For this holiday season, V Smoothe at A Better Oakland has created a way for Oakland bloggers and the blogoaksphere community to join together to help the Alameda County Community Foodbank provide meals to those who need them. She’s set up a virtual food drive, that as of this posting has raised nearly $500 for the foodbank!

Her goal is to raise $1000 by December 20th, and I’m confident that we as a community can meet that and surpass that goal. It’s very easy – just click the button below and donate what you can. As V explains, “With the food bank’s bulk buying power, they can get a lot more food for whatever you can afford to spend than you could at the grocery store, so remember, giving money helps more than giving food.”

The blogoaksphere has joined together many times before, but usually for policy or political campaigns. Through this virtual food drive, we can join together again and make a huge difference. So please donate today and encourage others to join you in donating.

Recently, I’ve been thinking pretty seriously about moving closer to the middle of Temescal. Right now, I’m technically in Temescal (at least, according to some), but I’m many blocks and a freeway overpass away from 51st and Telegraph and all the great stuff in that area. But there was one reason that had been holding me back – no grocery store! Where I currently live, I can walk to four grocery stores – Whole Foods in Berkeley, Market Hall, Trader Joe’s, and Safeway on College. From 51st, I could still walk to the Safeway on Pleasant Valley, but there’s no way I could do the majority of my shopping there.

But just under a month ago, the Temescal Produce Market opened on Telegraph between 51st and 52nd, and I got a chance to stop in yesterday. It’s certainly not a full-scale grocery store, but they do have nearly all the staples (well, if you’re a vegetarian, and I am). There’s tons of produce, which would be great to augment anything not available at the farmer’s market, but I’m even more excited about their grocery selection, which is mostly organic. The store has a decent bulk foods section, dairy, baking goods (including a huge selection of spices), snacks, frozen food, and plenty more.

I just picked up some half and half because I had done my shopping the day before (but, oddly, Whole Foods was entirely out of organic half and half), but I plan to be back in the future, especially if I move further down Telegraph. For pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders, this is the perfect store to run to if you realize you’re missing an ingredient (or a few) or just don’t have time to trek down to one of the bigger stores.

If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by. Here’s some of what you’ll find:

Note: Due to the holidays, there are dozens of events happening in the next couple of weeks so I’m picking and choosing a bit. For a more complete list of Oakland holiday events, check out City Homestead’s comprehensive listing.

Tuesday, December 1st– AC Transit Community Open House for Revised Service Adjustment Proposal

Via Ride ACT: “On November 18, a Revised Service Adjustments Plan proposal was presented to the AC Transit Board of Directors. The modified plan restores nearly half of the service hours originally proposed to be cut. Many of the restored hours are in the form of increased frequency and operating hours. In some cases, significant routing revisions are proposed… The public is invited to a community open house to learn more about the revised plan and talk with AC Transit planners.” The open house will be held from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at AC Transit General Offices, 1600 Franklin Street, 2nd Floor Board Room. For background on AC Transit’s service adjustment planning process, read V Smoothe’s excellent post on the topic.

Tuesday, December 1st– Trivia Night at the Den

This Tuesday, Trivia Night returns to the Den, the Fox Theater’s bar. Compete each week in teams of 4 to win free drinks and free concert tickets.  Categories include Current Events, Sports/Entertainment, Science/Geography, Music, Photo ID, and the Miscellaneous Round. Throughout December, winning teams will win tickets to Bay Area concerts. Trivia starts at 8pm and ends before BART or regular AC Transit lines stop running, at the Den, 1912 Telegraph. Find out more details at the Den’s website.

Wednesday, December 2nd – Peralta Chicano Latino Association Scholarship Reception

The Peralta Chicano Latino Association and the Host Committee requests your presence to assist them in raising funds to benefit deserving students at the four Peralta Colleges in need of financial support. This event will be held from 5:30-8:00pm at Cocina Poblana, 499 Embarcadero West. All Donations Welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Find more information and RSVP on Facebook.

Saturday & Sunday, December 5th & 6th – Jingletown Holiday Art Walk

This holiday open studios will highlight the work of more than 35 artists who live and/or work in the area known as Jingletown, which is situated between the Park and Fruitvale Street bridges bordered by the estuary separating Oakland from the island of Alameda. Among other notable artistic enterprises, Jingletown is the location of the Institute of Mosaic Art and Float Gallery, as well as studios of many other renowned artists who are living and working in one of the most established artist warehouse districts in Oakland. In a time when our neighborhood is changing dramatically, the goal of the Jingletown Arts and Business Community is to heighten awareness about the rich and diverse population of working and exhibiting artists and the creative opportunities in the Jingletown Arts District. The art walk will take place from 11am-6pm throughout Jingletown. For more info on participating artists and a map of the art walk, visit the Jingletown Arts & Business Community website.

There are so many reasons that I’m grateful to live in Oakland that I couldn’t possibly list all of them in a blog post. Luckily, V Smoothe covered many reasons that overlap with mine (especially AC Transit and all the great farmer’s markets). But there’s one thing that I’ve grown an appreciation for over the past couple of years that surprises me a bit – Oakland art.

Growing up, art was never one of my passions. Sure, I liked seeing art and went to plenty of art museums, probably since my parents are nearly obsessed with museums and have been to so many more museums throughout this country than I can even fathom. But art rarely was at the top of my list. Writing, music, hiking, and, later on, politics beat out art any day.

