Emerge California East Bay Reception
Saturday, January 14th from 6:30-8:30pm at Make Westing

I wrote about Emerge California when I graduated from the 2011 class back in June. Emerge California is the premier training program for Democratic women who want to run for office. The goal of Emerge is to increase the number of Democratic women in public office.

I learned so much through the seven month training program and met some amazing women leaders from throughout the Bay Area. I want to do everything I can to make sure women – particularly Oakland women – have the same opportunity as I did, which is why I’m on the host committee for this Saturday’s East Bay reception.

Here are the event details:

This year, Emerge California alumna and current 2012 program members are running for School Board, City Council, State Assembly, and yes, even Congress!

Join us for another fun yet purposeful evening as we celebrate all of the hope and possibilities of the New Year and all of our 2012 candidates.

EVENT DETAILS:

Saturday, January 14th
Make Westing
6:30-8:30PM
1741 Telegraph Avenue Oakland 94612
(between 17th & 18th)

TICKETS:

Deal Broker $50
Because “fifty-fifty share alike” IS a good motto
(includes 1 event ticket and 1 drink ticket)

Change Maker $83
Because 83% of our Congress members are NOT women;
and we need to work on that.
(includes 2 event tickets and 2 drink tickets)

Host Committee $100
(includes 3 event tickets and 3 drink tickets)

Buy your tickets today: http://bit.ly/ECAEastBay2

HOST COMMITTEE:
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Oakland Councilwoman Libby Schaaf
Oakland Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan
Scott Karchmer
Karen Frank
Carol McGruder
Kat Nouri
Shon Buford
Lisa Gasperoni
Rebecca Saltzman
Shakari Byerly
Annie Eagan
Bari Williams
Vivian Oh
Stephen Waters
Beverly Greene
Stephanie Linder
Jason Newell
Paulina Miranda
Lori Nelson
Carol & Mark Norberg
Van Nguyen
Melanie Sweeney-Griffith

Cocktails for Keyna
Tuesday, January 17th from 6-9pm at Luka’s

A few months ago, my good friend, fellow planning wonk, and neighbor Kenya Wheeler was diagnosed with lymphoma. The good news is that it is treatable. He is currently undergoing treatment and is being cared for by his loving partner, family, and friends. The bad news is that even though Kenya has reasonably good health care coverage, he has already had to pay $6,400 out-of-pocket for his care.

I could go on and on about how screwed up this situation is and how we really need to fix our health care system, but I won’t do that. Instead, I’m going to invite you to the party that I’m co-hosting for him to raise some funds to cover some of his expenses.

You may not know Kenya directly, but chances are that he’s worked on something that’s near to your heart. He worked on the Obama campaign in 2008 and after that he worked at Organizing for America coordinating volunteers. At OFA he worked as part of core leadership staff that mobilized volunteers in all 58 counties to support Health Care Reform and resulted in every California Democratic congressional member voting in favor of HCR. He also worked at BART for several years and at a local planning firm. Kenya is currently finishing his planning degree at UC Berkeley and I have a feeling that when he graduates he’ll continue his awesome work in the land use or transportation field.

He cares deeply about Oakland community, so much so that after moving here a couple of years ago, him and his partner Ruby went through the CORE emergency training. For National Night Out this year they hosted a mini-training and get together in front of their apartment on Randwick Street and started an emergency contact list for the street and neighborhood. Ruby and Kenya also fostered four adorable kittens this summer, which you might have read about here. (They’re still fostering one, and though I not-so-secretly hope they’ll keep him, if you’re looking for an awesome cat, let me know.)

If you haven’t met Kenya yet, Tuesday night’s fundraiser will be a great opportunity to get to know him. We’re asking folks to contribute what you can and any donation would be greatly appreciated.

Here are the event details:

Please join us for a fundraiser for Kenya and if you can’t make it, please consider making a donation on-line.

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Luka’s Taproom & Lounge
2221 Broadway, Oakland, CA

Donation Levels (what your $$’s can help cover):
Insurance Deductible: $250.00
Medicine: $100.00
X-Rays: $50.00
Medical Supplies: $25.00

Please makes checks payable to: Frank Wheeler or Kenya Wheeler

Host Committee in formation:
Katie Balk – Matt Haney – Jeff Harry – Andy Kelley – Linda Leu – Steve Ngo – Dave Nicely – Mary Nicely – Keesa Ocampo – Jenn Pae – Shobana Ramamurthi – Ruby Reid – Rebecca Saltzman – Tony Thurmond – Colbert Tse

Here are a few of my favorites. (Note that besides being great cafes to enjoy with friends or colleagues, all of these places also offer free wi-fi so they’re great places to work too.)

Awaken Cafe - 1429 Broadway at 15th

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that I’ve long been a fan of Awaken Cafe. Awaken used to be located on 14th Street, just a block and a half from the office I worked at for many years so I often stopped in for a chai, coffee, or tea. I was so sad when they closed and were forced to move but was excited when they reopened last year on Broadway at 15th, a half block away from my current office.

Right now they’re operating as a coffee cart out of OAKOLLECTIV, Monday-Friday from 7:30am-noon, offering their full array of caffeinated beverages and pastries. But in February they’ll be opening up in their permanent home at 1429 Broadway. Here’s how they describe the future space:

The full 2000 sq ft cafe will add plenty of seating (indoor and outdoor), beer and wine, organic ice-cream, longer hours, an expanded home brew and retail area, additional creative food items, awesome events, cool performances and more.

There is a LOT to be excited about in that description, but, despite the current cold weather, what I’m most excited about is the organic ice cream. Every summer I lament that there’s no great ice cream in downtown Oakland, especially as multiple delicious ice cream and gelato spots have opened throughout North Oakland. There’s a huge market for ice cream downtown, yet no one has stepped up to serve it. This summer I was tweeting back and forth with a bunch of people, all of us complaining about the lack of ice cream downtown when I realized that Awaken would be a perfect place to offer it. Luckily, they had already planned to.

But until the summer arrives, you should still stop in for their warming beverages. My favorite drink is the chai, which I think is easily the best chai in Oakland. Chais at other places are often cloyingly sweet, but not so at Awaken.

Farley’s East - 33 Grand Avenue, between Broadway & Webster

If you’re looking for somewhere to caffeinate, eat a meal, have a meeting, work online, or grab a beer, Farley’s is your place. It’s one of the larger cafes in downtown Oakland, offering plenty of seating downstairs and upstairs. Farley’s is very community oriented, participating in PARKing day every year and holding monthly mixer/fundraisers for local nonprofit organizations.

Though it can get a bit crowded and noisy, I’ve found it’s the perfect place for small morning meetings or evening meetings on the nights that they’re open later. Not only is it great for meetings because there’s enough room, but also because they have a pretty large food menu. Meetings full of hungry people are not so enjoyable.

But maybe you just want to enjoy your latte alone – Farley’s is good for that too. Many people set up with their laptops, but if you want to pull yourself away from your computer for a while, they sell a huge selection of magazines so you’re sure to be able to find something to read. If you’re looking for a non-coffee option while you read or type away, try the lychee tea, which I probably would drink daily if it was on my (very full) tea shelf at home.

Caffe Teatro - 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza off 15th

Since Awaken Cafe won’t offer seating until February, I’ve come to enjoy meeting people at Cafe Teatro. There’s plenty of seating inside and out, including chairs and couches. The staff at Teatro are super friendly and the service is quick so it’s also a great place to grab some tea or coffee on the go.

Somehow I only recently noticed that Teatro serves sandwiches, soups and salads, and though I’ve yet to eat lunch there, I’ve heard the food is good.

The one downside of Teatro is their limited hours – they’re only open until 4pm on weekdays and not at all on weekends.

Zaya Cafe - 1768 Broadway at 19th Street

Zaya is a place I might never have stopped into, except that it was right next door to the Prop 19 campaign office so I often stopped their for tea or coffee before going to meetings at the office when I worked on the campaign. I’m so glad I happened upon it because it offers something that no other cafe I know of downtown does – quiet. Though there’s plenty of space to sit at the back of the cafe, including comfortable couches and armchairs, most people grab their drinks and food and go so I’ve rarely seen it crowded there. This makes it perfect for a one on one meeting or for getting some serious work done.

Zaya has the basic cafe breakfast food items, but not much lunchy food. One thing I love though is that they have smoothies, which were so refreshing on hot days during campaign season.

What’s your favorite downtown cafe?

This list is by no means exhaustive, and I’d love to hear about more cafes, especially in other downtown neighborhoods so please share in the comments. I would also be happy to take more requests for what I should cover next in this series.

But this year my wife and I decided we wanted to go out and when I found out that the Free Broadway Shuttle would be running its usual Saturday night schedule of 6pm-1am, I realized we could bar hop around downtown Oakland. Getting around will be super easy (and free), and if any of the places we go to are too crowded, we can move on.

I researched free or cheap bars and clubs in downtown and put together this list, which I figured I’d share here.

Getting Around

Before diving into where to go, it’s important to review how to get around, since I’m often surprised that people aren’t frequent riders of the Broadway Shuttle. Even if you’ve ridden the Free B during the day, you should review this map, as the route is a bit different from the daytime route. On the shuttle you can travel all the way from Jack London Square to 27th and Broadway. The blue route on this map is the night-time map (click on the image for a larger map):

But maybe you don’t live in downtown Oakland or even walking distance to the shuttle (like I do). That’s fine. You can take dozens of AC Transit buses to the shuttle or take BART and get off at either the 12th Street or 19th Street stations. (BART will run until 3am on New Year’s Eve.)

