October 19-25 Oakland Political & Community Events

Tuesday, October 20th – Oakland City Council Meeting

Woo! The Council has been having a series of long and intense meetings since recess, and this week’s meeting looks like it will follow in that pattern. First, the Council will swear in Police Chief Anthony Batts. Then, among other items, they’ll be receiving an update on the municipal ID card program, voting on amendments to the MOU with the Oakland Police Officers Association, discussing new business incentives, receiving an update on H1N1 prevention, and, believe it or not, discussing parking again.  Both items were introduced by Pat Kernighan – one seeks to make enforcement of the violation of parking in the wrong direction on narrow streets the lowest enforcement priority, while the other seeks to explore increasing time limits at meters in certain parts of the City. 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.

Tuesday, October 20th – 40th St Bikeway/MacArthur BART Bicycle Access Improvements Community Meeting

The City of Oakland is seeking to improve bicycle access to MacArthur BART between Piedmont Ave, Kaiser Hospital, and Emeryville. The current recommendations include a proposal to add bicycle lanes on 40th St by narrowing the median from Yerba Buena Ave to Martin Luther King, Jr Wy and from Telegraph Ave to Webster St. There are also complimentary recommendations for 41St St and W MacArthur Blvd.  City Staff have worked very hard to come up with these recommendations that will narrow some of the street medians, maintain the number of car travel lanes and parking spots, add bike lanes and enhance street greenery. Organized by the Longfellow neighbors, Tuesday’s meeting will focus entirely on the proposed project, including next steps in working with the community. The meeting will be held from 7-9pm at the North Oakland Community Charter School, 1000 42nd St at Linden St.  Jason Patton, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager for the City of Oakland will be presenting the city’s proposed plans. You can find more details about this project at the City’s website.

Tuesday, October 20th– Free Urban Bicycle Safety Class

This class, hosted by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, consists of a 3.5 hour Traffic Safety 101 Classroom workshop (formerly Day One Street Skills) and a 6.5 hour Traffic Safety 101 Road Class (formerly known as Day Two Road I class) of on-bike instruction. We encourage you to take both Day One and Day Two and to entice you to do so, we’ll give you a free front/back bike light upon completing the class. If, however, your time is limited, sign up for a Day One class. You can always take a Day Two class later. The class will take place from 6-9:30 pm at Kaiser Medical Center, 3801 Howe St, Fabiola Building Room G65B. Register online at: www.ebbc.org/safety.

Wednesday, October 21st – Laurel Outdoor Movie Night on the Patio

Oakland Food Connection and Trattoria Laurellinos welcome the return of the Laurel Outdoor Movie Night on the Patio. This month they will be featuring a great food justice documentary entitled FOOD FIGHT! A film by Chris Taylor, the documentary discusses how industrialized agribusiness is taking over the American food system and how grassroots organizations and community groups are working to change that. After the film there will be a brief discussion with members of Oakland Food Connection and California Food and Justice Coalition. The event will be held from 7-10pm at Trattoria Laurellinos, 4171 Macarthur Blvd. Popcorn and refreshments will be provided. Suggested Donation of $5.

Wednesday, October 21st – NAPAWF BENEFIT for Disaster Relief Efforts

Please join the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, NAPAWF Bay Area for the Bay Area relief efforts to support the people of Indonesia, Philippines, Samoa, Vietnam, and areas that have been affected by the recent earthquakes and typhoons.Typhoon Ondoy hit the Philippines with severe rains and flooding Sept. 26, followed by Super Typhoon Parma Oct. 2. These two storms left major damage to the region’s infrastructure and the increased flooding is expected to breech dams already at overflow capacity. In Indonesia, more than 80 percent of the local structures including schools, hospitals, local buildings and shops have been destroyed. Cumulatively, the typhoons have killed more than 3,000 people and injured thousands in calamity affected areas. Communities all around the country are standing in solidarity for our brothers and sisters who are still in the struggle for adequate shelter, food, water, and family reunification. A generous sponsor has agreed to match total proceeds for the night so please bring your friends, colleagues, and community. The benefit will be held from 5:30-9:00pm at Somar, 1727 Telegraph Avenue. Find more details and RSVP on Facebook.

Thursday, October 22nd – San Leandro Community Forum on Bus Rapid Transit

San Leandro will be holding several community meetings over the next few weeks to discuss AC Transt’s bus rapid transit (BRT) project.  Though these meetings will be focused on the San Leandro segment, since Oakland’s community meetings have not yet been scheduled, this will be a great chance for Oaklanders to learn more about the project. At the upcoming San Leandro meetings, AC Transit will provide detailed information on the San Leandro draft plan for BRT and collect feedback to present to policy makers. Light refreshments will be provided and there will be a drawing for free AC Transit bus tickets. The meeting will be held from 6:30 – 8:30 pm, with the presentation at 7, at San Leandro Public Library, 300 Estudillo Avenue. The library is very easily accessible by the 1/1R or the San Leandro BART station.

Saturday, October 24th – BEAST Bloggers Camp

Get together with other East Bay bloggers for a day of workshops, meetups, and talk. Learn hands-on skills with multimedia, talk about growing your community, and ponder making money. This day-long meet up for new and experienced bloggers will feature time to mingle and hang out, but also offer practical, hands-on workshops including:

• Investigative Reporting basics
• Using a FlipCam and adding more video to your site
• Making more money from your blog (case studies/strategies that work)
• Getting started with Blogging
• Adding photography to your site through other social media outlets (e.g. Flickr)
• Local Blogger Directory and Discovery (share what your neighbors are doing)
• Drupal vs. WordPress technology discussion

The camp will be held from 10am-5pm at at TechLiminal, 268 14th Street in downtown Oakland. Registration is $10 and you can register online.

Sunday, October 25th – Oakland Civic Orchestra Free Concert

The Oakland Civic Orchestra opens its 2009-2010 season with Concert Romantique at a free concert. The program includes Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No 5 in A Minor, featuring guest soloist Alina Ming-Kobialka, a finalist in the Oakland-East Bay Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition; Bizet’s L’Alesinne Suite No 2; and Berlioz’s Love Scene & Queen Mab from Romeo & Juliet. The concert will be held at 4pm at at the Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Avenue. Admission is free.  For details, call 238-7275 or  check out their website.