But that’s started to change. Maybe it’s because of all the incredible Oakland art I’ve seen at Burning Man and the Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival, or because of the art I’ve appreciated at the Art Murmur, or because of all the time I’ve spent sipping chai at Awaken looking at the art on the walls, or because of the fight for public art instead of a surface parking lot in Uptown. Whatever it is, I now can’t seem to get enough of art and feel incredibly grateful that Oakland fulfills this need both through public art and excellent art galleries…

And, of course, through the airport. I lamented a couple months back that there was no more art at the Oakland Airport, but at least one new exhibit opened recently and I got a chance to check it out on Monday. Here’s some of what I saw.

(Yes, that is San Francisco made of Jello. Excuse the glare – you’ll have to check it out for yourself.)

Happy Thanksgiving, and if you’re flying back to Oakland after the holiday, remember to check out some of the art at the airport.

This guest post was written by Joel Young, a lifelong Bay Area resident and a member of the AC Transit Board of Directors.

As the raucous health care debate plays out in Washington DC, I have become increasingly aware of the stakes for the Bay Area. Skyrocketing health care costs touch us all, and in ways you might not expect.

In February of this year, I was appointed to the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District Board. I knew upon taking up my post that there were many costs associated with running such an expansive transit system. Most of these expenses are obvious, like fuel, maintenance, staff salaries and administration.

Most people wouldn’t peg health care costs as a major portion of our budget. But for fiscal year 2009-2010, AC Transit’s total healthcare costs, which include medical, vision and dental care premiums, are approximately $36.4 million.

The story only gets worse with time. By fiscal year 2017-2018, these costs are expected to reach $55.7 million. That’s a 56 percent cost increase from the FY2009-10 baseline.

Unfortunately, there is little AC Transit can do to prevent the increase. Every year our insurance providers raise our annual premiums by at least six percent. And due to lack of competition in the insurance market, we are unable to look for a cheaper plan.

So, what do these escalating costs mean to the organization and AC Transit riders?

Based on our projections, over an eight year period we will have spent an additional $95.8 million on health care. That translates into 465,106 platform hours of service over that period, which is the equivalent of providing weekday bus service for 83 days, purchasing 180 brand new hybrid buses, doubling the amount of weekend service or providing 4.8 million monthly bus passes to children and the disabled.

I fear that these health care cost increases, along with the normal inflationary cost pressure associated with other operational expenses will outpace our revenue growth. Since we still have to balance the books, the increasing costs would likely force the board to reduce service or increase fares.

I dealt with that experience this year, and I can’t begin to tell you what a bitter, emotionally draining experience it is.

I heard from people like Michelle Lynne, a disabled resident who relies on various bus lines to conduct the everyday activities of her life. If those bus lines are eliminated she will not be able to leave her home.

I have had to tell people like Mark Williams, who can barely afford the current fares, that they are going to have pay more to ride the bus. Oh and by the way, you’re gong to have to wait an additional 30 minutes for that bus after walking an additional half-mile to the nearest stop.

And I have seen our dedicated employees join the ranks of the unemployed as we’ve cut personnel to reduce costs.

For these reasons, I hope that our elected leaders in Washington will have the determination to solve this issue for us.

As an organization we have tried to reduce costs as much as possible while struggling to maintain a basic level of service. But there is not much more “fat” to trim and AC Transit will face ever-growing financial turmoil if our health care expenses continue to rise faster than our revenues.

I am excited that Congress has passed a bill. Now it is time for the Senate to act.

Monday, November 23rd – Meet Oakland’s New Police Chief

All community stakeholders are invited to come to this introductory gathering with Oakland’s new Police Chief, Anthony W. Batts, to hear how he plans to approach the complex issues in Oakland.  Former Berkeley Police Chief Douglas Hambleton and Oakland’s former Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan will also be recognized for their distinguished community service. The event is sponsored by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, Public Defender Diane Bellas, The Black Elected Officials and Faith Based Leaders of the East Bay, BWOPA (Black Women Organized for Political Action, Oakland/Berkeley Chapter), The Ella Baker Center, Leadership Excellence, The Mentoring Center, Oakland Rising, PUEBLO (People United for a Better Life in Oakland), Youth Alive and Youth Uprising. This event will be held from 6-8pm at Maxwell’s, 341 14th Street. Find more info and RSVP on Facebook.

Friday, November 27th – Plaid Friday

Envisioned to be the independent business alternative to the big box store “Black Friday”, Plaid Friday is designed to help raise awareness about shopping local and supporting the local economy. Plaid Friday was created by two local independent businesses, Blankspace Gallery and the Compound Gallery, as a way to tie into the movement to support independent businesses and elevate the awareness of the abundant and thriving independent businesses located in neighborhoods throughout the East Bay. Celebrate by supporting participating shops on Friday, November 27th and throughout this Holiday season. Wear plaid on November 27th to show your support while shopping at participating businesses. Look for the special plaid placards at your local shops. Businesses throughout Oakland will be participating and some will be offering specials. Visit the Plaid Friday website to find out which businesses in your neighborhood are participating.

