emanuel bans contributions from the owners of businesses with City Hall contracts, he has accepted them from businesses that have contracts or permits with so-called "sister agencies," such as the Chicago Park District. In such cases, the mayor"s campaign has contended there is no contract directly with City Hall, though Emanuel controls the sister agencies and appoints their leaders.

And so Emanuel has taken contributions from C3 Presents, an Austin, Texas-based concert promotions company that puts on the massive Lollapalooza music festival in Grant Park.

In 2014, the Tribune reported that Charlie Jones, one of C3"s founders, threw an Emanuel fundraiser at his Austin home during the city"s signature South by Southwest festival. Soon after, Emanuel reported pulling in nearly $104,000 in campaign contributions from Texas donors.

This time around, Emanuel reported receiving more than $106,000 from Texas donors in December and January, including maximum $5,400 contributions from Jones, fellow C3 founder Charlie Walker and their wives.

Oh, and for the right contributions, Rahm apparently also likes to dole out those lucrative airport restaurant leases as well.

Emanuel also has accepted campaign money from businesses that have benefited from major concessionaire contracts at O"Hare International and Midway International airports.

The mayor"s office and his campaign say those contributions don"t run afoul of Emanuel"s executive orders because the businesses don"t hold a contract directly with City Hall, but instead are licensees under two umbrella groups that have the contracts.

The restaurants at both airports do, however, stand to make millions of dollars from decisions made by Emanuel"s Department of Aviation, where the mayor"s hand-picked commissioner signs off on every souvenir shop, restaurant and book store at the airports.

Restaurant giant Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises has been granted access to travelers beyond security checkpoints under the two airport concession deals.

Company founder Richard Melman has been a longtime supporter of Emanuel, and several Lettuce restaurants — including Tallboy Tacos, Big City Chicken, Big Bowl, M Burger and R.J. Grunts — were selected for new spots at Midway under a contract approved Feb. 22.

The mayor"s calendar shows Emanuel attending a "non-city" Jan. 12 lunch at Melman"s RPM Steak restaurant in River North. Emanuel"s calendar also shows the mayor meeting with Melman and Lettuce executive Christopher Meers at his fifth floor City Hall office Feb. 10 — less than two weeks before the Midway contract won City Council approval.

Meanwhile, the Tribune notes that the Rahm administration issued a statement on how they passed legislation "cracking down" on pay-to-play activities when they first took office back in 2011.  That said, as the Tribune also notes, the legislation has proven to be a complete farce as there are endless loopholes that essentially render it completely useless.  But, at least they "tried."

On the day he took office in May 2011, Emanuel issued executive orders aimed at cracking down on the pay-to-play politics that long served as a staple at City Hall. He banned business owners with city contracts and registered City Hall lobbyists from giving to the mayor.

In practice, the orders have proven to be narrowly drawn, allowing Emanuel to accept contributions from donors who benefit from his administration"s actions. For example, registered lobbyists at a law firm can"t give, but their colleagues can. The owners of companies with city contracts can"t give, but their employees can.

Emanuel declined an interview request to discuss his fundraising efforts. Asked why the mayor heavily relies on individuals and firms who do business with the city for campaign contributions, Emanuel spokeswoman Shannon Breymaier issued a statement.

"On Mayor Emanuel"s first day in office, he enacted several executive orders that set the highest ethical standards in the city"s history," Breymaier said. "These orders include a first-of-its-kind ban on mayoral contributions from lobbyists and a prohibition on mayoral contributions from contractors doing business with the city of Chicago."

Of course, we"re sure these are just more attempts to "criminalize behavior that is normal"...right, Donna?

Charlottesville residents fed-up with their city council

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virgina (INTELLIHUB) — City Council members were shocked to find out that they could not conduct business as usual after scores of angry residents showed up in attendance to Tuesday’s meeting where they attempted to communicate their grievances to officials.

Residents chanted “shame, shame, shame […]” as three people were removed from the meeting for expressing their views on the recent violence and hatred which has rippled through the community since the deadly rally on August 12.

Two residents held of a banner while standing on top of the council’s bench which read: “Blood on your hands.”

“I knew that girl. You let her get murdered,” one man told council members. “KKK and neo-Nazis can come here and say whatever they want but citizen fools here can’t. That’s ridiculous — you just dragged out three people because they were expressing their freedom of speech. It’s terrible.”

