More problems

yeah what does those high-paying City Heads do in Vallejo?

colin, Vallejo is NOT an island city. better check the map.
"As an island city, how do we bring people to Vallejo, across bridges and over hills?" they come both by bridge and highways which do have hills. some come by ferry.

"* With the passage of Senate Bill 731 concerning the certification of massage therapy in the California, why hasn't Vallejo been one of the first cities to update its laws to take the pressure off the police department and free up officers for the street? The regulations of this law will also make it difficult for businesses to front as prostitution in the city, allowing even more time for policing."

so how many offiers do you know are assigned to this task? 1" 5" 20? only when complaints come in? and just why should vallejo be one of the first to make local laws to cover this? the passage of sb 731 makes it a state law over rideing local laws.

It is not the plastic bags that are a problem.
It is the pig scum people that live in tihs God forsaken slum...

Never seen so many pigs in my life..

Colin,

Here are my responses:

Concerning 201 Maine and its effect on our downtown:

The only way to reduce the crime coming from 201 Maine is to put enormous financial pressure upon the owner and operator of this property, in the form of increased fines to pay for the numerous and unnecessary police and fire calls there. This and careful screening of all tenants, future as well as present, for past criminal records and or mental health issues will in the long term weed out the trouuble makers from the decent poor people who live there too.

To keep police and fire fighters:

We need to start by showing our respect and support of them. Then we need both sides to come together by participating in and attending more community gatherings and events in order to restore and rebuild a positive relationship with them and the public. It is essential for their morale, to have a community that supports their fire fighters and police. We also need to stay competitive with our wage and benefit packages compared to other Bay Area cities, but within reasonable limits we can afford to offer.

Concerning the City Manager:

I believe we have FINALLY gotten ourselves an excellent revenue driven, excellent communicator and expert leader in our new City Manager Bob Adams who was picked "in house" and not from a frivolous and expensive search process. I hope everything is done to convince him to become our permanent City Manager once his temporary tenure expires. If he doesn't stay, we have other well qualified persons who we can choose from who are already under the Citys employ.

Concerning Triad and Lennar:

We need to get rid of both of them and impose a residential construction moratorium until we have sufficient retail and commercial sevices to support our residents. Lennar should have been required to develop a commercial reuse plan at the same time they developed their unsuccesful residential one for Mare Island. Had this been the case and the dry docks had been operational we would have not had to enter into bankruptcy.

Plastic bag ban:

LONG OVER DUE!

Sound walls:

Not a bad idea but they need to be built with an aesthetic presence in order to acheive their purpose but not visibly wall off the city from potential drivers who may other wise see something attracting them to stop and shop or stay here.

A casino:

Personally I am for it but ultimately I beleive it should be decided by a ballot issue, a simple yes or no decided by the voters. Concerning its location, Mare Island may not be trhe best location due toi its limited access and egress. One accident or break down on 37 and it comes to a halt and the one lane each way bridge is no better. Unless these isues are corrected Mare Island is not a godd location. The fair grounds location would be an excelent location though. Making a casino highly visible and easily accessible to all.

Massage therapy in Vallejo:

The local law pertaining to this as well as other laws that unnecessarily burden our police, need to be rewritten to coincide with state and modern standards. Our city charter is presently under review for this very purpose. I suggest you contact the charter review committee and attend one of their meetings so you can raise this issue with them.

For more on where I stand visit my website:

kurshanforvallejocitycouncil.viviti.com

Thanks for your views, Mr. Kurshan! I hope the other candidates are inspired to comment here.

Better be careful Frank, In a minute the trolls will be accusing me of posting as you to create artificial support for myself.
Pretty sad huh?

Same thing over here with the housing off Columbus. Even Touro for that matter. They come in waving nice renderings around, the city goes ga-ga, then there is no recourse for when they don't deliver. I still can't believe candidate Brown ASKED for Triad's endorsement.
Incredible!

The issue of the Mare Island dry docks is going to heat up. Battle lines are being drawn.

The leadership of the USS Iowa project now seems to be a large OPPONENT of the activation of the Dry Docks. This is due in part to a decision that was made some years ago to site the USS Iowa museum ship right at the pier between Dry Docks 1 & 2 on mare Island. I don't know who made that decision, or why, but it was not only a WRONG decision, but STUPIDLY wrong.