Friday, November 27th – Tipple n’ Tamales at Penelope

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and what will you do? Shop Indie then come by Penelope and throw back a few. Penelope Bar and Tina Tamale of La Borinqueña are joining forces for a Plaid Friday afterparty. Once everyone is worn out from shopping at fine indie businesses, we are inviting everyone to quench their thirst and fill their bellies with us.  Specials include $3 Plaid Friday Shots, $6 Select Signature Drinks, 1 cent Indie Special shot if you wear plaid , and $6 Tamale Plate with tortilla chips & salsa. This event will take place from 6-11pm at Penelope, at the corner of 11th and Clay in Old Oakland. For more info and to RSVP, visit the Facebook page.

Saturday, November 28th – Rockridge in the Snow

The Rockridge District Association will be hosting its annual holiday event this Saturday. There will be live entertainment, a children’s play area with snow, and they’ll be accepting donations of coats and toys. The event will take place from 3-6pm on College Avenue near the BART station. Posted in Community, Entertainment, Food, Oakland Tagged: Anthony Batts, Penelope, Plaid Friday, Rockridge in the Snow, Tina Tamale ]]> http://oaklandliving.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/november-23-29-oakland-political-community-events/feed/ 0 rebeccasaltzman http://oaklandliving.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/ofrendas-para-los-muertos-from-oakland-with-love/ http://oaklandliving.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/ofrendas-para-los-muertos-from-oakland-with-love/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:27:35 +0000 Becks http://oaklandliving.wordpress.com/?p=2184 ]]>

Last night, before heading to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting and then the Walk Oakland Bike Oakland meeting, I stopped by the opening night of Ofrendas Para Los Muertos, an exhibit in the atrium of the State Building. I only had 10 minutes to enjoy, since my bus was extremely late, but it was incredible and I intend to return soon to take it all in.

Here’s a taste of what the exhibit has to offer:

If you’re downtown any weekday in the next month in a half, I highly recommend checking it out. Here are the details:

Last night’s Planning Commission hearing on the College Avenue Safeway went well overall. Sure, the neighbors showed up in force to try to stop the project or at least to greatly reduce the scale of the project. But it was just a scoping session so staff and commissioners repeatedly reminded them to stick to scoping issues and that the merits of the project would be discussed later.

As I listened to speaker after speaker talk about their grave concerns about an expanded Safeway, I realized that they seemed to believe that the cost of doing nothing is nothing – that if we leave Safeway the way it is, there would be no cost to the neighborhood, environment, or the economy. I’d like to borrow a concept that Robert at the California High Speed Rail blog came up with about HSR – the cost of doing nothing is not nothing. Robert argued that not building HSR would end up costing the state much more in the long run, with increased air and car traffic, needs to upgrade airports and highways, pollution, etc.

In the same vein, we need to ask the question: what is the cost of leaving the Safeway as it is now? John Gatewood from ULTRA came up with these questions, about the environmental impacts of leaving the store as is:

• How efficient are the existing HVAC systems in the present store?
• How efficient are the existing refrigeration and freezer units?
• How efficient is the energy usage?
• How efficient is the existing loading dock? Do trucks need to idle longer because of lack of space, etc?
• How efficient is the existing parking lot configuration? Do drivers spend too much time looking for a space?
• What is the “embodied energy” of the existing structure, the energy that went into producing the materials used in the existing structures?
• What are the energy and carbon footprint coasts of demo’ing the existing structures and can these be recouped in the energy efficiencies and more environmentally sound new construction?

Beyond environmental impacts, the current store has real negative impacts on the neighborhood that effect quality of life and local business. In my comments to the Planning Commission last night, I told my story of being a pedestrian that frequently goes to that Safeway, as it’s a short walk from my home. Getting to the Safeway on foot is a nightmare – there are multiple opportunities to get hit by cars, and there are multiple times when both car driver’s and pedestrian’s views are obstructed. Part of the reason for this is that there are so many driveways – 9 in total on College and Claremont. Just the fact that the new Safeway will reduce the curb cuts from 9 to 4 will be a huge benefit to pedestrians, bicyclists, and to safety.

I’ve mentioned this before, but the current Safeway and its huge surface parking lot is a blight on the neighborhood that’s quite creepy at night. It is also entirely uninviting – unless I’m going to Safeway I avoid that side of the street entirely and often just go to a different part of Rockridge that’s more inviting to do my shopping.

The cost of doing nothing looks like this:

While doing something looks like this:

To me, the decision is obvious. I’m tired of this dangerous, ugly, and uninviting store being the center of the Alcatraz/College/Claremont shopping district. The cost of doing nothing is high, especially when we have the potential for a beautiful designed Safeway with hidden parking and more small, street level stories to keep the neighborhood dynamic.

If you’re interested in the details of the last night’s meeting, you can see coverage on Twitter #oakmtg. I just joined Twitter this week and will be using it primarily to cover Oakland meetings. You can find me @oaklandbecks.

Previous posts on College & Claremont Safeway:

• 11/12/09: John Gatewood: Safeway at College @ Claremont – Opportunity to Enhance an Urban Village
• 5/7/09: Safeway submits application, but “concerned neighbors” are not so happy about it
• 4/30/09: Safeway unveils new design plans for College Avenue store
• 2/15/09: College Safeway Update
• 12/8/08: Safeway stakeholders meeting canceled (or postponed?)
• 11/12/08: Safeway on College might be stuck with a “patch and paint” job
• 6/22/08: Safeway Community Meeting Turns into Public Venting Session

UPDATE: The budget workshop just ended, but you can follow the City Council meeting on Twitter #oakmtg. I finally gave in and joined Twitter, after months of being harassed, just so I could get in on the discussion there. You can find me @oaklandbecks

Tonight there will be not one but two Council meetings, and plenty will be covered. From 4-6pm, the Council will hold a special budget workshop, and from 7pm until late in the night, they’ll have a regular Council meeting. Here’s an explanation of some of the items that will be discussed.

