Aired in Manhattan, Long Island and the Bronx in October 2020.

Aired in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island and the Bronx in June and July 2020.

One of a couple dozen bite-sized items Levinski is serving up at her Trump impeachment-themed house party are symbolic “Comey cake balls,” made of white Oreo cookies with cream cheese and rolled in powdered sugar.

“Those are next to the sign for obstruction of justice—since Trump fired him,” Levinski told Newsweek, referring to former FBI Director James Comey. “It’s a means to educate people on the different offenses.”

Trump’s firing of Comey because of “this Russia thing” and his request that Comey let go of an investigation on ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn make a clear case for obstructing justice, contend the president’s critics including the “Need to Impeach” campaign that organized the parties ahead of Presidents’ Day.

The campaign was launched by major Democratic donor Tom Steyer last October and has already made headlines with a series of television commercials as well as billboards in New York City’s iconic Times Square. Saturday’s parties are just the latest step in Steyer’s efforts. The campaign sent party hosts including Fairfax, Virginia, resident Levinski a list of what they said were impeachable offenses around which to plan their gatherings aimed at pushing Congress to begin proceedings to remove Trump from office.

Based on that list, Levinski, a swing voter who has supported Democratic candidates for the past few years, also baked up a few desserts to coincide with the ongoing investigation into Russian collusion.

Her “Kremlin cake balls” are red velvet cake dipped in blue candy coating and white chocolate frosting “so when you bite into it, it will look like the Russian flag,” Levinksi said. “Putin pudding cups” include vanilla pudding over a wafer with golden sprinkles on top “since he’s so close to [Vladimir] Putin,” Russia’s president, Levinski added. She’s also preparing “Moscow strawberries” soaked in vodka and rolled in sugar “since of course, everything about Moscow is vodka.”

To go along with another impeachable offense listed by the campaign, directing law enforcement to investigate and prosecute political adversaries for improper and unjustifiable purposes, Levinski concocted a “Lock her up-side-down cake” alluding to Hillary Clinton and Trump supporters’ chant to “lock her up.”

“That’s an offensive type of thing where he shouldn’t be trying to put his adversary in prison for running against him,” said Levinski, who voted for Clinton.

The list of alleged impeachable offenses, and thus the array of tasty treats, did not end there.

To make Trump’s alleged offense of abusing his presidential pardoning power in pardoning former sheriff Joe Arpaio—who was convicted for contempt of court after ignoring an order to stop detaining and searching people based on the color of their skin—Levinski baked “pardon pow(d)er cookies” dusted with powdered sugar.

The provided list of impeachable offenses also included claims that Trump advocated violence and undermined equal protection under law by giving cover to neo-Nazis who rallied in Charlottesville. To signify that action, Levinski created “Trump puppets,” chocolate police badges traced from wax paper.

Even the threat of nuclear war was not beyond marking with a sweet treat. Trump’s fiery threats toward North Korea landed him in Need to Impeach’s impeachable offense of engaging in conduct that grossly endangers the peace and security of the U.S. So Levinski made “nuclear buttons” of brownies with strawberries or raspberries pressed on top of them.

Levinski will also be providing her guests with something to help wash down all those baked delights. Whether it is appreciated, though, is another matter. She said she bought a bottle of Trump Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine “against all my better judgment” for the impeachable offense of violating the United States Constitution’s Emoluments Clause.

“It’s made by their family and they get all the profits for that,” she explained. “He hasn’t fully removed himself from all these business practices.”

Not everything created for the party was for consuming, however. For the final impeachable offense on the list, undermining the freedom of the press, Levinski bought a roll of toilet paper with Trump’s Twitter feed printed on it for the bathroom.

“That’s the fake news that people get to read,” she said.

Besides the treats around impeachable offenses, Levinski was also creating “Fire(ball) and Fury shooters” dedicated to Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, “Dark and ‘Stormy Daniels’” cocktails named after the porn star Trump allegedly had an affair with, and “grab ‘em by the cookie” cookies “since Trump was saying grab ‘em by the you know what,” Levinski said, referring to Trump’s lewd remarks about women caught on an infamous leaked “Access Hollywood” tape.

Not everyone is so happy to discuss their plans to celebrate what they hope will be the president’s impending removal from office. Levinski said that some of her invited guests who are government employees were hesitant to RSVP.

“It’s sad that in a time like today, we’re so politically charged that you can’t go to a party with Comey cake balls because you’re worried what your boss might think because they might see you on Facebook,” Levinksi said.

Indeed, Need to Impeach is encouraging parties across the nation to share their festivities on social media, if they feel comfortable.

