DISTRICT 4 NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS #81 
June 22, 2004 – Town Hall Mtg Monday, Park Dedication, Jet
Fly Over,
59 Bus Changes, Castle Canyon, Summer Reading & More Safety Alerts
1.
Town Hall on City Budget & Proposed Violence
Prevention–Safety Initiative, Monday,
June 28th, 7:30 -9:30 pm, Redwood
Heights Recreation Center (Note new location and time)
2.
Dedication of Marj Saunders Park, Saturday, June 26 10:30 – Noon
3.
Jets Fly Over for the A’s Saturday at 6 pm
4.
Fireworks Legally
5.
Help Kids Have a Health & Safe Summer Parks & Rec Outreach Effort, Saturday, June 26, 9:30-12:30 Lake Merritt Boat House
6.
Changes to AC Transit Rout 59/59A Go Into Effect Sunday
7.
Summer Reading & Poetry
8.
Castle Canyon Purchase
Complete
9.
Safety Alerts:
10. Construction
Warnings: Laurel District
1. Join Asst. City Manager & Budget
Director at a District 4 Town Hall Mtg, Monday, June
28th, 7:30 pm: I will host a Town Hall meeting on the City’s
budget & cuts and on the proposals for a new Violence Prevention &
Safety Ballot Initiative on Monday, June 28th, 7:30-9:30 pm
at Redwood Heights
Rec Center. City Manager Deborah Edgerly will be
out-of-town and will be represented by Assistant City Manager Cheryl Thompson
and the City Budget Director Marianna Marysheva. Budget
information is available here. The
chart below is from this brief 2 page overview of the
Budget.
I will also be discussing the proposals for a
new ballot initiative for violence prevention programs and community policing. My
proposal for a new measure for the fall ballot is here. Please join us for lively discussion.
2. Dedication of Marj Saunders Park: Please join us on Saturday, June 26 from 10:30 until Noon
as we dedicate the Marjorie Saunders Park (formerly Sulpher Springs Park or “painted rock”) at the intersection of Chelton and Ascot Road. Marj Suanders
has been a community activist and open space advocate for more than 50 years.
Now in her 90’s, Marj continues to serve as a role
model for younger community leaders—she continues to volunteers to keep the
park clear of debris and litter. All are welcome!
Local heroines, Marj (l) and Toni Locke (r).
3.
Jets Fly Over Oakland for the A’s Game: Four F14’s will fly over the Coliseum (and Oakland) on Saturday night at about 6 pm for the Oakland A’s early Independence Day
Celebration. (They are out of town for
the 4th.) The booms caused by
the jets might scare children, animals, and the rest of us.
Looking for inexpensive entertainment? The A’s have
tickets for $1 & $2 on Wednesdays with $1 Hot Dogs. You could take most of the kids in the neighborhood
for that price!
4.
A word of caution
for a Safe 4th of July:
If you want to see fire works, go to this Saturday’s A’s Game or attend
the City’s official event at Jack
London Square, starting at sundown. Remember that it is illegal for anyone else to buy, sell,
transfer, use or possess fireworks in Oakland. There’s a hefty fine if you are caught doing any of
these--$1,000! (Oakland, Cal. Health & Safety, 8.06.030 (2004). This is
particularly important given the early fire season statewide. To report any
illegal activities, please contact the anonymous Fireworks Hotline at 238-2373.
5. Volunteers Needed for Parks & Rec “2004 Did You Know” Outreach Street Team Day: This year the
school district has dramatically cut back on summer school, leaving many kids
without supervision. We need volunteers
to participate in a one-day canvassing effort to inform Oaklanders
about the many opportunities available through our Parks & Recreation
Department this summer. Meet
at the Lake Merritt Sailboat House at 9:30 a.m. Canvassing will end at 12:30 p.m. Please call (510) 637-0277 or (510) 637-0286
log onto www.oaklandnet.com/parks For the summer brochure click here.
6. AC Transit changes to
Route 59/59A go into effect this Sunday, June 27: As of this Sunday, Line 59/59A (between Lake Merritt
BART and Piedmont & Linda Avenues) is shortened during commute hours—from
every 40 minutes to every 60 minutes. During midday and on weekends, full route operated to Montclair and Rockridge BART; every
other trip is designated Line 59A to serve Gold Gate and Acacia Avenues. For
details or a complete schedule and route information, log on to www.actransit.org or call AC Transit
Customer Services at 511 for specific questions or to have timetables mailed to
you.
