Positions hels
CEO, Daniel Jonathan Fuller Memorial Fund
City Councilmember, District 5, City of Oakley, CA
Education
Doctor of Education, Special Education, University of San Francisco
Master of Arts, Special Education, California State University, Los Angeles
Master of Public Administration, University of LaVerne
Bachelor of Science, Sociology and Economics, Iowa State Univerity
Organizations
Master Mason, Morningstar Masonic Lodge #19, Stockton
Brother, Scottish Rite, Valley of Stockton
Lifetime member, American Legion, Post 202, Brentwood
Oakley Councilmember Anissa Williams is on a junket to China with Antioch Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe. I was surprised to learn of this turn of events in Oakley. The purported purpose of the trip is to build trade relations with China. Councilmember Williams is ostensibly attempting to make our distribution center appear an excellent investment and secure location to store goods shipped by China.
I thank Judith Prieve of the East Bay Times for writing an article about the junket. A link to a copy of the piece is below. I did see an announcement of the trip from Williams or the City of Oakley staff. Councilmember Shaw did not mention it during the Special City Council meeting of May 21, 2024, where Williams was absent. I will ask City staff how this lack of public information falls within the spirit of the Oakley City Hall government being transparent and forthright.
Mr. Joshua McMurray, City Manager of Oakley, is sending an item to the City Council dais next Tuesday evening, May 14th, to defund many items we have worked so hard to bring to the community so the Edward Cinquini Park will receive $1,000,000.00 in money to complete the park. The one million will be added to the $4,000.000.00 already allocated to the park, bringing the total to $5,000.000.00.
The items to be defunded include many community safety items that previous councils ignored and allocated money instead to “build favorites.” The items include defunding tri-light signals at Brownstone and Main St and Delta Road and Main Street tri-lights. Portions of the widening of East Cypress Road will be defunded.
As you know, this is a favorite of Councilmember Meadows and was the park resolution he introduced. The initial sum was for $2,000,000.00. I was reluctant to proceed, mentioning that I foresaw trouble with the item in the future. I was assured by Mr. McMurray no problems would arise. Later, Mr. McMurray returned a request for $2,000,000.00 for the park “to make it a presentable park.” I reluctantly voted for the item, bringing the total to $4,000,000.00. I owe the residents of Oakley for not “listening to my gut.” Trust me, I will vote no now for sure.
Now is the time to contact your council members regarding the issue. Yes, the voting block of Rotary Club of Oakley members (Shaw, Henderson, and Meadows) will vote to approve the item. This voting block brought the McDonald and Quick Quack Car Wash to Oakley and put them across from Laurel Elementary School.
Yes, people can contact Joshua McMurray to express their disappointment or support. He can pull the item from the agenda. However, remember, he is also a Rotary Club of Oakley member.
Below are links to the staff report regarding the defunding, a spreadsheet of what items will be affected, and a copy of an article by Judith Prieve of the East Bay Times about Edward Cinquini.
Youth Apprentice Week takes place this week. I have met with representatives of four trade unions in the Oakley area. The I.B.E.W., Sprinkler Fitters, Sheet Metal Workers, and Plumbing and Steamfitters inform me of their vital apprentice programs. All report that there is a need for candidates to fill the ranks within their apprentice programs.
Eric Volta, Superintendent of the Liberty Union High School District, recently spoke to the City Council. He explained that there is a trade apprentice program for the high school students at Freedom High School. I want to acknowledge the efforts for such a program within Oakley’s High School Below is a link to a United States Department of Labor reminder that this week is Youth Apprentice Week:
Today is International Women’s Day. In recognition, UNESCO published an article regarding the importance of girls’ and women’s education. I agree to the content unconditionally. I have attached a copy of the article and a copy of the investigative report UNESCO completed concerning girls’ and women’s education. We need to continue supporting education for women and girls in the United States and internationally.
The Oakley City Council is moving the City of Oakley to the days of yore, with Councilmembers Shaw and Williams leading the charge. During the council meeting of February 13, 2024, the two relished the opportunity to discuss the censure of council members and that council members should not talk of a development item coming before the council until three days before the item is decided.
