Feedback on the Mayor

Steven Tavares may be a writer, but this story [“Deer in the Headlights?,” May] is not the work of a journalist. Tavares practically plagiarized much of his article from previous posts of Lauren Do’s Blogging Bayport Alameda?. Alameda politicos might want to give this fellow a wide berth the next time he requests an interview.

Lauren Do, whoever she is, is rather notorious in Alameda for never attending the city meetings she constantly criticizes. She freely admits this in her blog. Few people know anything about her education or background, or even what she looks like.

I am surprised and disappointed. Tavares supplied the story about Stewart Chen’s previous fraud conviction in The Alamedan, before the last election. I have enjoyed reading Steven’s work in the past, and I hope this was just an aberration in an otherwise awesome journalistic career.

The worst problem with the “Deer in the Headlights?” article is that neither Do nor Tavares was physically at the meeting they describe. I was. I was sitting on the Russo side of council chambers. Before Kurt Peterson even approached the dais, Russo had motioned more and more people up to his dais chair from the audience until Russo himself had disrupted the meeting by creating a large sidebar group without calling for a recess. The Russo gaggle of staff people was just out of camera range of the archived video. Kurt merely reacted to what Russo was already doing.

And then Russo had the nerve to accuse the mayor of not controlling the meeting? Give me a break.

Carol Gottstein

​

On the Other Hand

Thank you for shining a light on the ineffective leadership of Mayor Trish Herrera Spencer. She has proven to be as uninformed about the city she leads as she was about the school district she handcuffed. The only local supporter you could find was Adam Gillitt, who famously accosted a 78-year-old woman in a wheelchair during a street festival in 2010. However, I appreciate the support of San Leandro Mayor Paulino Russo. Can she move to Alameda and become our mayor?

Larry Witter

​

Where to Find the Flowers

So others won’t need to Google for it, as the story [“The Slow-Flower Movement,” April] doesn’t include the website address for Flowerchild Flowers, which is: www.FlowerchildFlowers.com.

Lilli Keinaenen

Corrections

Helen Callus is a violist, not a violinist as we misstated in a caption [Calendar, May]. Also, our green waste stream story [“Fifteen Ways to Divert More Waste,” April] needs clarification regarding shredded paper: It belongs in compost bins where composting occurs or goes in the trash; never mix it with the recycling.