Voices: River City

Voices: River City

By VOICES: River CityNewsNews CommentaryPolitics
Download on the App Store

Voices: River City episodes

  • 95 - Tamika L'Ecluse on the American River Flood Control District board elections (10.2.2020)

    We're joined by Tamika L'Ecluse, board member of the American River Flood Control District, and rising star on Sacramento's "Squad."

    In 1862, California governor Leland Stanford was forced to take a rowboat to his inauguration due to flooding from the American and Sacramento rivers. Over the following 158 years, city and county leaders have made it a priority to ensure that the people of Sacramento were protected by robust levees.
     
    That's where the American River Flood Control District comes in.
     
    We talk with L'Ecluse about this year's election, in which two people will be chosen to ensure that the levees are safe and that the riverfront is accessible for enjoyment.
     
    Oh, and did we mention that one of her opponents is America's landlord,  Steve Maviglio? He made national headlines over the summer due to his comically tone-deaf response to a man in Washington, DC who had helped shelter demonstrators who were fleeing police violence.
     
    But the gaffes don't stop there.
     
    Last month the Sacramento Latino Democratic Club held candidate interviews, in which both candidates took part. After the LDC voted to endorse L'Ecluse, however, Maviglio responded with a childish Facebook comment, calling them "Very Trump like (sic)."
     
    He later edited the comment, but never apologized. You can read the thread here. 
     
    We also discuss the Take the Pledge initiative, which is encouraging political candidates to vow to take no contributions from law enforcement. L'Ecluse signed on, along with Councilmember-elect Katie Valenzuela, Sacramento City Council District 8 candidate Mai Vang and San Juan Unified School District board member Zima Creason.
     
    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.

    1 hr 19 min
  • 94 - Jackie Fielder, Candidate for California Senate District 11 (9.29.2020)

    Who is the 25-year-old indigenous woman that has the California Democratic Party so scared that they've poured over $100,000 into her opponent's campaign just this month?

    Meet Jackie Fielder, who is challenging state Senator Scott Wiener from the left in San Francisco's District 11.

    Fielder shares with us how the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline shaped her political trajectory, as well as how later battles in San Francisco against police misuse of Tasers and for taxing the rich to help ameliorate homelessness -- two issues on which she and Wiener disagreed -- helped spark her campaign.

    Fielder considers Julia Salazar, who won a seat in the New York state Senate in 2018 at age 27, a major inspiration. But this year we're seeing this story all over. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman in Congress. A whole team of socialists joining Salazar in the New York statehouse. Unapologetic leftists are challenging Democrats -- and winning.

    So can Fielder unseat Wiener, whose war chest includes contributions from deep-pocketed developers, tech CEOs and police unions? The California Democratic establishment appears to be taking her seriously, injecting Wiener's campaign with over $105,000 in September.

    Wiener had been avoiding a debate for months, but it appears that in these final weeks his hand is being forced as well. They'll spar on the issues on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m. Find out how to stream it here.

    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.

    1 hr 18 min
  • 93 - Sadalia King on Breonna Taylor and California's Fight for Black Liberation (9.25.2020)

    Breonna Taylor's killers were let go on the same day that, 65 years earlier, Emmett Till's killers were acquitted.

    We're joined by our friend Sadalia King to discuss the Louisville prosecutor's decision, as well as California's fight for Black liberation. We take a deep dive into Sacramento's last three years, looking at how Stephon Clark's death at the hands of police officers changed the trajectory of our city.

    There's also a bit of a tangent on art.

    Listen to this one all the way through, because it doesn't end when you think it's going to.

    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.

    1 hr 47 min
  • 92 - A Gaze of Raccs (9.22.2020)

    This week we discuss the $30 million said to be coming into Sacramento from Governor Gavin Newsom to help ameliorate our homelessness crisis by creating some 210 new units of permanent supportive housing. Shannon shares with us just how stressed things are in the world of emergency homeless services, and what we can do to help.

    Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg's strong-mayor power grab is well under way, and friend-of-the-show Sac Snark has compiled a spreadsheet of all the contributors into the mayor's slush fund over the past three years.

