I had the opportunity to host a lively book discussion as part of the annual “Dublin Reads” program hosted by the Dublin Library. This year’s book was entitled When We Were Colored by Eva Rutland, focusing on the successes and challenges of growing up as an African American both before and during the Civil Rights era. There were about fifteen people that braved the storm last Tuesday night to attend, and it was very interesting to hear everyone’s different perspectives both on the book and on the historical era that the book featured.

This is the third year the Library has hosted this event, which encourages the entire community to come together, read the same book, and participate in various activities. The program concluded Sunday with a special presentation by the author (who is now 92 years old) and her daughter (who is featured in the book). However, there are still copies of the book available at the Dublin Library if you are interested in checking it out.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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Although we haven’t even reached the 2010 elections, Alameda County Mayors’ Conference meeting for October was identical to our CMA meeting in that we talked about a possible ballot measure for November of 2010.

The Mayors’ Conference was hosted by Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums at the newly renovated Oakland Zoo, and the primary guest speaker was League of California Cities Executive Director Chris McKenzie. Chris spoke of the devastating impact that the recent state budget had on cities and counties, which was caused when the Governor and Legislature voted to seize local property tax, gas tax, and transportation dollars to balance California’s budget.

The initiative that we are sponsoring will close all loopholes and prevent the state from ever taking money from cities and counties. Although it will take considerable effort to gather over 1,000,000 signatures to place it on the ballot and wage a statewide campaign, early polling shows significant public support for protecting local governments. The Conference of Mayors decided to enthusiastically support the effort.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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At the recent Alameda County Congestion Management Agency (CMA) Administration and Legislative Sub-Committee meeting I attended, there was some discussion about moving forward with a possible transportation measure for the ballot in November of 2010.  This steams from a recent bill signed by the Governor giving counties the authority to place measures on the ballot to raise the Vehicle License Fee (VLF) by $10 to fund local transportation projects.  Given the recent state cuts to local funds, our local CMA is strongly considering moving forward.  This will be a major topic of discussion at our upcoming retreat in December.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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