• Congratulations to all of our Local Hero nominees and to the top Awardees (l-r):

• Husband Herb and Adrienne Bryant for her continued leadership with the Shepherd Canyon Eco-planters and pullers and her work with the Friends of Sausal Creek Native Plant Nursery.
• Dean Bradley for her research and educational outreach on retrofitting homes.
• Carter Roberts for his 30 years of volunteer efforts to bring the wonder of astronomy to students at both the old and new Chabot Space & Science Center.
• Emily Rosenberg & Dale Risden (far right) for their work on the new off-leash dog park in Joaquin Miller Park.
• Jeanne Nixon for her ongoing leadership on behalf of Horace Mann Elementary School and the local NCPC.
• Rev. Valerie Miles-Tribble for her work on affordable housing.
• Ruth Villasenor for her ongoing leadership in improving the quality of life in the Dimond.

This Montclarion Article gives good coverage of the award event.

 

• Office Hours this Sunday in Montclair at 6211 La Salle Avenue, 10-Noon: Sue Piper and I will be available to meet with residents on Sunday, March 4 at the Alain Pinel offices in Montclair between 10 am- Noon. Please stop by with your questions, issue of concerns or just to say hello. We will return to the Montclair Farmer's Market in our booth starting April 1. As usual, we maintain office hours in our field offices as follows:

• Wednesdays, 4-6 pm at the Laurel District Office, 4173 MacArthur Blvd, 2nd floor.
• Thursdays, 4-6 pm, at the Police Substation at Dimond Safeway, 3550 Fruitvale Avenue.
• Saturdays, 10-Noon, at the Laurel District Office, 4173 MacArthur Blvd, 2nd. floor.

 

For the full report of the 2007 Local Hero Nominees & Winners:

<< Jean "feeds" the Lions lettuce or "choi" for good luck at last Saturday's event in the Laurel.

• The public events for Lunar New Years begins to wind down with the SF Chinese New Year Parade, tonight, Saturday, March 3, 6 pm: I don't often list things in that "other city," but children of all ages should see the 100-person Golden Dragon dance at least once. You can also watch it on KTVU 2 or Cable Channel KTSF 26 from 6-8 pm.

• Saturday, March 3, 9 am-Noon: Friends of Sausal Creek works on grassland site restoration--cutting and covering cotoneaster stumps, pulling broom and whacking acacia resprouts; 1:30-4:30 pm, help with site preparation at the Joaquin Miller Park Native Plant Nursery for the annual plant sale on Sunday, May 6.

• Lake Merritt Pergola Dedication Ceremony Saturday, March 3: To honor the completion of the first of many Lake Merritt improvement projects funded by Measure DD, the City is hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony for the recently renovated Lake Merritt Pergola at the northeast end of Lake Merritt on El Embarcadero directly opposite the Lakeview Library.

• Allendale Rec Center Family Day Beautification Effort, March 3, Noon-3 pm: Bring the kids, your gloves and gardening tools to help beautify the Allendale Rec Center, 3711 Suter Street. For details, contact Michael Foster at 535-5635.

• Tugging at Oakland, March 2-4, a look from inside of the working bay by maritime photographer and USS Potomac's Senior Captain Jan Tiura on exhibit at the USS Potomac Visitor Center, 540 Water Street.

• Oakland Museum's White Elephant Sale, March 3 and 4: If you've never been to the White Elephant Sale...this world-famous sale offers practically EVERYTHING. It's a citywide attic sale for a great cause —sporting goods to designer boutique and vintage clothing items, books, furniture, art, electrical appliances, dishes, shoes, and children's clothes and toys—all spread out in separate departments in a 96,000-square-foot warehouse. (Sue Piper says her family decorated their post-fire home with art and items from the sale). The Oakland Museum Women's Board supports many of the Museum's exhibitions and activities from the proceeds. The Warehouse is at 333 Lancaster Street at Glassock . Free. Saturday, March 3, 9 am-4pm; Sunday, March 4, 11 am-4 pm.