“If we say we have a logical reason why you should impeach the president, that is not a powerful statement,” Need to Impeach founder Steyer told Newsweek. “It’s only when the people’s voices get together that it really matters.”

The campaign has collected more than 4.7 million signatures on a petition demanding Congress take action to remove Trump from power. The parties have turned “the average day person into an advocate and given them the opportunity to talk to friends and family members,” Need to Impeach spokesman Erik Olvera told Newsweek.

Food is an “effective way to connect people no matter their political party or beliefs,” Levinski’s cousin Becki Melvie, who owns a boutique cooking school and kitchen store and helped brainstorm the recipes, said.

Levinski agreed and anticipates her party will be filled with healthy an educational discussion.

“I don’t think anybody will be offended because there’s so much humor to the desserts,” she said. “I think everybody is going to feel like they ate too much sugar.”

http://www.newsweek.com/trump-impeachment-parties-try-entice-congress-remove-president-810054

Over the next 24 hours, two more men were killed in gun violence a mile apart in a gang-plagued area already targeted for special enforcement by police and prosecutors.

The four shootings in the first five days of 2016 grew to 55 over the next 45 days, a spike in violence not seen in decades in the city that dubs itself Orange County’s downtown. As broken families held vigils for the dead and wounded, investigators pored over near-daily shooting scenes and residents peered warily from their homes, law enforcement leaders, elected officials and researchers struggled to pinpoint the cause and determine if a new era of bloodshed was dawning.

And then, according to Police Chief Carlos Rojas, the spasm of violence receded. How much isn’t completely clear because the Police Department stopped releasing shooting totals, which had helped fuel headlines in the first weeks of the year. Instead, Rojas noted that in February, major violent crimes reported to the FBI dropped 24 percent from the previous month and remained at roughly that level through the remainder of the year.

But community concern and the political repercussions of the surge of shootings became a central focus of the November City Council campaign, which highlighted public safety and reset the balance of power at City Hall.

POLICE UNION’S ROLE?

One political winner was the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, which criticized the leadership of Rojas and the city manager and spent nearly $300,000 supporting a slate of candidates that included the longtime mayor, Miguel Pulido. Three of the four candidates backed by the union, including Pulido, were elected, unseating an incumbent council member for the first time in decades.

Three weeks ago, in one of the new City Council’s first actions, a majority that included three lawmakers supported by the police union placed City Manager David Cavazos on paid administrative leave, citing performance evaluations and concerns about a City Hall personnel matter involving him. The allegations harked back to a Pulido-initiated investigation of Cavazos’ relationship with a subordinate female city employee that resulted in his censure by the International City/County Management Association.

The move against Cavazos signaled a partial reversal of the 2012 election results. In that so-called Santa Ana Spring election, voters installed a slate of candidates that promised greater City Hall transparency and responsiveness and unseated a majority allied with the mayor. That group fired the previous city manager, who was supported by Pulido, and hired Cavazos. Rojas was hired under the new administration.

In the runup to the election, officers union President Gerry Serrano attacked Rojas’ management and policing strategies, which in part emphasized assigning officers to neighborhood beats where they would get to know residents, in lieu of beefing up specialized enforcement units.

In an email to the news media and city elected officials last summer, Serrano released figures showing a more than 550 percent increase in shootings for the first half of the year compared with the same period four years earlier, when Rojas became chief.

Specifically, Serrano criticized Rojas for reassigning officers to the neighborhood beats, cutting back on resources allocated for gang suppression, and failing to reinstate a police strike force that had been used to respond to crime hot spots.

“Violent crime continues to rise at an unbelievable rate, yet patrol staffing remains below minimum staffing levels,” Serrano wrote. “What is Rojas doing to address this? Nothing. What is Cavazos doing to address this? Nothing.”

Since Rojas took over, Serrano added, officer morale is down and many are retiring early.

CRIME STATISTICS

Pulido said in an interview that the realignment of the City Council will help ensure a return to successful policing strategies.

Violent crime prevention in the city “kind of went backward,” he said. “We need to continue to make progress. Going backward and even holding our own is not acceptable.”

Responding to the police union’s portrayal of rising crime, Cavazos released a report showing Santa Ana had a 74 percent reduction in murders, aggravated assaults, forcible rapes, robberies, arsons and property crimes from 1987 to 2012, based on moving three-year averages.

Rojas cited 2016 overall crime data, reported to the FBI, which showed violent and property crimes peaked at 871 incidents in January and dipped into the 600s and 700s thereafter.

“It does appear to be slowing down a little bit,” Rojas said, “which is good.”