    In the two months since his Measure A campaign started, Steinberg's taken in about $140,000 in contributions, including a head-scratching $25,000 from a Los Angeles producer. You'll be a whole lot less surprised to learn that over half of the contributions came from groups that are explicitly against renters' protections in California. No wonder Darrell is fighting so hard against tenants.

    We also take a look back at earlier slush fund contributions, including $50,000 to Steinberg from the cops the year that Sacramento Police Department officers killed Stephon Clark in his grandmother's backyard.

    Finally, we learn just who is behind the Sacramento Democratic Alliance, a shady astroturf initiative created to strengthen the right wing of the Democratic Party.

    (It's exactly who you think it'd be.)

    Thanks for listening, arrest Breonna Taylor's killers and, as always:
     

    Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

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

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

    1 hr 13 min
  • 91 - The VOICES: California Voter Guide (9.18.2020)

    The November elections are fast approaching, so we're walking you through the 12 statewide propositions facing California voters, answering all of your biggest questions:

    How do we make Uber and Lyft stop exploiting their drivers? Why does Gavin Newsom hate renters? What's a kidney?

    Here's a glimpse at each proposition you'll be seeing on the ballot:

    Prop 14 - Do we keep funding the state's stem cell medical research initiative?

    Prop 15 - Should we make corporations pay their fair share in property taxes in order to fund California schools? (We covered that at length with Sacramento Democratic Socialists of America's Electoral Committee co-chairs here.)

    Prop 16 - Should California restore affirmative action?

    Prop 17 - Should incarcerated Californians regain their right to vote once they've served their time? Fun fact: Host Flojaune Cofer will be on a panel discussing this proposition for the Sac Change Coalition on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.

    Prop 18 - If a 17-year-old will be 18 by the time of a year's general election, should they be able to vote in the primary?

    Prop 19 - This bill would let Californians over 55 looking to buy a new home (to downsize, or to move to a house that only has one level, etc.) retain the tax base of the house they're leaving. It would also close a taxation loophole on family-property transfers, bringing tax revenue in to the state.

    Prop 20 - Should California return to its old reactionary ways by increasing felony sentences for non-violent crimes and restricting parole options for folks who have been convicted? (We cover this at length with Alana Mathews of the Community Justice Collaborative here.)

    Prop 21 - Does California need rent control? (Yes! And don't forget to vote YES on Measure C.)

    Prop 22 - Should we allow Uber and Lyft to continue exploiting their drivers? (Fuck no. And we cover this at length with Sasha Perigo here.)

    Prop 23 - Do we need to increase oversight on California's profit-hungry for-profit dialysis companies?

    Prop 24 - Does California's 2018 landmark data privacy legislation need these tweaks? (Data privacy nonprofits say no.)

    Prop 25 - Should California get rid of its racist and classist bail system for good?

    Oh, and we also take a moment to touch on the Sacramento strong-mayor campaign's email snafu. (Vote NO on Measure A, by the way.)

    Thanks for listening and, as always:
     

    Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

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

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

    1 hr 39 min
  • 90 - California Burning, with Moiz Mir of the Sunrise Movement (9.15.2020)

    It's early in the fire season, but already California has seen the worst year on record, with over 3 million acres (or 3% of the state's landmass) burned by mid-September. We're joined by the Sunrise Movement's Moiz Mir to walk us through how we got into this hellscape, and what we can do moving forward.

    Trump stopped by Sacramento on Monday. He didn't do or say much of consequence, but he did make his usual reactive statements on climate science and asserted that California needs to thin out its forests. There was a somewhat awkward moment where Governor Gavin Newsom pushed back on Trump's climate-denying claims, for what that's worth.

    The governor's office also gave federal officials a comically simple pamphlet on some of the more concerning facts around California wildfires in recent years.

    It's nice to see the Newsom say that he's taking the science seriously. But as Moiz will reminds us, actions speak louder than words. Since April, Newsom has approved 48 new fracking permits throughout the state.
     
    The Sunrise Movement is gaining power and prominence, and has in part been credited with Senator Ed Markey's defeat of Joe Kennedy III, as well as Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush's stunning primary wins for Congress. Here in California, we discuss what's to be done with Democrats who don't get on board with the Green New Deal, or who take money from big oil.
     
