DISTRICT 4 NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS #169

Home Retrofitting, Police Recruitment, KTOP Reruns Our Forum:  How Much the Iraq War Costs Oakland, Sign up for Earth Day--April 22, City Wide Emergency Response, City Commission Openings, Oak Knoll Developer Mtg, Tax Help

 

1.       Earthquake Retrofitting Workshop, April 1

2.       Council Approves $2.4 Million for Police Recruitment & Academies

3.       KTOP Reruns Our Forum:  How Much the Iraq War Costs Oakland 

4.       City Wide Emergency Response Exercise, Saturday, April 29, 9 am – Noon

5.       Opening on City Commissions

6.       Sign up for Earth Day Projects Now

7.       Developer Holds Second Meeting on Oak Knoll

8.       Public Comment on Transit Connectivity Plan

9.       Oakland Seeks Mother of the Year Nominations

10.   Mayoral Forums

11.   Fruitvale School “Hearts of Spring Event” Supports Hurricane Survivors

12.   Tax help at the Local Public Library

13.   Spring Break Ideas for Parents

14.   Upcoming Green and Community Events: Art Show Supports Montclair Short Line Pocket Park Campaign, Sunday, March 26 11 am- 3pm; Skyline Jazz at Yoshi’s April 3rd; A Great Good Place for Books Welcome’s Karen Armstrong, Thursday, April 6; Upcoming School Beautification projects; Bay-Friendly Garden Tour, Sunday, April 30; Oakland Women Business Leaders Conference March 24; Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour May 7; Celebrate Your Community with the Red Cross, Wednesday, March 29 8-10 am

 

 

 

 

 

 

“When the Hayward Fault ruptures over 150,000 homes, even retrofitted homes, will become uninhabitable. Is your home one of them?”

Association of Bay Area Governments

 

 

1.     Earthquake Retrofitting & Home Safety Seminar, Saturday, April 1, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm: Many thanks to Dean Bradley, a District 4 constituent who learned so much as she was planning her own earthquake retrofitting, that she thought others would benefit. She has organized a two-hour free Earthquake Retrofitting and Home Safety Seminar at the Montclair Women’s Club, 1650 Mountain Blvd. at Thornhill for Saturday, April 1 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. There will be speakers and displays to provide information on such questions as:

 

 

 

 

Ø    How does our local geology impact our risk?

Ø    How do I know if my home is safe?

Ø    What are the three main elements of effective retrofitting?

Ø    Where are the resources to protect my family and my property?

This is a free—and timely—opportunity.

 

And, if you want to see how close your house is to the Hayward fault, go to

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/research/geology/hf_map/

 

 

2.    Council Approves $2.4 Million for Police Recruitment & Academies: City Council thanked the chief and police officers association for the agreement that shifts officers out of the airport, downtown and other positions and into patrol to maximize patrol officers during the highest periods of police calls starting April 6th.  Negotiations for a new contract will continue to discuss staffing issues over the next months. Council also approved $2.4 million in additional funds to pay for recruitment and doubled academies.  Currently there is a shortage of qualified police applicants around the state, Los Angeles has 700 police vacancies and San Francisco has over 200. These funds will enable the Police Department to reach out to recruit a larger pool of applicants. The selection process and application process are on the city website.

 

3.    KTOP Reruns Our Forum:  How Much the Iraq War Costs Oakland:  Last Friday’s forum included Miguel Bustos, Senior Staff to Congresswoman Barbara Lee; Pratap Chatterjee, executor director of CorpWatch, an expert on corporate war profiteering; and Susan Shelton, City Community Housing and Services Division.  The rebroadcast dates on KTOP Channel 10 are:                             

                      Sunday, March 26 – 10:30am

  Tuesday, March 28 – 5pm

  Friday, March 31 – 7pm

  Saturday, April 1 – 8:30pm

 

 

Ø    The charts from my presentation are at:  http://www.jeanquan.org/Files/Cost%20of%20War%20Presentation%20March%2017%2006_files/frame.htm

Ø    The war currently costs the nation about $100,000 per minute. Today’s total for Oakland is about $309 million so far.  That equals hiring 5292 teachers for a year.  Or, we could send every Oakland public high school student to college with a 4 year scholarship.  For more information on the costs, go to: National Priorities website.