The Broadway Shuttle is entirely free. Look for the bright green buses and board through any door.

Now that you know how to get around downtown without worrying about getting a DUI or miraculously catching a cab, here are some spots you can check out along the Free B route that are cheap or free. (This list is clearly not exhaustive so if you have other ideas of cheap or free things to do in downtown Oakland on New Year’s Eve, please share them in the comments.)

Vitus – 3rd Street Stop, 201 Broadway – $10 cover

Last Friday my wife celebrated her 30th birthday at Vitus and it was amazing. The space is huge (by Oakland standards), the drinks are cheap, the food is delicious, and they have four pinball machines and two skee-ball machines. The NYE party at Vitus runs from 9pm-1am and features the music of:

Lord Loves A Working Man

Winner of the 2008 SFWEEKLY best Soul/R&B/Funk act in San Francisco music award! Based out of the Mission District of San Francisco, Lord Loves A Working Man is a 10-piece band inspired by the raw and emotive sound of the Southern Soul shouters and horn-driven Rhythm & Blues of the 1960s. Mixing originals with obscure covers from the Stax Collection, LLAWM puts everything they got into respectfully invoking the spirit of old soul music while giving it their own distinct voice.

Rube Waddell

Rube Waddell is a San Francisco-based quartet performing their own breed of modern Americana music. They mix together cast-off parts, twisted scraps, and rusty hinges of Blues, Gospel, Country, American and Irish Folk, Punk,Rock, comic Vaudeville, German theater, Mexican Banda, Mid-Eastern and Asian ditties into a raw junkyard stew stirred by their varied array of traditional and homemade instruments.

The Trappist or Tamarindo Antojeria- 7th or 9th Street Stop, 468 or 460 8th Street

Maybe you want to escape from the DJs for a while to enjoy some of the best beer or tequila in Oakland. Eighth Street is the place to go. The Trappist and Tamarindo are  neighbors so you can easily stop in to either or both. The Trappist closes at 1am and Tamarindo closes at midnight.

The Layover – 14th Street Stop, 1517 Franklin Street – $5 cover

Stop by the Layover for a delicious cocktail and stay to listen and dance to DJ Fee Dog & DJ Dennis Yadroff. The party runs from 8pm-2am and there will be a champagne toast at midnight.

Spice Monkey – 16th Street Stop, 1628 Webster – $5 cover

(Somehow I hadn’t seen the DTO’s NYE recommendations until just now and saw this event there.) Here’s the info from Spice Monkey’s website:

Doors: 7:00pm | Show: 7:30pm – 12:30am
All Ages Welcome!

Headlining Band:

San Francisco’s own, “The Feral Cats”

with Special Guests:

The Alegre Sisters
The Lost Library

$5 Cover (includes a free glass of champagne for 21 & Over at midnight!)

Somar – 16th or 19th Street Stop, 1727 Telegraph – $5 before 11pm, $10 after 11

Somar may be small, but they know how to pack a lot of music and a big party into their space. Here are the details from the Facebook event:

From the front to the back, Somar will be representing the diversity and spirit of Oakland as One. Ring in 2012 with us!

7pm to 9pm – The Final Happy Hour of 2011
****Enjoy complimentary appetizers at Happy Hour

9pm to 2am – SoulProfess and Williemaze

Make Westing – 19th Street Stop, 1741 Telegraph – Cover Unknown

If you’re looking to do something besides drink and dance, stop by Make Westing to play some bocce ball (though you might have to wait a while as it’s quite popular there). They haven’t announced the cover charge yet, but since there’s usually no cover, I’m guessing it will be reasonable. Here’s the small amount of info they’ve devulged about the party on Facebook: “‎2012 New Years Eve Party at Make Westing: DJ Cousin Frankie, Champagne toast at midnight, Cocktails, Noise Makers, Bocce, Good Eats and Laughs!”

The Punchdown – 22nd Street or Grand Stop, 2212 Broadway

The Punchdown wine bar is having a New Year’s Eve champagne celebration. Entry is free, but you’ll of course have to pay for wine or champagne (which is not so cheap). Here’s some info from the Facebook event:

Please join us from 5PM-12:01AM on New Year’s Eve for a champagne celebration. We will be pouring a special champagne flight that comes with a special offer of one free “corkage” on any bottle of BYO sparkling (you have to share!)!

The cost of the flight is $30 – and consists of three two ounce tastes. All wines are available by the glass at special pricing for the evening.
-NV Champagne Benoît Lahaye “Rosé de Macération” a Bouzy $15 per glass
-NV Champagne Cédric Bouchard “Inflorescence” a Celles-sur-Ource $20 per glass
-NV Champagne De Sousa & Fils “Grand Cru Cuvée des Caudalies”, a Avize (solera started in 1986!) $22 per glass

Mua – 25th Street Stop, 2442a Webster Street

I don’t think Mua has a special event planned for NYE, but they generally have a DJ on the weekend and there’s no cover charge. But the best part might be that they serve food (and not just bar snacks) all the way up until they close at 2am. So if after a night of drinking you need something to eat, Mua is a great place to end up.

Yesterday I found out that Sanjiv Handa had passed away from this tweet from Chronicle reporter Matthai Kuruvila:

Larry Reid just told me that Sanjiv Handa, a fixture at Oakland Council meetings, passed away. Don’t know much more. #oakmtg

I was in complete shock for several minutes. I had heard that Sanjiv had looked sick at last week’s Council meeting, but I had a hard time grasping that he was gone. I had an even harder time imagining what City Council and other meetings would be like without him.

I was equally saddened and shocked a few weeks ago when I found out that Oakland bicycle advocate Ron Bishop had died. I hadn’t seen him at Oakland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meetings for a few months, which – now that I’m looking back – should have alerted me that something was wrong, as he had been a founding member of the BPAC, was chair for many years, and rarely missed a meeting. But reading the news on Facebook surprised me and brought tears to my eyes.

Oakland is so lucky to have benefited from the watch-dogging and advocacy of these two men. I could write pages about each of them, but I won’t, since others have already done that. I highly recommend reading Dave Campbell’s blog post about Ron Bishop on the East Bay Bicycle Coalition website. For more on Sanjiv Handa, read this 2006 East Bay Express in depth piece about him.

And if you’ve never seen Sanjiv in action at a Council meeting (though I have a hard time believing that’s possible), watch this video of him speaking for 8+ minutes at a Council meeting last year:

What I’ve been thinking about for the past few weeks since Ron passed away and in the past day since hearing the news about Sanjiv is how I and others could honor their lives. I didn’t know either of them very well, but I did spend countless hours with both of them at city and regional meetings. Ron focused on bicycle, pedestrian and transit issues, while Sanjiv focused on transparency. Issues aside, they were both equally passionate about local government and citizen engagement with it. I didn’t always agree with them, but I greatly respected their commitment and persistence.

In just a few days, we will start a new year, a year that will present Oaklanders with nearly limitless opportunities to engage with local government. In honor of Ron and Sanjiv, I hope you will engage. Here are just a few ways you can get involved that I think both of them would approve of:

• Attend a City Council meeting on the 1st or 3rd Tuesday of the month and speak about an item you care about.
• Watch a Council meeting from your home on KTOP and tweet or blog about it. (For more on how to watch and understand Council meetings, read this blog post I wrote years ago.)
• Write an email to the Council about an issue you care about.
• If you already keep up with and engage with the City Council, start following another local government body. The possibilities are endless, but here are a few suggestions: Oakland Planning Commission, BART Board, AC Transit Board, East Bay MUD Board, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, or East Bay Regional Park District Board.
• Watch a Council meeting with a friend who doesn’t follow the Council and explain what is happening (meetings can be hard to follow without a guide).
• Get a friend involved in a local issue you care about by walking them through the steps of writing to their councilmember or speaking at a meeting.

Another easy way to honor the memory of Sanjiv Handa? Bring some pastries or pizza to a meeting. As many people have mused on Twitter, Facebook and blogs in the past day, Sanjiv often brought food to share to Council and other meetings. I usually didn’t partake but at one particularly long Planning Commission meeting (I think it was about one of the Safeway projects), I was so hungry after hours of sitting there and appreciated the pastry he offered me. I hope someone or several people will continue this tradition.

As for Ron, honor him by taking a bike ride around Oakland. Outside of local government and advocacy, he spent much of his time leading bike rides and encouraging folks to ride. He tried and tried to get me to bike in Oakland and I’m sad I never went on one of his rides. Maybe my new year’s resolution will be to finally ride a bike in Oakland.

Sanjiv Handa Memorial Service:

Saturday, December 31st @ 11:00 a.m.

Chapel of the Angels
40842 Fremont Boulevard (just South of Grimmer)
Fremont, California  94538
(510) 656-1226

Transit directions:
BART to Fremont
AC Transit line 350 Clockwise @ 10:13 a.m. (sorry, only runs once an hour)
Alight @ Fremont Blvd @ Papazian Way
Walk to 40842 Fremont Boulevard

If you are going to drive, please car pool.