The meeting was suspended until Thursday night.

©2017. INTELLIHUB.COM. All Rights Reserved.

Half Of Detroit's Mayoral Candidates Are Felons

Will voters in one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country be able to stomach voting for a convicted felon? Residents of Detroit are about to find out. Half of the candidates running in next Tuesday’s mayoral primary – the first since the city emerged from Bankruptcy protection in 2014 - have felony convictions on their records, according to an analysis of criminal records by the Detroit News.

In what we must admit is a masterful attempt at spin, one political operative said the felony convictions make the candidates more relatable because they show the candidates have each "lived a little."

“Black marks on your record show you have lived a little and have overcome some challenges,” said Bowens, a former press secretary to Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer and NAACP activist. “They (candidates) deserve the opportunity to be heard, but they also deserve to have the kind of scrutiny that comes along with trying to get an important elected position.”

Michigan election law stipulates that convicted felons can vote and run for office as long as they are not incarcerated or guilty of certain fraud-related offenses, or crimes involving a breach of the public trust. The top two finishers in the primary will go on to face off against incumbent mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for reelection. Duggan has received endorsements from a host of powerful unions, including the Detroit Metro AFL-CIO and the powerful public employees’ union AFSCME.

Mayoral candidate Donna Marie Pitts has multiple felony convictions dating back to 1977, according to the News. Pitts says she was discriminated against and wrongfully convicted, and is “open” to discussing the circumstances that led to her convictions.

“I don’t hide it. God has brought me out,” said Pitts, who wants to improve health care services, and tackle crime and rebuilding the community. “I hope (voters) don’t look at it as negative but as my experience, and I can help. I want to fight for them.”

Her rap sheet includes convictions spanning from 1977 to 2003. Charges vary from operating a vehicle without a license to assault with intent to murder.

“In 1977, Pitts was convicted of receiving and concealing a stolen 1977 Oldsmobile. She was sentenced to a year of probation.

A decade later, she was charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder and two firearm offenses in connection with two separate shooting incidents on March 24, 1987, Detroit Recorder’s Court records say.

Pitts was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, plus two additional years for the firearm offense. She served about four years and eight months and was paroled June 1, 1992, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Pitts had another run-in with police in Troy in September 2000 when she was stopped in a residential neighborhood and arrested for fleeing and eluding and operating a vehicle without a license.

Pitts later pleaded guilty to not having an operator’s license and disobeying a police signal. She was placed on six months probation, which was discharged in September 2001.

Most recently, Pitts was convicted of firearm possession and carrying a concealed weapon under a March 2003 plea agreement stemming from a traffic stop in Dearborn Heights, Wayne County Circuit Court records show.

Pitts was stopped by police on Dec. 2, 2002, on Ford near Norborne for an improper plate and failure to wear a seat belt.

A .38 caliber handgun — which Pitts said belonged to her sister — was found on the front floor board of the truck. She was ordered to serve 40 to 60 months in prison in April 2003. She was paroled in August 2006, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.”

To her credit, Pitts says she supports law enforcement, adding that “there’s a lot of good officers. I just ran into a couple of bad situations.” Pitts isn’t the only candidate with a conviction for an assault with intent to murder charge. Fellow contender Danetta L. Simpson has a 1996 felony conviction for it out of Oakland County. The 46-year-old former cosmetologist and salon owner previously ran for a seats in the Michigan legislature, as well as the Detroit school board and City Council, says that she was “overcharged” for a crime she didn’t commit after an altercation with a woman who had been living with the father of two of Simpson’s children.

“According to court records, Simpson pleaded no contest to assault with intent to commit murder — any term of years up to life in prison — in exchange for dismissal of a firearms offense.

The incident stemmed from a complaint made by a woman who’d been living with the father of two of Simpson’s children. The woman alleged she’d received threatening phone calls from Simpson and court records say a confrontation later ensued in which Simpson fired a gun. No one was injured.

In court transcripts, the woman accused Simpson of pulling up in a van and screaming at her to come outside. She said Simpson then pointed a gun at her and fired, striking part of a doorway about 2 feet from where the woman was standing, court records say.

Simpson pleaded no contest on the day of the 1998 trial. She later tried to withdraw it, but her attempts failed. She was put on probation for one year and discharged Sept. 30, 1999.”