 

4.    City Wide Emergency Response Exercise, Saturday, April 29, 9 am – Noon: This citywide exercise is based on a simulated earthquake of 6.8  on the Richter Scale, centered on the northern segment of the Hayward Fault.  A range of incidents will occur throughout the city to which CORE groups/teams will need to respond.
Active CORE groups, Ham Radio Operators from the Oakland Radio Communications Association (ORCA), Oakland firefighters and other organized groups will participate in the exercise and respond to incidents in their neighborhood.  The exercise is designed to test
the following:


1. Capacity of CORE neighborhood communications teams to gather, document and transmit information about incidents in their neighborhood to the Neighborhood Incident Commander (NIC),

2. Capacity of CORE neighborhood communications teams to convey critical information to the amateur radio operator at the nearest fire station,

3. Capacity of Neighborhood Incident Commander (NIC) to dispatch response teams and make decisions based on information that the response team leaders report back to the NIC,

4. Capacity of CORE Groups to set-up and operate their Neighborhood Command Center with appropriate protocols and supplies.

In addition to these primary objectives, each CORE Group can determine if they want to test additional response strategies, such as neighborhood evacuation, fire drill or setting up a first aid station. To confirm your participation in the Saturday, April 29, 2006 citywide emergency response drill or get more information, contact CORE at 510 238-6351 or core@oaklandnet.com.

 

5.    Openings on City Commissions

 

·  Youth Advisory Commission: My office is seeking youth from ages 13 to 21 to represent District 4 on the Youth Advisory Commission.  The commission was created in 1985 to identify the needs of youth of the community creating citizen awareness of such needs and serving as the policy recommending body of civic/education – related matters within the jurisdiction of the City of Oakland in which youth have an interest.  The commission meets on the Second and Fourth Mondays at 5:00 pm in City Hall.  If you are interested please contact Claudia Jimenez at 238-4742 or cjimenez@oaklandnet.com/

·       Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission (PRAC): Please contact our office if you are interested in serving on the Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission (PRAC).

 

 

clean it ~ green it ~ mean it

 

Oakland Earth Day

Saturday, 9 – 12

APRIL 22, 2006

rain or shine

 

 

 

 

6.    Sign up for Earth Day Projects Now: Earth Day falls on Saturday, April 22 this year. Last year, District 4 had the most projects in the city and we anticipate that we will continue to generate many beautification projects throughout District 4. While the deadline for official status with Keep Oakland Beautiful (KOB) isn’t until March 20, we encourage groups to sign up early, so you can take advantage of the tools, t-shirts, water and other goodies that KOB provides.

Our office often provides technical advice and raises funds to supply food, plants, soil, mulch and supplies for projects.  Please send an e-mail with the location, project and contact person, phone number and email address to Jennifer Argueta jargueta@oaklandnet.com so that we know you are planning an activity.

 

Go to http://www.oaklandpw.com/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1558 to download a registration form.

 For More Past Earth Day Photos

á High Street Neighbors plant the median strip

 

Sign Up for One of These District 4 Earth Day Projects  or Organize Your Own:

 

1

Avenue Terrace Park

Jordan Road and Bennett Place

Cut and clean, clean garage

Anne Katz

482-5839

ajskatz@yahoo.com

 

2

Friends of Last Wild Canyon Neighborhood Association

Butters/Robinson

Clean up Creek; watershed, restoration, Fire Clearance

Carol Bernau

530-2746

cbernau@sbcglobal.net

3

Friends of Sausal Creek- Dimond Canyon

Scout Hut in Dimond Park

Clean, weed, mulch Dimond Canyon

Kristen Hopper -

Friends of Sausal Creek

krhop@earthlink.net

4

Friends of Sausal Creek

Joaquin Miller Native Plant Nursery

Clean & Cut, build and install tables and benches

Kristen Hopper-

Friends of Sausal Creek

krhop@earthlink.net

5

High Street Neighborhood Alliance

Courtland & Brookdale

Courtland Creek clean up trash, weeds and prune

Laurie Umeh

436-5670

Lumeh2@yahoo.com

6

Laurel  Village Association

MacArthur Blvd. & 35th Avenue

Litter & Mulching 35th Ave, Freeway Ramp

John Frando

 

Stella Lamb

530-1489

jfrando@gmail.com

531-0972

Stellalamb2000@yahoo.com

7

Laurel & Redwood Heights

Wisconsin Street & Rettig Avenue

Peralta Creek Watershed

John Frando

530-1489

 jfrando@gmail.com

 

