<<Friends of Sausal Creek Volunteers in Dimond Park.

Help Keep Our Creeks & Waterways Healthy & Clean:  District 4 is home to the headwaters of Lions, Peralta, Sausal, Temescal Creeks and their tributaries. We are proud to host 9 of the 15 Creek to Bay projects this year.

For a complete description of the District 4 sites, photos and more information on Oakland creeks.

•   Peralta Creek-Butters Drive, 3914 Butters Drive
•    Peralta Creek-Retting Place, Wisconsin Street & Rettig
•    Sausal Creek-Dimond Park,  Scout Hut,  FOSC
•    Sausal Creek- FOSC Native Plant Nursery, Joaquin Miller Park
•     Sausal Creek-Marj Saunders Park, Ascot/Chelton
•    Sausal Creek-Shepherd Canyon, Escher Gate
•    Sausal Creek-Beasconsfield, Beaconsfield/Keswick
•    Courtland Creek, Courtland & Brookdale  
•    Lions Creek at McCrea Pond, 4460 Shepherd Street

FIND AN UNUSUAL OBJECT IN A LOCAL CREEK? 
WIN WARRIORS OR A'S TICKETS
>>Pulling a mattress spring out of Butters Canyon.

Unfortunately, finding a mattress or furniture in our creeks is not so unusual.  Send us a photo of the most  unusual object found on Creek to Bay Day and you or your group might win tickets to the Warrior's or A's in this year's contest.


 

• Friends of Sausal Creek Discuss Pesticides & Creek Restoration Design at its meeting, next Wednesday September 19th, 7-9pm, Dimond Library, 3565 Fruitvale Ave. Laurel Marcus will show you how to reduce the use of pesticides in your garden, reduce chemical use in your house, conserve water and energy, care for your creek banks, and increase butterfly and bird habitats in your yard. Free copies of her book, The House and Garden Audit, will be provided. Also, city staff and the Restoration Design Group (RDG) will lead discussion regarding the potential restoration of Sausal Creek in the lower part of Dimond Park. RDG will present options for the design and how design will impact the park. For more information, contact 501-3672 or coordinator@sausalcreek.org.

• Blue Ribbon Commission on Housing presents its report to Council next Tuesday. After 8 months of hearings and meetings, the 17 member commission appointed by Mayors Brown & Dellums, Council Member and the City Administrator came up with a proposals to phase in Inclusionary Housing (requiring developers to set aside a percentage of homes for low income housing or pay a fee), to increase the share of redevelopment funds for affordable housing and to put $200 million housing bond on the ballot for citizen approval. They could not reach agreement on conversion of rental properties to condos.

• Revised Smoking Ordinance to Reduce the Impact of Second Hand Smoke Moves Forward to Council on Tuesday without the ban on smoking in private homes in multi-unit buildings. The proposal includes:
   

• No smoking in outdoor service areas, such as bus stops, ATMs, cab stands, ticket lines.
• No smoking in outdoor dining areas such as sidewalk cafes.
• No smoking in recreational areas such as parks and public trails.
• No smoking in homes that are licensed Family Childcare center, adult care or health care facilities at any time 24/7.
• New protections for Apartment/Condo dwellers:
  • Requires landlords/condo sellers to disclose to prospective tenants/buyers, whether unit is smoking or non-smoking, which units allow smoking, and the smoking policy for the complex.
  • No smoking in common indoor and outdoor areas of apartment and condo complexes. 

• City and East Bay Regional Park Open Space Trade Goes to Council on September 18, 6 pm:  The trade of City & Regional Park owned lands to Council on September 18th. The trade will help each agency consolidate fragmented parcels near Roberts Regional Recreation Area, Redwood Recreation Region Area and the Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve. This will unify the section of the bicycle pathway from Shepherd Canyon to Montclair which will be named the Montclair Railroad Trail. We hope to synchronize the change of ownership with passage of the changes to the Dogs At Large in Parks ordinance so that dog walkers may continue to walk their dogs on leash on this trail (see item below).

• Ethics Commission Needs Members:   The 7 member commission, 3 nominated by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council and 4 chosen by the commissioners, has two commission nominated vacancies for three year terms ( January 27, 2008 through January 21, 2011). Members must be Oakland residents and registered to vote in Oakland. Duties include:  monthly meetings, committee meetings, oversight of campaign related ordinances, conflict of interest regulations, review of ethics laws and recommendations of amendments to the Council, developing public outreach & educational programs, and annually adjusting Council salaries. For applications due Friday, October 26, 5 pm.

