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Q: What do you see as the city's priorities?
Parker: The priority is going to be the bankruptcy. One of my meetings (Wednesday) was with the bankruptcy attorney, and so I have to get prepared for that. That dovetails into the budget, too. The budget will be presented to the council next month. That dovetails into the pendency plan (for bankruptcy court) and all that, so my priorities are pretty much set for me at this point.
Q: What do you see as the main problems to be solved?
Parker: Determining (the city's) revenue base and what services it can provide based on that revenue base. Obviously I don't have a good feel for that yet, and the balance sheets that I've seen tended to be in the negative, so starting out, that will be it.
And then taking a real good, hard look at the revenues. One of the things that's crossed my mind, perhaps, is to take a look at the sales tax base to make sure the city is receiving all of its revenue.
This weekend I'm going to immerse myself in the budget, so I should have a much better understanding of where the city is fiscally.
Q: What lessons have you learned from other cities that you think will help in San Bernardino?
Parker: Catching (problems) as early as you can and learning to live with the revenue. There are threee things you can do. The first is to cut expenses. The second is to increase revenues. And then third is some combination of both. Increasing revenues takes time.
So you can do a couple things. One is taking a look at expenditures, the second aspect is to take a look at what fees and charges, etc., are charged by the city. I did find a study that they had done - I'm not sure it's been brought to the council yet - that took a look at all the permits and basically found that the revenue side of it was well short, I mean like $5 million short, of what it was cost to deliver those services. It's common to bring those kinds of fees into balance with those expenditures, so all those things we're going to take a look at.
I've done this other places, we'll see whether it will apply to (San Bernardino).
Q: A trend with the cities you've managed seems to that they avoided going over the cliff, but you don't think of, say, Compton afterward as a pillar of good government.
Parker: Compton's changed, though. We're talking two things here. One is, are they pillars of good government? And I won't comment on that.
I went to Compton about six months ago just to visit it, and I mean, they had Home Depot shopping centers. It was completely changed from the time I had been there.
When I was in East Palo Alto, I closed a deal with Home Depot just before I left. They've had a lot of build-out there and such, but we're talking 20 years ago, 30 years ago - it's taken that much time to build the tax base.
You don't want to see that (delay) happen here, but it's a poor economy and so it's going to take some time to build the tax base that they can deliver the level of services that they want.
In the meantime we're going to have to live within whatever the revenue base is, the tax base is.
Q: How involved do you plan to be in the policy end of management?
Parker: It varies with every city, it varies with every elected official, what strengths they bring to the table, what their political agendas might be. And so it's very much a political arena that we operate in, so there's a learning curve for me there, too.
My job is a lot of dynamics and working with groups. it's not just pushing pencils and taking a look at the financial aspect of it.
Q: San Bernardino's last non-interim city manager said he resigned because the politics were so toxic. Do you agree, and how do you navigate that?
Parker: In Compton, I was the 11th manager in 13 years - so been there, done that kind of thing in terms of the politics. My objective is to learn to work within the politics and to keep my nose clean and stay out of the politics.
I'm not here to contend with that process at all. I'll accept what is and work within those parameters.
Q: How will you deal with the loss of hundreds of city employees?
Parker: It's never a good thing. You're talking about talking people's livelihoods and such, but there really are no options. You learn the budget is probably 85 percent personnel and of that probably 80 percent is police and fire, something around that. So it kind of lays out what you need to do.
Public safety is always a priority, so social services tend to get pretty hard.
What I've learned in the past is that cutting back may not cause - for example, with police - crime rates to raise. The one really good thing about managers in the public sector - police chiefs, fire chiefs, city managers - we learn to become more effective with diminished resources.
No. 1 priority is bringing in a finance director, and along with that someone in finance who understands financial systems from an IT standpoint. The fire chief has indicatecd he'll be leaving, what, the 1st of April, so that needs to be dealt with.
There are other vacancies, top level vacancies throughout the organization, that I need to take a look at. But again, because of the bankruptcy, finance is the priority, bringing some people in.
Q: What's your long-term vision for the city?
Parker: Because of the loss of redevelopment (agencies), you're now dependent on the private sector to be your partner. In terms of potential, there's a huge tax base here. All these people who work in the government offices and the banks and such, the county offices and such, there's a large potential of feeding to downtown. (For) part of that, the mayor and council already have people who want to bring their plans here, and the object from my perspective will be to see how I can facilitate those kind of market-type deals that fit into plans here and the economy. So that remains to be seen.
Q: What are some of the best things about San Bernardino?
Parker: I spent two hours the Sunday before the Super Bowl driving the community. I actually had a policeman friend here that I've known take me around the community and show me not just the good spots but everything. My first impression was it's not as bad as people say it is.
And that's one of the things that I talked to the council about. There's obviously a lack of positive type of stories about - once the press gets on the fact that you've had problems, be they political or whatever, crime problems or whatever, it's hard to get them off.
Compton had that problem. We talk about Compton 30 years later and an image is conjured up because it's never been able to change that image.
(San Bernardino) has the elements that make it a really great kind of community. From the government center, it has adequate commercial, big box stores, Costcos and Sams, the Hospitality Lane area is a fantastic area. It's got a lot of aspects to it that make it a desirable place to come and invest in and to live and work. So getting past the negative image is important, I think, to ensure that it can build on its assets.
Q: Anything else you want to add?
Parker: Believe it or not, I'm really glad to be here. I had a nice hiatus from the public sector, I feel well rested. My juices are flowing again, and I hope I can make a contribution while I'm here.
Reach Ryan via email, find him on Twitter @SBcityNow, or call him at 909-386-3916.