POLICE UNION MAILERS

In the months leading up to the election, records show the police union provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund mailers and television advertisements endorsing its slate of candidates and attacking council incumbents. The expenditures included the majority of contributions to an independent political action committee, California Homeowners Association, which spent nearly $100,000 opposing council members Roman Reyna and Vicente Sarmiento, a Register analysis found.

One of the PAC’s mailers carried a headline asking: “Want to know who to blame for Santa Ana’s rising crime? It’s Reyna and Sarmiento!” The mailer also included a reproduction of a Register article on Cavazos, the city manager, which noted that he received a bonus amid allegations of misconduct and highlighted a reference to “a romantic relationship with a subordinate city employee.”

The police officers association’s independent spending far exceeded that by a police union-endorsed candidate, Orange County sheriff’s officer Juan Villegas, who unseated Reyna.

Council supporters of the police chief and Cavazos, who clashed with Pulido over various City Hall projects, see the election results not as referendum on the city’s public safety programs but as a power grab by the police union, which among other things is seeking raises for members and more officer hiring for patrol shifts.

Reyna, who grew up in a gang-infested community near El Salvador Park, said at a recent council meeting that the spike in shootings early in 2016 appeared to be tied to a struggle involving the role of a top gang leader and not deficient city policing tactics.

“The other gang members all wanted to sit in that leadership position so they fought literally with guns to see who could get that position,” Reyna said.

DIFFERING VIEWS

At the first meeting of the new City Council last month, Councilman Sal Tinajero, Cavazos’ most vocal supporter, complained about what he portrayed as political strong-arm tactics by the police union. He alleged that Serrano, the group’s president, “met with different folks, saying: ‘If you fire the chief of police, we will support you. The only way to get to the chief of police is to fire the city manager. We are going to raise over $400,000 and those who support this, we will support, and those who don’t, we are going to run someone against you,’”

“He asked me … ‘So Sal, are we going to throw a body out the window?’” Tinajero continued. “This (police union) is who’s just taken over our city.”

Tinajero also defended Rojas’ leadership, saying: “You see for the first time in our city, officers are being held accountable. … We need to help our community be safe and being safe means that we need community policing. We need a relationship with our police officers.”

Serrano said evaluating the city manager is the job of the City Council, not the police union.

“It’s not our issue,” he said. “Why Councilman Tinajero wants to include me in it, I have no idea.”

And his union’s involvement in this Santa Ana election was “nothing out of the ordinary,” Serrano said.

“All unions invest when it comes to election – that’s what we do, we look out and try to support elected officials that are supportive of labor unions,” he said. “I look forward to working with our entire City Council and being part of moving the city forward.”

CHANGES COMING?

Pulido said he expects that the new City Council will revive a gang suppression unit.

“Part of it is we have to go back to basics. … We need to work closely with the community and do many of the things we’ve done in the past,” Pulido said. “We know what works, and it’ll work again.”

Similarly, Jose Solorio, another police union-endorsed candidate elected in November, said bringing down gang violence and shootings will require restoring gang unit officers and more transparency of crime statistics.

“It’s time for the city to step up and do something about it,” Solorio said. “I think with the addition of myself and council member Juan Villegas, we both have very strong pro-public safety backgrounds.”

Councilwoman Michele Martinez was the swing vote, siding with Pulido and his two newly elected allies to place Cavazos on leave. The councilwoman supported Cavazos’ hiring, but her opinion shifted after he alleged Martinez sexually harassed and made romantic advances toward him. A city-ordered external investigation found that his allegation was without merit.

Martinez said she’s not aligned with either City Council camp and doesn’t vote based on their agendas.

“I’m very independent. I think in both sides, it’s all political and the city manager is right in the middle,” she said. “I will be working with anyone who is willing to set good policy.”

Pulido has said talk of an alliance between him and the police union is irrelevant, and the election results are what counts.

“Do people who work harder sometimes gain more votes? Yes,” Pulido said.

FIRE THE CITY MANAGER?

While the shooting-per-day average from the beginning of 2016 hasn’t been the case for the first weeks of this year, last Saturday night was the most violent in recent memory, with six people shot, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

On the political front, it appears the reverberations of the November election are just beginning. Cavazos supporters say they are committed to checking the political power of the mayor and police officers association at City Hall.

“We have a strong, solid team in the council” that among other things supports the current police chief, Councilman David Benavides said.

Five votes are needed to fire a city manager, who has the authority to appoint and remove the police chief.