• Bay Area Communications Interoperability System Announced: This week Bay Area cities announced the latest effort to create a communications system that allows first responders to communicate directly with counterparts in an emergency. Currently, police and fire fighters working adjacent to other city borders often carry a separate communications device to communicate with the adjacent city (Oakland & Berkeley). After months of working out the details, Oakland and other bay cities will apply for Federal funds to purchase and install the equipment.. 

• Thank You Party for National Night Out Hosts and Volunteers: Come to City Hall, Hearing Room 3 on Wednesday, September 26 at 6:30 pm for a  Thank You Party with light refreshments, dessert and comments by Assistant Chief Howard Jordan. RSVP 238-3128 or to Felicia Verdin. >>National Night Out on Culver St last month.

• Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) Surveys:  Oakland's Neighborhood Services Division (NSD) is doing an Assessment of our NCPCs citywide. The NSD wants to learn how you feel we are doing at reaching the goals of making change in our neighborhoods, empowering residents, linking people to city services, and creating strong NCPCs. They also want to know what the obstacles to success are. If you have attended even one Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council meeting please fill out this survey. The survey takes about 15 minutes. If you have not participated in a Neighborhood Council, fill out this separate survey.   Kim Gilhuly, survey consultant, if you have any questions, concerns, or further feedback. 

• For a complete list of Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils in District 4.

• Montclair Traffic Meeting:  Sue Piper of our office and Montclair Safety Improvement Council organized a lively meeting on traffic this week to talk about the special traffic hazards of the area as the increased development in the hills, narrow, windy streets and lack of sidewalks combine to impact traffic safety.  Thanks to the City Public Works staff, police, fire fighters, city engineers, and neighbors who attended.  My personal apologies for not making it on time (I am vice chair of the County Recycling Board that also met that night), but I got a complete report from Sue.  The problem areas will be studied and reports will be presented back at a future MSIC meeting. Our office constantly works with neighborhood groups on mediating solutions street by street.  For more information contact Sue Piper at 238-7042.

• The new staff person for the Measure Y Committee has updated the Measure Y website with summaries of past meetings, services, grant information, and a listing of upcoming meetings. For feedback, contact Anne Marks.  The public is always welcome to attend these meetings.

•  New Parking Meter System: Installation of new parking meters continues; as they switch over, double check to see if you should put your money in the meter or in the new parking station. The new system allows you to use bills, change or a credit card. Remember to put the receipt on your dashboard. Some meter poles will remain in place (without their coin mechanisms) for use as bicycle parking stations.

• How to file a Police Report:  Police use crime reports to plan patrols and follow crime trends. Commanders determine their priorities based on the number and severity of crimes reported. You don't have to rely on the police to actually make the report; for non-urgent crimes such as auto break-ins or after the fact home break-ins you can download a citizen's crime report  from the City's website.

• September is National Preparedness Month: Oakland Animal Services has a new Pet Preparedness Packet: A "How-To" Guide that outlines practical steps to keep your pet safe during a disaster. Copies are free and downloadable. For details on the other events below, call 238-6351:

• Emergency Preparedness Night with the Oakland Athletics, Monday, September 17, 6 pm-10 pm
• Emergency Preparedness Information for Special Needs Populations, Thursday, September 17, 1- 4 pm, North Oakland Senior Center, 5714 Martin Luther King Jr. Way

• Learn More about Oakland's New Retrofit Program, Wednesday, October 3, from 6 to 8 pm: at the office of the Oakland Association of Realtors, 1528 Webster. Space is limited to first 75 people. Call Sue Piper in our office at 238-7042 or email her. Please help us spread the word to your neighbors and Oakland friends.

• Join or start a CORE group on your block -- first step is to get to know each other and share contact information. Learn more at the City's website for Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergencies (CORE). If you are already CORE trained, consider taking additional training through CORE or the American Red Cross. Consider the following CORE courses (all require advanced registration):
  • Disaster First Aid - September 22, 9 am - 4 pm
  • CORE Refresher (required for all 2003-2004 CORE graduates) - October 13, 9 am -1 pm
  • Managing Stress During Emergencies - October 27, 9 am - 1 pm
  • Managing Your Neighborhood Command Center Operations Effectively - November 10, 9 am - 3 pm

• Bolt bookcases, other tall, heavy items to the wall -- injuries following a major earthquake are primarily due to falling and flying objects.
   

• Prepare Emergency Supplies at Home and Work: Water and food for at least 3 days.  A great resource is 72hours.org

• Even if you have retrofitted your home, you might want to consider a professional inspection.  Some studies suggest that as many as two thirds of retrofitted homes in Oakland do not meet today's standards. Some earthquake insurance companies offer discounts to homes that have been retrofitted.
   

