Tag: Jerry Dyer

Fresno Unmasked: Police Reform Reveals Loyalties

[This article first appeared in the August 2020 issue of Community Alliance.]

By Kevin Hall

(Editor’s note: As of our deadline, the Fresno Police Reform Commission was next scheduled to meet on August 10.)

Like it or not, Fresno is about to take a deep dive into community policing. Count among those who don’t like it the Fresno Police Officers Association (FPOA) and a bevy of right-wing interests. Their tactics include a smear campaign against one advocate, legal objections to necessary information requests, accusations of conflicts of interest and—as usual—playing the race card.

collage
Right-wing opponents of police reform have been using their private online platforms at GV Wire and SJV Sun and working through local media to attack advocate Sandra Celedon.

The union is furiously working both sides of the political aisle to block any change, and the FPOA president is said to have been caught on video, no surprise, in a recent public meeting displaying scorn and disrespectful behavior toward advocates.

Continue reading Fresno Unmasked: Police Reform Reveals Loyalties

No Courage, All Campaign

(This is the script of the opening segment for the Jan. 10, 2020 broadcast of Climate Politics. The shows airs on KFCF 88.1 FM from 5-6 pm on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. Hosted by Kevin Hall, the show’s premise is that to respond to climate change, our political climate must change, too. The entire broadcast includes interviews with Kathryn Phillips of Sierra Club California regarding the state’s Green New Deal and Fresno activists Dee Barnes and Mike Rhodes on efforts to block former police chief Jerry Dyer from becoming mayor.)

ENTIRE EPISODE PODCAST: Climate Politics Broadcast, Jan. 10, 2020 (it’s a little choppy)

By Kevin Hall

2. Residents of 'Reverse' TriangleWelcome to Climate Politics. Today’s show is a mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly. We’ll be doing a deep dive into a bad candidate for Fresno mayor, but before that we get to hear some very good news from Sacramento. The ugly, of course, comes in the form of grim climate news from around the world and another round of scientific studies warning of our rapidly destabilizing atmosphere and the collapse of the ecosystems on which all life depends.

This is no time for the politics of old. We need to be drawing bright lines — right now — between progressive politicians who understand the climate-crisis timeline, and their status quo counterparts. This election is the most important in world history. We must succeed, over the next five years, at laying down the massive policy changes needed to reverse our suicidal course. Continue reading No Courage, All Campaign