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A long-view of coal-export facilities weaves together who is paying for what, the spectrum of environmental impacts, and forecasting where the country will be a generation from now.
But politics are rarely hitched to a long view of history.
For lawmakers, coal trains should be a crucible, a decision unadulterated by electoral or labor politics. Silence or "on the other hand" posturing doesn't cut it.
Simply put, is this something Washington would like to be known for 20 years from now? A 21st century economy driven by aerospace, agriculture, and coal-export terminals?
No, but as George Orwell wrote, "To see what is in front of one's nose requires a constant struggle."
The Powder River Basin, just east of Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains, is America's coal Eden, with 40 billion tons of extractable reserves. Presupposing the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point passes federal muster, the basin's Decker and Black Thunder mines will be the launching point for 18 open-car coal trains running daily through the Pacific Northwest.
At capacity, Cherry Point will export 48 million metric tons of coal a year. It would mark a sea change in the export sphere. The U.S. currently exports around 100 million tons of coal annually, with less than 10 percent shipping from West Coast ports. In addition to Cherry Point, the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminal in Longview would annually export 44 million metric tons.
Who pays for tunnels, grade changes and other train-related costs? Railroads never shell out more than 5 percent for mitigation.
Most of the Powder River Basin's Asia-bound coal is mined from publically owned lands. The government leases reserves at below-market prices, in what pencils out to a $29 billion subsidy. The bow wave of costs related to exporting, including infrastructure and economic impacts, will mostly be shouldered by taxpayers.
There are compelling reasons to avoid telescoping coal exports into questions of NIMBY-ism, transportation hassles, or 215 additional living-wage jobs. There is the business of coal dust, of climate change, of injecting more CO2 into the atmosphere. The debate over coal trains is as much about the future and environmental ethics as it is about politics.
In a sharply worded letter to the Council on Environmental Quality in March, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber ask the feds to undertake a thorough review of the greenhouse gas and air-quality impacts of coal leasing before "the U.S. and its partners make irretrievable long-term investments in expanding this trade." Good.
The evidence in front of one's nose is overwhelming. Northwest coal-export facilities should be stopped.