Special Meeting: Budget Workshop

You probably know by now that Oakland is again facing a huge deficit – this time we’re $19 million in the hole. And for the past few weeks I’ve been extremely concerned about what would be cut, considering we’ve already cut services to below reasonable levels and I’m not sure how the city could function after further serious cuts. Well, somehow staff has come up with one-time gimmicks to avoid major cuts:

The City can come up with $6.62 million in one-time money by pillaging some funds that happen to have available balances, including money from an insurance settlement after the earthquake ($3.2 million), the telecommunications land use fund ($0.5 million) that can be used for park maintenance, the Parks and Recreation self-sustaining fund ($0.5 million), and Measure Q ($1.5 million), which can be used to maintain library services while reducing the Library’s General Fund appropriation to $9.06 million, the minimum permitted by Measure Q.

So that still leaves us with what, $12.5 million to come up with? Staff proposes raising another $11.6 million by selling off City property, like the Kaiser Convention Center and the Scotlan Convention Center. If, of course, they can find anyone to buy them.

The remaining deficit would be closed by forcing towing companies to start collecting our existing 18.5% parking tax on towed cars and leasing as yet unspecified City property to cell phone companies for them to put cell phone towers on.

Read the rest of V Smoothe’s post for further details on the proposal. It’s clear that this kind of budgeting isn’t sustainable and the Council does not have easy decisions to make tomorrow night. I don’t think they’ll love the staff proposal, but I’m not sure they’ll have any better ideas for budgeting.

Item 15: Clear Channel Outdoor – Billboard Agreement

This item was supposed to come to Council two weeks ago, but it was delayed, and I wrote about it then:

[The proposed billboard at the Bay Bridge entrance] doesn’t bring the City of Oakland any revenue. But it does bring revenue to the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), and it doesn’t hurt Oakland financially. In exchange for approving this agreement, Clear Channel will remove 16 billboards throughout the city (the full list can be found in the staff report). Apparently, it is fairly common for Clear Channel to get new billboard space in exchange for getting rid of other billboards, as this was done in 2003 and 2007, though the City did receive revenue out of both of those agreements.

UPDATE: The new proposal includes a one-time $400,00 payment from Clear Channel to the City and an ongoing annual payment of a yet to be determined percentage of revenue from the lease, which is probably why Kaplan held this over until this week’s meeting. Otherwise, the proposal appears to be the same as the one that was initially headed for Council two weeks ago.

Item 22: Oakland Fund For Children And Youth 2010-2013 Strategic Plan

The Oakland Fund for Children and Youth Planning and Oversight Committee is responsible for distributing funds to various youth programs, based on the funding from Kids First! (Measure K, Measure OO, and Measure D). Tonight, OFCY will be presenting its strategic plan for 2010-2013.

This item came before the Life Enrichment Committee last week and the most contentious part of the plan was the restriction on which school-based programs OFCY funds could be directed to. The request for proposals states, “High percentage of students (and/or # of students) on Free and Reduced lunch- students with a FRL at 49% or below are not eligible to apply.” This means that schools where less than 50% of students receive free or reduced lunches will be ineligible for OFCY funds for after-school programs.

Jean Quan really didn’t like this because she quickly realized that several schools in her district just barely missed the mark, and she argued that the difference between a school with 48% FRL and 50% FRL is not so great. She argued, quite reasonably, that this threshold was arbitrary and didn’t take into account the many children, especially from immigrant families, that could qualify for free lunches but didn’t apply. Staff responded that they needed to create some threshold because otherwise the money would be spread too thin. So Quan recommended changing the cut-off to 45%, and staff said they could do that.

But then Jane Brunner looked more closely at her chart and realized that a few schools in her district would still be left out (it seemed that she had little understanding of the situation going into the meeting). So she argued for the cut-off to be 40%. Staff again explained that this would stretch resources more and impact all of the programs, but the committee voted unanimously to move the item to Council with the change. Of course, that’s not reflected in the OFCY packet for tonight, but I’m sure it will come up.

The Rest of the Agenda…

I had hoped to have some time to write about the obesity and tobacco preventions program grant because this item was discussed in length at the Life Enrichment Committee and I’m guessing there will be lengthy discussions tonight. Unfortunately, I’m having some serious mouse issues and am unable to copy and paste and do lots of other things so it’s not going to be possible. Watch the Council meeting tonight to see what happens.

Monday, November 16th – Oakland Local Community Meetup

Via the Facebook event: “Oakland Local is one month old! Come join us at our first community meetup in downtown Oakland–community partners, OL bloggers & reporters, people interested in being involved with OL and anyone else who wants to support us are invited to our first meetup at TechLiminal. We’ll have beer, wine, snacks, schwag–and a chance to meet–and join–the Oakland Local team. If you’d like to do blogging or community reporting for this site, this is a chance to sign up and get hands-on instruction–or just hang out and build community.” The meetup takes place from 6:35-8:40 at Tech/Liminal, 268 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612.

