Voices: River City

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Sacramento County is preparing for another round of shutdowns as the coronavirus tears through the region. So, naturally, a bunch of enraged Calibamans barged into the board of supervisors meeting this week to stop the county from taking proper safety protocol measures. 

Meanwhile, warming centers still aren't open in Sacramento, despite Mayor Darrell Steinberg's calls for them. When people ask Supervisor Phil Serna about getting money for this life-saving effort, he continues to balk.

At least some good news came out of the meeting: An effort by Sheriff Scott Jones and District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert to raise contribution limits in countywide races to $25,000 per person failed.

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.

Former President Obama's recent dismissal of the movement to defund the police was a perfect illustration of the fact that moderate Democrats simply have different values and objectives than progressives.

In this episode we examine what leaving the party would look like for progressives here in California, a state where Democrats own every statewide office and over three-quarters of the seats in the state legislature. When should the break take place? What does it look like?

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.

[Patrons can enjoy the full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/44663482]

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Concerned homelessness experts have been ringing the alarm for weeks on the need for action to protect folks out in the elements as the coronavirus rages and temperatures drop. Last week Capital Public Radio interviewed Greg Tarola about the dangers of living in the streets in these times. Just a couple of days later, Tarola, who'd said he had tested positive for coronavirus, died in the night under a soggy, cold blanket. Now Mayor Darrell Steinberg is joining the call to open warming centers.  

Changes are afoot in the effort to put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Californians have a lot of work to do to get this right. As vaccinations start to roll out this month, public health professionals and political leaders alike have the challenging task of convincing people to get inoculated.   

Our own Dr Flo was interviewed by friend of the show Erika Smith in the Los Angeles Times on what it will take to get communities of color to trust a coronavirus vaccine in the same America that is responsible for the Tuskegee experiment.   

In the Sacramento region, we're just getting settled in with an interim county CEO after Nav Gill's repeated COVID flubs. Now, however, Sacramento County's top health chief Peter Beilenson is stepping down (a couple weeks after referring to Asian Americans as 'yellow folks').   

With these two gone--as well as a sheriff sick with coronavirus--Sacramento County has the potential to start making some strides forward in public health. But cases are spiking throughout the county, and a lot can happen before vaccinations start reaching residents in serious numbers.

Sacramento's leftist circles remember Michael Israel as a brilliant labor organizer, stalwart activist, and one of the first people to start rebuilding the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter a decade ago.

When a Turkish airstrike cut Israel's life short in November 2016 as he fought for Kurdish freedom in Rojava, his friends, family and comrades were devastated.

Kurdish revolutionaries revere him as a martyr. Leftists the world over know his story. But some mainstream American media outlets, when they did cover his passing, dismissively referred to him as an "extremist" and "anarchist."

We sit with Israel's longtime friend and fellow organizer David Roddy to set the record straight on the life, death and memory of Michael Israel.

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.

Kempa shares some history today, telling the story of how nearly 3,000 Americans went to Europe to fight fascists in the Spanish Civil War, even though the capitalist American government refused to take part because they didn't want to fight alongside communists.

We can draw a lot of correlates between the 1930s and today, including how it was never the moderates fighting fascists in the streets.

To learn more about the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, go to https://alba-valb.org/. 

Last Saturday a bunch of Proud Boys, "Stop the Steal" and other right-wing folks descended on the west steps of the state Capitol for the third weekend in a row since experts called the presidential election for Joe Biden.

They punched women, hassled legal observers and were overall just sort of horrible to everyone but the cops, whose boots were immaculate when we walked over to view the damage later that afternoon.

It appears the Proud Boys will be back next weekend, along with the Freedom Angels and, we're sure, a number of other QAnon and far-right folks. We take a moment to let our listeners know what they can do to take care of themselves if they decide to go out and meet them.

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.

We're joined today by Ayotunde Ikuku and Ome Tieu of Sacramento's Gender Health Center to discuss the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The trans community in the US--particularly trans women of color--faces a terrible amount of violence and prejudice.