subset: commoncrawl


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I believe the img tag requires the alt attribute to validate the markup, but is alt allowed to be an empty string?
My validation tool seems to think it's ok, but I always thought it was required incase the image was missing
It can be empty, but you should always try to provide alternative text unless you have a seriously good reason not to do so. Be warned that by excluding a complete alt tag, visually impaired users will be unable to know that you have a picture in that placement.
ok then fair enough
Usually an emtyp alt attribute indicates that the image is purely decorative and ought to be added by the CSS rather than the HTML. Those in the HTML are usually there to convey some information and that information would need to go in the alt attribute for those who don't see the image.
The alt attribute provides the text equivalent (alternative) for an image. In other words, it should convey the same information as the image does (in that context).
If an image doesn't convey any relevant information in a particular context, the text equivalent should be empty. Thus, alt="".
Be warned that by excluding a complete alt tag, visually impaired users will be unable to know that you have a picture in that placement
They would know it's there if they have a screen reader. It'll say "graphic".
On a current site I've found myself using alt="" quite a lot. The reason being, background images can't be floated, where the text wraps around it, but the images are definitely decoration. Are there any good tricks for moving these things into the CSS?
Not really. You could have an empty floated div and set the image as a background on that, but what would be the point?
In a nutshell, alt tags are not important for validation, however, they are very important for both accessibilty and SEO.
Please, people, it's an alt attribute, not an <alt> tag. :-/
LOL. Good point. Alt attribute was what I meant.
My comment wasn't directed to you personally, Simon. Too many people use the same misnomer, even people who allegedly are professionals. It's as if a medical doctor would refer to the heart as a gland.
Well mine swells and excreets stuff every second of every day!
I know it is an attribute rather than "tag" but I was still half asleep when I wrote it
I use empty SPANs for that on the rare occasions I actually need to use them.
Hahaha, I swear it gets better everyday tommy.
Examples of Attributes -
Good point though. It really is important to learn the differences because if we didn't what would be though point right?
Not at all true if the alt attribute is empty. It will say nothing.
Yes, but the question was how screen readers handle an omitted (i.e., missing, not existing-but-empty) alt attribute.
Same as if it is empty. I thought someone believed it would say something when encountering an image if it had an empty alt attribute. But whether it is empty or non-existent altogether, it will be as though the image is not there.
I've heard a screen reader (may have been Window-Eyes, not sure) that would spell out the image URL (after saying the word 'image') in the absence of an alt attribute. That was a few years ago, though, so perhaps newer versions ignore it.
In JAWS (which is what I use), it has an option to do that, but by default it reads the alt attribute and ignores it otherwise.
The only time it'll read the URL is if the image is within a link. But if someone neglected to put in an alt attribute, it is often the case that the image has a cryptic name as well, so it reveals no more information about the target of the link.
For instance, on this page, the five links after the logo have no alt attributes, so I hear something like this:
Link graphic ss/sapphiresteel_pagegfx_r2_c4 On mouse overLink graphic ss/sapphiresteel_pagegfx_r2_c5 On mouse overLink graphic ss/sapphiresteel_pagegfx_r2_c7 On mouse overLink graphic ss/sapphiresteel_pagegfx_r2_c9 On mouse overLink graphic ss/sapphiresteel_pagegfx_r2_c11 On mouse over
Luckily, not all of their links are like that.
I think you should not empty


text:
Cement sales in Saudi jump 12.6pc
Cement sales in Saudi Arabia during March increased 12.6 percent to reach 4.9 million tonnes, a record high for monthly sales, a report said. Clinker production grew by 10 percent to reach 4 million tonnes, another record, said the reportMore…
CTI Group to invest in Indonesian cement plant
CTI Group, the Gulf region's largest independent trader of cement and clinker, has agreed to invest in a cement production plant in Indonesia owned by Bosowa Corporation. The arrangement gives Jordan-based CTI its first investment in one oMore…
Star Cement to pump $200m in RAK unit
Star Cement Co has planned to invest Dh730 million ($200 million) in a state-of-the-art clinkerisation manufacturing unit in Ras Al Khaimah, a report said. The unit, owned by the giant ETA Ascon Star Group, will have a production capacityMore…


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This Depression-era building no longer met the needs of a 21st century police precinct; although the neo-classical façade was much revered as a neighborhood icon as well as an image often repeated in a television series. STV created a facilities program and designed a new replacement building with appropriate security systems, energy-efficient equipment and new life safety systems. A contemporary two-story lobby provides the interface between the police and the public. The original façade was disassembled and restored with new first floor entrances, windows and graphics, contextual with the historic nature of the façade, providing a continuing contribution to the community.
download project sheet (115,277 KB PDF)
See More Projects Like This


