My latest column, a short recent history of the waterfront project… The city has recently assembled a citizen group tasked with rescuing the waterfront project—both the Intermodal Transit Center and the surrounding New Urbanism development that features residences, offices, retail, parks and open space. It is also key to the rescue effort needed to turn [...]

My latest column (from last week)… Councilwoman Joanne Ward is certainly doing everything she can to avoid recall. In fact, that is what has set her apart from Councilman Don Kuehne in recent months. Kuehne seems to be doing the opposite as he inexplicably continues to infuriate residents seeking reform. [...] While Kuehne relentlessly defends [...]

My latest column… It may be too little, too late—or, to be quite honest, way too little and definitely way too late—but Councilman Don Kuehne has certainly drawn a line in the sand. He is angry with the recall effort and he is willing to fight it, fists flying. Kuehne isn’t, however, really fighting the [...]

My latest column… Although this alternate reality is entirely fictional–and imperfect–it can be accomplished, or something resembling it. And considering the hard work and difficult decisions required, the people that come to my mind that are capable of making it possible are the likes of Charlie Long, John Delgado and Myrna de Vera–and, of course, [...]

My latest column… [Councilmember Don] Kuehne’s third response was a letter to the editor. It was mostly conciliatory and highlighted recent changes, but did not refute any of the recall’s charges. Kuehne’s final and official response however was much more combative, contending that the “grounds for recall are false.” While accepting financial mismanagement, conflict of [...]

My latest column… Ed Balico must be conflicted as he sits at home not a councilman for the first time in a decade. There is the legacy Balico thinks he has the right to—the one centered around a doodle on a napkin with a grand vision of a gondola, streetcars and a helipad–and the actual [...]

My latest column… [Fred] Deltorchio’s task is unquestionably daunting. Charles Long–before he was fired, and possibly the reason he was fired–reported that the city’s financial condition is in dire straits. The implication is lost jobs, lost projects, and reduced services, such as recreation and police. Deltorchio will report to a council with a majority that [...]

My latest column… And that is what is so perplexing about Oliva’s self-inflicted demise. His story is not unlike those told in Hollywood true-crime stories that document the rise and fall of individuals who take advantage of the system. Oliva leveraged a complacent electorate and a disinterested and disengaged council to perpetrate an ingenious scam [...]

My latest column, an analysis of the new council’s first meeting… The new City Council had its first full meeting Tuesday evening and it was clear from the outset that residents were going to witness a city conducting its business in an entirely different way, and it could not come at a more opportune time. [...]

My latest column, in response to the mayor’s inaugural rant… Councilman Ed Balico said in his inaugural remarks as mayor he did not want to hold the position for the coming year. Residents knew that was simply not true. Balico revels in the spotlight, and the mayor took advantage of his election–which did not come [...]

My latest column… In a stunning, provocative move clearly meant to send a stern message to dissident residents clamoring for change and transparency, the city council abruptly fired the interim city manager tasked with cleaning up the apparent mess left by the previous city manager, Nelson Oliva. Oliva was on indefinite sick leave until Tuesday [...]

My latest column… Long’s predecessor, Nelson Oliva, is still on the payroll and retains the official title of city manager, and it is now apparent that his ambitious activities as executive director of the redevelopment agency was a shell game, or a disorganized Ponzi scheme. It is surprising then that the attorney that provided the [...]

My latest column (from last week)… At Tuesday evening’s city council meeting, interim City Manager Charles Long presented a sobering reality to the community: the Sycamore North project is underfunded by $42 million, a remarkable 60 percent of the project cost. The total cost is $13 million more than was expected, and the city has [...]

My latest column… In the past two years, the City of Hercules has spent nearly $1.9 million in an effort to annex 500 acres north and south of Highway 4 on the eastern edge of town. The fruits of the expensive effort, however, will be the annexation of a meager 77 acres, now known as [...]

My latest column… Just how unstable the city was prior to reorganization efforts remains to be seen, but the biggest issue that residents now face is the possibility that the city simply may not be able to afford to build all the promised projects the city has been planning and presenting to the community for [...]

My latest column, where I outline the road ahead for the new council… Sixty percent of votes cast in Tuesday’s city council election went for the two change candidates, but the winners—John Delgado and Myrna de Vera—will only make up forty percent of the newly-formed governing body. In order to bring about the change they’ve [...]

My latest column, where I explain why I’m voting for the two challengers next Tuesday… Change for the sake of change is not a wise approach, but that is not the dilemma confronting Hercules voters this year. The two incumbents—Kris Valstad and Joe Eddy McDonald—have only exacerbated residents’ fears that they’ve been asleep at the [...]

My second column, where I whack incumbents Kris Valstad and Joe Eddy McDonald in this year’s election… Where there is smoke, there is likely fire, and putting truth to paper—although it is difficult to read at times—is necessary for a public to retain control over their government. The reports published in the Contra Costa Times, [...]

My first column, where I call for the City Attorney’s head… One troubling fact remains however. One person was there every step of the way: the city attorney. If the City Council is finally admitting that some of the business it had conducted, and how the city had conducted its business, was wrong or misguided—in [...]

I’ve agreed to a write a weekly column for the Hercules Patch newspaper — which launched today — and my first column is already up: City Attorney Must be Replaced Next. I think it makes sense, although the title does give it away. I’ve decided on the name Saltpeter for the column, and I think [...]