|
 |
Moving Oakland Forward Together |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Dear Neighbor, This weekend put on some sun block and join us for the Melrose Block Party at Horace Mann School on Saturday, or come to Dimond Park Open House/Dimond Improvement Association Picnic on Sunday. (See #2) I am moving Saturday office hours in the Laurel Office to help at our booth at these events. Please visit us there. For me, the most exciting event of the weekend is the preview tour tomorrow, Saturday, 9-11am, at the new Lincoln Court Senior Homes that have been rising at the corner of Lincoln and MacArthur over the last year. Closing the old crime ridden Hillcrest Motel was the first major project our office took on, three and a half years ago. Later this fall it will be home to almost a hundred seniors. We hope it will be a mile stone for the community, too. (See #3) Over the last year we have started working on some projects to make the Dimond a senior friendly environment:
This week we are moving through a marathon of end of the year legislation and expect next Tuesday's last regular meeting of the Council to go into the early hours of the next day. If we are slow in getting back to you next week, we apologize in advance.  Jean Quan Vice Mayor, District 4 Council Member
• To cover our community events this weekend, we have cancelled office hours at our Laurel Office this weekend. We invite you to visit with Jean and staff at our table at the events in the Melrose and Dimond this weekend. • Our other Regular Office hours elsewhere in District 4 remain the same for the rest of the week: Wednesdays from 4-6 pm--Claudia Jimenez staffs our Laurel Office at 4173 MacArthur Blvd; Thursdays from 4-6 pm--Richard Cowan staffs our Dimond Office at the Police Substation at Dimond Safety, 3550 Fruitvale Avenue; Saturdays from 10 until Noon--I and my staff rotate at the Laurel Office at 4173 MacArthur Blvd, 2nd Floor.
• Melrose Block Party at Horace Mann School, Saturday, July 15, 11 am- 3 pm, 5222 Ygnacio Avenue: Enjoy live music, poetry, food, the Melrose Library book swap, Science in the Hood, Eddie's Insects, Firefighters from Station 18, Boys & Girls Club activities, or bring by your bike for a safety check and maintenance. Claudia & I will be there, too, with our booth. It's an opportunity to check to progress of our newly planted trees and other garden projects sponsored by the Melrose Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council and the school. • The 2nd Annual Dimond Improvement Association (DIA) picnic and Dimond Park/Lions Pool Open House will be July 16th 2006 from 11-3 pm. Dimond is one of our area's nicest parks but the variety of its resources are hard to see from the street...great family barbeque picnic areas, a wonderful play structure for small children, a nice lap pool, trails into Dimond Canyon. Enjoy a great summer picnic and free swimming with your Dimond neighbors and organizations. This is a relaxing and delicious way to learn more about the Dimond area. (Pictures Above) Last year's picnic at Dimond Park.
Tomorrow, Saturday, July 15th, 9 am, Lincoln Courts (the former Hillcrest Motel) will conduct tours of this new senior apartment complex. The entire community is invited to come and visit the facility. Some volunteers will also work on planting the inner court yard. A formal Open House & Dedication will be held in the fall when tenants have moved in.
The Council vote on Library Bond options at next week's Council meeting may determine whether the Laurel gets a new library or whether historic Kaiser Convention Center continues as a public building as the new Main Library or is converted into a private Trade Center office building. They will also determine whether the city considers bonds to improve library facilities citywide. The Council will consider 6 options on Tuesday. Currently, Option 3a is gathering the most support so far. It would fund a new main library at Kaiser center, upgrade all branches, and build a new library in the Laurel, the most underserved area in the city. Architects recommend that the city remodel the Kaiser Convention Center for a new Main Library, finding it less expensive in the long run without disruption of services. The plan would uncover the building's skylights and build floors around the center. Calvin Simmons theater would remain open perhaps as part of joint use with the Oakland Museum and Laney College next door, creating a new cultural center for the city and linking with Lake Merritt park improvements across the street. What's at Stakefor District 4? The Library Master Plan proposes several important improvements for our district:
If you want to keep the Kaiser Convention Center for public use and see it remodeled as a new Main Library... please send your comments to Council or plan on attending the July 18th Council Meetings. You need to sign-up prior to the meeting. (Above) Architects concept of a new main library in the Kaiser Convention Center.