Ron Bishop Memorial Service & Navy Honors:

Monday, January 2nd at 11am:

Sacramento Valley National Cemetery
5810 Midway Rd.
Dixon, CA

The resolution, authored by Councilmembers Ignacio De La Fuente and Libby Schaaf, opposes any purposeful upcoming or future Port of Oakland shut downs and calls on the Mayor and City Administrator to use lawful tools to prevent future shut downs.

There are, unsurprisingly, strong opinions on both sides of this resolution. And voicing opinions is incredibly important in a democracy. But much of the opposition to this resolution I’ve heard and read in the past few days has been expressed as personal attacks against the councilmembers who authored the resolution.

Reading comments on Twitter about De La Fuente and Schaaf over the past few days reminded me of a blog post I wrote almost three years ago, which seems just as apt today. So here’s that blog post, in full:

(Dis)respect for the City Council

There’s been something on my mind for the past several months that I was reminded of on Tuesday night, as I watched the Public Safety Committee meeting. I often hear Oakland residents blaming all of Oakland’s problems on one council member (the council member varies based on the person), to the point where they accuse that council member of being corrupt or not really caring about Oakland. I try not to fall into that trap anymore, but I used to harbor such feelings towards one council member, Larry Reid.

My first exposure to Reid was back in 2004, when I attended the Public Safety Committee hearing on regulating medical marijuana dispensaries. At that time, there were a dozen dispensaries, all clustered in downtown Oakland, and the City was the first municipality in the state to see the need for regulations of this industry. I remember that meeting and subsequent meetings fairly clearly, and what I remember most was how Larry Reid seemed to dismiss the needs of medical marijuana patients and sometimes sounded very rude in his comments. To our community, it felt that he just didn’t care and would rather patients go to the illicit market.

Very quickly, Reid became my least favorite council member. I knew little about the Council and how the city functioned, but I knew that I did not like Larry Reid. All the negative medical marijuana regulations that came from the council, I blamed on Reid.

Looking back, I realize just how absurd and unfair that judgement was. Reid had legitimate, though misplaced, concerns about dispensaries. He had seen rampant drug use in his district and witnessed Oaklanders who spent their lives selling drugs. So Reid equated dispensaries with the black market and felt like this land use was being pushed onto Oakland, while other neighboring cities were not doing their part to accommodate dispensaries (which is true, especially South of Oakland). And the medical marijuana dispensaries had not fully done their part in educating Reid. I doubt patients from his district or dispensary employees from his district met with him to explain how dispensaries were a vital part of Oakland.

On Tuesday night, as I watched Reid and the other Public Safety Committee members discuss Reid’s proposed curfew for juveniles, I was reminded of this. I am entirely opposed to the curfew but could see that Reid truly meant well. He sounded saddened that the curfew had not passed and explained that he was not trying to victimize youth, but to ensure young people could live in a safe environment. He called on the community to reach out to him and other council members to help develop a solution and to address the problem of youth violence.

Look, I know we’re not always going to agree with the decisions of particular council members (or sometimes a terrible unanimous decision by the Council), but to me it’s clear that all of the council members mean well. Everyone of them cares deeply about Oakland. If they didn’t care, why do you think they’d be on the Council? It doesn’t pay well, it’s an incredibly difficult job, and their motives are constantly questioned. But we all have different policy ideas for making Oakland a better place, and sometimes those policy proposals are going to piss us off. That doesn’t mean it’s necessary to hate a council member or to think of a member as evil. Instead, it might be more productive to turn that negative energy into action and to try to work with the Council to make the changes you’d like to see in Oakland.

It’s easy to miss anything that happens this time of year. Things fall through the cracks in the crazy crunch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. That’s why you may not have noticed that the City of Oakland has released a key document with a vision for revitalizing a neighborhood that has, like several parts of the city, fallen upon hard times.

From the beginning, the City’s stated goal in creating the Broadway-Valdez Specific Plan has been to address Oakland’s retail “leakage” – the fact that only $1 of every $3 an Oakland resident spends is spent in Oakland. The City’s goal has been to create a district similar to San Francisco’s Union Square or Emeryville’s Bay Street, with at least 1 million square feet of retail – that’s equivalent to roughly 2.5 Bay Streets!

Without leadership, this vision will not happen. Property owners would prefer to sell their land for uses like housing that command a larger price tag, not to mention that there are 140 property owners who need to agree in order to assemble sizable properties necessary to attract major retailers. Yet, the economic downturn has meant that this stretch of Broadway, between Grand Avenue and 580, has become more desolate, with many “Auto Row” car dealerships leaving or going out of business. Some new businesses have arrived, like 3000 Broadway and Shashamane, but they could really flourish if more people lived nearby. Meanwhile, online sales continue to rise, leaving retailers reconsidering the role of bricks and mortar locations.

Earlier this year, Greenbelt Alliance teamed up with several other organizations to announce a bold yet realistic vision for a better Broadway. This fall, we recognized and applauded the positive impact this vision has had on Oakland’s Draft Plan Concept for the Broadway-Valdez area. Sure, there is lots this plan does not yet describe, including policies to attract quality jobs. Although it’s still largely at the 30,000-foot level, the plan is definitely headed in the right direction.

With staff leadership, the plan has shifted greatly from 2009 to the current proposal:

Parking innovations

This stretch of Broadway is beyond just being car-oriented: since as early as the 1910s, it was known as the place in Oakland to go to buy a car or get one repaired—and it shows. Walking through the area, you will see vast seas of parking: seven lots, and six garages. The area has 5,041 parking spaces in total—but there is only demand for 4,000 spaces. In short, the area is doing perfectly fine with the parking it has. We applaud the City’s  proposal to provide new parking only when it’s needed, and no sooner. The Draft Plan Concept calls for no new surface parking lots—hallelujah! Instead, all parking will be well-designed so as not to become an eyesore for the pedestrian walking by, located either in underground garages or in above-ground garages hidden within buildings.

You may recall that Oakland has passed a groundbreaking Climate Action Plan, one of the boldest nationwide—and for this we should feel proud. In order to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the City will be implementing all kinds of sustainability measures with the resources they have, and also seeking new resources to do even more. The City has adopted our recommendation that the ratio of parking can be shifted down in each phase of development, as more customers and residents shift to taking transit or walking. Bravo. However, we have yet to hear how many parking spaces are planned for the district, or the exact ratios at which parking will be provided.

During peak times when local demand for parking is highest, like rush hour, we can charge more for prime parking spaces than we do during the quieter times. We can also use parking pricing as a way to attract people to an area: if spaces are underutilized, the price must be too high. This concept of market-based pricing is fortunately listed as one of the many possible tools the City intends to use to temper the demand for parking in the Broadway-Valdez area, yet make sure you can always find a space when you need one.

A Place to Call Home

The biggest improvement in the eyes of Greenbelt Alliance is that the City has boosted the range of housing they want the area to accommodate. The City is planning for buildings of four to six stories along Broadway, with taller buildings off Broadway. Given its proximity to downtown, Broadway is a wonderful place for lots of homes in the form of buildings even taller than this.

Oakland is planning for 900 to 1,800 homes in the area, 135 to 270 of those being affordable. Although we had hoped they shared our goal of at least 1,800 homes, we are thrilled that the City has bumped up the housing goal. New homes will make this area vibrant and alive, and will provide eyes on the street to help address current safety concerns. They could also help catalyze the retail the City of Oakland seeks here.

Given that so many people are working nearby, we are pleased that Oakland has clarified its goal of at least 15% of the new homes here being offered at below-market rates. That is the minimum required by law though, so we want to see more than just the bare minimum, to benefit those already working nearby. We also want to make sure mixed-use requirements in the area are flexible enough that we avert vacant storefronts and allow affordable housing where feasible.

Kickstarting the Vision

Given where the economy is now, how can we get things happening here as soon as possible, to draw people into the area? The City sought to answer this very important question in the Draft Plan Concept.

We particularly liked short-term strategies, such as:

• Pedestrian streetscape improvements
• Public art
• Mobile food vending
• Temporary events and pop-up storefronts
• Enhancing freeway underpasses and other gateways into the area

Speak up for a Better Broadway

Your voice is needed! You can find the Draft Plan Concept at the City’s website. The City is accepting comments through Jan. 9, 2012. Greenbelt Alliance will be monitoring the plans, and the first draft of the Specific Plan will be available next spring. We will ask you to join us as this plan goes before the Planning Commission at that time, in a meeting to determine the scope of the environmental impact report.

To sign up for email updates on the Broadway-Valdez plan from Greenbelt Alliance, visit www.greenbelt.org and put your email address in on the right sidebar where it says “sign up for news,” and then select the “Better Broadway Bulletin” on the next page.

The silver lining of the economic downturn is that now is the perfect time to make forward-thinking, long-term plans for the future, ones that are flexible enough to respond to a turbulent market and build on what’s already working in Oakland. We are encouraged by the recent direction of the Broadway-Valdez plan, and we hope you’ll chime in too.

This is for those of you who were disturbed by the recent decision of MTC (Metropolitan Transportation Commission) to leave the headquarters they share with ABAG (Association of Bay Area Governments) and use Bridge toll funds for real estate speculation by purchasing a too-big warehouse in a transit-challenged location. It was not just in itself an unwise, and possibly, illegal action, but a loud and clear symptom of the Bay Area’s transportation/land-use disconnect due to the difficulty of comprehensive planning without regional governance which would combine the functions of MTC, ABAG, the Air District and BCDC.