But it is even MORE wrong, and MORE stupid, to permit the theoretical USS Iowa berthing to inhibit the commercial development of Mare Island. Furthermore, to permit the USS Iowa project or anything else to keep the DRY DOCKS on Mare Island shut down forever is not only stupid but reprehensible. It is APPALLING that the dry docks have been idle for all these years as it is.

It must be understood that there are elements in this town, including some residents of Mare Island, who want Mare Island to be nothing but a sea of homes with some idle amenities like Starbucks and a restaurant with a view. Those elements MUST be opposed and their vocal complaints about an industrial Mare Island countered with facts and a vision for the future.

In addition, the funding that the USS Iowa project seeks from out of state entities comes with some conditions, conditions that should be unacceptable not only to the citizens of Vallejo, but to all Californians as well.

The concept of bringing the USS Iowa to Mare Island is a worthy idea, but the project seems to be moving in a curious direction.

*** How do you plan on keeping police and firefighters?***

Fair coming Saturday for police, firefighter positions
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/gettowork...

The Santa Clara County Association of Recruiting Officers will hold a recruitment fair on Saturday, September 26th, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the South Bay Regional Public Safety Training Consortium at 3095 Yerba Buena Road in San Jose.

This is remarkable. A candidate for elected office who actually replies to citizens--on a public forum--without invoking the Brown Act.

This alone should get Kurshan elected for it makes him unique. As for other candidates who keep their yaps shut except when asking for campaign contributions, I'd suggest they get with the program, listen to the people of Vallejo wh do NOT pay them money, and tell us what their intentions are & what they actually think about the real issues that confront this town.

tramky wrote:

The issue of the Mare Island dry docks is going to heat up. Battle lines are being drawn.
The leadership of the USS Iowa project now seems to be a large OPPONENT of the activation of the Dry Docks. This is due in part to a decision that was made some years ago to site the USS Iowa museum ship right at the pier between Dry Docks 1 & 2 on mare Island. I don't know who made that decision, or why, but it was not only a WRONG decision, but STUPIDLY wrong.
But it is even MORE wrong, and MORE stupid, to permit the theoretical USS Iowa berthing to inhibit the commercial development of Mare Island. Furthermore, to permit the USS Iowa project or anything else to keep the DRY DOCKS on Mare Island shut down forever is not only stupid but reprehensible. It is APPALLING that the dry docks have been idle for all these years as it is.
It must be understood that there are elements in this town, including some residents of Mare Island, who want Mare Island to be nothing but a sea of homes with some idle amenities like Starbucks and a restaurant with a view. Those elements MUST be opposed and their vocal complaints about an industrial Mare Island countered with facts and a vision for the future.
In addition, the funding that the USS Iowa project seeks from out of state entities comes with some conditions, conditions that should be unacceptable not only to the citizens of Vallejo, but to all Californians as well.
The concept of bringing the USS Iowa to Mare Island is a worthy idea, but the project seems to be moving in a curious direction.

This was an excellent post Tramky. Most of us that care have spoke to the Iowa people and we can see that they mean well. They are good people. They've found themselves caught between these two opposing forces you describe. The progressive "not in my backyard" group and the pragmatists who advocate for jobs. I think lennar and the other obstructionist forces used Iowa as a pawn, proposing placement of the boat across the dry dock assets to kill any chance of maritime industrial activity. I predict the sun is setting on the NIMBY forces and lennar now realizes they must get on the Obama Jobs bandwagon. The political risk to Lennar is now too great to stay in the progressive camp.

Tramky,

Thank you for your kind remarks and your excellent posts concerning Mare Island and the Dry Docks.

If we have not already met I look forward to the opportunity to do so. Perhaps the November 2nd public hearing concerning the Mitigated Negative Declaration (the document that lists all environmental constraints under which the operators of the dry docks must abide or face closure) at City hall at 7pm would be that opportunity.

Sincerely,

The peoples candidate.