 

As a parent, then school board member I always cringed on rainy days watching Joaquin Miller and Montera students walk along Ascot & Mountain next to fast moving traffic. The dirt path on the hill is unpassable when its muddy. For mothers with strollers and others, there is no alternative but to drive into Montclair even on sunny days. When I became a Council Member, I started looking at what we might do. We've removed some dangerous trees, worked with parents and neighbors to clear the path, and built steps in spots. We spent much time determining who owns the land along the path (Answer: several agencies).

Now we're taking the next step. In order to become eligible for grants/funding, our office commissioned a survey and trail design that would install a five-foot wide asphalt trail from the schools to the corner of Scout and Mountain up to the sidewalk that goes to Montclair Village. The city's engineers estimate the trail will cost $450,000. We are told by the grant writers that our chances of being awarded a state or federal grant will vastly increase if we raise matching funds, about $100,000. I have committed $25,000 towards this project. Our office is talking to the PTAs at Joaquin Miller and Montera Schools, local neighborhood associations about raising the remaining $75,000 or more that we will need. If you are interested in contributing to this project, please contact Sue Piper in our office at 238-7042. We are making arrangements to make contributions tax deductible.

• African American Basketball Pioneers at AAMLO March 10: Sports journalist Ron Thomas will discuss and sign his book, They Cleared the Lane: The NBA's Black Pioneers, at a panel discussion on Saturday, March 10, 2-4 pm. This free event accompanies a new exhibit at the AAMLO, Quest for Equality: African American Pioneers in the Sport of Basketball through March 17. AAMLO is located at 659 14th Street in downtown Oakland.

• Community Meeting on AAMLO Master Plan: The African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO) will hold public meetings to introduce the master plan for the second floor museum gallery renovation. The project is funded by a California Department of Parks and Recreation grant. Meetings are scheduled for Wednesday, March 14, 1-3 pm; and Saturday, March 24, 2-4 pm. For details, contact Chief Curator Rick Moss at 637-0200.

• Oakland Public Library's 2005-2006 Annual Report: is now available on the library's website. The report covers the highlights of the library from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006. Just click on the link from the home page to let the library know what you think about the report. Copies are also available at your local branch or contact the library's Community Relations Office at 238-3271.

• The architects, who designed the café and live-work townhouses at 35th Avenue and MacArthur Blvd, are proposing a similar but smaller project down the street for 35th Avenue and School Street. The project will build 7-8 condominium apartments with retail on the corner. It replaces the former gas station/car wash closed because of code violations and nuisance complaints about drug dealing; it is now being used as a motorcycle club. Correction from last week: This project does not go to the Planning Commission because it requires no code variances, but we will still ask the final developer to attend a neighborhood meeting.

• The AMG Senior Apartment Decision Delayed: This week Planning staff asked for more time to respond to new objections filed by opponents to the AMG Senior Apartments this. The Commission heard speakers for and against, summarized by this week's Montclarion but will not vote on the project until a new staff report is issued.

Contrary to statements we have noted on some listservs, I and my office do not have a formal position on this specific project. Our office mediates development issues constantly, we work towards consensus when possible usually pushing all sides until a compromise or final decision is made. The Planning Commission has the authority to make zoning decisions. The Council only votes in the rare cases that their decisions are appealed to the City Council. Only then do I take a formal position.

However, my general positions on housing are public in my overall work. I support "smart growth" development along transit corridors as discussed in the "Envisioning MacArthur." I support affordable and workforce housing.

Architect and Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council Board member Robert McGillis posted some useful links recently on their website regarding the laws governing some of the issues that the City is required to follow and "smart growth" information:

• California Government Code -The law protects and rewards developers who provide housing for seniors and homes for low, very low, and moderate income families. Density bonuses, financial incentives, reductions in zoning standards and parking requirements are among the benefits available to developers.
• These “Anti-NIMBY” laws, are intended to balance County’s, Cities and neighborhood groups who seek to prevent housing projects for lower income families and seniors.
• Housing Advocates Group : http://www.housingadvocates.org
• Housing Facts & Issues : http://www.housingadvocates.org/default.asp?ID=171
• Association of Bay Area Governments : http://www.abag.ca.gov/planning/housingneeds/resources.html
• Greenbelt Alliance - http://www.greenbelt.org/whatwedo/issues_smartgrowth.html

 

 

• Meet the New Dimond District Walking Officer: Officer Sean Hall is enjoying his new assignment in the Dimond Business District. If you see him while you are shopping, please say hello. During this initial period he has been assigned overtime and is in the area some evenings. Please remember his assignment is the commercial (not residential) areas of the Dimond. Contact him about issues of the commercial area at: slhall@oaklandnet.com or 773-0989.