The delayed announcement (secrecy) was the “old council” way. With the blessing of council members, Bryan Montgomery would keep a project, such as a fast-food joint, secret from the community. Then, the item would appear on the agenda three days before approval. The community would say they did not want it, but the council would approve it anyway. The answer for why they did so was, “we had no choice.”
With the blessing of Councilmember Williams, Councilmember Shaw said we must not speak of a new development project until three days before it goes to the council so “the developer gets a chance to talk.” It is prejudicial towards a developer to speak beforehand because the council member speaking of the project might sway the community against a development. If the council member does speak of a pending project before the three-day limit, the council member must be censured by the council.
Those who know me understand I will probably be censured many times by the council.
Maybe even set a new record for the number of times the censure of a local elected official occurred in the State of California. When I was elected to the council four years ago, I promised to inform the community of the City’s business. Councilmembers Williams and Shaw’s threats and acts of intimidation do not muster with me. I will notify the community of council business to the best of my abilities.
There is a special council meeting this Saturday, February 24, at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall to discuss the governance of the City. I am sure the discussion of the above will take place. Also, Councilmember Henderson has called for a council social media policy to silence councilmembers’ postings on social media platforms.
Unfortunately, the video of the meeting on February 13 is not yet available. I will post it when it appears on the City website.
George Fuller, Ed.D. - Aka - Dr. OG City Councilmember, City of Oakley, CA
Once again, we have council members on the Oakley City Council dais attempting to thwart transparency from City Hall. During the City Council meeting on January 23, 2024, I solidly endorsed the Oakley City Clerk, Libby Vreonis, abilities to provide detailed, valuable information regarding City Council meeting proceedings. I stated I would place the approved minutes on various social media platforms and compare those approved minutes with those created with their biased reporting of the council proceedings.
Sadly, abridged minutes were on the agenda at the February 13, 2024 meeting. I do not believe this was Ms. Vreonis’ unilateral action. The placement of minutes on the agenda is enabled by the City Manager, Joshua McMurray, in the manner he approves. Consequently, it is difficult to ascertain who is responsible for the change. I think a council member, afraid of being outed for false reporting of the meetings, demanded he change the detailed minutes. Mr. McMurray, in a professional manner, keeps confidential communications he has with other council members. So, he says it is what the council approved over a year ago.
One primary concern of mine is the minutes of January 23, 2024, when the council heard an appeal of a code violation. The person appealing the enforcement decision did not speak or understand English. He brought what I perceived to be a friend to translate for him. We had no way of knowing if the translation was correct. I commented on the situation, and our assistant city attorney informed us we could proceed.
During the proceedings, Councilmember Shaw referred to a large blue binder, saying the answer to a question I asked of staff was on a city document. Later in the proceedings, people can see Councilmember Shaw flipping through the pages of the binder. Afterward, I asked Mr. McMurray what those documents were, and he replied that neither he nor the city staff provided the documents. (Councilmember Shaw now denies she had the binder of documents on the dais.)
I voted to sustain the code violation, which cost the owner several thousand dollars and required him to repair the property. A problem of conscience I have is the property owner does not have a substantiated written record, which would allow him to appeal the decision. I do believe in America’s civil rights; people should be able to appeal any governmental decision accurately. We have hindered that civil right by abridging the minutes.
I do owe Ms. Vreonis an apology for my acclaim for her work. Apparently, praising her abilities got her “in Dutch” with other City Hall members.
Below is a link to a video of my comments regarding Ms. Vreonis’abilities and the hearing that took place regarding the code violation.
City Council meeting 01-23-2024
Below are links to the City Council Meetings of 01-09-2024 and 01-23-2024. I have highlighted the code enforcement appeal of 01-23-2024.
No new taxes is my mantra for Oakley. The Bay Area Housing Authority (BAHFA), in conjunction with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), placed a ten-billion-dollar bond issue for a nine-county area to build affordable housing. The bond issue will appear on the November 2024 ballot, and if the vote is two-thirds in favor, all households, including Oakley, will experience a property tax increase.
Residents in Oakley are overtaxed on their properties. The additional burden is unconscionable, especially when counties such as San Mateo could push the bond approval over the top. As citizens of Oakley, we need to get our minds set on ensuring the bond issue does not pass.
I will continue to post reminders of the vote as we move forward to the November 2024 ballot.