Sam Kurshan

Kurshan for City Council wrote:

Tramky,
Thank you for your kind remarks and your excellent posts concerning Mare Island and the Dry Docks.
If we have not already met I look forward to the opportunity to do so. Perhaps the November 2nd public hearing concerning the Mitigated Negative Declaration (the document that lists all environmental constraints under which the operators of the dry docks must abide or face closure) at City hall at 7pm would be that opportunity.
Sincerely,
The peoples candidate.
Sam Kurshan

you are not the people's candidate sam, yu are the meds candidate. we all love it when you talk to yourself on the blogs

don't forget to take the dog for a walk sam

Kurshan for City Council wrote:

Colin,
Here are my responses:
Concerning 201 Maine and its effect on our downtown:
The only way to reduce the crime coming from 201 Maine is to put enormous financial pressure upon the owner and operator of this property, in the form of increased fines to pay for the numerous and unnecessary police and fire calls there. This and careful screening of all tenants, future as well as present, for past criminal records and or mental health issues will in the long term weed out the trouuble makers from the decent poor people who live there too.
To keep police and fire fighters:
We need to start by showing our respect and support of them. Then we need both sides to come together by participating in and attending more community gatherings and events in order to restore and rebuild a positive relationship with them and the public. It is essential for their morale, to have a community that supports their fire fighters and police. We also need to stay competitive with our wage and benefit packages compared to other Bay Area cities, but within reasonable limits we can afford to offer.
Concerning the City Manager:
I believe we have FINALLY gotten ourselves an excellent revenue driven, excellent communicator and expert leader in our new City Manager Bob Adams who was picked "in house" and not from a frivolous and expensive search process. I hope everything is done to convince him to become our permanent City Manager once his temporary tenure expires. If he doesn't stay, we have other well qualified persons who we can choose from who are already under the Citys employ.
Concerning Triad and Lennar:
We need to get rid of both of them and impose a residential construction moratorium until we have sufficient retail and commercial sevices to support our residents. Lennar should have been required to develop a commercial reuse plan at the same time they developed their unsuccesful residential one for Mare Island. Had this been the case and the dry docks had been operational we would have not had to enter into bankruptcy.
Plastic bag ban:
LONG OVER DUE!
Sound walls:
Not a bad idea but they need to be built with an aesthetic presence in order to acheive their purpose but not visibly wall off the city from potential drivers who may other wise see something attracting them to stop and shop or stay here.
A casino:
Personally I am for it but ultimately I beleive it should be decided by a ballot issue, a simple yes or no decided by the voters. Concerning its location, Mare Island may not be trhe best location due toi its limited access and egress. One accident or break down on 37 and it comes to a halt and the one lane each way bridge is no better. Unless these isues are corrected Mare Island is not a godd location. The fair grounds location would be an excelent location though. Making a casino highly visible and easily accessible to all.
Massage therapy in Vallejo:
The local law pertaining to this as well as other laws that unnecessarily burden our police, need to be rewritten to coincide with state and modern standards. Our city charter is presently under review for this very purpose. I suggest you contact the charter review committee and attend one of their meetings so you can raise this issue with them.
For more on where I stand visit my website:
kurshanforvallejocitycouncil.viviti.com

Sam this is exactly what I asked you for awhile back.
I have been waiting to see this from you and now that I have you now have my vote.
I still think you let silly people get to you too much but hey nObody is perfect.
Now the question is (drum roll please) Who else do we vote for to turn our beloved V-town around?

While Lennar made a number of enormous mistakes over the years, they may finally be getting it right. They perhaps have had no choice since their vaunted residential plan for Mare Island went down in flames with the collapsed real estate market, mortgage crisis, and meltdown of the U.S. economy overall. But their early position on Mare Island was misguided at best.

I'm not sure I'd want Lennar to be tossed out now. First of all, they probably can NOT be simply tossed out. There's have to be a buyout, and the only entity that is in position to buy them out would be the City of Vallejo. And last we heard, the City of Vallejo HAS NO MONEY.

But more importantly, Lennar Mare Island is starting to get a clue, and the commercial potential of Mare Island has finally sunk in. I do believe Lennar is doing the right thing about the dry docks project, and they have gotten Alstom Transport onto the island, which is an enormous building with an operation that also reinvigorates railway traffic in Vallejo and Mare Island.

There is pain, however, because of past decisions. The thing with the USS Iowa & the drydocks berthing was a tremendous mistake. I don't know if the USS Iowa is really viable, but it certainly is NOT imminent. I think the USS Iowa project should merge with the Mare Island Museum organization, and should do so when & if the USS Iowa achieves its needed funding.

And one other thing, any 'historic' designations that were placed on various Mare Island structures & areas by the Department of Interior 30 years ago or more should be revisited. No 'historic' designation should stand in the way of crating a Mare Island for the 21st century. What do I mean? The bomb shelters in the park, for one. They are atrocious; all but 3 of them should be removed--keep just 3 for 'historic' purposes. There is a LOT more to be said on THIS subject.

tramky wrote:

While Lennar made a number of enormous mistakes over the years, they may finally be getting it right. They perhaps have had no choice since their vaunted residential plan for Mare Island went down in flames with the collapsed real estate market, mortgage crisis, and meltdown of the U.S. economy overall. But their early position on Mare Island was misguided at best.
I'm not sure I'd want Lennar to be tossed out now. First of all, they probably can NOT be simply tossed out. There's have to be a buyout, and the only entity that is in position to buy them out would be the City of Vallejo. And last we heard, the City of Vallejo HAS NO MONEY.
But more importantly, Lennar Mare Island is starting to get a clue, and the commercial potential of Mare Island has finally sunk in. I do believe Lennar is doing the right thing about the dry docks project, and they have gotten Alstom Transport onto the island, which is an enormous building with an operation that also reinvigorates railway traffic in Vallejo and Mare Island.
There is pain, however, because of past decisions. The thing with the USS Iowa & the drydocks berthing was a tremendous mistake. I don't know if the USS Iowa is really viable, but it certainly is NOT imminent. I think the USS Iowa project should merge with the Mare Island Museum organization, and should do so when & if the USS Iowa achieves its needed funding.
And one other thing, any 'historic' designations that were placed on various Mare Island structures & areas by the Department of Interior 30 years ago or more should be revisited. No 'historic' designation should stand in the way of crating a Mare Island for the 21st century. What do I mean? The bomb shelters in the park, for one. They are atrocious; all but 3 of them should be removed--keep just 3 for 'historic' purposes. There is a LOT more to be said on THIS subject.

No one in their right mind would bid on demolishing the bomb shelters. That is VERY thick VERY reinforced concrete. The last guy who tried to remove some near Bldg. 851 found out just how strong they are and lost his shirt as his workers watched the wrecking ball bounce off that concrete all day just to take out a little of it. They went months overdue and much money in overtime destroy those shelters. The best idea is to leave them alone or bury them.

the bomb shelters make good places for sam kurshan to sleep at

dark vision wrote:

<quoted text>
No one in their right mind would bid on demolishing the bomb shelters. That is VERY thick VERY reinforced concrete. The last guy who tried to remove some near Bldg. 851 found out just how strong they are and lost his shirt as his workers watched the wrecking ball bounce off that concrete all day just to take out a little of it. They went months overdue and much money in overtime destroy those shelters. The best idea is to leave them alone or bury them.

now this is amusing. why do you think they call them bomb shelters!
thanks for the laugh!

It could be that that contractor didn't know what they were doing. A huge reinforced concrete building was taken down last year on Mare Island--it was a 5- or 6-story concrete building. It took months to demolish it with wrecking balls and hydraulic cutters. The sucker was an incredibly strong network of thick concrete and re-bar that connected ceilings, walls & floors.
The piles of gray 'gravel' just south of the roundabout on Azuar is what is left of that concrete.

It would likely take other methods to take out the bomb shelters in the park due to the proximity to huge trees, overhanging branches and the rest. The park would propbably be torn up doing it & would have to be restored--turf in particular. But that's not such a big deal and would be worth it.

Right now it is not a park, it is a wasteland of ugly concrete blobs that need to get taken out. And anyone who waxes poetic about their 'historic' significance needs to get back on their meds.

bldg 866 was just normal concrete construction. The bomb shelters have 1 1/2 inch rebar on 2 1/2 centers. Much more steel than concrete also they are two feet thick (mostly steel). They were made to protect from bombs as in direct hit.