Tuesday, November 17th – Oakland City Council Budget Workshop

Before the regular Council meeting, there will be a special budget workshop to discuss plans for closing the $19 million budget gap. This will be an important meeting, and V Smoothe has given an overview of the staff proposals. See the full staff report and check out my post about how to watch and understand City Council meetings if you need some guidance on how or where to view the meeting. The budget workshop is scheduled to run from 4-6pm in the Council Chambers in City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza.

Tuesday, November 17th – League of Women Voters Forum on State Governance Reform Efforts

If you’re at City Hall, stop by this event in between the budget workshop and the Council meeting. Years of legislative stalemates, budget deficits, and declining service levels have led many to the conclusion that decision making in California government has become largely dysfunctional. The League has been closely following the growing number of proposals for reform, from changes in the budget processes to a constitutional convention. Several are in initiatives being readied for the 2010 ballots. A representative from the State League will outline these proposals and discuss the League’s positions. This event will take place from 6:00PM-7:30PM at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 3 (just inside the 14th St. entrance).

Tuesday, November 17th – Oakland City Council Meeting

After two hours of budget discussion, the City Council still will have to conduct their regular meeting, and there is plenty to discuss. Among other items, they will be discussing Rebecca Kaplan’s billboard proposal, Oakland’s federal legislative agenda, participating in Alameda County’s obesity and tobacco prevention programs grant, a stimulus grant update, and the Oakland Fundy for Children and Youth (OFCY) 2010-2013 strategic plan.  See the full meeting agenda and check out my post about how to watch and understand City Council meetings if you need some guidance on how or where to view the meeting. The non-ceremonial parts of the meeting start at 7pm in the Council Chambers in City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza.

Wednesday, November 18th – Planning Commission Scoping Session on College Ave Safeway

As John Gatewood wrote about last week, the Planning Commission will be holding an EIR scoping session on the College and Claremont Safeway project (not to be confused with the Pleasant Valley Safeway, which already had its scoping session). This scoping session will help determine what the EIR will study, and though public comments should stick to those issues, the neighbors who oppose this project will be out in force in an effort to try to stop the project. Whether you love the current project or not, if you’d like to see the current monstrous parking lot and ugly store updated, please come to this meeting and help balance the statements made by those who oppose it. The Planning Commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 15th at 6:00 pm in Hearing Room 1, City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza and the full agenda can be read here.

Wednesday, November 18th – AC Transit Meeting: Vote on Accepting MTC’s Conditions for Fund Swap

The AC Transit Board will be voting on the acceptance of conditions from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) in order to swap BRT capital funds to operating funds, in order to stave off some of the planned service cuts. If you haven’t been following this issue, check out V Smoothe’s two thorough posts about it. The Board will also be discussing the creation of a funding task force, communication between the Board and the BRT Policy Steering Committee, and an employment agreement with the interim general manager, Mary King. This meeting will take place at 6pm in the 2nd floor board room, 1600 Franklin Street. You can read the agenda and see the relevant memos here.

Wednesday, November 18th – Community Convergence for Climate Action

Join the Oakland Climate Action Coalition in celebrating and supporting the community-based solutions we hope to see in Oakland’s Energy & Action Plan. Don’t miss this inspiring evening of live performances, free food, and community as we showcase the solutions that will make Oakland a model green city. Convened by the Ella Baker Center, the Oakland Climate Action Coalition is a cross-sector coalition of community-based social justice organizations, environmental experts and advocates, labor unions, and green businesses working for an equitable and just Energy & Climate Action Plan for the City of Oakland. This event takes place from 6-8pm at Laney College Theater, 900 Fallon St @ 9th Street. Find more info and RSVP at the Ella Baker website.

Thursday, November 19th – Oakland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Meeting

Oakland’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meets monthly to discusses bicycle and pedestrian issues. This month’s agenda covers the Kaiser Hospital—MacArthur Blvd Median Crossing Design, the Alameda County Union Pacific Railroad Oakland Subdivision Corridor Improvement Study, and Safe Routes to Schools Projects designs. The BPAC is extremely inclusive – any Oakland resident who attends three consecutive meetings becomes a voting member of the committee – so if you’re interested in bike and ped issues, you should consider attending. The BPAC will be meeting from 5:30-7:30pm in Hearing Room 4 of City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza.

Thursday, November 19th – Walk Oakland Bike Oakland Meeting

Come to WOBO’s Nov. 19th volunteer meeting for an “advocate training session.” Have you ever wondered how to get your elected official’s attention and raise awareness about the importance bicycle and pedestrian improvements in Oakland? At this month’s volunteer meeting we will have a representative from the Oakland Heritage Alliance (OHA) speaking about effectively lobbying city hall. Some of the topics Naomi Schiff will cover include how to give effective public testimony, and how to work behind the scenes to persuade elected officials to champion a cause. Participants will leave with ideas for effective advocacy. The meeting will be followed by a pub crawl – not to be missed! This meeting will be held from 6:30-8:30 pm at Bay Area Wilderness Training, 2301 Broadway, Suite B – enter on 23rd Street. For more info, visit WOBO’s website.

This guest post was written by Don Perata, who was the President pro Tem of the California State Senate from 2004-08. He chaired the Senate Elections and Redistricting Committee in 2001 charged with protecting the Voting Rights Act when drawing congressional and legislative districts following the 2000 census. There were no allegations of minority voting rights violations and no lawsuits. The plans won bipartisan approval.

In 2006, Oakland voters approved the so-called Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) to be used in municipal elections. IRV was developed from a similar voting scheme implemented in San Francisco.