• This week the Finance Committee revised the City Budget recommendations based on increased real estate tax income. The 3 DNA technicians for our crime lab that I have been lobbying for were added, the final vote will be on Tuesday. Only about a third of DNA information taken in sexual assaults is processed and entered into the federal database. We, as do most cities, have a large backlog of rape kits to be processed. If you support this, please let the Council know. Oakland has a large number -827- of registered sex offenders and many vulnerable children. I hope to get this added at the budget revision on July 18th. This Tribune Article gives a good overview of the issue. For maps and more information on registered sex offenders in Oakland and any city in California, go to the Megan's Law website operated by the State Attorney General. • Over the last years as I have served as a founding member of the Chabot Science Center Board and struggled as Finance Chair to help the Museum and Zoo retain their funding, it has been clear to me that these world class institutions needed a "regional" source of funding. We looked at other cities and noted that cultural institutions in San Francisco, Chicago, New York and other have both state/federal funding and a share of the hotel tax. Ours do not, this puts a bigger burden on their foundations and the City. After working with Chabot, the Zoo, and Museum, I proposed a 2% increase in the hotel tax which would have supported these institutions and performing arts. It would have raised $2 million in dollars contributed by visitors to our city, if passed. Our current hotel tax is below that of surrounding cities and I believe it would have been a good investment in helping these cultural institutions stabilize their funding and increase their marketing. In turn it would have brought more visitors to the city. The proposal was blocked from going to Council in the rules committee this week on a 2-2 vote, effectively preventing it from going to the ballot this fall. Council members, who voted against it, pledged to help the institutions this fall as we begin the next 2 year budget cycle. The Zoo needs to rebuild its animal hospital to keep its accreditation, a $8 M project. Chabot was badly hurt by federal funding cuts. The city's support of the Museum, a department of the City, has fallen to 40%. • Competition has led to a proliferation of cell phone towers all over the city. The Council has approved a 45 day moratorium on new towers until we can strengthen and clarify our zoning codes. The city gets applications for new towers almost weekly, we are getting increasing complaints about towers on top of buildings or in neighborhoods. Safety and aesthetics are the main complaints. Federal law limits local governments, we cannot regulate placement or construction of the towers based on health or environmental effects of the radio frequency transmissions. Federal law does allow local governments to regulate the location and design of the structures based on aesthetics, visual and land-use impacts. If you have ideas on this issue, please contact Richard Cowan in our office at 238-7041 or rcowan@oaklandnet.com
• About 80% of the cars stolen in Oakland will be found within a mile and within a few days. If you notice a suspicious (broken window, open, vandalism) car on your street, you now can report abandoned cars to the Oakland Police using abandonedauto@oaklandnet.com Email allows you to keep a record of your report and if can, you have the option of sending time/date stamped pictures of the car in your email. To report abandoned vehicles parked on the street for over 72 hours, you can still call the Abandoned Auto Detail at 510-238-6040 or fax information to 510-238-6044. Remember to give an exact address for the location of the car. • For issues concerning street and sidewalk repairs, storm drain blockages, illegal dumping, graffiti, street sweeping, landslides and erosion problems or sewer and utility problems, you can email the Public Works Agency's Call Center at PWACa llCenter@oaklandnet.com or call them at 615- 5566. We encourage residents to contact the Call Center because each call is logged in with a tracking number so that you--and our office--can easily track the status of the report. The Call Center will refer it to the appropriate department.