Articia Bomer, another candidate, was charged in 2008 with carrying a concealed weapon, but says the weapon wasn’t hers. She was ultimately sentenced to a year of probation, which she completed successfully.

“Court records note Bomer was approached by police while sitting in a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass parked at the curb in the 9300 block of Whitcomb on July 25, 2008. A search turned up a .38 caliber piston with four live rounds. Bomer said the weapon was not hers.

She said she had just purchased the vehicle, the prior owner was a gun-carrier and several others had been driving the car.”

Curtis Christopher Greene, an author and marketer with degrees from the University of Phoenix, was charged with a felony at age 19. Greene, who says he grew up in a “crime-ridden area,” struggles to find work and wants to implement programs to help ex-offenders.

“Greene was charged in 2004 with fourth-degree fleeing and eluding police during an attempted traffic stop in Harrison Township as well as delivering and manufacturing marijuana.

He was sentenced to 18 months’ probation under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, meaning his conviction would be dismissed if he met all probationary requirements. Under the agreement, the fleeing and eluding charge was dropped, Macomb County Circuit Court records show.

Greene violated probation in July 2005 when he was arrested and charged with uttering and publishing a fraudulent check in Gratiot County, a felony.

The case was not prosecuted. Instead, Greene pleaded guilty that September to conspiracy for uttering and publishing and was sentenced to six months in the Gratiot County Jail.

Greene also pleaded guilty to violating his Macomb Circuit Court probation. The violation triggered an extension of his probation term and his youthful trainee status revoked, court records say. He was discharged in September 2007. Greene also pleaded guilty to violating his Macomb Circuit Court probation. The violation triggered an extension of his probation term and his youthful trainee status revoked, court records say. He was discharged in September 2007.”

Detroit wouldn’t be the first American city to elect a convicted felon. Providence, R.I. famously reelected Vincent “Buddy” Cianci after he was convicted and imprisoned during the 1980s for beating and torturing a longtime acquaintance who allegedly had an affair with Cianci’s wife. He was arrested again during his second stint as mayor and convicted of racketeering, for which he served another prison term. When he died in 2016, he was reportedly contemplating yet another mayoral bid. Former Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry was also reelected after being convicted on drug charges stemming from a surveillance tape of him smoking crack.

Who knows? Maybe former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who pleading guilty to felony charges including obstruction of justice and perjury, will throw his hat in the ring, too.

Cab Drivers Union Says Chicago Taxi Industry Near Collapse

By Jeff Schuhrke of In These Times

In addition to repaying loans on their medallions, taxi operators also have to pay thousands of dollars each year in city expenses, like the ground transportation tax and medallion license renewal fee—expenses that rideshare drivers are not subject to. (Cab Drivers United/ Twitter)  

Ghana-born John Aikins has been a cab driver in Chicago for two decades. About 15 years ago, he decided to go into business for himself by taking out a loan with his wife to purchase a medallion—a city-issued license to operate a taxi—for $70,000. Paying it off within a few years thanks to a steady stream of passengers, they took out loan for a second medallion five years ago, using the first as collateral. Watching his medallions appreciate in value over the years, Aikins planned to eventually sell or lease them to other drivers, a common practice in the industry. “I hoped it would be my retirement investment, and I had planned to retire this year,” Aikins told In These Times.

But with the introduction of Uber and other rideshare companies to the city—which can operate without the expensive, city-issued medallions—Aikins has seen his clientele plummet over the past three years, making it increasingly hard to keep up with his medallion loan payments.

Across the city, the number of taxi rides dropped from 2.29 million in January 2014 to 1.1 million in January 2017, according to a report released recently by Cab Drivers United, AFSCME Local 2500 (CDU).

As a result, the average monthly income per medallion has fallen by $2,000 during the same time.

“Getting to the end of last year, things had changed so drastically,” Aikins said. “We just couldn’t make it.” After recently receiving a notice of foreclosure on his medallions, his retirement plans are now on hold.

Aikins is hardly alone. In the past three years, more than 1,300 taxi medallions in the city have either been surrendered to the city or put into foreclosure status, while another 100 or so are facing repossession through lawsuits by lenders, according to the CDU report.

This foreclosure crisis is hurting small family businesses most of all, CDU contends. Of the 6,999 taxi medallions in the city, 39 percent belong to small owner/operators, like Aikins, who own four or fewer medallions.