Here is your chance to have your concerns heard by our State Senate:

Senate Transportation & Housing Informational Hearing-
SUBJECT: Regional Governance and Bay Area Economic Development

December 8, 2011
10:00 am – 1:00 pm in the Legislative Chamber of San Francisco City Hall, Room 250

You can be assured that your comments will be given serious attention because the Chair of the Senate Transportation & Housing Committee, Mark DeSaulnier, has served on MTC, ABAG, and the Air District so he understands the dysfunctional separation of those regional agencies.

If you cannot come to the hearing, you may comment by email: Senator.desaulnier@sen.ca.gov

You can read his proposed legislation, SB 878, which addresses regional governance. It proposes using the Joint Policy Committee as an agent of change. That requires some explanation and history.

Ten years ago, the state legislature proposed the merger of MTC & ABAG. This would have combined in one agency transportation planning and land use planning. Most regions have such an agency known as a MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) that distributes federal and state funds for transportation. ABAG, which was formed in 1961, was slated to be the Bay Area’s MPO. But ten years later, after an employee’s embezzlement, the state created the MTC to be the MPO. So for many years, transportation planning largely ignored its effect on land use.

That first effort at merger failed, but MTC and ABAG agreed to form a Task Force for better cooperation. In 2004 it evolved into the Joint Policy Committee (JPC), which then added the Air District, and in 2007, the BCDC (Bay Area Conservation & Development Commission.)

The JPC has no real power, so has become something of a debating society. They do not meet more than once every two months and often do not have a quorum. Its agenda is actually under the control of MTC’s Executive Director. For instance, at last Friday’s meeting (Dec. 2), the Committee, with only a couple of day’s notice, was asked by him to vote to hire Will Travis (who retires this month as Executive Director of BCDC) as “lead coordinator” for the committee. The decision was tabled because of inadequate notice.

The same short-notice tactic was used with MTC about the purchase of the warehouse. In fact, this committee, which is the only body solely of all four of the regional agencies that were supposed to comprise the Bay Area Headquarters, was NEVER consulted. The Executive Director of MTC completely bypassed this committee with his plans to purchase the warehouse at 390 Main in San Francisco.

The Joint Policy Committee generates little public attention. One of the very few speakers at last Friday’s meeting pointed out the lack of public interest in the committee, which represents four regional agencies. He said, “This is the meeting that should attract crowds of people rather than single agencies like MTC.”

But the problem is it has little power because it is under the thumb of MTC, which is not going to willingly give up its power of the purse, its receipt and distribution of state and federal transportation dollars. So it seems that the Joint Policy Committee would be a weak vehicle to drive the consolidation of regional agencies.

One public official has a vision I agree with, but not the road map of how to get there. The vision is:
… a consolidation of functions is desirable in the future. Certainly, MTC and ABAG are prime candidates for a merger. The Air District is a different animal, but could be a subset of regulators handing out permits and fines when needed; yet, having their “planning” functions incorporated into an ABAG/MTC office. BCDC could also be blended into ABAG/MTC with their planning and keep a permitting function within 100 feet of the bay. Bottom line….one executive director…one financial director….one personal director…..one planning director…one receptionist…fewer duplicative consultants….less staff time lost checking in with other agencies..etc., etc.,etc.

RESOURCES for people who want to know more:

• Public Policy Institute of California testimony on 2001 proposed merger
• The League of Women Voters of the Bay Area position on Regional Governance, which has been a major concern since its inception in 1959

Previous posts on MTC’s relocation:

• 10/20/11: Good news & bad news: Damon Slough & MTC
• 10/10/11: MTC poised to purchase San Francisco building, but Senator DeSaulnier not backing down
• 9/29/11: MTC approves move to San Francisco, triggering Senator DeSaulnier to commit to drastically overhaul the agency
• 9/27/11: Despite ongoing state audit, MTC poised to move to San Francisco; ABAG unlikely to join them
• 8/19/11: MTC does the right thing, rescinds vote to move to San Francisco
• 8/16/11: Joyce Roy: MTC stealth action contradicts sustainability policy

I think many readers of Living in the O will agree that in large part, it’s the lively, creative community events and small businesses that make Oakland a rich and wonderful place to live in spite of some of our larger problems as a city.

This is why four years ago, my neighbor Catarina and I started Temescal Street Cinema – a free outdoor movie night featuring films by Bay Area artists. We wanted to highlight the work of Bay Area artists, while bringing people together in a dynamic community event that fosters connections in our community.

Our series has run for six Thursdays every summer for the last four years. Since we began, we have steadily grown to an audience of 200+ per week. We have received a great deal of positive press and we have supported the work of 100+ artists through a combination of live music, shorts and feature length films. This past season, we were voted Best Local Film Event by The East Bay Express.

In addition to short and narrative-driven feature length documentaries, our “Opening Shorts” series, which is independently curated by the Temescal-based Royal Nonesuch Gallery, presents experimental opening short films and videos of two to three minutes in length each week. As one Bay Area blog writes, “Rather than showing boring major blockbusters, these are strange and interesting films by Bay Area artists and filmmakers that you’re unlikely to see anywhere else.

Themes of our films have included; the life and work of poet Gary Snyder, the rise to fame of a young rapper named P-Star, the story of a young woman transforming her experience of being raped through her participation in a youth theater company, a beauty contest held at a women’s prison in Colombia, people with facial hair (The Beard Club), the empowerment of girls at Girls Rock! camp, a quirky story of a man who takes a road trip with his dying pet hamster, a story following three schizophrenic men and their alcoholic caregiver after being evicted from their home, urban homesteading, and more!

Sadly, the Temescal Telegraph Business Improvement District, which has funded Temescal Street Cinema since our inception, has informed us that it will no longer do so, due to other financial priorities (Thankfully, they will still continue to lend us the audio-visual equipment!). We are working hard to rebound and are currently in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for 2012 (which will cover operating expenses and artist stipends).

Temescal Street Cinema is currently run by a small nexus of artists and neighbors committed to bringing the Cinema back next year. If you would like to help make that happen, please visit our Kickstarter page to make a donation. And, please forward our link widely. All donations, combined with the many volunteer hours that go on behind the scenes will help keep the series alive and in these times, more than ever, we need free community events that support the arts!

In the scheme of things, I’m a relative newcomer to the food fights in the mobile food landscape. City staff and some local food truck operators have been pushing for a new kinder, gentler mobile food policy for almost 2 1/2 years.

Last spring Ed Manase and staff from Planning got push back from the City committee called Committee for Community Economic Development to reach out more to stakeholders and naysayers. He had tried to push through a comprehensive policy for the whole city, which makes sense, except in Oakland since Desley Brooks and Larry Reid don’t want mobile food in their districts. Which is a shame as the poorest parts of Oakland are the ones that perhaps stand to benefit the most as food trucks are a great incubator for food entrepreneurs who can develop a loyal clientele without investing in a brick and mortar restaurant. I predict that whoever replaces Larry Reid next November will realize the lost opportunity and get onboard.

So now while Ed Manase and staff work on a comprehensive policy to hopefully be adopted by the Council by March, Councilmembers Kaplan and Brunner have worked with some of us in the community to put forward an interim food pod policy that will be good until January 2013.

A group of us that included Shelly Garza from Rising Sun Enterprises, Zak Zimmerman from Doc’s of the Bay, Matt Cohen from Off the Grid, Jenya from Vesta Flatbreads and Gail from Liba met with City staff and worked out the wording that I think is workable. Pod organizers can hold no more than 2 group sites at any one time and the cost of each site will be around $620 plus additional permit costs if the pod is in the public right of way (partially closing down a street). Food pods must be located 100 feet away from brick and mortar restaurants unless written consent from the restaurant is obtained.

I’m excited about the possibility of 5-8 new pods in Oakland throughout the City in 2013. I plan to apply for continuing the pod called Bites Off Broadway in front of Studio One on Friday nights plus a new one in the Uptown at Snow Park on Tuesday or Thursday evenings from mid May-mid October. I hope someone else will also apply for a lunchtime pod at Snow Park as having a day and nighttime presence will help all our efforts. I think another prime location could be the pocket park and soon to be constructed sculpture garden at 19th and Telegraph near the Fox Theater. Oakland County workers would like more food choices near their building as well. As a long term solution, I would love to see a mobile fleet selling healthy affordable food outside Oakland Tech where I watch lots of kids waddle over to fast food restaurants everyday.

San Francisco and Emeryville have been way ahead of Oakland in terms of embracing the employment, culture and money to the City that food trucks can provide. But now we have a chance to make up for lost time. After being in the middle of the mobile food fights with police even closing down Bites Off Broadway one night, I’m ready to get legit.