Ayo and Ome explain why that is, and share why the services provided at GHC are so essential in a time when the average doctor is so deeply lacking in trans competency. (Not only that, the Trump administration last summer pushed through a policy allowing doctors to discriminate against trans patients.)

Ayotunde also takes a moment to discuss the #EndSARS movement, and what it means to them as an American of Nigerian descent trying to do their part.

A quick reminder to our listeners: Giving Tuesday is coming up, and what better place is there to support than the Gender Health Center, a nonprofit that regularly saves lives?

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.

California's homelessness crisis deepens in the face of spiking coronavirus cases and dropping temperatures, yet we just can't seem to get it together to take care of one another.

Sacramento listeners may remember the city's push to protect some 100 residents experiencing homelessness by buying an old hotel on Bercut Drive in the River District.

But a truly awful developer who was building a luxury apartment complex across the street decided to sue the city to stop the humanitarian effort. And the business district followed suit.

Luckily for the capitalists the project has been halted, but not because of their lawsuits. The city came up against in the appraisal process. Meanwhile, high-risk populations in Sacramento and beyond continue to face the possibility of eviction.

On a lighter note, it appears that the biggest losers in California elections were the police and prison guard unions. They threw millions upon millions of dollars against candidates calling for police reforms--and they came up short. Here in Sacramento, every founding member of Sac Take the Pledge who was running for office, won.

Now state legislators are taking note. Is California in store for a year of unprecedented police and prison reforms?

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.

Most of us only have one or two dunks left to rain on sulking Trump supporters, which is why we're spending this episode taking a look at what's on the horizon for California.

Inspired by recent ballot wins in the American West, California is taking a serious look at legislation to decriminalize the possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms. It's a great idea that only nerds would hate.

Perhaps that's why California's Senate GOP caucus took to Twitter to complain, and why one GOP consultant dropped this gem:

"Before long CA Dems will want to legalize crime."

Fuck yeah.

Unfortunately, it's not all good news in the Golden State, which is joining the other 49 in a new wave of coronavirus infections. We discuss what we fear may be a cold, lonely holiday season, and how eight months of pandemic have increased our general empathy.

We can't help but think that the $104 million in federal COVID relief funding the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is breathing all over would be mighty useful right about now.

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.

Two weeks ago Sacramento County CEO Navdeep Gill refused to resign from his post, even after giving $104 million in coronavirus relief funds to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department last summer, and after holding an in-person meeting of dozens of county officials in which few wore masks. One attendee tested positive for coronavirus, and 10 others were forced to quarantine.

But the people of Sacramento County won't back down so easily.

County health workers sent the board of supervisors a packet Monday night leveling multiple allegations against Gill, describing a culture of bullying and harassment against women in the Department of Health Services.

Emails and files are also coming to light showing that Gill and his staff lied to officials at an August 11 Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting. At the meeting, the county CEO claimed that DHS got everything they'd asked for, but county data shows that they had denied multiple important requests from health officials, including $12 million to protect the region's vulnerable homeless population in hotels during the pandemic (as Governor Newsom directed counties to do).

Conversely, another email chain shows just how easy it was for the sheriff's department to receive $104 million in coronavirus relief funding. Former County Chief Fiscal Officer Britt Ferguson told the sheriff that his deputies' pay could be covered entirely as long as they spent one-third of their time on COVID-related activities.

Now a rising chorus of community members are joining supervisors Serna and Kennedy in the call for Nav to step down.

Want to learn more about Gil's bad management in the face of a global pandemic? Check out this slideshow presentation.

We also discuss the infuriating and, at times, hilarious Sacramento Police Officer Survey released last week. Turns out the police view themselves much differently than how people actually view them.

Thanks for listening, defund the police and, as always:

Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @guillotine4you, @ShanNDSTevens, @Flojaune

And thank you to Be Brave Bold Robot for the tunes.