• Earthquake Fault and Liquefaction Maps and other information

We recently held a community meeting to solicit input from dog owners and groups on updating City laws to conform to new State regulations. We continue to receive emails from people with thoughts on the proposed changes to the City's regulations  Dogs at Large (OMC Chapter 6 6.070) and Dogs at Large in Parks (OMC Chapter 6 6.080). We are hoping to bring the measure to the City's Life Enrichment Committee, September 25, 6 pm, Hearing Room 1, City Hall. Public comments are welcome. Forward comments to Sue Piper in our office.  There are basically two NEW requirements:

• The leash be attached to a collar or harness, and
• Dog guardians must pick up ("pooper scooper" requirement) after their dogs on public or private property (other than their own personal private property).  We have had some concerns about exempting personal property.  If there is an unsanitary situation, odors, etc. current laws would already cover these situations.

As a result of citizen input we are modifying two existing provisions:

• We are giving dog owners the ability to tether their dogs for a 15 minute grace period. The current leash law requires dog guardians to have their dogs on leash (and attached to the hand of the dog guardian) at all times when on public property. It also prohibits dogs from creating a nuisance and requires that dogs not block sidewalks or cause harm to themselves, other animals, people or property. We hope the 15 minute grade period will encourage people to get out with their dogs, but not to leave them unreasonably unattended. The guiding principle here is that the dog must be under the control of its guardian at all times when on public property.
• We are changing the requirement that the leashes should be no longer than 6 feet to that dogs should be on leash and no more than 6 feet from their guardian to accomodate differences in leash styles and the size of owners and their dogs.

Recycle Used Computers at OTXWest: The Oakland Tech Exchange (OTX) provides free Pentium 2 computers with Windows 2000 Professional to any Oakland students in grades 6-12. To earn a computer, the student and parent/adult must register and attend a 3 hour THCP class. Classes are held at OTX-West at least once a week from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm (usually on a Wednesday or Thursday).  Sign Up Here.

Bruce Buckelew of OTXWest, 1680 14th Street, reminds us that reusing one computer with a CRT screen saves:

• 77 lbs of solid waste
• 147 lbs (17.5 gallons of water from being polluted
• 32 tons of air from being polluted
• 1,333 lbs of CO2 from being emitted
• 7,719 kilowatts of energy

This is equivalent to taking 1/2 of a car off the road, saving 68% of one US household's allotment of electricity for a year at a net cost savings of $670. I have been proud of working with Bruce and OTX to narrow the digital divide since we established the Computer Academy at Oakland Tech a decade ago. OTXWest has helped students put over 22,000 computers with monitors into the hands of low income students, schools, libraries, community centers and organizations. Donate your old computers to them; they will pick up large numbers of computers and clean out the memories for businesses and organizations.

• Altenheim Grand Opening Wednesday, September 19, 3:30 pm: The Altenheim is a National Register-listed historic landmark located in Oakland's Dimond District. Citizens Housing Corporation working with the Excelsior German Center and the City of Oakland has restored this architectural treasure to new use as independent affordable housing for seniors. The Altenheim is located at 1720 MacArthur Blvd.

• Tuesday, September 18, 2 pm -- Older Driver Safety, things you can do to maintain your driving skills as you get older and an open discussion about the issue of mobility as we age. Designed for Older Adults, their family members or professionals working with Older Adults.At the Dimond Branch Library , 3565 Fruitvale Avenue, presented by the Alameda County Senior Injury Prevention Program (SIPP). For more information, please call 482-7844.

• Share Gardening Information with Other Local Senior Gardeners: Visit the Oakland Senior Garden Club, which meets at noon on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of the month at the Smith Recreation Center, 1969 Park Blvd. (across from the Parkway Theater). Meetings include discussion about local plants and flowers, along with presentations by members and outside speakers. You are welcome to just show up or you can call Roger Brett for more information at 339-6626.

• OUSD Adult Ed's New Brain Fitness Program for Seniors: This program is a scientifically validated to improve memory, thinking and communication in mature adults. It begins September 17 and meets Monday through Friday, 3:30-5 pm for 9 weeks (ends November 14) at the Downtown Oakland Senior Center, 200 Grand Avenue. For information, call 879-4090.

• Brain Aerobics Class: Get your morning workout  Tuesday mornings, 10-11:30 am at the Downtown Oakland Senior Center or Wednesday mornings, 9:30-10:30 am at the North Oakland Senior Center.The goal of the class is to help stimulate the mind, improve memory and have fun in a safe and non-competitive environment. Exercises include Sudoko, Brain Bats, Brain Teasers, critical thinking puzzles and more. This is an ongoing class. Call Joan Adams at 879-4090

• Council Office Support to Seniors: Something for readers to note is that along with his other duties, Richard Cowan uses his expertise in senior issues to informally help out in this area.  He is a member of the Dimond Senior Council which plans the development of senior facilities in this neighborhood, and he can also assist in personal issues from elder abuse to paratransit. He may be reached at 238-7041.

