An update for supporters and friends of Sogorea Te

by: Dan Bacher

Sat Jan 14, 2012 at 10:41:13 AM PST

Dear Warriors, Supporters and Friends of Sogorea Te,
I want to begin by thanking each one of you for your support in protecting and preserving Sogorea Te (Glen Cove), a sacred site that has been in what is now Vallejo, CA for over 3500 years. During our occupation of the land from April through July of last year, many of you were instrumental in putting aside your lives, giving of yourselves unselfishly, and participating in creating a living community. This community allowed us all to not only protect a sacred site, but also to see what is possible for humans when they come together and rely on one another, centered around a basis of spirituality and belief in one another.

Each time someone walked onto that land and paid respects to the fire, it strengthened the community as a whole. The miracle was not in just protecting the site, but in protecting each other and allowing the space to include almost anyone who came with a good heart and good intentions. Over the months that we lived together, we endured weather hardships, boredom, laughter, tears, celebrations, and disappointments. We created bonds that will stay with us forever; sometimes with people we would have never imagined being in our lives before Sogorea Te.

We were truly blessed by the ancestors, because we took a stand and because we opened our hearts and allowed a healing to happen. No one and nothing can take away these gifts. Our lives have been transformed and we can never be the same, nor should we want to be. We were all a part of something more than history; we were a part of a miracle, a complete transformation. When that sacred fire that burned for 109 days finally went out in the physical sense, it continued to burn in each of us individually. When we come together, our shared experience rekindles those flames and reminds us that we are human beings with a purpose.

Over the last few months, people have posted alarming pictures on Facebook and have written things about the desecration of Sogorea Te, stirring up great concern amongst those who hold this sacred land close to our hearts. We, the Committee to Protect Sogorea Te, have tried to look into each issue as it has arisen and want to be transparent with all of the people who involved their time and lives in protecting the land. Some of the Committee kept watch over Sogorea Te during the early stages of GVRD's park development project, while others, including myself, didn't see what had happened to the land until October, when we were able to end the 2011 Peacewalk there.

Let us not mince words. The sight of what had been done to our beloved land was devastating. We knew when we parted ways and crossed that gate on July 31st that Sogorea Te would never look the same again. But what we saw upon returning was nothing short of getting kicked in the gut. It literally took my breath away.

We mourn what once was. We celebrated a victory in July, and yet, looking at the land now makes this victory taste bitter in my mouth. Out of all that GVRD wanted to do with the land, we only asked for three things: that they not build bathrooms, not include a 15-car parking lot, and not grade a hill that contains] burials/cremations. These are for the most part what we won.

They are not going to build a bathroom, the parking lot is only two handicap parking places and will be located adjacent to the sidewalk. We were aware that GVRD planned to take out the invasive species of plants and tear down the mansion and, yes, even put in trails. However, when I went there several weeks ago, what I saw was that the entire site had been molested. The creek is virtually exposed, all of the trees have been cut down, and, to our dismay, the grading has occurred.

In December, we were able to visit Sogorea Te and walk the site with tribal monitors and other tribal representatives. As I walked along the area where the hill once stood, I looked for anything that could stop them from continuing the destructive grading, but couldn't find even a shell. The tribal representatives said that they did not find any cultural artifacts or remains and that the hill was only "fill". In fact, there were many cremations in the area, yet because the soil of the hill had been moved previously and 5ft of it has now been scraped off, finding remnants at this stage seems near-impossible.

It was frustrating that the tribal representatives didn't have any answers. When was the project going to be finished? "I don't know." Why did they take out native plants and still leave some of the invasive? "I don't know." Will the tribe make a statement or have a public meeting to let people that supported the tribe in obtaining a cultural easement know what is happening to the land? "No. We don't have to answer to anyone."

A tribal sovereign government is still a government. It is also a fact that this same tribal government allowed for the desecration of Sogorea Te in decades past and continues to make concessions to other developers, allowing desecration of other burial and sacred sites. Together we must decide what needs to be done to stop the on-going desecration of all of our sacred places.

The story of Sogorea Te is ours collectively. We each make up a part of the history that was a miracle. It is our voices that need to reach out to everyone. We stood up and lead a good fight. We protected a sacred site, and, at the same time, we protected ourselves and each other. We each brought to Sogorea Te our best and became better human beings because of this experience.

We all continue to mourn not just the loss of parts of the sacred site, but also the community we created and left behind. Human beings need to be needed, and for some, this sacred place gave us a place to belong, a place that we each had worth, and a place where prayers are answered. Our ancestors continue to bless us in so many ways.