• Call for Community Assessors on the Oral Boards for Police Recruits: The Oakland Police Department seeks community members to serve on the hiring oral boards to interview potential candidates for the Police Officer Trainee and Lateral positions. Normally this is a 2-day commitment--8 am-5 pm. The assessor panel consists of one sergeant, one officer and one civilian. The only requirement is that you live, work or own a business in Oakland. Upcoming interviews: March 20 & 21; April 23 & 24; May 21 & 22; June 25 & 26; July 23 & 24; August 20 & 21; September 24, October 23 & 23; November 13 and December 18. If interested, please contact Cee Belue at 238-3339.

• Allendale Recreation Center Director Michael Foster will be honored by the Community Policing Advisory Board March 7, 6 pm: At the next CPAB meeting Michael Foster will be honored for hosting the monthly Allendale Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council meetings at the Recreation Center and for his work discussing the roots of violence in the community. Well-wishers are invited to attend the CPAB meeting, held at City Hall. It's an opportunity to see the CPAB at work. If you park at 1414 Clay Street, your parking ticket will be validated.

• Public Tour of the Dispatch Center, March 6 & 13: See how our Oakland Police Department Dispatch Center works -- Tuesday, March 6 or March 13 at 5:45 pm. Tours run between 1.5-3 hours. Space is limited; reservations are required. Meet at the Fruitvale Substation at 3002 E 9th Street, (between Albertson's and the laundromat). Call Edith Guillen at 238-7159 to reserve your space.

For information on jobs with the Oakland Police...

 

This week's decision by the State Administrator to close 4 Oakland Schools is another reason to support AB 45. Without going into the particulars of each school, it is clear the heart wrenching order to close Sherman in Maxwell Park and East Oakland Community High School would have been different had the School Board the power to make the decision. Schools are integral to neighborhoods, their fate should be determined by Oakland residents.

<< Hundreds of East Oakland High students and parents march 8 miles to the OUSD headquarters. EOCHS raises the criticism of how Bush's "Leave No Child Behind" is being implemented. This experimental school is being closed after 2.5 years. Last year the District provided no math teacher, most of this year no principal...yet 40% of their students are co-enrolled at SF State College. Many of the students say this is the first school where they have been successful. Instead of merging the school and building on its strengths, it is being disbanded. Teachers and parents say they may have no alternative but to move en masse to a charter school outside of the district.

Support Assemblyman Sandre Swanson’s first bill, AB45 for return of Oakland Schools to local control by January 2008, with the State Administrator retaining only retaining control over Fiscal Management. It would essentially allow the School Board to hire a Superintendent and return control over academic programs, school closures, sale of facilities, hiring of principals and teachers, etc. to Oakland citizens. The bill will be heard in Sacramento sometime in the next few weeks. Send letters of support to: Assemblyman Swanson, 1515 Clay St, Suite 2204, Oakland, CA 94612. 286-1670, 286-1888 (Fax). Email

• Symphony Director Michael Morgan Conducts 4th Annual Oakland Schools Orchestra Festival, March 6: I take special pride in this event because I ran for School Board in the early 90 to return music and art to our schools. This Festival celebrates the revival of music education in Oakland. Six middle school (including District 4's Bret Harte & Montera ) and two high school orchestras (Skyline & Oakland High) assemble at Skyline High to share their music and play together with professional musicians. The festival closes with a free public concert at 7 pm.

• Interactive Performance by Opera Piccola at Cesar Chavez Library, Wednesday, March 7, 3:30 pm. Based on Jonathan Fox's Playback Theater, Opera Piccola presents improvisatory theater in an intimate library setting, for all ages. Audience members have a chance to share words and short stories from their own lives and see them transformed into theater, song and dance on the spot.