• AB 45 Approved by Senate; goes to Governor for Signature: Sandre Swanson's bill calling for the return of local control of Oakland Unified School District to the School Board by July 1, 2008  made a historic leap forward as it cleared the final legislative hurdle before reaching Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk for signature. After garnering bipartisan support from 2/3rd of the Senate last week, AB 45 cleared the Assembly for a concurrence vote of 45 - 28. Contact Governor Schwarzenegger and ask him to sign the bill.

• College Environmental Internships for Fall at Chabot Space & Science Center: Applications are currently being accepted for three paid fall college internship positions at Chabot Space & ScienceCenter in Oakland. An interview is required. Positions must be filled by October 1^st  2007, and 200 hours must be completed by February 1^st  2008.  For details,contact Eric R. Havel at 336-7326 or go to the website.

• Allendale Elementary School
• Fruitvale Elementary School
• Glenview Elementary School
• Horace Mann Elementary School
• Sequoia Elementary School
• Joaquin Miller Elementary School
• Maxwell Park Elementary School - (Supervisor Nate Miley and I will join students, parents and staff on Thursday, October 4)
• Montclair Elementary School
• Thornhill Elementary School

• Homework Assistance for Teens at Libraries: The Oakland Public Library launches free drop-in Homework Assistance for teens,  12- 18 years old. Teens who want help in English, math, research and science from  experienced volunteer tutors can come to one of six Oakland libraries for help. No advance registration is needed:
  • Asian Branch: 388 9th Street, Suite 190, Mondays 7pm, Tuesdays, 6 - 8pm (math only)
  • Dimond Branch: 3565 Fruitvale Ave, Saturdays, 10 am - Noon
  • Main Library-West Auditorium: 125 14th Street: Wednesdays & Thursdays, 6-8 pm
  • Melrose Branch: 4805 Foothill Blvd.: Mondays, 5-7 pm

For more information and locations, please call 238-7233 or the above libraries.

• Meet the Author at Laurel Book Store, September 18, 7:30 pm: The Laurel Book Store, 4100 McArthur Blvd, invites you to hear Deborah Davis, author of Not Like You -- a young adult novel enjoying high praise with reviewers -- will be talking about writing for the YA market as well as her new book.  

• Free English Classes (free babysitting): English as a Second Language (ESL) classes offered for adults at Allendale Elementary School, UC Berkeley Room, 3670 Penniman Avenue. Tuesday-Friday 8:45-11;45. Offered by OUSD Adult Education  Program.

• Introduction to Oral History Workshop at Mills College: This one-day workshop will introduce you to methods of oral history. It is designed for beginners as well as those who would like a refresher course, and no experience is necessary. The workshop is Saturday, September 22, 9 am -5 pm at Mills College. Free to Mills students; $60 for all others. Register early, as enrollment is limited and the workshop fills up quickly. For details, contact Nancy MacKay at 430-2028.

• Third Annual Debi Echlin Memorial Bookies by the Bay, Thursday, September 27, Jack London Waterfront Hotel at 10 Washington Street: This annual event celebrates independent book stores and the memory of Montclair's own Debi Eclin, the late owner of a Great Good Place for Books who was the spirit behind the first event.  This fund raiser supports Write to Read, Alameda Reads, Oakland's Second Start and LEAP. Special guests include Ayelet Waldman, author of Daughter's Keeper and Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, and Peggy Orenstein, author of Waiting for Daisy and Schoolgirls. No host reception starts at 6 pm; dinner at 7.  $50 per person. Silent and live auction. Sponsored by the Northern California  Independent Booksellers Association's Books by the Bay. For details...
   
• Neighborhood author Dennis Evanosky will discuss his new book Oakland's Laurel District a the Laurel Book Store October 12, 7:30. Plenty of history and wonderful old photos are included as well as tips for where you can go to see many of the old sites.  

•  National Run @ Work Day: On September 21, 2007, the Road Runners Club of America, the largest grassroots running organization in the country, will promote the 2nd Annual RRCA National Run@Work Day®. The purpose of National Run@Work Day is to promote physical activity and healthy living through running or walking. For details.
   

• Free Film at Oakland Museum of California-First Fridays After Five: See Piece by Piece, a groundbreaking film documenting San Francisco's highly controversial graffiti art movement, Friday, October 5, 6:30 pm. For  information.