- Season's Greetings!
- Have a House Party. Get to know your Councilmember.
- Recent House Meetings in the San Antonio
- Update on Attracting Retail to Oakland
- Trees and the Measure DD park projects at Lake Merritt
- Teamwork Continues at the Rose Garden
- The Alameda County Flood Control Project is Finished!
- "Maintain-A-Drain": Volunteers needed to clear a storm drain near you
- Introducing Chinatown's
New Neighborhood Services Coordinator
Season's Greetings!
On Monday, December 5, I had the pleasure of attending the annual
Police Service Area 3 (PSA3) holiday party at the Veteran's Memorial building
across from Lake Merritt. With great food, festive decorations,
and a strong sense of community, the holiday party signaled that our calendar
year is coming to an end and the New Year is fast approaching. The
holidays remind us of what is important: family, friends, and community.
I wish you and your loved ones a joyful, peaceful, and restful holiday
season!
At the PSA3 Holiday Party, we bid farewell to
Lt. Wiley, who has been transferred to the Oakland Police Department's
Special Victims Unit. I am deeply appreciative to Lt. Wiley for providing
outstanding service to District 2 residents for nearly two years. He will
be missed!
Have a house party. Get to know your Councilmember.
I welcome residents in all neighborhoods of District 2 to organize house get-togethers with their neighbors to express their concerns to me. If you would like to arrange a neighborhood meeting with me, please call the Council office at 238-7002.
Recent meetings in the San Antonio
In November, the East Bay Asian Youth Center, together with my staff, organized four house parties to give me an opportunity to meet with residents in their homes in the Eastlake and San Antonio areas. Even though I did not speak their native languages of Spanish, Mien, Khmer and Vietnamese, we were able to communicate through interpreters about the challenges that they face as recent immigrants and low-income people. My hosts were extremely gracious to me and welcomed me into their homes, where we were able to discuss the serious issues they deal with everyday. They expressed that lack of affordable and safe housing and limited availability of stable employment are their main concerns.
As a member of the city council staff for the past 6 years and as your Councilmember this year, it has been obvious to me that the scarcity of affordable housing is a critical problem for many families in Oakland, but actually visiting people's homes underscored the urgency of the situation. I was invited by a family of 6 to visit with them in the studio apartment where they have lived for the past seven years, and also to another studio apartment where an extended family of nine manages to live. There is barely room for everyone to sleep, and certainly nowhere for children to play, but these families cannot afford larger apartments on the low wages they are earning. Several residents also reported abuse from their landlords, who take advantage of them because of their vulnerable positions. To assist these families, my staff is currently compiling a list of Oakland's resources to help residents find and keep housing and to know their rights under the Oakland rent law.
Many residents expressed a need for more
jobs in Oakland and for job-training programs that would help them qualify
for higher-paying jobs. Many are currently enrolled in English as a Second
Language classes but expressed the difficulty of having to simultaneously
juggle going to school, raising a family, and working or looking for a
job. It is clear to me that these residents want to work and desperately
need to work to be able to support their families, but at best are finding
minimum wage jobs.
These challenges are of course very serious and difficult to tackle, but
I was glad to have the opportunity to hear directly from these residents
how the local economic conditions specifically affect them. I am
also encouraged and inspired that they are participating in their local
community organizations to collectively work on these issues and are looking
to their council members to represent them and advocate for their needs,
which I will do.
Retail Update
My efforts to promote retail development in Oakland have attracted considerable attention in City Hall. This month, a report on retail, written by the City's Economic Development Director Dan Vanderpriem and requested by Vice Mayor Jane Brunner and me, is going to the Council's Community Economic Development Committee on Dec. 13 and then to the full Council on Dec. 20. You can read the report here. The report contains a great deal of information about the many issues which much be dealt with in order to bring retail to Oakland. I encourage you to read it if this is an important topic to you.
The main
recommendation of the report is for the City Council to develop a citywide
retail strategy and implementation action plan for bringing retail in
Oakland (a recommendation with which I heartily agree!). This, of course,
is a major task, and not one that will be able to done in the context
of the very crowded agenda of this two hour Committee meeting. I will
speak at the meeting and urge the Committee to continue this important
discussion in January, when the Committee can give it the time it deserves.
I will keep you posted.
*For
a summary of what was heard at the Retail Town Hall meeting on November
2, please see the November edition
of my E-Newsletter.