8

Lower Merriewood Stairs

16060 Merriewood Drive

Stairs between Thornhill Drive and Merriewood

Jim Dexter

339-2184

jimdexter@aol.com

9

Maxwell Park NCPC

Walgreens Parking Lot-High Street & 580 Freeway

Cut and clean, Courtland and Redding

Jan Hetherington

534-4978

jan@moves-to-improve.com

 

10

Montclair Safety & Improvement Council

Montclair Park

 

Jill Broadhurst

 

www.montclairsic.org

11

Montera Association

Joaquin Miller/Montera Schools Ascot

Pruning, planting, clean up

Karen Fee

 

 

12

Piedmont Pines Neighborhood Association

Marj Saunders Park at Chelton & Ascot

Park clean-up, prune around park

Elaine Geffen

 

Elaineofpew@sbcglobal.net

13

Piedmont Pines

Neighborhood

Association

Castle Canyon

Clean Up

Jeff Sharp

428-2061

jgilesharp@aol.com

 

14

Redwood Heights Neighborhood Association

3883 Aliso Avenue

Landscape and litter throughout park

Randy Fenton

568-1008

rfenton@sundancelandscape.com

 

15

Shepherd Canyon Homeowners Association

Shepherd Canyon Corporation Yard

Broom pulling, pruning, vegetation management along the corporation yard trail

Herb & Adrienne Bryant

339-0985

bryantah@lmi.net

16

Wildfire Prevention District

Fire Station 25

2795 Butters Drive

Median strip across from fire station 25- clean up and replanting

Carol Bernau

530-2746

cbernau@sbcglobal.net

 

 

7. Developer Holds Second Meeting on Oak Knoll: As a developer of Oak Knoll, SunCal Companies are holding the second of three community-planning workshops to gather community feed back on the initial project designs. The workshop is on Wednesday, March 29, from 6pm to 8pm at the Hilton Oakland Airport Hotel located at 1 Hegenberger Rd.

 

8. Public Comment Sought on Transit Connectivity Plan: As part of its effort to stitch together the Bay Area’s nearly two dozen transit systems into a seamless, passenger-friendly network, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is inviting residents throughout the nine-county region to weigh in on its Draft Transit Connectivity Plan. The plan details a strategy for easing passengers’ movement form one transit system to another by providing more reliable connections, making it easier to pay fares, improving way-finding signage and reducing overall travel times.  The plan can be viewed online: www.mtc.ca.gov. Copies are also available at the MTC Library at 101 Eighth Street in Oakland, and at all major public libraries. You can also request a copy by e-mailing library@mtc.ca.gov or calling 817-5836.  Comments must be received by MTC no later than 4 pm, Friday,  April 14.  Written comments may be submitted to MTC’s Public information Office at 1010 Eighth Street, Oakland, CA 94607, faxed to 817-5848 or sent via e-mail to info@mtc.ca.gov. MTC is scheduled to adopt a Final Transit Connectivity Plan at its April 26 meeting. For information 817-5757.

 

 

9. Oakland Seeks Nominations for 2006 Mother of the Year:  Oakland’s Office of Parks & Recreation is launching its annual city-wide search for candidates for Oakland’s Mother of the Year 2006. If you know of an individual who shows an exceptional spirit of volunteerism and is deserving of this coveted award, please send in your nomination before Friday, March 31. The individual must be nominated by an organization, not by a relative or personal friend. Being a parent is not a requirement. A nomination form and award criteria can be found at www.oaklandnet..com/parks. The 53rd Annual Mother of the Year will be honored on Saturday, May 13 at the Morcom Rose Garden, 700 Jean Street at 10:30 am. For details, call 238-4720.

 

10.  Mayoral Forums Continue:  The Mayor’s Race is clearly getting the most press, this is a list of the forums coming up that are citywide in focus or that are in our district:

 

·        March 30th, 7-8:30 pm:  Oakland Coalition of Congregations
First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2601 Broadway

·        April 13th, 7-9 pm:  League of Women Voters & the Marcus Foster Educational Institute, Oakland Museum, 1000 Oak St.

·        April 20th , 11am-1pm:  Merritt College, 12500 Campus Drive

 

In addition, 50 debate locations were set up as part of a challenge by Council President DeLaFuente.  The Montclarion  urged the major candidates to participate.  These are the events scheduled in or near my district.  The full list can be found at the DeLaFuente for Mayor website.

 

Date

Time of Debate

Neighborhood

Location

14

Sat, April 8

10 a.m. - Noon

Redwood Heights

(North-East Oakland)