• Do you know of a teen who is ready to change Oakland?! They can join the Oakland Youth Advisory Commission (OYC), a group of 25 young people (ages 13 to 21), who are appointed by the Mayor and City Council to advise the city on important youth issues. The commission will be accepting applications until July 24, 2006. For more information: OYC Website
The Altenheim Senior Housing on MacArthur Blvd (left) will distributing applications for Studio and One Bedroom apartments from Monday, July 24 to Friday, August 4, 9 am-3pm at the Fruitvale/San Antonio Senior Center, 3301 E. 12th Street, Suite 201.The beautiful gardens and main hall of this historic complex built in 1908 as a retirement home for German settlers will be preserved. Non- profit developer Citizens Housing plans 174 senior apartments, with 93 available in about a year. Rents will range from $350-$750 per month. The head of household must be at least 55 years old. Maximum income for a single person household is $29,350 annual income, $33,500 for a couple, and $37,700 for a 3 person household. The application process is NOT first come, first served. Applications will be processed in order of a random sort. For more information, (415) 986- 7285. For residents living near the Altenhiem, a meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 18 at 6:30 pm with Kaori Tokungaga of Citzens Housing and Swinerton's Suprintendent & Project Manager to discuss neighborhood safety and noise concerns at the Altenhiem construction site. If you would like to participate, contact Jim Henderson at jbh@hendersong rp.com so we can get a head count. We need this count to determine where the meeting can be held.
• Woodminster Summer Musicals begins its 40th season this weekend with Ragtime, July 7-16th among the redwoods of Joaquin Miller Park at the Woodminster Amphitheater. This story of the shaping of multicultural America, based on E.L. Doctorow's novel about the turn of the twentieth century. The lives of a wealthy white family in upstate New York, black working class people in Harlem, and Jewish immigrants at Ellis Island intertwine with each other, and with historical figures including Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, and Emma Goldman. Free tickets to children 16 and younger who are accompanying paying adults to any performance. These tickets are not reserved in advance; present your adult ticket at the box office between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on the night of the performance and you will receive a free child's ticket as close to your adult ticket as possible. If the adult tickets were purchased with a group rate, a free child's ticket will be issued per TWO adult tickets. For information, www.woodminster.com • The Oakland Asian Cultural Center showcases the wide spectrum of Asian Pacific Cultures. Halau 'o Keikiali'i, a Hawaiian group based in SF educates about Hawaii traditions, music, and dance. Their performance next Saturday, July 15,1 pm, 388 Ninth Street, 2nd Floor is free. • Free Wednesday Noon Concerts at City Center: Steps away from the 12th Street BART, enjoy the a variety of restaurants and music throughout the summer. Complete Schedule. This month:
• Free Wednesday Evening Homegrown Blues Concerts in Old Oakland at 9th Street and Broadway, 5:30-7 pm: After work head for Old Oakland and enjoy one of 40 restaurants, 33 galleries, 40 clubs and bars, and many other attractions. They're all listed in this guide. On Wednesdays the Bay Area Blues Society has put together great free concerts. July features Ron Joseph & Steppin Stone, Al Draper Blues Band, and Hollywood & Company. •Summer Band Concerts at Lake Merritt: The 95th Concert Season of the 35 member Oakland Municipal Band presents a series of Sunday concerts, 1-3 pm in Lakeside Park under the direction of Robert Farrington, July 16, July 23, July 30 and August 6. All concerts include jazz, contemporary, pop, big band, international, classical, marches and show tunes. Bring the kids and a picnic.
July is National Recreation and Parks month and the City of Oakland Office of Parks and Recreation is celebrating by hosting events throughout the City. For additional information call 238-PARK. Here is a sample of free activities in our district and more:
Second Sunday's give you free general admission into the California Museum in Oakland, 1000 Oak Street, open Noon to 5 pm (special exhibitions not included). Three unique exhibits will be closing next month: • Aftershock! Voices from the 1906 Earthquake ends on
August 13th. Sit in a tent from the Relief Camps, stand
on a shaking platform and experience and earthquake, learn
how the 1906 Earthquake changed the lives of several Oakland
families including mine. • Behind the Magic – 50 Years of Disneyland closes August 20. This Sunday Tinker Bell will be a special guest at the museum. This special exhibit goes behind the scenes to see how Walt Disney and his Imagineers envisioned, created, and brought Disneyland to life. This touring exhibition includes hundreds of images and artifacts, including original artwork, construction drawings, architectural models, archival videos, promotional materials, and historic souvenirs—as well as original vehicles from Peter Pan’s Flight® and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride®. Meet Disney’s first human Audio-Animatronics® figure, Abraham Lincoln!