    Finally, we discuss what went down out in the streets during Trump's Sacramento visit, in which a Volvo clipped two anti-Trump demonstrators, sending one to the hospital, and a California Highway Patrol vehicle abruptly sped up when a demonstrator that it tried to bump climbed onto the hood, sending the young man flying to the ground. He also required an ambulance.
     
    Are the stakes and temperature rising? From his podium, Trump brags about federal forces for extrajudicially killing the man who allegedly killed a rightwing agitator in Portland a couple weeks back. Down in Los Angeles, a man walked up to a county sheriff's vehicle and shot both deputies inside.
     
    How did we get here? And what happens next?
     
    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.

    1 hr 19 min
  • 89 - Bamby Salcedo of the Translatin@ Coalition (9.11.2020)

    This week we're joined by Bamby Salcedo, founder of the Translatin@ Coalition and one of a number of tireless trans women who fought to get three bills onto Governor Gavin Newsom's desk this month.

    Bamby shares with us her incredible life story, and how she beat the odds to survive life on the streets, addiction, prison and anti-trans violence to end up where she is today, helping to protect and grow the trans community throughout the world. (For more on Bamby's story, check out the documentary Transvisible: Bamby Salcedo's Story.)

    She also takes a moment to tell us about three bills that she and a coalition of California trans rights groups fought to get in front of the governor:

    • AB 2218 - The Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund, which would ensure that transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex Californians get the health care and resources that they need. This is a historic bill, as it is the first ever to be designed, organized and championed specifically by trans and gender-nonconforming people.
  • SB 132 - This bill would ensure trans women's safety in prison, allowing them to avoid serving time in men's prisons, where they could be subject to harassment and violence.
  • SB 555 - This would drastically drop the amount of money an inmate in county jail would have to pay to talk with their loved ones over the phone.

    • Bamby urges listeners to contact Governor Newsom and urge him to sign these historic pieces of legislation.

    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.

    1 hr 34 min
  • 88 - Gavin Newsom's John Hancock (9.4.2020)

    California lawmakers entered the end of session Monday facing a number of important bills fashioned to curtail police violence against state residents.

    Sadly, given the madness of the evening, some bills--such as SB 731, which would have stopped problem cops from finding work in the state, SB 776, which would have made more police misconduct records publicly available, and AB 66, which would've restricted cops' use of rubber bullets and pepper spray and banned tear gas against demonstrators--didn't even make it to a final vote.

    A few cop reform bills will be crossing Governor Gavin Newsom's desk, however:
    • AB 1299 - Would make police agencies alert the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training if an officer resigns or is fired during a misconduct investigation. The department would then have to complete its review and follow up with details of the findings, which would create records that would be disclosed of the cop tries to find another job in policing.
  • AB 846 - Would make departments include in evaluations of prospective cop hires any bias against demographics like race, gender, sexual orientation or religion. It would also make police recruiting materials highlight 'community relations' as part of the job.
  • AB 1196 - Bans carotid artery restraints and choke holds.
  • AB 2054 - Creates a pilot grant program for community organizations to handle certain first-response crises instead of law enforcement. (See our episode with Asantewaa Boykin of MH First to learn more on this concept.)
  • SB 629 - Lets media representatives into areas closed off by law enforcement during demonstrations and rallies, and would prohibit cops from citing the press.
  • AB 1506 - Elevates more cases of cops killing unarmed people to state attorney general investigations (as opposed to just the local county district attorney addressing them).
  • AB 1185 - Allows voters and county boards of supervisors to create oversight committees on sheriff's departments with actual subpoena power.
    • Here in Sacramento County, Supervisor Pat Kennedy is already moving to create such an oversight committee, publishing this op-ed in the Sacramento Bee two days after AB 1185's passing through the legislature.
     
    You may have seen this heartening article on California's firefighting inmates seeing a law pass through the legislature that would give them a path toward becoming firefighters after their release from prison. The state cop lobby's response?
     
    "To fully expunge a felon's record in exchange for this work is not warranted, is dangerous to the public and fails to recognize the impact to the victims of the inmate's crimes."
     