Chow Down in Downtown: Show Up, Eat Up, Speak Out

An interim mobile food pod policy comes before the Oakland City Council on this Tuesday, Dec 6th, at 7pm at City Hall in the Council Chambers on the 2nd Floor. We need your help in the following ways:

• Come and have lunch at our media event, Tues, Dec 6th 11:30-2pm at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Breads of India, El Tacobike and Doc’s of the Bay will be serving up the gourmet offerings.
• Show up and speak out for the interim policy by filling out a speaker card in advance. Title of legislation. Sign up to speak and reference agenda item 9.7
• Email or call your council members from and let them know you support the interim policy for pods like Bites Off Broadway and more throughout Oakland. Here is the contact info for the Council:

Rebecca Kaplan, At-Large
RKaplan@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7008

Council President Jane Brunner, District 1
JBrunner@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7001

Patricia Kernighan, District 2
PKernighan@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7002

Nancy Nadel, District 3
NNadel@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7003

Libby Schaaf, District 4
LSchaaf@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7004

Ignacio De La Fuente, District 5
IDeLaFuente@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7005

Desley Brooks, District 6
DBrooks@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7006

Larry Reid, District 7
LReid@oaklandnet.com or 510-238-7007

I’ve been meaning to rewrite the series for at least several months, but I never got around to it. For the past few weeks in particular, I’ve been realizing I really needed to restart this series.

But something happened last night that pushed me over the edge. A group of people brought a resolution to the Occupy Oakland General Assembly calling for the active support of local businesses.

Here is the text of the resolution (I apologize for the caps, but I didn’t have time to retype it):

OCCUPY OAKLAND HEREBY ENDORSES AND CALLS FOR ACTIVE SUPPORT OF THE “BUY LOCAL” CAMPAIGN.

OCCUPY OAKLAND ASKS SUPPORTERS TO PARTICIPATE BY BOYCOTTING CORPORATE STORES AND BUSINESSES, AND TO ACTIVELY PATRONIZE THE 99% IN OAKLAND. THIS INCLUDES LOCAL INDEPENDENT MERCHANTS, SHOPS, VENDORS, CAFES, RESTAURANTS, AND BUSINESSES, ESPECIALLY THOSE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES SUCH AS OAKLAND GROWN THAT ARE SUPPORTIVE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT. OCCUPY OAKLAND ASKS SUPPORTERS TO PLEDGE TO USE CASH OR OAKLAND GROWN GIFT CARDS INSTEAD OF CREDIT CARDS, TO KEEP MORE MONEY IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY.

OCCUPY OAKLAND AUTHORIZES THE LOCAL BUSINESS LIAISON COMMITTEE, IN COOPERATION WITH THE MEDIA COMMITTEE, TO PROMOTE THE “BUY LOCAL” CAMPAIGN BY PUBLICIZING IT ON THE WEBSITE, ENDORSING ACTIONS AND EVENTS THAT PROMOTE THE LOCAL ECONOMY, DEVELOPING SLOGANS, PUBLICITY STRATEGIES, AND PUBLISHING A LIST OF LOCAL BUSINESSES THAT ARE SUPPORTIVE OF OCCUPY OAKLAND.

OCCUPY OAKLAND INVITES OTHER OCCUPATIONS AROUND THE NATION TO JOIN US IN ENDORSING AND ACTIVELY SUPPORTING THE “BUY LOCAL” CAMPAIGNS IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES.

On Twitter I heard that the resolution got about 75% of the vote (I think about 90 people voted). The vast majority of people at this very small General Assembly voted to support small businesses, but since resolutions require 90%   support for passage, it failed.

I wasn’t surprised. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized it really didn’t matter. People supporting local businesses – even those involved with Occupy Oakland – can and should organize outside of OO for support of independent Oakland businesses.

To do my small part, I’m restarting the Rediscovering Downtown Oakland series. This time though, I’d love your help. What type of businesses have you been trying to find downtown? What’s your favorite restaurant or store to frequent? Let me know below and I’ll include your suggestions in the forthcoming series.

For now, feel free to check out the initial series I wrote in 2009 (though be warned that several of the businesses have since closed):

• 8/12/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Ethiopian Restaurants
• 5/20/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Sweet Treats
• 5/13/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Where to Enjoy a Sunny Day Outside
• 3/31/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Sushi
• 3/3/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Sandwiches
• 2/20/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Where to Grab a Drink after Work
• 2/11/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Dinner Dates
• 2/4/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Where to Hear Music & Dance
• 1/28/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Vegetarian Restaurants
• 1/22/09: Rediscovering Downtown Oakland: Thai Food

Last week, I got into a particularly heated debate with a close friend of mine on Twitter that quickly devolved since there’s very little room for nuance or explanation in 140 characters. I left the conversation feeling very angry (and I’m sure he did too). Later that day I picked up the phone and called him, and I’m so glad I did. It turned out that though we had been talking past each other on Twitter, we actually agreed on quite a bit and respected each other’s perspectives.

I hope others are doing the same – having real conversations with each other about Occupy Oakland and what it means. We need to remember that after this phase of Occupy Oakland is finished, just like after elections when we might disagree, we all have to work together again. The problems in our city are not going away, and we can address them so much more effectively if we work together.

So on this Thanksgiving, I hope Oaklanders will come together and support each other. One easy way to do that is to shop locally on this Plaid Friday and this weekend.Plaid Friday was created in Oakland a couple of years ago as an alternative to Black Friday and to support and promote local businesses. Shopping locally keeps more money in our local economy and helps ensure that local businesses – many of which are struggling in this down economy – are able to stay open.

Every year Plaid Friday gets bigger and bigger, and now many cities across the country participate. You can celebrate Plaid Friday by shopping at any local, independent store, but many businesses participate in Plaid Friday with specials and entertainment. You can find the full list of participating stores on the Plaid Friday website. But even if you’re not so into shopping, you should head to downtown this Friday for In the Black: Blackout Oakland, a community festival to keep independent local businesses in the black. Here’s some more information from the Facebook event:

This is an opportunity to boycott large corporations and still find fantastic gifts. We have it all: downtown stores, vendors, pop-up shops, restaurants and local food vendors plus art, live performances, and a fantastic roster of local DJs and musicians will be participating in the festivities.

Sounds pretty fun, huh? Stop by downtown Oakland on Friday from 11am-6pm to enjoy the festivities and to support local businesses.

But maybe you really, really hate shopping and don’t even want to step into a store on Friday, this weekend or ever. Don’t worry – you can still support local businesses! This year, Oakland Grown is offering a local gift card! Oakland Grown is a super awesome organization that promotes and supports local businesses, and I’m proud that Living in the O is one of the few non-business members of it.

Gene at Our Oakland wrote a great blog post a few weeks ago explaining the gift card:

Gift cards have grown increasingly popular because they make gift-giving easier. No more wrong thing, wrong color, wrong size, because the recipient gets to pick it out. But gift cards can be impersonal: “I care about you enough to get you something—go get something from this generic big-box national retailer.” The Oakland Grown gift card gives the recipient flexibility, but at the same time says “I care about you, and I care about the city we live in and its people, too—support a local, independent business.” If you enjoy shopping or exploring Oakland, you could even join your friend or loved one to see what they choose.

Oakland Grown is starting with a small pilot program, with a few dozen Oakland merchants participating, but they’re planning on scaling it up in time for the holidays. And if you’re wondering, the company powering the card is an Oakland business, too.

You can buy a gift card online at the Oakland Grown website or in one of the participating stores. The list of participating stores is a bit small right now, but features some great places, including my favorite Oakland jewelry artist, Rosemary Dudley Designs. The list has been growing though and should continue to grow throughout the holiday season. So if you’re not so into shopping but love gift giving, the Oakland Grown gift card is a great option.

Happy Thanksgiving, and I hope to see you downtown tomorrow celebrating Plaid Friday!

At this point I’m satisfied with participating in ways that make sense to me, like helping with media, donating books to the library, and tweeting as much as I can about what’s happening.

Because that’s the beauty of the Occupy movement. Everyone can participate in their own way, and that might not even involve coming to Frank Ogawa Plaza or taking off work for the general strike.

Up until Friday, I was still satisfied with the way I was participating in Occupy Oakland and thought that my participation and the participation of others like me who supported OO but did not camp was thoroughly appreciated by the folks who were camping. I felt that Occupy Oakland was a very open space, and that anybody could participate at any level they wanted to and that was accepted. Whether you had been to ten General Assemblies or one, you had the same vote. Whether you camped with OO every night or only showed up for the GAs, you still were allowed to speak on any proposal (or even submit a proposal).

On Friday I found out that while all of that still technically is true, in practice many people camping at OO did not see me and other supporters as equals. Even worse, a very small group of occupiers had a huge amount of control over the decision-making process and, at least on Friday night, used this power to attempt to manipulate people. 

But let me rewind a bit to Thursday, as I’ve seen a lot of misinformation spread (mostly on Twitter) from both sides about what happened with the proposal to rescind the vote to occupy the lot at 19th and Telegraph so I feel it’s worth telling the full story, or at least an abbreviated version of the full story. And don’t worry, this story isn’t all negative. In fact, until Friday night, it was mostly extremely positive…

Developing a proposal

I wrote about this a bit in my last blog post, but I thought it was worth sharing some more about the development of our initial proposal to rescind Wednesday night’s vote. On Thursday morning I realized I wanted to submit this proposal so I started tweeting about it. Many people tweeted back that they would support my proposal. One person (who I had never met) connected me with a friend who understands the OO process well, and that person emailed me with tons of information about how to submit a proposal. I was warned that it might be difficult to get the proposal onto Friday’s agenda as there was a queue of proposals waiting to be heard. So I emailed the facilitation committee to ask about my chances. I never heard back.

In the evening, I drafted a proposal and sent it to several people, almost all of whom I had met through Twitter – and some of whom I had never met in person – to ask for feedback. They provided plenty of feedback and after several rounds of drafts, three of them signed off on the proposal so I could submit it via email to the facilitation committee. I was amazed at the help and support I received from people who barely knew me, except through Twitter.