Trees and the Measure DD Park projects at Lake Merritt
There was a public outcry this month when the press reported that many trees would need to be removed in order to create the new park improvements around Lake Merritt, as planned under Measure DD. Though hundreds of people, including me, had participated in the many community meetings of the Lake Merritt Master Plan that developed the vision for a revitalized landscape, virtually none of us had realized so many trees would need to be replaced in order to implement the vision.
I immediately asked the City Administrator
to hold off on any tree removals until I and the public had a chance to
carefully review the proposal. Then I arranged for the City
arborist and the Measure DD landscape architects to give two public tours
of the affected trees. Over 60 people attended the tours. Councilmember
Nancy Nadel and I held a public meeting at the Garden Center so the public
could ask questions of City staff and get more information about the new
landscaping plans. About 160 people attended.
Additionally, the Measure DD Coalition, which includes representatives
of over 25 community organizations, has been meeting monthly for the past
two years and getting regular briefings from the staff on the Measure
DD projects at the waterfront and Lake Merritt. With the exception of
the trees issue, the Coalition has been kept pretty well informed. The
Coalition meets the third Monday of every month at the Garden Center in
Lakeside Park.
This entire issue highlights the need for the City to present more comprehensive
information to the public about the Lake Merritt projects. For many
people who attended the community meeting, when they learned accurate
information about the trees and the improvements planned, they were excited
and supportive about the new landscape design, the increase in total number
of trees, and increased park acreage. Others still strongly opposed
any tree removals for any reason.
I want to make sure that full and accurate information is made available to all members of the public, so everyone can take an informed position. To that end, I have asked City staff to develop maps, drawings, and written materials that describe the Lake Merritt park plans and to make these available on a website, as well as to community groups and meetings. Beginning on Monday, Dec. 12, the first of this information should be available at http://www.oaklandpw.com/MeasureDD/lake_merritt_park_projects.htm. I will also sponsor another community meeting, probably in early February.
In addition, the formal process for tree removal permits has begun. Red notices are being posted on every tree being considered for removal. The public has until January 12 to send written comments or protests about the posted trees. All removal decisions will then be appealable to the Parks and Rec Advisory Commission, and ultimately to the City Council. For more information about this process, please call the Tree Division at 615-5850.
Actual construction of the Lake Merritt projects is planned to begin in June or July, so there should be ample time for more public review. In the meantime, I am continuing to review the plans with an eye to reducing the number of tree removals and to creating the best park space possible now and for generations to come.
Teamwork Continues at the Rose
Garden
Thanks to many volunteer hours and a substantive contribution
by an anonymous donor, the Morcom Rose Garden at 700 Jean Street is in
better general condition today than it has been in more than a decade.
Now, a new project is underway to restore the Florentine area of the garden. This project is being developed cooperatively with the input of many Rose Garden neighbors under the leadership of Mary Ellen Navas and Christopher York, the Public Works Agency staff, my City Council staff. As any of you who visit the garden regularly will have noticed, the removal of the overgrown junipers was the first step in a restoration initiative for this wonderful section of the Rose Garden. The plan is to utilize the original concept and drawings for the garden to inspire a restoration, including re-planting of the former juniper area and restoration of the space around and including the rose beds. The design and construction plans, funded by my office, are being developed by Oakland’s own Golden Associates Landscape Architects.
The "Florentine Restoration Project" is the first step of a larger, more comprehensive restoration plan for the Morcom Rose Garden. Similar to the private-public partnership model created and executed to achieve the renovation of Bella Vista Park, which opened at the end of October, plans are being created to embellish our current successful partnerships, which include City and Council staff, Landmarks Advisory Board members, independent professional consultants, community volunteers and leaders, and private donors. Public/private models for park development and stewardship, which have emerged locally, regionally and nationally, are proving to be prudent and viable strategies for managing municipal parks in these times of dwindling city budgets.
As the restoration plan and
project implementation will require substantial fundraising and community
organizing, if you are interested in working on either of these areas,
Mary Ellen menavas@comcast.net
and Chris christopheryork@sbcglobal.net
would like to hear from you.
The Alameda County Flood Control Project is Finished!
I am thrilled to report that the Flood Control project on Lakeshore Ave is finally finished! By installing larger capacity storm drain culverts, flooding on Lakeshore should be eliminated, even in the worst storms. While the laudable goal of this County project was to prevent floods, the burden on residents nearby was extreme. The final portion of the project, the connection of the new culvert at Trestle Glen & Lakeshore was supposed to take 3 months but actually took over 9 months to complete!
