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About the
Artists:
David
Schecter works
in business development within the City of Oakland's
Community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA). He
is SPUR's representative to TALC, and was an active
participant in creating TALC's Strategic Plan. A
former professional musician, his songwriting
credits include composing the melodies to five songs
on the CD "Madre Rumba, Padre Son" by the Bay Area
salsa band Candela.
Michael
Lannon is a
waterfront worker born and raised in San Francisco's
Mission district, and a veteran percussionist
specializing in Afro-Cuban rumba and bata (sacred
music of the Santeria-Lucumí tradition). He has been
performing for 35 years, and playing bata for 23
years. Michael was sworn omo aña (priest of the
drum) in Matanzas, Cuba, by Esteban Vega "Chachá"
Bacallao and Pedro Pablo "Pello" Tapanez Gonzalez.
He currently plays in the bata battery Aña Lade Odo
Meji Ara Oco. Ana Lade's members include Olubata
Michael Spiro, Harold Muníz, Michael Lannon, Ed
Valencia, Collin Douglas, Andy Ryan, Madrina de
Fundamento Carol Steele, and Beatríz Godeniz-Muniz.
_____________________________________________________
Fiscalization of Land Use -- Lyrics
They
call me MCP 'cause I'm a master of city planning
Here to advance your academic understanding
But before I begin this session
Want y'all to know I picked a good profession
You see planning is a skill you'll always be in demand
for
Cause if you don't plan, you will be planned for
Now for the topic of today's presentation
I'm gonna tell you about a situation
It's a financial fiasco for which there should be no
excuse
Fiscalization of land use
Your city, my city, every city needs revenue
To do the things that a city gotta do
Police and fire, infrastructure, street repair
All the things we need for our welfare
But ever since Proposition 13, the fact is
California cities can't get enough taxes
And one more thing
I must bring
to your attention
The Feds and the States have cut the subventions
So we're in a situation and it ain't funny
Most of the cities runnin' outta money
And the lack of the cash can lead to abuse
Fiscalization of land use
Forget makin' decisions for the public good
Or bringin' affordable housing like a city should
Affordable housing don't bring the wealth
Don't even pay for itself
That's why elected officials put it on the shelf
And when they think about land use, they're only
thinkin' one thing
"How much new
tax revenue
will this bring?"
Look
around the region, and you'll see a rat race
Cities fightin' other cities for the tax base
Big box retail goin' city to city
Playin' one against the other, and it ain't pretty
They're lookin' for the lowest wages and the lowest
business tax
That's the kind of behavior this competition attracts
The lowest regulation, the lowest money spent
The lowest protection for the environment
Askin' each city "How low can you go?"
'Til they finally get an offer that is lower than low
The rules of this game nobody chooses
A few cities win -- the region loses
It's a fight to the finish, a race to the bottom
The inter-city competition blues -- we got 'em
It's hard to tame the market forces once they've been
let loose
It's the cash in the hand
Legacy of Jarvis-Gann
Didn't turn out the way we planned
Fiscalization of land use
© 2006
David Schecter |
