Voices: River City

Today we're joined by a very special guest in Dr. Flojaune Cofer, candidate for mayor of Sacramento.

She's a public health expert, chair of a major Sacramento city citizens' committee, and community advocate.

Interestingly, we've never heard of Flo.

Enjoy our chat!

Thanks for listening and, as always:

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @ShanNDSTevens, @guillotine4you

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

Today we're discussing a disturbing story coming out of Sacramento County, where officials--seemingly unable to find a place to properly shelter the region's foster youth--have decided to illegally 'house' them in a former youth detention center's cells.

We then discuss Dianne Feinstein, the 89-year-old US senator from California who has been absent from the Capitol since she came down with shingles in February. While this hasn't terrible affected votes on the Senate floor, it has had grave effects in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which needs her present if Democrats want to outvote the GOP on President Biden's judge nominations.

 

Thanks for listening and, as always:

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @ShanNDSTevens, @guillotine4you

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

Today we discuss the massive win for unhoused Sacramentans in the Camp Resolution lease and, hopefully, how we can move with municipalities moving forward.

 

We also acknowledge the violence the county levied against our friends on the same day of this win, and what needs to be done about that.

 

Sacramento City Council's Law and Legislative Committee met this week to discuss further protections for tenants, and it went... okay.

 

Out in Chicago, leftist Brandon Johnson was elected mayor on an impressively progressive platform. We discuss the potential outcomes.

 

Thanks for listening and, as always:

Twitter: @youknowkempa, @ShanNDSTevens, @guillotine4you

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

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

Today we open with a chat about Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz getting owned by Senator Bernie Sanders over his union busting crimes and the absurdity of the billionaire "victim."

We're then joined by our friends with Social Justice Politicorps, who welcome every Sacramento resident to take part on their site in filling out local officials' report cards.

We then dive into canvassing in Arden Arcade and the challenges with slumlords and tenants' rights in the region, as well as the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors' vote to protect landlords, but not the nearly 600 vulnerable residents who may end up on the streets thanks to the nonprofit dissolving. 

Will any official be held accountable?

Thanks for listening and, as always:

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

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

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

Today we've got an incredibly long intro, wherein we revisit Dr. Flo's unorthodox approach to her friend's dating app strategy.

We then dive into the horrible streak of deaths of unhoused Sacramentans taking place over the last few days during a time in which city council and--in particular--City Manager Howard Chan refused to open up respite centers during a horrific timeline of inclement weather.

Will anyone be held accountable?

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

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

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

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

Today we're discussing the special election in District 6 for the Los Angeles City Council. Nury Martinez was pushed out of office after racist comments emerged in a secret audio file.

Today, in a special election, seven people in the district are vying for her seat. One LA Times reporter asked where the Left is landing in the race.

We discuss mainstream media's interest in progressive electoralist elements, and how that may translate to Sacramento.

We also take a moment for the far-right attacks in the Sacramento region against trans rights, and how both the community and media responded to the threat.

Wanna see some Proud Boys on the run? Watch here.

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

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

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

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

A lot is happening right now in Sacramento regarding trans rights, and not in a good way.

On Friday, March 10, a group run by far-right Canadian Jordan Peterson and Chloe Cole is holding a "detransition" rally alongside the California Republican Convention.

In response, Sacramento residents will be showing up to let them know that anti-trans folks are not welcome in our streets.

And on Tuesday, March 14, UC-Davis will be hosting Charlie Kirk, the far-right founder of Tea Party USA who recently said of the trans community that "someone should have just took care of it the way we used to take care of things in the 1950s."

Chancellor Gary May believes Kirk should be allowed to speak on campus on First Amendment grounds. Others disagree.

We're talking with friend of the show Evan Minton on these concerning local events, and on what Sacramentans can expect later this month on the Trans Day of Awareness. 

Want to support the trans community in Sacramento? Now's a great time to start!

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

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

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

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

Every couple of months or so, a rich person in California decides "enough is enough" on our homelessness crisis, and believes that they will be the one to spur the state into action.

 

Last month, that rich person happened to be billionaire partner at Sequoia Capital/San Francisco resident Michael Moritz, who has thrown millions of dollars into local elections to hamstring progressive initiatives to get folks into housing and connected to services. For some reason, his gripes about San Francisco ended up in print some 3,000 miles away, in the pages of the New York Times.

 

In the coming days, a number of Bay Area outlets wrote deft take-downs of Moritz's fact-free missive. Our favorite was the one by Joe Eskenazi in Mission Local. We take a moment to discuss this tired trend of billionaires spouting the same nonsense ad nauseam.

 

Oh, and did you hear? Sacramento's District 5 city council member Caity Maple held something of a town hall in response to residents' anger over the fact that she ran for office on a platform of demilitarizing the police, and then upon gaining office promptly voted to give Sac PD a tank.

 

There's no video available of the meeting, but journalists Tess Townsend and Robin Epley covered the bases quite well on Twitter.

 

We also take a moment to discuss the second failed recall attempt against District 4 council member Katie Valenzuela by angry rich folks. Funny how they tried to bury the lede by announcing their candidate to run against her in 2024 the day before news of the lame recall effort dropped.

 

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

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

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

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

Today we're discussing a phenomenon we've noticed in recent weeks since business ghouls and their East Sacramento toadies began to publicize an ADA lawsuit against the region's unhoused community, wherein they are attempting to pit folks with disabilities against folks without homes (as if there isn't a massive overlap between the two communities).

We discuss the potential effects of that, as well as another new tactic for the state to commit violence against residents who have next to nothing: Government officials are now regularly using inclement weather as a reason to push unhoused folks out of the places they've come to call home. This week, park rangers are pushing folks out of the "island" encampment in Sacramento--without offering any semblance of shelter--under the guise of public health.

The crew ends the episode with Dr. Flo sharing her expertise on what it means for Californians now that state and federal COVID emergency declarations are finally coming to an end. Is it time to celebrate? To hide? Tune in to learn more!

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

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

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

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

Longtime California Senator Dianne Feinstein has finally announced that she will not be running for reelection in 2024.

 

And it's no surprise. Folks around her have for years whispered concerns over the 89-year-old senator's "rapidly decreasing" memory and increasing "befuddlement." 

 

We take a moment to discuss Feinstein's long political career, that included nearly a decade as mayor of San Francisco, the trauma of finding her colleague Harvey Milk after he was shot by a disgraced politician, and working diligently to make public the CIA's illegal torture techniques in the Iraq war.

 

So what's next? We take a look at the three biggest contenders for California's open Senate seat: representatives Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee.

 

Oh, and remember when Sacramento City Manager Howard Chan tried to shut down an 80-person Safe Ground site for unhoused folks in vulnerable situations, seemingly out of spite?

 

He was forced to take an L on that this week, reopening the site with 15 trailers with heating and air that will serve 45 people in need of housing.

 

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

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

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/voicesrivercity  

Sacramentans can hear us on 103.1 KUTZ Thursdays at 6 pm and again Fridays at 8 am.

If you require a transcript of our episodes, please reach out to [email protected] and we’ll make it happen.

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