All during that time, the residents of the 3500 block of Lakeshore Ave (next to the "staging area") and of lower Trestle Glen suffered major construction noise during normal sleeping hours, 10PM to 6AM. Throughout the many months of nighttime construction, sleepless residents were subjected to unacceptable levels of noise, airborne dirt, and general frustration with the length of the project. The first phase of the project was concluded in 2004 and it too was an ordeal for the residents of Lakeshore Ave, Boden Way, Rand Ave, York, Glenview, Erie and other nearby streets for nine months.
I spent many hours with County officials, neighbors, and city staff to get relief from the hardships caused by this project, but got little result. Due to the way the contract between the County and contractor was written, I had little leverage to change what was going on. I did learn a lot from this awful experience, and will make sure that the City does not permit any nighttime construction projects near residential areas in the future.
On behalf of the whole Lakeshore community,
I want to thank all the affected families who shouldered the burden of
this project for the benefit of the larger neighborhood!
If you have any questions about the project, please contact Lara Sim Bice
at (510) 272-6685.
And on a related note . .
.
" Maintain a Drain": Volunteers needed to clear a storm drain
near you!
To reduce flooding on all streets during the rainy season, I urge you to volunteer to keep a drain clear of debris in your neighborhood. If water can't get into the storm drain system because inlets are covered with leaves, streets can flood.
Volunteers are needed to remove litter,
debris, and leaves from the top of the storm drain grates and dispose
of the materials in their garbage and yard trimming containers.
A few minutes of your time will prevent overflowing sidewalks, safe pedestrian
access, and prevent pollution of neighborhood creeks flowing into Lake
Merritt.
To
officially adopt a drain, please contact the volunteer department at the
Public Works Agency, 510-238-7630. The City provides each Adopt-A-Drain
volunteer with a rake, poncho, garbage bags and a blue wrist band. I hope
you will be able to give just a few minutes of your time this winter to
keep a neighborhood drain clear and flowing. Your help is vitally needed.
For those of you who already are taking part in this program, a huge thank
you!
When I became your City Councilmember, I knew there would be lots of "firsts". One "first" I didn't expect was to be a fashion model. That's what happened at the City's recent fashion show kicking off a Shop Oakland campaign. I was one of seven novice models who were called upon to assemble stylish outfits purchased in Oakland stores. Chinatown Chamber of Commerce's Executive Director Jennie Ong, Port Commissioner Darlene Ayers-Johnson, "American Idol" finalist LaToya London, Dwayne Wiggins of Tony, Toni, Tone fame, and Deputy City Administrator Niccolo DeLuca wowed the audience with their outfits.
The fashion show aimed to encourage shoppers to turn first to stores in Oakland's 40 shopping areas for their retail needs. Supporting locally benefits everyone. Shoppers save on transportation costs, money is recycled in the community, and sales tax stays here. A new website, www.shopoakland.com, provides a searchable database of stores. And speaking of hometown websites, check out www.meetdowntownoakland.com for listings of restaurants, meeting spots, places to take visitors, and more.
Experts estimate that more than $1 billion in retail dollars are spent by Oakland residents outside the city. Sales tax from those dollars could go toward supporting City services if they were spent here. For this reason, too, I urge you to join me in exploring what Oakland stores have to offer this holiday shopping season. To find out more about how shopping in Oakland benefits all of us, visit www.oaklandunwrapped.org.
Introducing Chinatown's New Neighborhood Services Coordinator
I am pleased to introduce
you to Oakland's new Neighborhood Services Coordinator for Chinatown,
Monique Tsang.
Already, you may recognize Monique from her extensive community service
activities in Chinatown or as my administrative assistant and community
liaison to Chinatown. Over a year ago, Monique was instrumental in establishing
the first Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) in Chinatown.
As Chinatown's Neighborhood Services Coordinator, Monique will serve as
a liaison between the Oakland Police Department and Chinatown residents.
She will organize monthly NCPC meetings in three downtown police beats
and provide valuable information to guide residents to useful City services
and resources.
Monique was born in Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese and Mandarin fluently.
She has lived in Oakland since moving here as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley.
Prior to working for me, Monique started and coordinated the first ever
Cantonese-speaking Citizens Academy while working in the City's Equal
Access Office. The Academy, the largest ever, set a record for the highest
graduation rate of all Citizens Academies. Monique also actively promotes
City programs and volunteer opportunities, such as the Fire Department's
"Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergencies" (CORE) program,
for which she is a trainer.
For information about the Chinatown NCPC, please call Monique at 238-6883
or email her at mtsang@oaklandnet.com.