To spread the word, I posted the proposal on Facebook and shared the link widely. Immediately I started receiving positive feedback, and again it came mostly from near-strangers. For many reasons, people didn’t want to see OO move to the 19th and Telegraph lot. Some people were concerned about students at Oakland School of the Arts, others were concerned about the thousands of residents who lived just across the street, and others were concerned about the fate of the lot, which is slated to become a public sculpture garden in just a few months. People who supported OO were also concerned about what this would do to OO’s image. The most recent Oakland poll showed Oaklanders are split on support of OO, but this move could turn so much support into opposition.

As I lay in bed that night, unable to fall asleep, I felt very nervous about the next day. Would the facilitation committee even agendize our proposal? And even if they did, what were the chances that we could meet the 90% vote threshold for passage? I didn’t know the answers to these questions and frankly didn’t feel that hopeful about our chance of surmounting these two huge hurdles, but I already felt like our efforts had been worth it, since the proposal gave so many of us – people who may never have met otherwise – the chance to work closely together on something we cared about.

The facilitation committee

I was still nervous when I woke up on Friday morning and was grateful that I had a ton to do at work. But I soon started to get interrupted by tweets, emails and Facebook messages from another group of people who had ties to OSA who were submitting a similar proposal. We decided that we’d see what happened at the facilitation committee meeting and would work together.

I’m pretty used to uncomfortable situations. I’ve been yelled at during public meetings. I’ve stood up for unpopular positions, even when it became clear that winning on an issue was next to impossible.

But as I walked through Frank Ogawa Plaza to find the facilitation committee (I knew they were meeting under a tree but had no idea which one), my heart pounded quickly and I started thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong.

As I reached the group of trees in the middle of the plaza I saw a few people standing around and a good friend sitting on the steps. Just seeing her made me feel totally at ease. Seeing any familiar face probably would have made me feel more comfortable, but her presence was so much more calming because she has been one of my most influential mentors. She and my former boss taught me most of what I know about activism, direct action, civil disobedience and so much more.

Soon, one of the men involved with the other proposal – to have a re-vote on Wednesday’s vote – arrived and we started chatting. A regular at the facilitation meetings began chatting with us, suggesting we work together to create one proposal. He and a couple other people told us that it was problematic that we were only trying to strike Wednesday’s vote and that we weren’t suggesting what to do instead so he suggested adding to our proposal the creation of a committee to find the next space to occupy. The conversation was productive, but we kept getting interrupted by the woman facilitating the facilitation meeting who kept reminding everyone that our conversations were not part of the meeting, as the meeting hadn’t started yet. (I thought everyone was pretty clear that the meeting hadn’t started, but I guess she felt the need to make that abundantly clear.)

I could probably write multiple blog posts about the facilitation meeting, but I’ll spare you most of the details. Apparently these meetings, which used to take place every day and I think now happen four days a week, regularly last more than two hours, a fact that both confuses and impresses me. I only made it through about an hour and fifteen minutes of the meeting before I had to get back to work.

For either of the proposals to get on Friday’s agenda, the facilitation committee needed to vote that the proposals were emergency proposals so that we could jump to the front of the proposal queue. The other proposal was read and then I read our proposal. We let the committee know that we intended to combine the proposals into one, which they said we could do, though a few people let us know we didn’t have to do that. The committee made it clear though that the proposal would have to be to rescind the vote, not to have a re-vote, since there is no mechanism within the GA process to call for a re-vote.

The facilitator called for a vote, not on the merits of our proposals, but on whether the combined proposal constituted an emergency. Everyone in the circle, except for me and the man who presented the other proposal (proposal makers aren’t allowed to vote), raised their thumbs. Unanimously, the committee voted to agendize our proposal and told us that the item would be first on the agenda.

Merging the proposals

I felt a rush of energy and couldn’t help smiling as I walked across the plaza to my office – we had made it past the first hurdle of the day. I sent a message to the author of the other proposal and asked her to call me, and she did almost immediately. We decided to use most of the language in the proposal she had written and we worked on the language over the phone. Before that morning, I had never heard of this woman, yet on our first phone call we managed to hammer out the revised language and plan our strategy for the evening.

I was amazed at how well we worked together, though looking back, I guess I shouldn’t have been. After all, we both had strong stakes in the occupation of the 19th & Telegraph lot. She is a teacher at Envision Academy at 15th and Webster, where they have had to close the school early or open late multiple times in the past weeks due to the police response to Occupy Oakland. On other days, students arrived late because of bus detours and BART closures. She did not want to see the same thing happen at OSA.

Both of us also cared a lot about OO. We had both been to many GAs and she had been tear gassed on October 25th. If I hadn’t cared about OO, I wouldn’t have bothered. But since I did, I wanted to help OO avoid a PR and neighborhood nightmare. I was sure the occupation of that lot would lead to the neighbors turning against OO, and coupled with media attention, I figured this would also turn many other Oaklanders against OO.

Friday night’s General Assembly

Around 5:30pm on Friday I started to get nervous again. I also started to feel sick again (I had been sick all week). I looked out my office window and from the 11th floor the plaza looked eerily empty. There were maybe five people in the entire plaza, fewer people than I had seen there in well over a month. I finished up what I was doing at work and headed downstairs.

A few people were milling about in the amphitheater, setting up some tents (not the kind you sleep in but the kind you stand under for shade or for protection from rain). I ran into a couple of friends and we chatted and waited as a man strummed his guitar and sang. By 6:30 a decent crowd had arrived. There were no longer concerns about having quorum (100 people), and more and more people continued to arrive. Still, with so few people there, I realized it would be next to impossible for our proposal to pass.

I sought out the rest of the proposal signers, only one of whom I had ever met, and we chatted for a bit. The proposal author who I had talked to by phone earlier in the day hadn’t arrived yet as she had pneumonia(!) and wanted to wait until the last minute to come. When she arrived, we met her on the stage and waited.

From the back of the stage, the GA looks and sounds very different than from the steps of the amphitheater, where I usually sit or stand. Everything felt more intense, but since I struggled to hear actual words, often I just heard tone. Without the human mic, the tone quickly turned negative. (As an aside, I think Friday night would have gone much differently with a human mic because with the human mic harsh tones are not conveyed as much. Also, speakers have to be succinct and think more carefully about what they say. If OO got rid of amplified sound, I think it would be incredibly helpful to the tone of the discussions at the GAs.)

Though I couldn’t hear every word, I could tell by what I heard (and what I read on Twitter) that the facilitator – the same woman who facilitated the facilitation committee earlier – was talking down to the crowd, especially to the OSA community that had turned out in force. There were also some people in the crowd shouting, which I’ve seen happen at every GA I’ve attended. But she acted as if this was new and unexpected behavior and blamed it on them not understanding how the GA works. She sounded incredibly patronizing.

After announcements and before our item came up, there were votes on whether a couple other proposals were emergency proposals (which would allow them to be heard right after ours). The discussion and voting on these seemed to take forever. Finally, maybe around 8pm, we were up.

Everything after that is a bit of a blur. Things started moving very quickly and intensely. It’s like those scenes in movies when the scene has to cover a long time frame in a relatively short amount of movie time so a snippet of someone talking flashes and then fades out to something else happening (and of course really intense music is playing). That’s how I remember the next hour or so. Certain words, phrases, tones, and looks on people’s faces stand out, but everything else melds together. It all moved too fast and too many things happened at once for me to be able to take everything in. (It didn’t help that I had barely slept the night before and I was feeling much more sick by this point, so I wasn’t nearly as focused as I usually am.)

The atmosphere got heated right away, as my co-proposer read the proposal and got booed at a couple of points. The tension ratcheted up as people came up to ostensibly ask clarifying questions, but half of them yelled at us more than questioned us. We then didn’t do a very good job answering those questions because right as we were about to start the facilitator told us we couldn’t answer anything that wasn’t specifically spelled out in the proposal (which seems odd, because then what’s the point of the questions?). That threw us off our plan and so people were rightfully disappointed that their questions weren’t answered. It didn’t help that the facilitator cut us off before our two minutes were up.

So by the time the pro and con statements started, the tension at the GA on both sides was extremely high as I think everyone was rightfully frustrated. The pro and con statements quickly devolved into us versus them statements on both sides. It was very upsetting for me because that was not the goal of any of us who brought forward the proposal. We wanted to avoid division by avoiding this media and neighborhood nightmare. We wanted to bring the neighborhood and OO together, but the exact opposite was happening.

The worst moment might have been when an OSA parent came to the stage with two OSA students. She spoke and then handed the mic to a twelve-year-old boy. He was clearly very nervous and stumbled over his phrases a bit, and several of the people in the crowd booed him. He tried to hand the mic to the girl standing next to him, but the facilitator wouldn’t let her talk because apparently she was treating the three of them as one person because they had gone up together. I’m not sure what she expected – did she want a little girl to go to the stage to speak by herself? I’ve seen children speak at many divisive public meetings, but never have I seen adults disrespect youth so thoroughly.

Unfortunately there was little we could do to prevent the divisiveness and shouting as we had zero control over the situation at that point.

