City Visions

For some, foraging is a way to opt out of the industrial food system and a fascinating hobby that's feeding the latest woods-to-table trend. But for others it’s also a way to foster bio-diversity, eco-literacy, community and creativity. We discuss wild edibles, invasives, ethics, access, and what materials can best be harvested in the urban environment.

Guests: 

• Kevin Feinstein (Feral Kevin)
• Sasha Duerr

Guest Host: Victoria Thorp

Producer: Lisa Denenmark

A discussion of Oakland's fiscal health and looming pension costs.  Oakland is being challenged to find ways honor its pension and retirement obligations while providing essential city services.  How realistic is the city's Five-Year Financial Plan?  What lessons can be learned from Oakland's approach to its unfunded liabilities?

City Visions takes up the movement to reform the California Environmental Quality Act -- hailed by some as our state's pre-eminent environmental law, but condemned by others as a vehicle for obstructionism. How has the 43-year old law helped -- or hindered -- the construction of environmentally sound projects in the Bay Area? What, if anything, needs to be changed?

These days, nonprofit organizations are shouldering even greater responsibility for protecting civil rights and meeting basic human needs.

A new study on development and fundraising says that many social justice nonprofits are stuck in a vicious cycle that threatens their ability to raise the resources they need to succeed.

City Visions explores the policy conflicts facing the marijuana legalization movement in California. Do the recent ballot victories in Colorado and Washington provide new momentum for cannabis legalization in the Golden State? Or will enforcement of federal law by the Department of Justice prevent California from forging its own vision for the use and sale of marijuana?  Host Victoria Thorp discusses these questions and more with guests Dr. Robert MacCoun, Professor of Public Policy and Law, UC Berkeley, Beau Kilmer, Senior Policy Analyst at the RAND Institute's Drug Policy Research Center, and Dale Gieringer, Director of Cal NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).

Additional resources:

• CalNORML's conference "Cannabis in California:  Ending the 100 Year War," January 26 and 27
• RAND Webcast on Marijuana Regulations, February 11th