Tailor your newsletter to your readers
June 16, 2008
A major mistake people make with their newsletters is misjudging their readers. You wouldn’t send a newsletter full of information about your employees to your customers. And you wouldn’t send a newsletter about business issues to your employees. Or would you? Read more
Nine strategies to Recession-Proof your business
June 3, 2008
Remember when an aggressive sales force and a competitive price were the key ingredients to growing and sustaining a successful business? Not any more. With more than 90 percent of start-up businesses failing after three years, plus a major downturn in the economy, increased competition has created a foot race for whatever business remains. Read more
OPEN MIKE: Alegria and Rao a disgrace to County Democrats
May 29, 2008
Maria Alegria and Nagaraja Rao, two of the culprits central to the February Pinole recall campaign, are running for seats on the Contra Costa County Democratic Central Committee. Fortunately for the citizens of Pinole, Alegria was resoundingly recalled by 1,104 votes. Rao, meanwhile, lied on a televised broadcast of a Pinole City Council meeting last November when he accused recall supporters of phoning death threats to his cell phone. Holy electoral dysfunction! Read more
Concerned Citizens of Pinole working hard after Recall victory
May 12, 2008
Five of the nine people appointed to Pinole’s new Economic Development and Housing Advisory Committee are Concerned Citizens of Pinole (CCOP) members. Recall supporters: Norma Martinez Rubin, Cindy Trego, Bill Miller, Sean Duckworth, John Schilt were appointed to the EDHAC. The other EDHAC appointees are Patricia H. Jennings, Jil Kiernan, George D. Parsons, and Irma Ruport. Read more
Pinole’s Punctuation Man gets rave reviews!
April 21, 2008
Here’s what Pinole’s Jeff Rubin does in his spare time when he isn’t writing and designing newsletters and recalling incompetent politicians in Pinole. He and his wife Norma got some great coverage in the Ventura County Star for their Punctuation Playtime assembly program for grades K-6 in the Los Angeles area where they performed last week. See the video clip nearby and click to see the rest of the story Read more
Pinole Recall Wins; Faux Term Limits Lose
February 6, 2008
Forget the California Presidential Primary results.
If, as Tip O’Neill said, “All politics is local,” then the most important election results for Contra Costans last night were the landslide victory of the Pinole Recall and the loss of Prop 93, the cynical attempt by political insiders to dress up an incumbent insurance policy as term limit reform.
The Pinole Recall victory is momentous as it provides a wonderful example for cities like Brentwood, Concord, Disco Bay, and others where ordinary citizens (see video) were able to stand up to unions, the Democratic Party Machine, their curiously silent County Supervisor and neutered Republican Party, redevelopment interests, and an entitled incumbent, seemingly secure in her sinecure, to take back their City from runaway incompetence and pandering to special interests.
The defeat of Prop 93 is promising as it reveals that the electorate was able to see through the vast corrupt deception perpetrated by creeps like Dom Perata, Fabio Nunez, and their toadies in the Assembly, who, more often than not, get to choose their districts, rather than voters select them.
Video: Pinole Recall campaign makes its case to voters
January 30, 2008
Below see public comment from Jeff Rubin, with CCOP, regarding the Pinole Recall, presented at the January 29th Pinole City Council Meeting. Rubin recounts the common story (in Contra Costa County) of how city councilmembers and Recall targets Maria Alegria and Stephen Tilton are supported by union special interests looking for a big payday from upcoming contract negotiations. Rubin will appear on KPFA-FM 94, Thursday, January 31, at 7:00 a.m. Watch the video of the entire meeting.
Good evening council, staff, and people in the audience and watching on TV. I’m Jeff Rubin. At the January 10 Candidates’ Forum, Maria Alegria said her Form 460s were available to the public, so I thought I’d have a look.
I see where the International Association of Firefighters, the union representing the Pinole firefighters, has given Maria another $3,200 since January 1. That brings the firefighters union’s investment in Councilwoman Maria Alegria for their upcoming contract negotiations with the city of Pinole to $10,700 over the last four years. That’s roughly 16% of the more than $65,000 Maria has raised since 2004, most of it from special-interest groups, some of which, such as TKG Development, have contracts with the city on which Maria votes. Additionally, Councilman Stephen Tilton has accepted $3,500 from the International Association of Firefighters since 2006, including $1,500 since January 1, a period in which he did not declare any expenses. Stephen, why are you accepting money when you’re not spending it?
By contrast, Mayor Peter Murray and Councilwoman Mary Horton have accepted no money from the firefighters’ union, or any other union, during that time.
The Pinole firefighters’ contract expires in a few months. I have heard they will negotiate for retirement at FULL PAY at age 50. Can the city afford to allow ANY employee to retire at age 50, with the possibility that employee will live another 20 to 40 years, while the City of Pinole pays FULL medical benefits AND retirement pay?
Pinole is already in debt. Are Maria and Stephen willing to bankrupt the city to pay back the firefighters’ union for their massive campaign contributions? The city should pay only what it can afford to its firefighters - and to all of its employees. It’s highly unethical when elected officials accept such huge amounts of money - $10,700 for Maria and $3,500 for Stephen - from an organization whose contract they’re going to negotiate and vote on. Maria Alegria and Stephen Tilton have accepted the money. It appears that their votes have been bought. The purchase of political favors cannot - and will not -be tolerated in Pinole.
Both of them need to be recalled.
Pinole Recall group calls for apology and resignation of County Democratic Party Chair
January 14, 2008
In a Jan 14 letter to Nagaraja Rao, Chairman of the Contra Costa County Democratic Party’s Central Committee, and copied to leading area and State democrats and press, the Pinole Recall group (CCOP) asked that Rao a) apologize on TV at an upcoming meeting of Pinole City Council for his wild unsubstantiated claims of receiving numerous death threats from the pro recall group, and b) that he resign from the Central Committee.
Alegria late for Pinole Recall debate; still gets trounced
January 11, 2008
The Pinole Recall debate took place at the Pinole Senior Center, this evening, January 10. Ms. Trego of CCOP debated Pinole Councilperson and target of the recall, Ms. Maria Alegria.
A crowd of 100+ looked on as Political Editor, Lisa Vorderbrueggen, of the Contra Costa Times, expertly moderated the debate before a well-behaved audience that clapped loudly and at length at the end for the Pro Recall side, while a deafening silence greeted Maria Alegria’s closing statement. Read more