• Still time to register for BayTech Math Matters Contest for 5th Graders, Saturday, March 10, 10 am at the Bay Area Technology School, 1920 Telegraph Ave.This math contest consists of 15 math problems--easy to hard--that need to be solved in 30 minutes. Students will not be allowed to use calculators. Registration is simple but note that the deadline is Wednesday, March 7.

• AAUW 25th Annual Summer Programs for Children Informational Fair, Sunday, March 11, 1-4:30 pm, at the Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive. Find the right summer program for your child at the American Association of University Women's Fair. You can check out hundreds of programs from day camps to resident camps for kids in preschool through high school all in one spot! Admission is free. Call 287-9855 or for more info.

• Skyline H.S. Jazz Band Performs at Yoshi's Jazz Club, March 12, 8 pm and 10pm : Yoshi's Jazz Club Jack London Square Tickets $10, reserve in advance: Skyline Music Dept (510) 879-3060, Skyline High School Jazz Band's benefit performances to send the band to the Reno Jazz Festival.

• Oakland Museum's Family Explorations, Sunday, March 18, 1-5 pm: Celebrate the creative spirit of 100 Families Oakland and the first 100 days of Mayor Ron Dellums.

• Hands-on art activities led by artists from 100 Families Oakland
• Music, puppet show, and face painting
• Spoken word poetry workshop for teens with Youth Speaks (2:30 & 3:30 pm)
• Performances by Prescott Elementary School Circus (3 pm)
• Learn about resources available from the Fire Department, Public Library, Parks & Recreation, Head Start, Oakland Children & Youth Services, and other city agencies

For more information, or call 238-2200.

 

• Sequoia School Multicultural Festival and Silent Auction, Saturday, April 28, 4-8 pm: Come join the fun and help raise funds for new play structures at the school. There will be performers, great food, and wonderful items to bid on. The committee still needs donations or services for the Silent Auction. Contact Giovanna Queeto. Or advertise in their auction catalog: $40 business card size; $75 for 1/4 page size; $150 for 1/2 page ads and $300 for full page ads. Direct donations for the new play structure are also welcome.

• Teen Homework Assistance Center Offers Free Tutoring in math, science, English and Spanish, eight hours per week to middle and high school students on Saturdays and Mondays at the Eastmont Branch Library. The program also seeks volunteer tutors. For details contact Don Waters, who spearheads the program for the library, at (510) 615-5726.

• Park Days for Incoming Glenview Kindergarteners: Beth Houghton, a new resident of Glenview whose daughter will be attending Kindergarten at Glenview Elementary this fall, is organizing Sunday gatherings in Dimond Park for other entering kindergarteners so that students and families can get to know each other prior to the start of school. She'll be at the Dimond Park playground nearest to El Centro Avenue every Sunday (weather permitting) from 10-11:30 am starting April 1. If you have questions, contact Beth.

<< Dimond Neighbors Monthly Vigil this week at the Lincoln and MacArthur pocket park. They gather on the 1st of each month.

• Next week I am introducing a resolution marking the fourth anniversary of the war and noting the cost to city in services and lives. The words of Martin Luther King forty years ago continue to have relevance:

I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.
I am working to organize and support a wide range of activities on March 24th:

• On Saturday March 24th, 10am-Noon, Congresswoman Lee will holding her annual Town Hall Meeting on the War at the Grand Lake Theater.

• Following the Town Hall meeting there will be March to City Hall at Noon starting at the Lakeview Library at Lake Merritt across from the Farmer’s Market.

• A short Rally at City Hall, 1-2pm will address how the cost of the war and resulting budget cuts at home are linked to the violence in Oakland.
March & Rally Leaflet

• Envisioning Peace Concert, music and spoken word to inspire peace, 7 pm at Fruitvale Presbyterian Church, 2735 MacArthur Blvd at Coolidge. Music by Damond Moodie, the Apple Pie Hopes, Phoenix & Luke Thomas of After Buffalo, and the Renaissance School Chorus. Donations $5-10, youth free. 530-0915.