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The final tickets!
Hello everyone! We promised we'd give you warning when the tickets to Vida Vegan Con were dwindling, and the time is now. We're down to the final* 10 general registration tickets for sale—so open your wallets and run as fast as you can to the PayPal!
*Asterisk time! As Michele mentioned on our last post, we're going to crunch numbers and open up any tickets available as we see fit. This is our first year, and we have to keep our numbers under maximum capacity with all our attendees, speakers, sponsors, tablers, volunteers, entertainment, and more—so we'll do what we can. Expect Weekend Registration ticket giveaways on our top sponsors' websites and elsewhere…including the organizers' own blogs, starting with Get Sconed! in coming weeks.
We are incredibly appreciative of the amount of interest and support from the vegan blogging community, and whether you're in the front row or watching a talk livestream, we want you there! And if you're interested in speaking at future conferences, come check it out!
4 thoughts on "The final tickets!"
Hi, I'm interested in the conference, but it's a lot of money to put down considering that there's not much information about what the classes and panels are actually going to look like. Do you have any additional details?
I do get that this must be complicated to plan, but it's three weeks later, and still no update. And I think the tickets are gone. So the choice was to shell out $200 on the basis of names with no info about what the sessions were, or to not attend, and that makes me sad! I'm sure it will be successful, but maybe next year you could give a little more info a little earlier on?
Comments are closed.


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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.
LEADERS: Azerane Bam BinkyBunny JerseyGirl LBJ10 LittlePuffyTail LongEaredLions RabbitPam
Hey guys, just introducing myself. My name's Abi and I have two beautiful bunnies. Came across the website when I was very bored at work and decided to google my rabbit, Binky lol. My other little bundle of fluff is called Bella, I've only had her a week and the bonding process between them is going to be ongoing for the forseeable future (not a good first meeting!)
Anyway, thats me and my little family and I'll be sure to take a look around outside of works time and start posting elsewhere...
Welcome Bunny_Mummy!
What happened duiring the first introduction? Did you introduce them in a neutral territory?
Are they both spayed?
If one or both are aggressive towards each other, you might try the stressing method - take them on a car ride first.
I'm not sure what you know about bonding so I won't overload you with stuff you may already know,
Just let us know what you've done so far and what you know about the bonding process, and then we can fill in the blanks.


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Commissioned: March 29, 2011—June 23, 2012
Chair: Judge Charles Wachob, Placer County Superior Court
Purpose: directed by Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye to conduct an in-depth review of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the administrative arm of the California Judicial Council.
Status: The Judicial Council's Executive and Planning Committee presented its recommendations based on the SEC report to realign the AOC. Implementation of those recommendations are now underway.
July 23, 2012: SEC Comment Period Closes
June 21, 2012: Judicial Council Accepts SEC Report
June 5, 2012: Chief Justice Releases Status Update to SEC report
May 25, 2012: Committee Evaluating AOC for Chief Justice Files Final Report
May 25, 2012: Strategic Evaluation Committee Final Report with cover letter
Jan 27, 2012: Chief Justice Accepts Resignation of Justice Scotland from Strategic Evaluation Committee
Work of Committee Will Continue
Jan 11, 2012: The Strategic Evaluation Committee's Progress Report Presented to the Chief Justice
March 29, 2011: Chief Justice Names Strategic Evaluation Committee Members
Committee will conduct in-depth review of AOC
Final Report: presented to the Chief Justice on May 25, 2012 and presented to the Judicial Council on June 21.
June 21, 2012
Audio: Chief Justice's remarks, public comments and SEC presentation of the final report (122 min) presented to the Judicial Council
Mr. David Caffrey (Retired), Cabinet Secretary, Deukmejian Administration; Deputy Chief of Staff, Wilson Administration
Advisory Members:
Liaison to Chair and SEC:
Ms. Jody Patel, Interim Administrative Director of the Courts
May 1, 2011, the SEC becomes effective. Administrative Presiding Justice Arthur Scotland of the Third Appellate District Court of Appeal in Sacramento serves as Chair.
May 2-3, 2011, the committee held its first meeting.
July 2011, the committee met again and formalized and distributed more than 3,500 surveys to every state judicial officer, including retirees within the past 5 years. Surveys were also sent to the appellate districts, CEOs, and directors, unit managers and staff of the AOC, including retirees within the past 5 years.
Aug 2011, the committee recommended that the position of the Administrative Director of the Courts, established by voters in 1960, be retained.
Jan 10, 2012, committee chair Justice Arthur Scotland submitted this progress report to the chief justice.
Jan 27, 2012, Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye accepts the resignation of Justice Arthur Scotland as chair of the SEC (news release). Assistant Presiding Judge Charles D. Wachob of the Superior Court of Placer County and Presiding Judge Brian L. McCabe of the Superior Court of Merced County assume leadership of the committee as Chair and Vice-Chair.
Feb 2012, Justice Douglas Miller, chair of the Judicial Council's Executive and Planing Committee presented this update (2:34) to the Judicial Council stating the SEC's plans to deliver its final report in April 2012.
Mar 5, 2012, the SEC submits its final report to the chief justice news release.
Mar 2012, the chief justice requests from the Interim Administrative Director of the Courts a status update on changes currently and already implemented at the AOC since her swearing in as chief justice in Jan 2011 news release. The status report is available here.
June 21, 2012, the Judicial Council accepts the report of the SEC and posts it for public comment for 30 days (news release)


