Out in central county where Chevron executives live in laid back luxury (no Chevron executive would think of living in Richmond), “A prince and princess parade, stories from Mother Goose, stage demonstrations and creating puppet shows are all planned for various parts of the day,” in an event sponsored by and named for Chevron in (guess what?) the Chevron Family Festival!

Meanwhile in Richmond, a thousand workers  and their families are out of jobs, and Chevron has turned down an offer by California Attorney General Jerry Brown to assist in mediating a resolution of the lawsuit that stopped the Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project.

Chevron has refused to engage in any further settlement discussions, and none are scheduled.

I am not taking sides on this, and I still urge both sides to engage productively, but if Chevron refuses to even engage, they need to be called out.

In upscale Walnut Creek where make-believe is king, “The Sippy Cups, a music group well-known among the preschool set (and among their parents),” will perform in an event paid for by Chevron, while construction workers face foreclosure and loss of their homes.

What a difference there is in life on either side of them thar East Bay hills!

Chevron Family Theatre Festival this Saturday

Walnut Creek Journal

Posted: 07/23/2009 01:29:02 PM PDT

The third annual Chevron Family Theatre Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.

The festival is sponsored by Lesher Center for the Arts, the City of Walnut Creek, the Diablo Regional Arts Association and Chevron.

The festival is designed to enhance young people's interest in theater and the performing arts. To that end, activities and performances will be going on the entire time, both inside and outside the Lesher Center building.

A prince and princess parade, stories from Mother Goose, stage demonstrations and creating puppet shows are all planned for various parts of the day. Also on the schedule are theater performances with the kids, and Karaoke Family Idol for the whole family.

The theatrical performances will encourage participation; when the local Fantasy Forum Actors Ensemble performs "Robin Hood," the young audience members will be able to call out advice to Robin's band of Merry Men.

Among the scheduled performers are The Sippy Cups, a music group well-known among the preschool set (and among their parents).

The festival is sponsored by Lesher Center for the Arts, the City of Walnut Creek, the Diablo Regional Arts Association and Chevron.

Chevron Family Theatre Festival

·  When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 25

·  Where: Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek

·  Cost: $5 for inside events; outside events free

·  Information:

AG Brown offers to mediate dispute over stalled Chevron project in Richmond

By Katherine Tam
Contra Costa Times

Posted: 07/22/2009 03:20:42 PM PDT

Updated: 07/22/2009 05:53:11 PM PDT

State Attorney General Jerry Brown is offering to help hash out a deal among Richmond, Chevron and environmentalists to resume construction at the local refinery, where about 1,000 workers have been laid off, but not everyone wants Brown at the table.

City officials and the environmentalists accepted Brown's offer; Chevron thinks settlement talks should continue without him.

"The parties agreed to private mediation, before a highly qualified mediator proposed by the plaintiffs and agreed to by Chevron and the city of Richmond," refinery spokesman Brent Tippen said Wednesday. "Chevron has invested significant time and effort in this mediation process and believes that the agreed-upon private mediation has the greatest likelihood for resolving this dispute."

Construction to replace the refinery's hydrogen plant, power plant and reformer to refine a wider range of crude stopped about two weeks ago under court order. A Contra Costa Superior Court judge ordered permits suspended until lingering questions in the project's environmental impact report are answered.

Chevron, the city and environmental groups have met multiple times to try to reach a settlement. The parties signed a confidentiality agreement and have been tight-lipped, but multiple sources say talks have reached an impasse.

It's not unusual for settlement talks to temporarily stop if everyone needs time to think about issues and solutions away from the bargaining table, Tippen said. He added that Chevron hopes talks can resume soon.

Brown made his offer at Tuesday night's City Council meeting before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 350, most of them union workers recently laid off from the Chevron project. The crowd greeted Brown's offer with a standing ovation as they pleaded to return to work.

"The sides aren't that far apart," Brown said. "Give me a call and I'll be here, and we'll get it solved."

The council voted unanimously to accept Brown's offer. Councilman Tom Butt hopes a high-profile political figure such as Brown, who is familiar with the issue, can move talks forward.

"It sure wouldn't hurt to give it a shot," Butt said Wednesday. "He's a plain-spoken person. He won't beat around the bush. That's what a good mediator does."

Mimi Ho, program director with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, speaking on behalf of the environmental groups, said: "We are ready, willing and able to join Jerry Brown in settlement talks. The health of Richmond's community and workers are at stake."

Brown stepped into the fray in early 2008 when he penned three letters stating that the EIR is flawed and pushing for reductions in air and greenhouse gas emissions. Brown hired a chemist, who studied the project and concluded the refinery would be able to refine heavier, more contaminated crude, echoing a concern that environmental groups have raised about increased pollution.

Chevron has insisted that replacing old equipment makes the refinery safer and more efficient, and that it will continue to refine light to intermediate crude. It has filed an appeal to the state to overturn the earlier court ruling.

A divided City Council approved the EIR and the project with a host of mitigation measures intended to reduce impacts. The environmentalists argued that the measures don't go far enough; in September, the West County Toxics Coalition, Communities for a Better Environment and Asian Pacific Environmental Network sued the city and Chevron.

The Contra Costa Building and Construction Trades Council urged the parties Wednesday to let Brown in the negotiating room.