Councilmember Williams remarked on October 10, 2023, that Oakley was not doing enough for affordable housing. She can be heard saying the bond issue would enhance Oakley. Below is a link to the discussion of October 10, 2023, where I explain in detail my position concerning the BAHFA measure to increase taxes for Oakley residents.
October 10, 2023, discussion on BAHFA ten-million-dollar bond issue in November 2024.
George Fuller, Ed.D. City Councilmember, City of Oakley, CA
Ageism is well and active on the Oakley City Council dais.
During a debate for salary increases for Oakley City Council members, Councilmember Shaw said she did not want to see five council members living off their retirements on the dais. Shaw said Oakley needed youthful council members to enhance the community’s vitality. Shaw indicated the only way that would happen is if the council raised the stipends for council members.
Shaw implicated that unless the council enticed youth to the dais by paying them more money, the city would stagnate, fail to grow, and not enhance economic activity.
Let us see. I am living off my retirement. When my son, Daniel, drowned a little over ten years ago, in large part because of his disability, I wanted to create an ongoing tribute to him. I founded a non-profit organization to assist disabled postsecondary students in navigating the college campus. In doing so, I returned to school (University of San Francisco), earning a Doctor of Education in Special Education after seven years of intensive schooling. In the process, the citizens of Oakley elected me to the city council. I am now in the process of having the non-profit become operational.
I surmise that in Shaw’s perception, I should not be doing so because I am living on my retirement; thus, I do not have the physical or cognitive ability to complete the tasks at hand professionally.
I am an OG, as the saying goes. I guess my title is DrOG.
I invite others living off their retirements to add stories of their lives to this post.
I have provided a link to the council debate regarding council member salary increases. Councilmember Shaw says she does not want five people sitting on the Oakley dais living off their pensions.
Shaw’s call for more money to Oakley Councilmembers
George Fuller, Ed.D. City Councilmember, City of Oakley, CA
Ironhouse Sanitary District (ISD) intends to develop Jersey Island. The plans call for a wild animal park, residential development, and some recreational use. ISD submitted the proposal to Contra Costa County (CCC) for review. CCC is opposed to the concept because of the environmental dangers of the development of the Sacramento Delta. I agree.
The ISD letter alluded to Jersey Island being a financial burden to ISD. I often wonder if the City of Oakley should merge with ISD to alleviate its economic difficulties. I wonder why combining the two public entities did not occur when the City was incorporated.
Below is a link to ISD’s letter to CCC. Also, there are two links to CCC’s response to ISD’s letter.
Oakley is in a position to lose the opportunity to develop commercially zoned property that would increase tax revenue for Oakley residents. The high-density affordable housing proposal for Empire Av and Carpenter Rd, scheduled for discussion this Tuesday evening, January 23, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall, will be built on commercially zoned property if approved. The property is a prime location for traffic and surrounding residential housing. Such properties have a history of attracting businesses that generate a sizable sales tax revenue for cities. The high-density apartment-like housing would remove that property from commercial development, causing the town to lose potential income.
The loss of income is another reason I propose the high-density affordable housing complex for the intersection. I am still appalled that Councilmember Williams said, on October 10, 2023, during a council meeting, that the project is needed because Oakley has not built enough affordable housing and does not want affordable housing in our midst’s. The notion that Oakley has not constructed its share of affordable housing is untrue.
I mentioned a few days ago that the project is in a position to use regional general revenue bond money to construct the project. Homeowners and their families will pay the regional bond money to build affordable housing in a nine-county area through a property tax increase, reducing the money available for their families—another reason I staunchly oppose the project.
Now is the time to contact your council member to voice your concerns about the proposed high-density affordable housing project. One can do this by attending the city council meeting on Tuesday night or emailing the council at:
Below are links to a council meeting on October 10, 2023. One can hear Councilmember Williams say that she believes Oakley has not constructed adequate, affordable housing and backs the regional bond issue to ensure more affordable housing is built in Oakley.
The video is lengthy, so a link to the meeting minutes provided summarizes the conversation on the dais regarding affordable housing and the regional bond measure.
One will not see Councilmembers Williams and Shaw on the dais. They were on a junket to Orlando, courtesy of the Tri-Delta Transit. Both attended the council meeting telephonically.
I have provided links to an Empire Avenue and Carpenter Road vicinity map and the developer’s project concept.