The leaders of the leaderless

The one thing we did have control over was our proposal and whether it would be amended. Several people speaking against our proposal spewed vitriol at us and at the community, but pivoted and said they could vote for the proposal if we amended it to propose occupying somewhere else (Piedmont and Oscar Grant Plaza were the most popular suggestions).

It rapidly became clear that our proposal was not going to earn 90% of the GA vote if it was not amended (looking back I doubt if it would have received 90% if it had been amended, but who knows). To me it also became clear that it wouldn’t earn 70% of the vote, which is significant because if proposals receive 70% of the vote, the authors can accept friendly amendments.

Regardless of votes though, proposal authors can amend proposals anytime up until the vote. So after screaming at us and calling us outsiders and NIMBYs (and much worse) from the stage, one of the people who initially proposed occupying the 19th and Telegraph lot came over to us and told us we should amend or our proposal wouldn’t pass. He said we should propose moving to Oscar Grant Plaza. Soon after, one of the leaders of the leaderless did the same thing. She gave an impassioned speech about why we were so wrong and came over to try to convince us to propose moving to Oscar Grant Plaza. I talked to both of them calmly and listened carefully to what they said to me.

It became clear to me at that point that the leaders of the leaderless were freaking out a bit. They seemed to realize that occupying the lot at 19th and Telegraph was a bad idea. Maybe they realized the police wouldn’t let them stay there or maybe they too wanted to avoid negative press. It’s hard to say. But for whatever reasons, they desperately wanted us to get them out of their impending crisis.

We (the proposal makers) huddled and talked about strategy. I argued that it made no sense for us to suggest where to occupy next when our main criticism was that due diligence had not been done in selecting the 19th and Telegraph location. We were totally unwilling to make the same mistake. Also, none of us had camped with Occupy so it seemed totally inappropriate for us to decide where they should camp (or if they should camp), even if the leaders of the leaderless had already decided and were trying to use us as their pawns in this elaborate game. So we agreed that we would not amend the proposal. If the proposal earned 70% of the vote, we would entertain friendly amendments from the GA and then the leaders of the leaderless could propose a location to occupy.

After hearing twenty speakers yell about our proposal (either in support or against it), the relative quiet of the voting process was very calming. We watched as whole groups of about 20 raised their thumbs and other whole groups turned their thumbs down. Mostly, people supporting and opposing the proposal were not mixing. We formed a small group of the proposal makers, and a woman who opposed the proposal joined us. We welcomed her and introduced ourselves.

A couple of minutes before announcing the vote to the GA, the facilitator told us that our proposal had only received 57% of the vote. Then, one of the authors of the proposal to occupy 19th & Telegraph – the same guy who had talked to us earlier – came over and said he would support allowing amendments even though we hadn’t reached the 70% threshold. We said we were fine with that if the GA approved it (it seemed very unlikely though). The facilitator then approached us and said the same thing.

She announced the vote and many people cheered. (Maybe some people booed too? It’s hard to say – by that time my feet and hands were freezing and I wanted to be in bed.) She then announced that the proposers – both of Wednesday night’s proposal and the one to rescind that vote – were open to taking amendments even though the 70% vote threshold had not been met.

Many people booed loudly and yelled angrily at her. She quickly backed down, realizing that this last-ditch effort to prevent the occupation of 19th and Telegraph had failed.

But it wasn’t the final effort!

After the vote I stood and chatted with the rest of our group. We all thanked each other and a couple of us stuck around to see what happened next. A guy came up to us with a proposal scribbled on a yellow sheet of paper proposing to occupy Oscar Grant Plaza instead. The proposal was one or maybe two sentences long. Two of the people I was talking to signed on and he submitted it as an emergency proposal.

At the time, I shrugged it off as an oddity of OO, but looking back, it pisses me off, as there’s no way we could have just showed up at the GA with a scribbled proposal and got it on the agenda. But the leaders of the leaderless really wanted to change occupation plans, so they were readily willing to bend all of their own rules.

I stuck around for a bit longer, through the next proposal, but left before the OGP occupation emergency proposal came up for a vote. I saw on Twitter later that night that the emergency proposal vote had failed. In less than 24 hours, OO would occupy the lot at 19th and Telegraph, and in less than 48 hours, OPD would force them to leave the lot.

What’s next?

I left the GA feeling pretty disheartened, thoroughly disillusioned, and a bit angry. I was not at all surprised that our proposal had failed. I think there were maybe only a few minutes mid-day on Friday when I believed that maybe it could pass. Our proposal’s failure was not the reason I was in such a bad mood.

Before Friday I had experienced the GAs from the back of the amphitheater. While I didn’t always agree with what people said or the outcomes of votes, I greatly appreciated the process (and absolutely loved the human mic). From the stage, I saw that so much of the process is for show. The leaders of the leaderless wield a huge amount of power over the process and decision-making.

But I also saw that power slipping away from them. They tried desperately to manipulate the GA into not occupying 19th and Telegraph, while simultaneously publicly railing against our proposals and us as individuals. They probably felt they had to do this because if they had just supported our proposal, they would have lost respect from many OO participants. Ultimately, their strategy failed.

I saw that many in OO saw OO as the most important thing happening in Oakland. They self-righteously seemed to feel that OO is so important that any harm they cause to Oakland residents or local businesses is well worth it. Some of them don’t seem to take the concerns of other Oakland communities into account at all. As someone who loves Oakland, our neighborhoods, and our businesses, I cannot support or even really understand that attitude.

That evening I tweeted that I was done with the current incarnation of OO. After sleeping on it (for 10 hours!), I tweeted again that I was done with participating in OO. I didn’t go to the GA last night or tonight and don’t plan to go anytime soon. I refuse to be part of a process that is manipulative or a movement that is so self-righteous that it totally neglects the concerns of the larger Oakland community.

I do not know where OO is headed. There are many distressing signs, some of which I haven’t even touched on here, but OO still holds positive possibilities. OO has brought many people together and energized Oaklanders who have participated. Some of these people are now taking autonomous actions outside of the GA. I hope this energy will continue, whether outside or inside of OO.

As for me, I’ll be watching and talking to people about their ideas for OO. But until it heads in a more positive, productive, and inclusive direction, I’ll enjoy my break from something that has thoroughly consumed me for the past month.

Previous Occupy Oakland blog posts:

• 11/18/11: Occupy Oakland plans to occupy lot and park at 19th & Telegraph… unless the vote is rescinded
• 11/9/11: Occupy Oakland: Hours have no reverse motion
• 11/2/11: Oakland General Strike: Support local, independent businesses
• 11/1/11: From spectator to participant: How the last week changed my relationship with Occupy Oakland
• 10/25/11: Occupy Oakland raided & dismantled by police this morning

On Wednesday, for the first time in weeks, I decided to take a full afternoon and evening off from Occupy Oakland and Twitter. I had left work early – the cold that had been trying to catch up to me for weeks finally caught me – and I thought I could use some rest. When I finally logged into Twitter later that evening, I found out that the Occupy Oakland General Assembly had voted to occupy the lot at 19th and Telegraph and the adjacent park.

At first I was upset because of all the work I and many others have put into that space, to save it from becoming  a parking lot. (You can read a quick synopsis of that story here or check out the many blog posts about it linked to at the bottom of this post.) But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was the wrong space to occupy for many reasons. And it became clear to me, from the General Assembly minutes and from the proposal text, that the people voting on this proposal might not have understood the full context of the space they voted to occupy.

I tweeted a bunch on Wednesday night and Thursday morning and saw that many people agreed with my perspective. So last night I drafted a proposal to rescind the vote and worked with several other people to refine the proposal. A few of those people signed on and we’ve submitted it to be heard at tonight’s General Assembly.

It’s too early to know if it will be heard tonight. I understand that there are a queue of proposals waiting to be heard, but I’m hopeful that the facilitators will allow this proposal to be heard, since it’s time sensitive (the occupation is planned to begin tomorrow).

If you support our proposal and have supported or been involved with Occupy Oakland, I encourage you to come to the General Assembly tonight at 6pm at Frank Ogawa Plaza to vote for this proposal. I’m aware that this is an uphill battle since it’s never easy to rescind a vote and even more difficult to do with a 90% vote threshold. But I think it’s important to try, and I hope you’ll consider joining us. If you plan to attend, please RSVP on Facebook and/or invite others.

For updates on whether the proposal will be voted on and what happens tonight, follow me on Twitter: @OaklandBecks

Here is the merged proposal that will be voted on tonight:

Proposal Not to Occupy Lot and Park at 19th & Telegraph

Downtown Oakland residents, citizens, parents, teachers, principals, artists, small business owners, and fellow occupiers have spoken and do NOT want to see the Occupy Oakland Encampment moved to 19th and Telegraph. As of 2:30 pm today (Nov. 18) 201 people have signed a petition expressing their concern on the issue. See this link to the petition for an up to date count: http://www.change.org/petitions/occupy-oakland-facilitators-provide-an-opportunity-to-re-vote-on-where-the-next-encampment-will-be

We are not against choosing a different location, or even maintaining the location right here, at Oscar Grant Plaza, but we feel it is important to develop a committee to thoroughly research this decision from all angles.

