Vacancies

The new commissioner terms don't start until May 8, 2003, a Saturday.
GARY GLITTER WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1944 | YIKES

I'm taking Paul Garrison's place, which he left in May of 2003.

So I rolled over to the Commission meeting on February 23 on a tip from Raissa to see what was up.

THE SNAKE EATS ITS TAIL
Newly appointed Commissioner Michael Liener was there, operating on the same instincts. Michael's taking Harold Lawrence's place. After Commission Hyland Baron walked us around the edges of the dais for introductions, we sat together in the City Council gallery and watched another quorum fail to establish, on one level, and watched a portion of Oakland's history unfold before us, on another.

• VACANCY
  Slobodan is gone, after years of always being there, somewhere, somehow, remaining above water much like his Artship in perpetually uncertain waters. The Artship has been sold for scrap and with it the street report that Slobodan has moved out of Oakland. I've been running into Slobodan on Oakland streets for over 10 years, and am quite accustomed to long, random intervals between each meeting. This absence struck me more as heartbreak, and I realized I'm going to have to learn the story in its entirety.
• VACANCY NOT VACANCY
  Dennis Power, was plucked from a Commissioner's seat when he was appointed Director of the Cultural Arts portion of Oakland's Cultural Arts and Marketing in the new fiscal year, then plunked down immediately to the left in the City Staff seat. Dennis is the Executive Director of the Oakland Museum of California. It crosses my mind to research examples of combined local arts agencies and collecting museums, and I will, but the idea makes my head hurt. I'd rather just interview Dennis here.
  Devin Satterfield just took Dennis' place. I think that's really cool.
• NOS VACANCES, PROVISOIRE ET PERMANENT
  This seems a hybrid of musical chairs and eerie ghost town, let's just say it. I can't immediately find a rational perspective on it. Under the disco ball in the City Hall Rotunda, I'm asking you how you know anyone is ever really here, after all, you know, acknowledging that elephant in the room with the big "Maybe We Don't Exist" message painted on its side?
  The Cultural Arts website lists seven vacancies but the City Clerk's seems all full up.
• THE BIGGEST GAP
  Only one citizen came to watch these proceedings.

Comments

[hyland baron]

this i can tell you:

1. alfred knoll officially resigned about a year ago.

2. deborah blue & henry royal stopped attending meetings over a year ago. i believe that they officially resigned, as well.

3. slobodan is god's second cousin. no, god is slobodan's second cousin. despite this, slobodan has resigned or will be resigning shortly. long live the artship.

4. city clerk's website lists the meeting time as 7:00-9:00pm. everyone who is anyone can tell you that the commission meets from 5:30-7:30pm. on the third monday of the month. unless it's a holiday, in which case the city clerk's office springs for beer and we all take a roadtrip to marine world africa usa.

[hyland baron]

i don't want to spammers to get to me; this old address the bastards can have.