    That's rich, coming from a group that regularly protects killer cops from facing any consequences for their actions.
     
    Thanks for listening, I'm Ed Mahkey and, as always:
     

    Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

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

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

    1 hr 10 min
  • 87 -Autumn Gonzalez of NorCal Resist (9.1.2020)
    In times of rising fascism and a capitalist state that refuses to care for its most vulnerable, the people come together to take care of one another.
     
    We're joined by Autumn Gonzalez of NorCal Resist, an incredible nonprofit working to protect our undocumented neighbors and, more recently, supporting our friends and leaders in the streets fighting for Black liberation. Autumn gives us the history of NorCal Resist, and then talks us through some of the more recent work they've been doing to help get demonstrators in jail with bloated bail back into their homes.
     
    Sacramento saw multiple nights of demonstrations in support of Jacob Blake over the weekend. In response, California's largest adult thumb--Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones--said he was going to crack down on them. We saw a few arrests over the weekend, but two of them strike us as particularly concerning.
     
    Despite NorCal Resist posting bail for them, two people are being kept in jail on a 1275 hold, which is usually used on people that the prison system believes got their bail money through illegal means. Defense attorneys all over the state are gobsmacked at the audacity of using such a measure against demonstrators, and Autumn reminds us that the California Highway Patrol pulled the same fascist nonsense against demonstrators fighting for undocumented rights outside Governor Gavin Newsom's home just a few weeks back.
     
    Want to support the two people in jail? There's a demonstration outside the Sacramento County Jail on Tuesday, September 1, at 3 p.m.
     
    Did you hear about the confounding piece of legislation (AB 6) that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is trying to push through the state legislature? It would succeed in doing a number of unrelated things: 
     
    • Consolidate power to sue the drug companies responsible for the opioid crisis to the California Attorney General's office (pulling it away from local governments)
  • Increase Becerra's office's power over the California Department of Fish and Wildlife 
  • Increase his staff by 16 people

    • All of this while he fights against AB 1506, which would allow county district attorneys and police forces to enlist the state attorney general to conduct independent investigations into police shootings. Why? Because he apparently doesn't have the bandwidth.

    Thanks for listening, ACABA and, as always:
     

    Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

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

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

    1 hr 14 min
  • 86 -Jacob Blake, Kyle Rittenhouse and Kenosha, WI (8.28.2020)
    This week police in Kenosha, WI, shot an unarmed Black man named Jacob Blake multiple times in the back at close range, right in front of his three children. Blake is alive, but paralyzed from the waist down.
     
    Since then, unrest has erupted throughout the city, with young residents demonstrating nightly for justice.
     
    Things took an even more horrifying turn Tuesday night, when armed, white vigilantes came out to 'defend' local businesses. They appeared to work arm-in-arm with police, who gave them water, thanked them and did not enforce the curfew on them. One gunman, a 17-year-old from Antioch, IL, named Kyle Rittenhouse, shot three demonstrators--killing two.
     
    Demonstrations have once more popped up throughout the nation, with two taking place Thursday evening here in Sacramento. Before the protests, Mayor Steinberg released a statement in support of the early one in Caesar Chavez Plaza, but quaking in his boots over the one scheduled at 8 pm, which has been elevated on a Facebook group titled Antifa Sacramento.
     
    Not to be outdone by Mayor Steinberg or the anti-fascists, Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost released a Facebook statement of her own that appeared to advocate for violence against the demonstrators. She's since edited it, but here is the original, now deleted text:
     
    "If we don't start taking back peaceful control of our streets, then we are going to see the same kind of rioting as Portland, Minneapolis, and other cities."
     
    Strikes us as a bit authoritarian, even for one of the Darth Susans.
     
    Also on the episode: A brief update on COVID in California from VOICES: River City's resident epidemiologist.
     
    Thanks for listening, the California Highway Patrol must face consequences for killing Eric Salgado and, as always:
     

    Patreon: patreon.com/voicesrivercity

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

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

    1 hr 20 min

About Voices: River City

From the publisher's feed

Voices: River City is an independent, socialist news podcast based out of Sacramento, discussing California politics. Local radio listeners can hear us Tuesdays at 5 pm on KUTZ 103.1, with a second…