7.
Summer Reading & Poetry: 
·
The number of
books that a child reads is directly correlated to vocabulary and how well they
do in school. Your kids can have fun and
win exciting prizes in the kids' summer
reading game June 12 - August 14.
See magic shows, puppets, clowns, jugglers, musicians, dancers, live wild
animals, and more--all at your Oakland libraries.
·
I love summer because
I can squeeze in some reading that’s not in my 500 plus City Council binders
each week. A good place to start is KQED’s
Forum Book List or their California
Authors Book Club.
·
Author’s are appearing at local bookstores, A Great Good Place for Books, 6120 LaSalle Avenue, Montclair Village, 339-8210, hosts Pam Peirce
on Wednesday, July 7th.
She’ll provide gardening tips while discussing her new book "Wildly
Successful Plants: Northern California". A must
event for all Bay Area frustrated gardeners!
·
Melrose neighbor Adelle Foley will be reading her book Along the Bloodline with Mary Marcia Casoly at Cody’s in Berkeley (Haste & Telegraph),
Sunday, July 18th, 7:30 pm,
$2. I promise you that our efficient and
calm neighborhood leader has a very different and dynamic personality when she
reads her poetry!
8.
Purchase of Castle Canyon Finalized: After a
year of negotiating with the owners and lobbying the Council, our office is
pleased to announce that the purchase of approximately 10 acres of land in Castle Canyon,
adjacent to Joaquin Miller Park
is final. It is now part of the City’s
park inventory. Many thanks to the residents of Castle Canyon, the Board of
Directors of Piedmont Pines, as well as staff from the city’s Planning and Real
Estate Departments, and all of the voters who supported the Measure K bond for
open space… all helped make this dream a reality. We will be including the Castle Canyon
property in our upcoming strategic planning process for all of Joaquin Miller
Park, which we hope to kick
off some time this summer or fall. If you any
ideas or concerns, please feel free to contact Sue Piper, policy analyst,
at 238-7042 or via e-mail at spiper@oaklandnet.com
9.
Safety Alerts From Your Neighbors
·
On summer nights we all tend to leave
our windows open, buy inexpensive locks that keep windows open less than 6 inches. Don’t leave your back door unlocked, there
are reports of thieves entering from back yards while the occupants are home
and robbing them.
·
“My
left wheel and tire was stolen Saturday morning. It wasn't dark, but not full day light.
I'm near a corner in a cul-de-sac off Redding St…Ironic,
we just had a Neighborhood Watch meeting here Thursday with representatives
from OPD. I went out immediately yesterday and picked up lug locks for
the wheels. I recommend that everyone go out and get a set to protect
your wheels. Not a huge financial loss, but a real pain.”
·
A
regular scam artist who works neighborhoods near freeway’s
was in our area again this month… “a middle
aged guy who claims to be a neighbor and that there's an emergency, something
about an accident and his wife. He speaks rather softly and pleasantly,
50-ish.” He asks for money for a cab ride to the hospital, to tow his car, etc.
He doesn’t stay if you offer to call an ambulance or police.
10.
City Team to Study Boston Community Policing
Model: I will be joining a team of Oakland officials from this week to study the Boston
Community Policing Model as part of our efforts to learn more about best police
practices to reduce violence and improve Oakland’s community policing efforts. I’ll be gone from June
23 through June 25th; however, Richard Cowan, Claudia Jimenez, Sue Piper and Oraiu Amoni will be available at
238-7004 should have any questions or concerns.
Liese Wong, past Laurel Merchant’s Association
president (Komodo Toys) tries to organize the crowd of community activists,
merchants, Public Works Crew, and Council Members Delafuente,
Quan & Chang at the celebration of the Laurel Project Kick-off
11. Laurel Traffic
Alerts: Over the next 4 months,
please pardon the inconvenience of construction between 35th and
High on MacArthur.
We will be changing sidewalks and curbs, adding new lower lights, 50
plus new trees, and two arches (design) below.
JEAN QUAN
Council Member, District
4
City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa
Plaza
Oakland, CA 94612
510 238-7004, 986-2765
fax
www.jeanquan.org