The sharply divided council is expected to revisit Cavazos’ employment in closed session before today’s council meeting.

https://www.ocregister.com/2017/01/18/how-a-violent-month-in-santa-ana-set-the-stage-for-council-infighting-election-angst-and-jobs-possibly-lost/

Both candidates are expected to face each other again in a decisive November election due to California’s new top-two primary system, under which the two highest vote-getters move on to the general election, even if they are from the same political party. Paired against Democrats Campos and Chiu in the Assembly District 17 race, Republican candidate David Salaverry is not considered much competition.

While Campos and Chiu have steered their campaigns away from identity politics, saying they’ve focused not on groups of specific ethnicities or sexual orientations but equally across the diversity of constituents, they have both succeeded to varying degrees in capturing the endorsements and support of their traditional backers.

At a May 15 rally at Portsmouth Square in the heart of Chinatown, nearly every leader in the Chinese community was present to back Chiu — who told The San Francisco Examiner on Tuesday, “I’m humbled” by the support — except for arguably the most influential of them all, Chinese Chamber of Commerce consultant Rose Pak. She announced her support for Campos on a microphone at the Chinese New Year Parade and has contributed $1,000 to his campaign.

Meanwhile, the LGBT endorsements have been somewhat split between Campos, who is gay, and Chiu, a longtime backer of LGBT issues.

Campos won endorsements from termed-out Assembly District 17 incumbent Tom Ammiano, who has tagged him as his successor, and from the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club. Chiu has been endorsed by the more moderate Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance and Supervisor Scott Wiener, who is also gay.

“It weighed heavily on me that the seat has been held by an LGBT person,” Wiener said. “But despite that, for me it was about who’s going to do the best job for The City, and no doubt in my mind Chiu is going to be best.”

But Campos said he feels “very positive” that his campaign has been able to consolidate as much of the LGBT community as it has.

“In the end, it’s not about the endorsements,” he said. “It’s actually the ground campaign, that’s where we feel we’ve been getting a very good response.”

Campos has raised more than $450,000 and Chiu has raised $857,000, according to their respective campaigns.

“I think we’re in the classic case of money versus people,” Campos said. “Money power and people power, and we have the people power.”

From the outset, Campos has pitched his candidacy in a “Tale of Two Cities” narrative with himself as the leader fighting for the little guy.

On the other hand, Chiu touted he has championed three times as much legislation as Campos and has delivered on The City’s toughest issues such as jobs, building below-market-rate housing and fighting for public safety.

“I’m the only candidate in this race that has a proven record of unified leadership that’s brought a diversity of constituencies together,” Chiu said. Supervisor Eric Mar, who has endorsed both candidates, said he sees Campos as stronger with immigrants rights groups and anti-displacement groups.

“I think it breaks down beyond political lines,” Mar said. “People don’t just vote based on identity. LGBT people facing potential eviction might vote very different than more middle-class and affluent LGBT communities.”

As of Tuesday, 14.3 percent of absentee ballots had been returned districtwide and 16.2 percent from voters of Chinese descent, a result of ramped-up voter mobilization efforts, said David Lee, executive director of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee.

“It could be as few as a few thousand votes that will decide who comes in first and second,” Lee said. “So any kind of mobilization and surge in turnout would make a big difference, even though numerically, it might be a small number.”

Though Campos and Chiu will likely advance past next week’s election, it will set the stage for the November election, said Lee, a political science lecturer at San Francisco State University.

Both candidates have voted similarly on many issues, and though many endorsements have already been made, some are still deciding whom to support. Lee said the winner next week will have a “commanding lead” in fundraising, endorsements and resources.

“You want to start at the pole position with a healthy gap between you and your challenger going into November,” he said. “People on the sidelines will be watching to see what happens in June. That’s why this primary matters.”

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/demographics-play-into-state-race/Content?oid=2808890