The Oakland ballot ordinance set forth criteria for adopting the IRV by the Oakland City Council, on whose authority it may be implemented.

The key criterion is a “public education and awareness” campaign in anticipation of the potential confusion and difficulties voters may have understanding this unusual ballot voting system. In fact, IRV may only be implemented if determined “practicable”, as by the City Attorney.

Although I initially opposed IRV, my present concern is that if it is to be implemented it needs to be implemented carefully and thoughtfully. It is on this very point that I have urged extreme caution.

Anyone knowledgeable of American history is protective of our voting franchise, especially those who lived through this nation’s civil rights movement. Many citizens died in the fight to obtain the right to vote for women and minorities, especially African Americans.  Making voting easier should be our goal, not creating more complex systems.

The right to vote is the cornerstone of civil liberty.

Therefore, it is only natural for many to be skeptical of any basic changes on how elections are conducted by the government.  IRV, adopted in San Francisco to save money by eliminating a December runoff election – will actually require voters to receive and cast two separate ballots.

One ballot is to cast your vote for state constitutional officers, state propositions, local ballot measures, and legislative, judicial and county and regional offices. This is the familiar ballot where one vote is cast for each candidate or ballot proposition/measure.

The IRV is separate from the state ballot. No one knows how this ballot will look, how to use it or how votes will be tabulated. This is another point of concern. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters (ROV) is responsible for conducting both elections – simultaneously. Yet the registrar’s office has not proved particularly competent in conducting elections with only ONE ballot, much less two. Examples of errors and omissions in past elections are numerous.

To date, the ROV has not produced its plans for the requisite and all-important public awareness and education campaign among Oakland voters; nor the training protocols for poll workers likely held to answer many unprecedented questions; nor the ballot and instructions that must accompany each sample and actual ballot.

Finally, the Oakland City Council must approve the use of IRV and pay all costs associated with it. To date the costs remain unknown. San Francisco said it spent over one million dollars on voter-education related to IRV. Oakland has a $19M budget deficit this year that will require more cuts in police, fire and other basic city services, as well as layoffs of city workers.

I find it hard to fathom how the council could justify cutting these services in favor of paying for an experimental election. But that decision is theirs.

As a candidate for mayor, I want this election to be above reproach in its conduct and outcome. I want the Registrar to accept this onerous responsibility and clearly explain how he intends to dispatch that responsibility in a timely and through manner.

There is also the question of the mechanics of how IRV will work. Can the voting machine and vote tabulating be hacked or tampered with? Will every vote be counted equally? Is it likely or fair for someone who gets the most first place votes to lose? Or, that the voters who voted for a fourth or fifth choice have their votes not counted?

This is a new and almost untested system. Can it be gamed?

These unknown and unanswered questions are precisely why voter awareness and education is so vital. Bi-lingual and older voters in particular will require special attention. (Many of whom won’t vote-by-mail; preferring instead to go to the polling place, cast their ballots and watch them placed in a locked box by the poll worker).

IRV would confuse any voter when two separate sample ballots – one familiar, one unknown – arrive by mail.

Unless the County Registrar prepares and conducts a thorough, timely public awareness and education campaign, the potential for fraud, disillusionment and anger is too great to warrant. The right to vote is simply too important.

(Note from Becks: You can read my take on these issues in my blog post about instant runoff voting and a post about the mayoral campaign.)

This guest post was written by John Gatewood, one of the co-founders of ULTRA (Urbanists for a Livable Temescal Rockridge Area), which supports higher density mixed-use development along the major transit corridors of north Oakland. John works in the Graphic Arts Industry and is a resident of Temescal.

Safeway is in the planning stages of replacing the existing store and gas station at College & Claremont with a new store. (Their plans can be found on their website.)

On Wednesday evening, November 18, this project will be before the Planning Commission. No decisions will be made at this time, as it is an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) scoping session to solicit comments from the community as to what should be studied in the EIR for this project.

The latest version of Safeway’s proposal is an improvement upon the previous iterations they have shown the community but it could still be better. ULTRA, Urbanists for a Livable Temescal Rockridge Area, agrees that the existing store and gas station must be replaced. These two relics from the auto-centric 1960’s have no place in the small-scale urban village that Rockridge has become.

But one of the project alternatives studied MUST include a housing component. We think it is an excellent location for senior housing. This site has very good transit access and it is in an aging community. Rockridge is built-out. There are very few locations where there is even the possibility of building higher density housing. This site is one of those rare locations. This project is an opportunity to do some strategic planning for the future of the neighborhood. We are sure that now and in the future there will be more and more residents who will want to remain in the neighborhood but no longer want the burden of maintaining a single family house. Senior housing at this site would address this coming need. Furthermore Safeway has already partnered with a housing developer at the Mission Bay development in San Francisco. They now have the experience of building a new Safeway with a housing component and they need to bring that experience to this site.

In Safeway’s latest proposal they have small storefronts on the first floor along College Avenue and the Safeway store above. We think the Safeway should be on the first floor BEHIND the small storefronts. This has multiple benefits – It reduces the bulk of the building because the lot slopes up more than a full story in the rear, meaning that the supermarket would be partially below-grade, greatly reducing the visual impact of the store. The storefronts lining College would echo the existing land use, that is, small storefronts close together creating a lively and dense retail experience. These storefronts need maximum flexibility as to their eventual use. Ideally they would be filled with independent businesses and that should remain the goal for these stores. But just because a project has ground floor retail doesn’t mean that there are businesses that can be successful in these spaces. A row of empty storefronts does nothing to help the community.