“Because of the misconception that the taxi industry is just big fleets, the fact that thousands of small businesses are disproportionately being hurt by this crisis is too often overlooked,” said Tracey Abman, associate director of AFSCME Council 31. “The taxi industry is really about providing decent, full-time jobs—or was—for drivers.”

In addition to repaying loans on their medallions, taxi operators also have to pay thousands of dollars each year in city expenses, like the ground transportation tax and medallion license renewal fee—expenses that rideshare drivers are not subject to.

CDU says the number of rideshare vehicles in Chicago now exceeds 227,000, while 42 percent of the city’s taxis didn’t pick up a single passenger this March. The union stresses that the decline of the taxi industry is a loss for the broader public. Unlike most rideshare vehicles, taxis serve people without bank accounts by accepting cash, and they also have more stringent requirements on providing access to people with disabilities.

Aikins says he doesn’t fault the rideshare industry for his current predicament, but instead blames the city.

“We are so saddled with rules and taxes and renewal fees, and the city hasn’t done anything to relieve us,” he said. “It looks like they are just waiting for us to die off.”

Last summer, the City Council was poised to pass new regulations on rideshare companies, which CDU hoped would help create fairer competition. The original ordinance would have required fingerprint background checks on rideshare drivers and would have mandated that at least 5 percent of all rideshare vehicles be wheelchair-accessible—rules comparable to those imposed on the taxi industry.

After the last-minute intervention of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, however, a watered-down version of the ordinance was passed that removed the original provisions on fingerprinting and wheelchair accessibility. While the final version requires rideshare drivers to obtain special chauffeur licenses, it allows them to complete the necessary training online instead of through the expensive in-person classes taxi drivers must attend.

Critics have accused Emanuel of being biased in favor of rideshare companies, particularly Uber. His brother Ari—a Hollywood agent and the inspiration for Jeremy Piven’s character on HBO’s Entourage—is an Uber investor. Also, the mayor’s former chief of staff became an Uber executive not long after passage of last year’s ordinance. Earlier this year, Emanuel’s Obama administration colleague and former Uber executive David Plouffe was fined $90,000 by the Chicago Board of Ethics after it was revealed he illegally lobbied the mayor on behalf of the rideshare giant in 2015.

With no help from the city, Aikins turned to Cab Drivers United for assistance after receiving his foreclosure notice. Formed in 2014, CDU is a non-traditional union in that it does not bargain contracts, since labor laws classify taxi drivers as “independent contractors” rather than “employees.” Made up of hundreds of dues-paying members and a network of thousands of activists, CDU provides educational workshops for drivers, connects them to legal services and organizes them to pressure lawmakers for fairer treatment.

Furqan Mohammed, a private attorney whose firm partners with CDU, said he has talked with over 100 owner/operators like Aikins facing foreclosure in recent months.

“Some of these drivers will owe upwards of $250,000 on these medallions, yet the underlying asset is worth maybe $50,000 if you can even find a willing buyer,” he said.

With CDU’s help, Aikins contacted an attorney who recently helped him file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in an effort to save his livelihood. Mohammed said his law firm is assisting many owner/operators to restructure their medallion loans, but he called it only a “temporary solution.”

Longer-term, CDU is calling on the city to ease the financial burdens of taxi drivers, including eliminating the medallion license renewal fee and waiving the ground transportation tax for struggling owner/operators.

The ground transportation tax—paid once every two years—is due at the end of June. Aikins said the tax for two years is about $2,000.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he said. “The city knows we don’t have the money.”

“If the city were to create a hardship waiver for the ground transportation tax literally in the next few weeks, that would send a signal to these small owner/operators that the city does care about them and is prepared to work on a more comprehensive package for reform,” AFSCME’s Abman said.

“If relief is not provided [in the coming weeks] we will see much more decimation of the industry,” she warned. “Time is of the essence.”

The full report from Cab Drivers Union

Chicago Public School Officials Promise To Obstruct The Enforcement Of Trump's Immigration Law

Submitted by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,

The Chicago public school system has decided to openly defy the president of the United States. More than 392,000 students attend public schools in Chicago, and on Tuesday a letter was sent home with each of those students telling their parents that Chicago schools will not “assist in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law”. In fact, the letter actually says that federal officials will not even be allowed “to access CPS facilities”. In essence, every Chicago public school has now officially been declared to be a “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants. If you would like to see the original document, you can do so right here. This is just another example of how deeply divided we are as a nation. The entire public school system of one of our largest cities is now in open rebellion against the president, and that is a very dangerous sign.