•Lend a Hand with Friends of Sausal Creek: Help restore native vegetation to Sausal Creek or nurse along new seedlings at their Native Plant Nursery in Joaquin Miller Park. Opportunities are available Saturdays and Sundays in July: Saturday, July 15 9-Noon--remove invasive resprouts and continue to cut acacia saplings on lower slope of grassland restoration site in the Sausal Creek Watershed (meet at the Native Plant Nursery in Joaquin Miller Park). 1:30-4 pm--Native plant propagation and other nursery activities at the Native Plant Nursery. Sunday, July 16 9:30-Noon--Creek monitoring and aquatic insect sampling (Call Emma Brown at 527-2507 for details). Saturday, July 22 9-Noon--weed and water native plantings in Dimond Canyon (meet at the El Centro Trailhead). 1:30-4 pm --native plant propagation and other nursery activities. For details and to confirm your participation, contact Kristen Hopper at 387-9744. • Monthly Outdoor Movie Series Returns to Old Oakland on July 15 . The highly successful Old Oakland Outdoor Cinema series returns for a third season beginning Saturday, July 15 with the screening of "Network." Once a month, the series transforms Ninth Street between Broadway and Washington into an outdoor cinema with movies beginning at dusk. Limited seating is available: filmgoers are encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets. For more information, call the Oakland Film Office at 238-4734 or visit www.filmoakland. com • Retrofit Seminar in Berkeley July 15 -- 10 am to Noon at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis Street in Berkeley. Admission is free. If you missed the great event in Montclair in April, plan on attending this event. You'll learn practical information about earthquake prepardness for your house, as well as your home. • Prescott Circus Theatre 22nd Annual Circus Show-- Work It Out-- Free Summer shows at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice Street, Wednesday, July 19, 11 am and 1:30 pm, and Thursday, July 20, 11 am and 1:30 pm.For details. •Historical Summer Excursion at Joaquin Miller Park, Saturday, July 29. Author, naturalist and historian Rex Burress will share the life of Joaquin Miller and the park at a special event sponsored by the Alameda County Historical Society. The program includes lunch on the roof of the Woodminster Amphitheater and Cascade and a tour of the monuments in the park via car. Lunch begins at 11:30 am, the tour at 1 pm. Send your check of $15 per person by Friday, July 21 to the Alameda County Historical Society, PMB #307, 484 Lake Park Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610. For additional information, contact Anne Woodell at 339-2818. • The Teen Summer Reading Program at the Oakland Public Library, July 1-September 5, lets entering 7th to 12th grades earn prizes when they read for school or pleasure. Teens can write reviews of what they read which the library will publish online at and in a printed collection, Oakland Teens Tell All!(About Reading). Teens can visit any Library to register and learn more. Reading books, blogs, magazines, comics, and even CD-liner notes all qualify toward participation in the program. After just four hours of reading, each teen will get a free paperback book. When they reach eight hours, they can choose another prize from a selection of items. Call (510) 238-7332, or see the Library's Web site. •Holistic Emergency Preparedness Workshop for Animals & Their Companions Saturday, July 16 10 am-Noon. Sabre Learned, the founder of Animal Trust, will be sharing her 33 years of experience teaching an Emergency Preparedness Workshop incorporating Holistic remedies. Workshop costs $10-- you'll not only learn valuable information, but will also create and learn to use a home care and emergency first aid kit from a holistic perspective. Call 336-0105 for reservations. •Monte Carlo Night Fundraiser for Oakland Poice Activities League (PAL). Come join the fun Friday, July 21 from 7 pm to 11 pm at the Lake Merritt Boathouse (568 Bellevue Avenue). Cost $30/person/ $50/couple. Door prizes, raffle and more. Semi-formal attire. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 637-0431 or 615-5758. •San Francisco Mime Troupe free shows in Oakland. This year, this noted musical political theatre group, now in its 47th season, offers "Godfellas", a family-friendly show at two Oakalnd parks: Lakeside Park, Sunday, July 16 1:30 pm and Saturday, July 29 at Mosswood Park at 1:30 pm . For details, call 415-285-1717 or go to the San Francisco Mime Troupe website. •Walking Tours of our Local Neighborhoods. Oakland Heritage Alliance hosts its 25th Annual Walking Tours of Oakland neighborhoods, including Glenview and the Redwoods of Oakland. On Sunday, July 30 from 10 am to 1 pm, joining Kathleen DiGiovanni and Betty Marvin on a tour through Oakland's Glenview district, tucked between Trestle Glen and Dimond Canyon. On Sunday, August 13, 10 am - 12:30 pm, join Dennis Evanosky and Richard Schwartz on a tour through Leona Heights. This tour is limited to 30 experienced hikers by reservation only. For details about these and other tours of Oakland's gems, go to the Oakland Heritage Alliance website •First Annual Day in the Park: Maxwell Park, Saturday, September 16, 11 am-4 pm when local musicians, artists and neighbors gather to celebrate the diversity of the Maxwell Park Neighborhood at Maxwell Park (Fleming Avenue). Volunteers are needed. If you can't donate time to help, perhaps you can donate $10 or $20 to the cause. All the money goes towards this event. For details, contact Krista Gulbransen at krista_gul bransen@yahoo.com.
Oakland has successfully achieved the 50% waste reduction goal mandated by state law (AB 939), primarily through voluntary participation in residential recycling collection programs and free market recycling services available to businesses. This year the Council adopted a Zero Waste Goal understanding that Zero Waste strategies will be necessary for Oakland to reach Alameda County's goal of 75% waste reduction by 2010. Proposed new strategies will be discussed at a Town Hall Meeting at City Hall Hearing Room #4, Wednesday, July 19, 7-9 pm. Or, to share ideas and information, join this Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZeroWasteOakland Recycling Electronic Waste for Free. Often when we want to recycle old computers, tvs and other electronic waste, the few sites that accept it only do so for a fee. But here is your chance to recycle electronic waste for free! Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay and Bay Fair Mall in San Leandro are sponsoring a two-day electronic waste drop-off event Friday and Saturday, July 14 and 15 from 9 am to 5 pm at the southern parking lot on East 14th at Bayfair Mall (enter from Bayfair Drive). Televisions, computer monitors, laptops, (parts and accessories), computer parts (towers, destop hard drives, CD ROM drives, loose PC boards, cables, discs) and other electronic waste EXCEPT microwaves. Identification will be required. For more information, call Goodwill at 888-4-GOODWILL. Another great resource for recycling computers is Oakland Technology Exchange where the computers are refurbished and made available to Oakland families. Oakland Technology Exchange is located at 14th St. and Willow in West Oakland. Students enrolled in OUSD who need a computer can get one there for free and get training on how to use it. Peripherals are available with a little volunteer work.