Putting Safeway behind the storefronts will make these spaces much more flexible. As part of the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and on an interim basis only, each of these spaces could be used as retail spaces for Safeway’s various departments. Having their various specialty departments with their own entrances on College Avenue could serve as an inducement for customers to enter the main Safeway store. As part of the CUP and on an interim basis only, these storefronts could also be permitted to be used by neighborhood-serving community groups. Having the Safeway store on the first floor would also have the additional benefit of freeing up the second and possible third floor for housing. Housing would not encompass the entire roof space but only the periphery along the avenues, echoing the existing land use pattern along College Avenue. The larger portion of the rooftop could be a parking deck for the store.

Instead of a garage entrance on College Avenue like in Safeway’s proposal, we think there should be a public plaza. The entrance to the first floor Safeway would be at the back of this plaza. What is missing and needed at this end of College Avenue is a civic space, a place for people to gather. This would address that need. We envision this space evolving into a place where small public events such as arts & crafts fairs could be held. This would be to the community’s benefit and it would redound to Safeway’s benefit too because the more attractive the public space outside the store, the more likely it is people will enter the store.

Please join ULTRA and others at the Planning Commission meeting next Wednesday to share your thoughts about the Safeway EIR scoping issues:

Planning Commission Meeting
Wednesday, November 18th at 6:00 pm
Oakland City Hall
1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 1

You can also submit comments and/or questions in writing to:
Pete Vollman, Planner III,
City of Oakland, Community & Economic Development Agency
250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 2114
pvollman@oaklandnet.com
Reference Case Number ER09-0006 in all communication.
Comments must be received no later than 4PM on December 1, 2009.

Previous posts on College & Claremont Safeway:

• 5/7/09: Safeway submits application, but “concerned neighbors” are not so happy about it
• 4/30/09: Safeway unveils new design plans for College Avenue store
• 2/15/09: College Safeway Update
• 12/8/08: Safeway stakeholders meeting canceled (or postponed?)
• 11/12/08: Safeway on College might be stuck with a “patch and paint” job
• 6/22/08: Safeway Community Meeting Turns into Public Venting Session

A couple weeks ago, I started a new series about rules for running for Mayor of Oakland. Today I’ll share the third rule and will continue with this series in the coming weeks and months.

Rule #3: Do not do anything that is or appears to be illegal or unethical

Sounds pretty obvious, right? I thought so too, until both candidates and/or their supporters broke this rule.

Jean Quan made a huge mistake by using her City email list to announce her candidacy and ask for support and funding. Why is this problematic? The accumulation of email addresses and the maintenance of that list is done by her council staffers, who are paid by the City. Though I doubt that City staff time was used to write her mayoral announcement, hours of staff time were spent on the email list, and the law makes it clear that this is illegal.

What’s worse is that in her attempt to explain that her Council office and campaign are separate, she violated the law again. In her weekly newsletter following the campaign announcement, she wrote this:

Reminder: In our office we need to keep our City Council work separate from campaign activities for Mayor.  Please do not contact our City Hall office or city email for those communications, please use our temporary website or Facebook for those communications.

By linking to her websites, she again used a list cultivated through staff time to promote her campaign.

Don Perata and his supporters have also undertaken questionable actions in the past several weeks. As I mentioned last week, Perata is trying to stop instant runoff voting (IRV) from being implemented in 2010. I don’t know what his real reasoning is behind this – maybe he thinks IRV is a terrible idea or has valid concerns about the 2010 implementation plan. But the appearance of his actions is that he’s trying to make it more difficult for Jean Quan or anyone else to run against him, since he has an advantage in a June election, both in name recognition and funding. Perata and other candidates should think twice next time before taking an action that appears to be so self-serving.

Then, last week, Perata’s supporters made a similar mistake to the one Jean Quan made, by using an event that was promoted through City staff time to publicly endorse Perata. At the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) meeting with Chief Anthony Batts, the Oakland Police Officers Association (OPOA) announced its endorsement of Perata. Flyers for the meeting were produced by City staff and many staff members were there. Several of the event organizers and attendees were understandably disturbed that a community meeting had been turned into a campaign event. Perata said he did not know that the OPOA had planned to endorse him that evening, but the OPOA should have known better.

Via the Oakland Tribune, the City is looking into whether violations were made:

“It is a violation of city policy and state law to use city resources or city work time for political purposes,” City Administrator Dan Lindheim said in a statement. “While any group has the right to endorse whomever they choose for political office, the Oakland Police Officers Association decision to co-opt a city-sponsored community event and use it for political purposes raises serious concerns.”

Lindheim said he would conduct an investigation to determine “whether disciplinary or other action is appropriate.” He did not have figures on how much money was spent by the city on the event and said he did not know how long the investigation would take.

I’m glad Lindheim is following up on this, but he should also launch a similar investigation into Jean Quan’s campaign email and her follow-up “clarification” in her newsletter. And Quan and Perata should make sure that incidents like this do not happen again.

Monday, November 9th – Town Hall with Mayor Dellums and Police Chief Batts

Come hear Mayor Dellums and Chief Batts share their vision of public safety. Topics include:

• Mayor Dellums — public safety strategy: PIES (Prevention, Intervention, Enforcement, Sustainability)
• Chief Batts — vision for the Oakland Police Department
• Crime statistics: crime is down double digits citywide,but more must be done
• Community policing: how can OPD work with the community to enhance public safety?