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The time slot will most likely be between 5-8pm on Friday and/or Saturday. That would be around when the sun sets right?
and that being said. I'll most likely bring back Komui Lee! and I'm going to try being Kanda xD.
Let the Discussion Begin! and whatnot o.o
This post has been edited by Aznsp3c: 17 May 2009 - 06:05 PM


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Miscellaneous ramblings
Viva Venezuela: A big muchas gracias goes to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez for having the VIT (Venezuela de Industria Tecnologica), and the Venezuelan Ministry of Light Industry and Commerce produce the Bolivarian computer (named after the South American anti-imperialist revolutionary Simon Bolivar, for those of you who caught up on your sleep in World History class). The Bolivarian computer runs on GNU/Linux, further thumbing the Venezuelan nose at el norte. Bear in mind that this is a nation that offered to supply freezing Northeasterners heating oil this past winter when the White House and Congress would just as soon let them shiver, and they're also offering to export the machines as well (are you listening, Michael Dell?). A detailed story on this computer and the country that brings it to you can be found at Venezuelanalysis.com.
Speaking of Dell . . . I went to put my money where my mouth is, and they wouldn't take it. Having blasted Dell — rightfully, I think — over the years, I wrote in an earlier blog posting that I'd get a Dell laptop if they offered Ubuntu. Well, they kept up their end of the bargain, and when I went to buy a laptop on-line (apparently the only place where you can get the Dell-with-Ubuntu deal), my credit was rejected. Reason: Insufficient credit history, which is true. I swore off credit cards in the late 1970s, but I thought having a clean slate would be a good thing. Apparently not, according to our friends at Dell. Being a man of my word, I've been putting together a fund to buy one, but now it will take a few months.
Heroes and wankers: Here's something out of a college professor's playbook — Read the items at the following links. Compare and contrast these two distro "executives" and explain why one is a hero who leads a growing and vibrant brand and the other is a world-class wanker who, with a stroke of a pen, sent his downwardly spiraling distro into further obscurity and probable extinction.
Mark Shuttleworth on not signing agreements with Microsoft
Kevin Carmony on selling out Linspire
Correct answer: Shuttleworth=hero, Carmony=wanker. If you answered this way, then go to the head of the class.
Minty freshness: Linux Mint has removed the proprietary software from its version 3.0 "light" version. "Cassandra Light edition was released and is available for download," announced Clement Lefevbre in a release. "The purpose of the Light edition is to bring an edition of Linux Mint which doesn't contain: proprietary software, patented technologies and support for restricted formats. In some countries where the legislation allows software patents to be enforced, the Light edition provides a way for users to legally download Linux Mint." Also, you did it for those of us who would prefer not to use proprietary software too, right Clement? Thanks, Linux Mint!
Got it! I broke down and bought a personalized license plate in California for an extra $60 a year. My car, a burgundy '94 Volkswagen Jetta, will bear "GNU LNUX" front and back once the plates arrive. Film at 11.
(Larry Cafiero, editor/publisher of Open Source Reporter, is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)