• National Night Out August 1st, 7-9 pm, is the nation's night out against crime. Join with your neighbors to have a block party, ice cream social or other outdoor event to build neighborhood spirit and unity - the first defense against crime. Research shows, that when neighbors know each other and look out for each other, crime goes down. Every party in our district will receive at least one visit from our office and other city officials, police officers, or city employees. We already know of a half-dozen in District 4 and anticipate more. Last year, Oakland residents hosted 156 parties. This year, the City has set a goal of 200 parties. So far only 100 parties have registered; 100 more parties are need to achieve our goal. The deadline to register block parties is 5:00 p.m., Friday, July 21st. To register for National Night Outand click on Oakland’s National Night Out under the “Events” heading or contact Brenda Ivey, National Night Out Coordinator, at 238- 3091. • In light of the recent increase in break-ins and burglaries, in particular, doors being kicked in, here check out how to: burglar proof your doors • Laptop-jacking. The recent buzz on several listservs raised the issue of laptop thefts from local cafes. Joe Bauder, who works for Apple at CompUSA in Emeryville, shared that there a few methods to help recover stolen notebooks. "For a Mac, Orbicule 's Undercover is a good one--it causes the Mac to send you screenshots and transmit the computer's IP address and location to Orbicule's recovery center, where they will contact police. It can also use the iSight camera to record the person using it, if your notebook has that camera. If recovery attempts fail, it will then simulate a hardware failure so it will be taken to a repair center, where it will alert the repair guys to contact police. iAlertU is a program for newer notebooks that sets off an audible alarm when it is moved or the power adapter unplugged-- it even works when the computer is closed. For PCs, there is a Lojack for Laptops that CompuUSA sells, it acts much like the Orbicule program. "
The 31st Annual Montclair Fine Arts Sidewalk Festival invites visitors to stroll along Mountain Boulevard, La Salle and Antioch streets to view and purchase original art created by 90 talented artists on Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22, 10 am-6 pm and Sunday, July 23, 10 am - 5 pm. For more information, contact the Montclair Business Improvement District at 339-1000 or Pacific Fine Arts at (209) 296-1195 or www.pacificfinearts.com
• Crews continue to work on roadside clearance on
City overlooks in the hills. For a complete schedule of the
Wildfire Prevention District's annual vegetation management
plan, go to
annual vegetation plan. The next meeting of the
Wildfire Prevention District Advisory Board is Thursday,
July 27 at 7 pm at the Richard C Trudeau Training
Center, 1150 Skyline Blvd. on Skyline Blvd., just past
Joaquin Miller Road.
If you have questions, requests for inspections, or problem spots, call the Wildfire Prevention Hotline at 238-7388. Live people will answer the phone during regular office hours. For an update on progress within the Wildfire Prevention District go to the WPAD monthly snapshot. For additional information, visit the Wildfire Prevention District website for helpful wildfire prevention information. • California Fire safe Council successes and Challenges Workshop 2006, Thursday, July 20 9 am-3 pm, Trudeau Training Center, 11500 Skyline Blvd. Oakland. Throughout the state, cities and counties have formed Fire Safe Councils to improve regional proactive efforts to reduce the risk of wild fires. This one-day workshop provides interested individuals and organizations with the opportunity to network and share success stories and challenges with other fire safe leaders from council groups ranging from Santa Barbara to the Oregon border. To RSVP and to reserve a space for a field tour of Oakland Hills fuel reduction projects, contact Amber Gardener at 1-800-372-2350. • Red Flag Days : When the highest fire dangers exist (typically August through October) based on weather conditions, the National Weather Service and the California Department of Forestry issue either a Fire Weather Watch Alert or a Red Flag Day Warning. Most prime time TV, radio and internet weather reports communicate these warnings. The Oakland Fire Department puts special procedures in place, including roving patrols in the hills area funded by the Wildfire Prevention District and coordination with other public entities. A fire weather watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecasted, including such factors as:
• A free CORE I (Citizens of Oakland Responding to Emergencies) Personal Emergency Preparedness Class will be offered this Wednesday July 12 from 6:30 - 9pm at the Redwood Heights Rec Center, 3883 Aliso Avenue. RSVP to Mary Dalsin 482-6428. • If you would like to organize your neighbors into a CORE group, contact the City of Oakland's CORE program at 238-6351 or email core@oaklandnet ..com.A CORE volunteer will give a free presentation to groups of 10 or more.
For the 13th year, Rebuilding Oakland gathers ordinary
citizens to repair and remodel 30 homes and eight non-profit
facilities during the month of April 2007. Help us find
qualified homeowners, who:
Applications are due on or before October 16, 2006. Contact Rebuilding Together Oakland, 1111 Pine St, Suite A, Oakland, CA 94612, 625-0316 or rachel@rebuildingtogetheroakland.org
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |