City of Alameda Website Down
As of 6:25pm, June 30, the City of Alameda website has been down for roughly 30 minutes.
Archive for June, 2008
Mayor Trades Autos for Restaurants
The steady drumbeat from Alameda City Hall is that the new Alameda Theatre, Cineplex and attached skateboard park, or rather, Parking Garage, will drive sales tax revenue for the City of Alameda. Nevermind that movie tickets themselves are not taxable, the new revenue is supposed to come from the taxables sales at restaurants, when people [...]
Alameda Power and Telecom Cable Subscribers Down
The impending sale of Alameda Power and Telecom’s cable and internet division must be deterring Alameda residents from signing up for cable TV service. According to the May 2008 General Manager’s report, presented to Alameda’s Public Utilities Board on June 16th, cable TV subscribers continued their decline from 9,557 subscribers in June of 2007, to [...]
Megaplex Not The Solution to City’s Financial Woes That Some Say
Alameda City Hall likes to talk about how the new cineplex and parking garage will drive more sales tax revenue for the city. They present it as some sort of financial savior for Alameda’s woes. However, movie theatre tickets are not taxable, so the Alameda cineplex itself won’t generate sales tax revenue for the city. [...]
City Subsidized Theatre Rejects Union Labor
Martin Lipow, president of Local 169 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts (IATSE) says that un-trained, non-union employees in the projection rooms at the new Alameda Theatre are likely to damage film prints and increase the costs for maintaining equipment at the theatre. Lipow says that [...]
Alameda Redevelopment Revenues Top $15 million
The California State Controller’s office has published on their website their annual report on California redevelopment agencies for the 2006-07 fiscal year. Total revenues including property tax increments, interest income and “other” revenue has topped $15 million.
That’s $15 million that doesn’t go into the general fund to pay for city services such as police and [...]
Webster Street Restaurant Darling Turns Away Groups
Action Alameda has been contacted by several parties who have tried to dine at the new Webster Street darling, Acquacotta, but have been turned away.
Apparently, Acquacotta routinely turns away groups of 5 or 6 people, without so much as an apology. The dining room is set up in tables of four or two, and reports [...]
Mayor Johnson Bans Fun in City Parks
In a knee-jerk reaction to juveniles skateboarding in the new Civic Center Parking Structure, Alameda City Council has seen fit to prohibit bicycle riding in all city parks, recreation areas, structures and public property. To defend the new ordinance, Mayor Johnson said “In a park though, we don’t want them riding all the way through [...]
See Video on Vallejo for What Awaits Alameda
See this KTVU police ridealong video for a sample of what Vallejo is facing, post bankruptcy.
Consider this as Alameda wrestles with it’s own budget crisis. But Alameda has $10 to $12 million each year in property taxes diverted from the general fund to pay back redevelopment bonds, to fund things such as the parking garage [...]
City-subsidized Theatre Picketed for Not Hiring Union
The city-subsidized Alameda Theatre was picketed today for not hiring union projectionists, who would be members of the Operators Union, IATSE 160 AFL-CIO. IATSE is The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts.