The meeting will be held from 6:30-8 pm at Cesar Chavez Educational Center, 2825 International Blvd. An additional meeting is set for  Wednesday, November 18, 6:30-8 pm, Tassafaronga Recreation Center, 975 85th Avenue. For details, call the Oaklanders Assistance Center at 444-CITY (2489) or OAC@oaklandnet.com. You can read a review of last week’s town hall at A Better Oakland.

Monday, November 9th – Citywide Zoning Update Meeting for Historic Preservation Issues

As part of the Citywide Zoning Update Staff will be giving a presentation at the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board (LPAB) meeting. Staff will present some background on existing issues of zoning and historic preservation and how the Citywide Zoning Update will work towards implementing the Historic Preservation Element of the General Plan. Staff invites you to attend to gain knowledge about historic preservation methods being considered for incorporation in the Citywide Zoning Update.  Your feedback will be incorporated into the overall Citywide Zoning Update process. The meeting takes place at 6pm at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room One. You can also watch it on KTOP. For more information, read the staff report on this item.

Tuesday, November 10th – East Bay Democracy for America Meetup

At their November meeting, Democracy for America will be focusing the marijuana taxation ballot initiative and higher education. The two featured speakers are both East Bay Young Democrats and good friends of mine. Abraham Kniesley from Oaksterdam University will give the status on what the next steps will be to make The Control, Regulate and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 a reality and what we can do to help out. Edie Irons is the communications director for the Institute for College Access and Success. She’ll be talking about funding for higher education here in California and what impact California’s decisions are having on students. There will be an action item that will give you a chance to walk out after the meeting feeling like you’ve done more than just get some information on education funding, you’ll know that you’ve done something to help frame that debate. The meeting will be held at 7:00 at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave, Berkeley. RSVP here.

Thursday, November 12th – State Legislature Joint Select Committee on Government Reform Hearing

This year’s state budget set the record for being the latest, and probably the worst, in California’s history. This disastrous process has demonstrated loudly and clearly that the current system is not working and that major change is needed to make the Legislature more responsive to the needs of Californians. Because of this, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg recently established a new special legislative committee – the Joint Select Committee on Government Reform – which our State Senator Loni Hancock been appointed to as a member. This fall, the Committee, comprised of 10 Senators and 10 Assemblymembers, is hosting a series of hearings throughout the state and is expected to deliver a legislative reform package by January 15, 2010. The next scheduled Joint Select Committee hearing will focus on the topic of ballot box budgeting and initiative reform. They will be hearing from experts about the problems created by our current initiative process and finding real solutions to these obstacles to create better governance in California, as well as a more educated and informed electorate. The hearing will be held from 2:00pm – 7:00 pm, at the Elihu Harris State Building, 1515 Clay Street, in Oakland.

Thursday, November 12th – Community Workshops (Round 3): Zoning Draft Proposals

Are you an Oakland Resident, Property Owner, Business Owner, or Developer? Learn about and discuss proposed zoning changes for Oakland’s residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors! Planning staff will be hosting its third round of Community Workshops. This workshop will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the Fruitvale-San Antonio Senior Center, 3301 E. 12 St., Suite 2001 (Meeting room is on the 2nd floor). For more info, read John Gatewood’s guest post on the zoning update.

Thursday, November 12th – 2nd Annual Wellstone Club Award Reception Honoring Debra Bowen

The Wellstone Club is excited to present its second “Wellstone Award” to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, our state leader in the fight to ensure that every citizen gets to vote, and every voter’s ballot is counted. She has set a national standard in the battle against voter suppression and illegal efforts to manipulate our democratic process. Paul and Sheila Wellstone’s oldest son, David Wellstone, will present this year’s award. Event co-hosts include Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Senator Loni Hancock, Assemblymembers Sandre Swanson and Nancy Skinner, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. This reception will take place from 5:30-7:30 PM at the Silver Dragon Restaurant, 835 Webster Street. Tickets are $50. Find more info at the Wellstone Club’s website.

Thursday, November 12th – Mix It Up East Bay

Join us for a monthly happy hour bringing together young activists, organizers and leaders in the East Bay. California voting is an art and a science, but we’re here to help! Come out and hear (brief) presentations on proposed ballot measure initiatives by:

• Abraham Kneisley, Tax Cannabis 2010
• Courage Campaign [invited]
• Repair California [invited]

Mix It Up East Bay is held every 2nd Thursday of the month from 6-9pm at Shashamane at 2507 Broadway. It’s accessible by 19th Street BART station or by AC Transit lines 1/1R, 51, 59.

Saturday, November 14th - Central Estuary Plan Community Workshop #6

The sixth public workshop will focus on identifying a preferred alternative for the Plan Area.  At this workshop, you will be asked to consider which alternative, or pieces of various alternatives speak to your vision for the Central Estuary Area.  Please familiarize yourself with the draft alternatives and come to the next community workshop to participate in hands-on mapping exercises in the very important task of developing a preferred alternative! Three draft alternatives for the Plan Area were presented at Workshop #5.  Information about these alternatives and all meeting materials can be found on the CEDA website in the Schedule+Meeting section. This workshop will be held from 9:00 am-12:00 pm at Beacon Day School, 2101 Livingston Street, 2nd Floor Auditorium.