Of course Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had already established a precedent earlier this year when he pledged to defy Donald Trump and to continue to keep Chicago as a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants. The following comes from the Chicago Tribune…

As President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to cut off some federal funding from sanctuary cities, Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed Chicago would remain one and continue to protect immigrants from deportation.

“We’re gonna stay a sanctuary city,” Emanuel said in a news conference after Wednesday’s City Council meeting. “There is no stranger among us. We welcome people, whether you’re from Poland or Pakistan, whether you’re from Ireland or India or Israel and whether you’re from Mexico or Moldova, where my grandfather came from, you are welcome in Chicago as you pursue the American Dream.”

Emanuel makes it sound like you are “anti-immigrant” if you are against sanctuary cities. But that is not accurate at all. The truth is that America was built by immigrants, but for years we have had an immigration policy that is completely upside down.

We have allowed millions upon millions of people to pour across our borders illegally, but meanwhile we have made legal immigration a complete nightmare. I am familiar with the process that someone has to go through to legally immigrate to this country, and it is exceedingly complex and very expensive.

So we are keeping out the hard working, law abiding people that we should want to come here, but we have been keeping the back door wide open for criminals, gang members and those that are seeking to take advantage of the system.

What kind of sense does that make?

And the truth is that the Trump administration does not even want to deport all illegal immigrants. At this point, they are only focusing on those that have done something wrong, and that is very similar to the approach that was implemented under the Obama administration. The following comes from the Los Angeles Times…

Immigration officers were directed to focus first on deporting convicted criminals or those charged with crimes. But Kelly also freed them to conduct more raids in immigrant communities and detain people who don’t have criminal convictions.

In addition to deporting those convicted of crimes, immigration officials will also target:

• people in the country illegally who have been charged with crimes not yet adjudicated.


• those who have not been charged but are believed to have committed “acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense.” That would include the 6 million people believed to have entered without passing through an official border crossing.


• those who receive an improper welfare benefit.


• those who committed minor infractions such as driving without a license.

Unfortunately, if you speak out against illegal immigration these days, it could cost you your job.

This is becoming one of the most hotly contested political issues in the nation, and as we have already seen there are a lot of leftists that are not afraid to openly defy the federal government.

Of course the truth is that it is already probably too late to try to turn things around. It has been estimated that there are well over 100,000 gang members in the city of Chicago alone, and a very large percentage of them are illegal immigrants.

Someday when things get really bad in this country, gang violence will help fuel tremendous civil unrest all across the United States. The coming civil unrest is one of the reasons why so many concerned Americans have been moving away from the big urban centers.

And it isn’t just leftists that are openly defying Trump. This week, it is being reported that Mexico “will vigorously fight U.S. mass deportations of undocumented immigrants”…

Mexico will vigorously fight U.S. mass deportations of undocumented immigrants back to Mexico and refuse to accept any non-Mexicans expelled across the border, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray vowed Wednesday.

A day after the Trump administration unveiled tough new guidelines for enforcing immigration laws, Videgaray said the treatment of Mexican migrants in the United States would top his country’s agenda when President Enrique Peña Nieto meets Thursday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.

Relations between the United States and Mexico are already the worst that they have been in my entire lifetime, and they could potentially get a whole lot worse in the months ahead.

When it comes to immigration, Donald Trump is trying to do things very differently from how Barack Obama was doing them, and that is causing a lot of chaos, pain and confusion.

We always need to remember that every single person on this planet is of extraordinary value no matter what they look like or where they are from. And we will always need people to immigrate to this country. It is just that we need to make sure that everyone comes in through the front door instead of sneaking through a back door that has been purposely left wide open by careless politicians.

Here Is The List Of Donald Trump's "Priority" Infrastructure Projects

With the topic of infrastructure investing dominating today"s newsflow after the NYT report that Democrats would support Trump if he endorsed their propsed list of some $1 trillion in infrastructure projects, which would create as many as 15 million jobs, the Kansas City Star and The News Tribune have compiled a presentation - based on internal White House documents - of about 50 infrastructure projects nationwide which comprise the "priority list" for US infrastructure projects in the coming years.