Para muchos de ellos solamente se sientan a esperar, no participan de los procesos, no votan y solamente se enfocan en sus propios negocios. El alcalde afroamericano de Compton, Eric Perrodin, reconoció que actualmente existen dos grupos latinos y recuerda que había tres o cuatro en 2001, cuando se postuló para su posición.”Me parecía que había muchos celos entre los grupos y en vez de usar [su energía] como una plataforma para avanzar las causas de los latinos, parece que los celos y la animosidad fue lo que desafortunadamente causó que no fueran una coalición cohesiva y la fragmentó”, contó Perrodin. Y ese sentimiento ha vuelto a resurgir con la polémica causada por la Medida B, que pretende reformar el sistema de votación a uno que les daría a los latinos una mejor oportunidad de elegir el candidato de su preferencia. Según David Ely, dueño y gerente de Compass Demographics, aproximadamente el 51.9% de la población de votantes en el distrito 2 de Compton son latinos. Eso podría aumentar si se hicieran los nuevos lineamientos de los distritos en la ciudad. “Mi análisis demuestra que de hecho hay varias configuraciones que podrán crear un distrito en el cual los latinos puedan ser la mayoría de la gente elegibles para votar”, señala Ely en una declaración previa realizada apoyando a las mujeres que hicieron la demanda contra la ciudad. Con la Medida B un puñado de latinos ha surgido como líderes, pero la falta de unidad vuelve a resaltar. Están divididos en dos grupos que tienen alrededor de media docena de miembros, muy activos cada uno. Esos son la Cámara de Comercio Latina que se fundó en los años 70, y el Community United for Compton que se formó hace un par de años. Miembros de ambos partidos han participado en las primeras dos reuniones del Comité para “Sí en la Medida B, para Democracia en Compton”,y es evidente la discordia entre ellos, lo que dificulta enviar a un latino al poder. Actualmente, cada grupo pelea su espacio y trata de desestimar la labor del otro. “No hay una Cámara de Comercio Latina de Compton”, dijo a La Opinión un miembro de Community United for Compton, Lorraine Cervantes, de 70 años. “El teléfono de ellos no ha estado en funcionamiento por años, no tienen reuniones. No existe”, aseguró. María Villareal, de 41 años y presidenta de la Cámara de Comercio Latina, y quien asiste a las mismas reuniones que Cervantes, negó tal comentario. Según ella, la ciudad paró de apoyar financieramente a su organización desde 2008, y por eso dice que utiliza su teléfono celular para trabajar y solo va a la oficina, en un edificio manejado por la ciudad, cuando hace citas de trabajo. “Nadie me paga, estoy haciendo lo que puedo sin fondos”, agregó. Señaló además que el Community United for Compton, que incluye a la presidenta Diane Sánchez y a Álex y Luis Landeros, entabló una demanda similar a la de la ciudad contra el Compton Community College District. Además alega son los “Yes people” del alcalde Perrodin. “Ese grupo de latinos está entrenado directamente por la alcaldía sobre la forma de hacer negocios y enriquecer sus propios bolsillos al costo de la comunidad hispana de bajos recursos”, sostuvo Villareal. “Entonces hay un grupo de latinos que se venden y habemos un grupo de latinos que tenemos dignidad y no aceptamos una posición a cambio de callarnos y no alebrestar”. En respuesta, Sánchez, de 39 años, quien también sirve como la presidenta del Comité para la Medida B, dijo que no es así. Indica que Community United for Compton tiene la misión de animar a la gente de todas las razas a que participen en la política de la ciudad.”La gente dicen cosas pero realmente no entienden”, indicó. Además de afirmar que trabaja muy cerca con Community United for Compton y que habla con la presidenta de la Cámara de Comercio Latina, Perrodin dijo que “parece que la Medida B ha provocado una gran reacción en la comunidad latina, reuniéndolos, y lo veo como algo bueno”. Mientras, Lynn Boone, miembro de Concerned Citizens of Compton, un grupo afroamericano con poder, sostiene que las cosas serían más productivas “si trabajaran juntos, y olvidaran cualquier diferencia que tienen entre ellos”.Activistas en la comunidad dicen que otro grupo con poder es la Cámara de Comercio de Compton. Cervantes dice que la mayoría de los comerciantes en la organización son afroamericanos, y que la Cámara de Comercio Latina servía a los negocios pequeños.”No hay un grupo con mucho poder latino en la ciudad”, dijo Cervantes. “Antes era la Cámara de Comercio Latina, pero ya no lo es”. Perrodin agregó que tiene optimismo de que los votantes van a aprobar la Medida B el 5 de junio, aunque los latinos no están bien organizados. “Piensa que se podría aprobar con 3,000 a 4,000 votos”, dijo. “Si las iglesias católicas con congregaciones grandes de latinos como Sagrado Corazón hicieran el esfuerzo para la medida B, pasaría”. Pero Joe Serrato, de 61 años y un organizador político en Compton desde los años 60, piensa que solo se va aprobar si los afroamericanos están a favor de la misma. Apuntó que en la última reunión del Comité para Medida B, solo vinieron dos afroamericanos, menos que la primera reunión. “Le pregunte a la presidenta Diane, ‘Dondé están los afroamericanos?’ y me dijo que la secretaria Enelida Álvarez no les llamó'”, dijo Serrato. “Sinceramente espero que esté equivocado, pero soy realista”

http://www.laopinion.com/article/20120425/NEWS/304259878/-1/news01