When the proposal was originally voted upon, it was clear that many of the key individuals impacted by this decision where not in attendance at that night’s General Assembly. We believe the following facts and concerns should have been addressed more thoroughly:

Facts concerning the proposed encampment site @ 19th and Telegraph:
1) The new location is next door to the Oakland School of the Arts. This is a middle/high school serving children between the ages 10 – 18.
2) Families, administrators, and teachers of the adjacent school were not contacted for their feedback on the proposal
3) The new location is adjacent to an affordable housing complex and residents were not contacted for their feedback on the proposal
4) The new location will occupy the proposed and federally funded art and sculpture garden soon to be constructed

Key Concerns:
- No community outreach that we know of was conducted prior to the proposal being voted upon, yet this is a move directly into a primarily residential area
- 19th and Telegraph does not impact the 1%, but would place hardships on working families and students
- Innocent children will be put in the crossfire between OO and OPD without parents being given a voice or choice in the decision to involve their children
- As experienced by another neighborhood public high school, Envision Academy @ 15th and Webster – we know that police altercations within and around the Occupy Oakland encampment have a negative impact on schools, the school’s attendance and budget suffer, schools must close early or open late, and parents are fearful of their children’s well being
- We also know that police blockades and forced closures of BART make it difficult if not impossible for children to get to school
- 19th and Telegraph falls within a drug free school zone thereby putting the Police into a position of “protectors” of the peace and safety of a community
- The community previously fought for funding to convert this lot into a community park and art space, police response could endanger funding and construction of this project
- Once the decision was released into the community, an outpouring of responses from families and community members started surfacing and it is essential that Occupy Oakland remain responsive to community concerns and interests in order to maintain a strong and mutually beneficial working relationship

In light of these concerns, we ask that you vote to NOT move the encampment to 19th and Telegraph, but instead agree to create a committee to thoroughly research and suggest an appropriate location for the encampment.

Here is our previous proposal:

Proposal to Rescind Vote to Occupy Lot at 19th and Telegraph

On Wednesday, November 16th, the Occupy Oakland General Assembly voted to occupy the park and adjacent lot at 19th and Telegraph.

This site is problematic because:

• The park and the lot are adjacent to an affordable housing complex that houses many low income Oakland families. Many of these families have been subjected to police violence and other mental and physical damage by the 1% and our socioeconomic system. If the police attack the encampment, it would further traumatize people who deserve a safe space.
• The lot is empty now, but in a few months it will be turned into a public arts and community space. Advocates fought two years ago to save this space from becoming a parking lot and to turn it into an arts space. The City recently secured a $200,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and has committed $200,000 in additional City funds for the project. The arts space will be built and opened to the public in the spring of 2012. Occupying this space endangers this project because if any funding for the space must be used to clean the space after the occupation and police response, there may not be enough money left to build the arts space. We should stand in solidarity with the community’s victory, and support their plan to build a community arts space on the site.
• The park is well used by neighborhood residents, as there are no other parks in the area. Residents use the park to relax, eat meals, do yoga and other physical activity, and to enjoy open space. An occupation and the police response to the occupation could prevent access to the park.
• The park and the lot are directly adjacent to the Oakland School for the Arts. Students could be disrupted by the occupation and police responses to the occupation, especially since they use the park frequently for physical activity.

Neighbors who have supported Occupy Oakland have already begun organizing in opposition to the occupation of this location. Rescinding this vote would give Occupy Oakland the opportunity to consider other locations to occupy that would be better suited for occupation and/or other tactics to pursue.

We propose that:

• This General Assembly undo the decision and vote NOT to set up camp in the lot and park at 19th and Telegraph.
• The General Assembly encourage (but not require) that future encampment proposals consider (a) how it may impact low-income communities, and (b) the site’s history and community roots.

Previous posts on the Uptown surface parking lot/sculpture garden saga:

• 7/27/11: Bike Bridge – Gateway to the Uptown sculpture garden
• 3/16/11: Our dream of an Uptown sculpture garden is becoming a reality
• 10/7/10: We did it! The Uptown sculpture garden will soon be a reality
• 5/6/09: A Better Oakland – Becks and dto510, my heroes
• 5/6/09: The power of the blogoaksphere
• 5/5/09: Another chance to stop the Uptown surface parking lot
• 4/29/09: CED Committee approves surface parking lot, but changes overall outlook on parking and transit
• 4/20/09: Take Action: Stop the Council from approving a surface parking lot in Uptown!
• 3/30/09: Imagining an alternative to a surface parking lot in Uptown

Since I opposed two out of the three measures (and in the case of Measure H – which would have changed the city attorney position from being elected to being appointed by the Council – I vehemently opposed it), I’m pretty happy with the outcome. What I’m not happy about is how much money, time and energy was wasted on this useless election.

Mayor Jean Quan of course blamed the failure of Measure I, the parcel tax, on Occupy Oakland:

Quan said that because of Occupy Oakland, she had been unable to campaign for the parcel tax.

“This is the type of campaign you need to put your full heart and soul in,” Quan said Tuesday.

Occupy Oakland is an easy excuse for her, but it’s clear that this measure would have gone down even if she had put her “full heart and soul in”. The measure needed 2/3 of the vote to pass and it received less than 38% of the vote, just over half the number of votes it needed to pass.

Especially considering that voting was well underway before the initial raid of Occupy Oakland, I don’t see how Quan could have nearly doubled the yes votes no matter how hard she had campaigned. She is easily one of the best campaigners in City Hall, but even if she mobilized her whole network, the best field campaign in the world couldn’t have swung another third of the votes.

So now that the measures have all gone down, where is our city and our budget? Right back where we started at this summer, except with $800,000 dollars down the drain.

Quan and nearly the entire Oakland City Council can be blamed for this waste of sorely needed funds. Councilmember Libby Schaaf wrote this to her email list back in July, right after the Council voted to hold the election:

Last Tuesday, the Council decided to spend $800,000 to call a Special Mail-in Only Election on November 15th. I was the ONLY Councilmember to vote NO on both readings of the Ordinance. While I support the voter’s right to decide, I think the City should have waited less than 1 year and put Measures on the regular election, when more people will vote and the election wouldn’t cost extra money.

Libby’s been proven right, though I’m sure that’s not much consolation to her or her fellow councilmembers. At the end of last night’s Council meeting, Councilmember Nancy Nadel said the meeting should adjourn in memory of Measure H, I and J, and of course her fellow councilmembers laughed (I laughed too). But I doubt they’re laughing this morning.

Soon the Mayor and the Council will need to return to the budget to fill the gaps left by the failed parcel tax and the election expense. Every round of budget cuts over the past few years has gotten worse and worse, as there are fewer “easy” cuts left to make. It’s hard to say what they will cut this time, but whatever they decide, these cuts will have huge impacts on Oakland services and Oakland life.

Often at times like this, I look backward and wonder what could have happened differently. Could the vandalism have been prevented if police showed up earlier, when the Traveler’s Aid Society was first taken over? Would the confrontation have been less violent if more peaceful people like me had stuck around until late in the night? Would any of this ever had happened if we had a different mayor or if Jean Quan had made different decisions a few weeks ago?

This train of thought was luckily interrupted when my iPhone – on shuffle – decided to play for me a beautiful song. Though there are no lyrics, after hearing the first few notes I remembered the name of the song – Hours Have No Reverse Motion. Since I’m guessing you probably haven’t heard the song, here it is:

As I listened, I thought about the title of the song and realized that my hypothetical questions about the past were not so useful unless I was asking those questions to inform the future. Because, of course, hours have no reverse motion. We can’t go back in time and change anything that has happened, no matter how much so many of us want to. Instead, we must move forward.

So I’m excited that tomorrow (Thursday) night there are two events happening that are focused on the future of Occupy Oakland. I’m in LA this week so won’t be able to attend either of them, but if you care about our wonderful city and want to be a part of what happens next, I encourage you to attend one or both of these events. Sadly, they’re at the same time, but they’re close enough to each other that it seems possible to go to both.

Here’s the info about both events. If you’re able to attend and are interested in sharing your thoughts about the event(s), I’d be happy to publish guest blog posts about them so email me at oaklandbecks at gmail dot com.

CANCELED: Finding a Solution

(See Facebook event for info on why this event sadly was canceled.)

When: Thursday, November 10 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Where: The Den at the Fox, Telegraph and 18th
More Info: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175390965885700

Join Oakland merchants, residents, property owners and local leaders to discuss finding a peaceful resolution to #OccupyOakland.

The current encampment poses immense health, safety and legal problems. We are strong supporters of the #OWS/#OO movement and want to ensure all participants and those effected are not put in harms way while they bravely stand against injustices placed on us (personally, locally and nationally) by faulty banking and federal policies.

Occupy Oakland: WAKE UP. STAND UP. BUILD UP

When: Thursday, November 10 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Where: Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th & Broadway
More Info: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=196464997096487

Join us at Oscar Grant Plaza on Thursday, Nov 10, 6 – 9pm for an interactive multimedia WakeUp experience, coming together as Occupiers, supporters, and the Occupy-curious to ask:

* What’s the BIG PICTURE of the problems we’re facing?
* How can we RE-IMAGINE our future?
* How do we move forward POWERFULLY together?

We will explore these questions through videos, art & music, spoken word, conversation, & interactive activities. Let’s move the momentum of Occupy forward, reignited with cohesion, inspiration, clarity, and purpose.

Guest speakers/ performers include:
Drew Dellinger - http://drewdellinger.org/
i.ameni - http://www.iammany.us/
Aaron Ableman
+ Breakdancing & spoken word

Hosted By: Generation Waking Up