As McClatchy reports, the documents, circulated within the congressional and business communities, offer a first glimpse at which projects around the country might get funding if Trump follows through on his campaign promise to renew America’s crumbling highways, airports, dams and bridges.

Among the potential projects are a new terminal for the Kansas City airport, upgrades to Interstate 95 in North Carolina and the construction of a high-speed railway from Dallas to Houston. The document obtained by the Star proposes funding the projects as public-private partnerships, with half the money coming from private investment.

The priority list of “Emergency & National Security Projects" was put together by the Trump team, a senior congressional aide told Kansas City Star. It includes cost estimates and job impact numbers. According to the source, it is not clear whether that document is a draft or a final version.

The National Governors Association circulated a similar list as a spreadsheet among state officials in December, requesting further suggestions. All but two projects on both lists are the same. Some projects that governors suggested — in California and Washington state in particular — do not yet appear on either list. The governors’ association has received 43 responses from states and territories so far, said Elena Waskey, a spokeswoman for the association.

“The total number of projects is more than 300,” Waskey said. “We are working to convene information for as many states as possible that we will then forward to the administration.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Among the projects listed is a $10 billion proposal to replace the nation’s radar-based air traffic control system with one called NextGen, based on satellites. The document projects the project could create 2,300 direct jobs.

For those concerned about partisan bias among the proposed projects, here are some stats: in some states, such as Missouri, more than one project is listed, while others states appear to have come up empty. Neither document lists any projects in Kansas, for example. The National Governors Association asked governors’ offices last month for input on a preliminary list of infrastructure projects compiled by the Trump team, said Jaime Smith, a spokeswoman for Washington’s Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee.

“They seek examples of priority infrastructure projects that might be incorporated into a future infrastructure investment program,” said the letter from the governors’ association, dated Dec. 16. “Specifically, the transition team is looking for 3 to 5 project suggestions from each state that they would vet for inclusion in a new program.” The letter said the vetting would be done by a bipartisan infrastructure commission overseeing investments.

“The initial spend on these projects for 2017 is expected to be $150 billion, and the transition team hopes that this type of project will be continued over the next 2 years,” according to the letter. The letter also noted that any contributions governors made would not be binding, and that this was “just an initial information-gathering request.”

Once the Trump administration officially took office, the letter said, “there will be a more formal process for states to submit information. Projects will be chosen through a more formal process as well.” The projects have to meet specific criteria:

•  A national security or public safety “emergency.”


• “Shovel-ready,” with at least 30 percent of initial design and engineering work complete.


• Direct job creator.


• Project with the potential for increased U.S. manufacturing.

The governors’ association letter included a list of projects already being vetted, with the request that governors use it as a model for submissions.

The summary list of 50 proposed projects is below:

California"s Democratic governor Jerry Brown’s office sent nine examples of big shovel-ready projects in California, including the Sacramento River Bank Protection Project and Bay Area Commuter and Freight Projects. That preliminary list appears to be similar to the document obtained by McClatchy’s Star, with two differences: The preliminary list includes the Alaska Pipeline & LNG Project instead of the Texas Central Railway and it lists the Fort Mojave Solar Project instead of the Howard Street Tunnel.

Both the preliminary list and the more detailed document obtained by the Star include a new terminal for Kansas City International Airport. The detailed document says the project would cost $972 million and generate 1,000 jobs.  The Kansas City airport is one of three airport projects on the Trump team’s document. The others are expansions of the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

“The business case for a new terminal was bolstered after Southwest and the other airlines told the City Council on April 26 that they would finance the nearly $1 billion new terminal, to be built where Terminal A is now,” reads the document’s description for KCI, which lifts word-for-word a passage in a June 24 article in The Star. In North Carolina, the I-95 project would provide urgent improvements to one of the oldest sections of the busiest interstate in the nation, according to the document. The cost is listed at $1.5 billion, and the project would produce an estimated 5,400 jobs, the document says.

The 250-mile high-speed railway in Texas would enable commuters to travel between Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth in less than 90 minutes, according to the document. It is a $12 billion proposal that would create 40,000 direct jobs, the document says.

Other proposals include I-395 reconstruction in Florida and a Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project designed to conserve billions of gallons of renewable groundwater in California’s Mojave Desert.

The full presentation of 50 proposed projects is below (link)