I am eternally grateful to each person- elder, adult, youth and child. Grateful to the plants, animals, elements, and medicine that was shared. Grateful for all of the lessons learned and that I continue to learn from this experience. I am grateful to the Creator and the ancestors for allowing me to have such wonderful people cross my life path-and for the continued journey that they have in store for us, as we continue to be inspired by one another and look forward to that community that we all know is possible.

Corrina Gould, Chochenyo/Karkin Ohlone
On behalf of the Committee to Protect Sogorea Te

This update can also be found on the Protect Glen Cove webpage:
http://protectglencove.org/201...  

Vallejo Declares Bankruptcy

by: Robert Cruickshank

Wed May 07, 2008 at 07:50:24 AM PDT

After about four hours of discussion and public comment from the standing-room-only crowd, the council voted 7-0 to approve Tanner's recommendation to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection as a means to reorganize its finances, which have been shattered by spiraling public employee salaries and the plummeting housing market....

The city and its public safety unions have been at the bargaining table for about two years. The city is asking for its police and firefighters to take salary, benefit and staff cuts, while the unions say any further cuts would endanger public safety as well as the safety of the police and firefighters.

Vallejo spends 74 percent of its $80 million general fund budget on public safety salaries, significantly higher than the state average. The generous contracts are the result of deals struck in the 1970s, following a police strike that left the city in turmoil.

What is not said here, or anywhere in the article, is the reason for that public safety spending. Vallejo's police and fire services are understaffed - as are many agencies in California, in a little-known but extremely important and widespread phenomenon. City leaders have been loath to hire new workers, but they have also needed the public safety services - so the workers that are on the payroll have been working overtime. And overtime pay is usually always higher than regular pay.

Vallejo, like many California cities, wanted to maintain a high services and low tax environment, and has found this is not possible, especially when an artificially-created bubble bursts. Instead of accepting responsibility and seeking new revenues to balance the city's books without endangering the public, city leaders chose to blame the public workers for the problems and declare bankruptcy instead of avoiding the underlying issues.

To be fair, Vallejo is not in complete control of its own destiny. Decades of state and federal budget cuts, made to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, have had a trickle-down effect of eviscerating services and leaving cities more and more financially exposed as state and federal aid has begun to dry up. It's not exactly as if Bush and Arnold have directly told Vallejo to drop dead but through their inaction in the face of widening government financial crisis, they have achieved the same result.

Vallejo IS the tip of the iceberg, as many cities face similar problems. Some have done the right thing and sought new revenues, like Salinas, and avoided destructive service cuts. Others are following Vallejo down the path of blaming public workers. Without state and federal solutions, this scene may well replay itself again and again across the state in the coming years.

Bankruptcy! Vallejo is Just the First

by: Brian Leubitz

Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 10:57:00 AM PDT

Vallejo will inch closer to financial ruin Tuesday when the City Council lets pass its do-or-die date to avert bankruptcy.

City staff members have been unable to come up with a detailed, long-term financial plan because negotiations with the police and fire unions are still ongoing. The city is asking for steep concessions from the unions, whose members are among the highest paid in the Bay Area and whose salaries comprise about 74 percent of the city's budget.

"We had hoped to have an agreement by April 22 to give to the council," said Mayor Osby Davis, who has sat in on the negotiations. "But I'm optimistic. There's always room for a resolution if people are willing to give and take."

Davis, if you'll remember, is the Mayor who lost the election, and then won the election on a recount.  In the end, I'm not sure there's a winner at all here.  The unions allege that there's some accounting tricks being used, while the City contends that the salaries are just killing them. The salaries are quite high due to mandatory overtime required by the city's low staffing.

The Mayor and others want a "long-term solution", but one will be increasingly difficult to find for Vallejo and cities across California as the budget continues to bleed. There is no solution - none at all - until California's leaders and the Yacht Party obstructionists choose to look at the budget sheets from towns and cities across the state. Small, large, whatever. They are all feeling the pain of the last 30 years. Prop 13, the VLF cuts, everything is costing the cities money at a time when more and more is expected of them.

We can dally no longer. The governor needs to step up and admit that he was wrong on the VLF. Vallejo is just the first large city to tumble towards bankruptcy. It will certainly not be the last.

Town's Going Bankrupt? Blame the Workers!

by: Robert Cruickshank

Wed Feb 27, 2008 at 07:50:35 AM PST

A city contemplating bankruptcy has many options. So it's sad to see Vallejo - and smaller towns like Pacific Grove - blaming workers for their problems. In doing so, they repeat the same destructive policy espoused by Orange County Republicans - choosing to blame public employees and their unions for problems instead of supporting higher taxes, even at the cost of catastrophic disaster.