Children's Book Project festivities
Why are Oakland Streets in such Bad Condition?
No More Roving Night-Time Parking Enforcement
Groundbreaking for Measure DD 12th Street Project: The Long-Awaited Start of Re-doing the South End of Lake Merritt Gets UnderwayBuddhist Church of Oakland Awarded Status as Oakland Landmark
Donations Set Up for Widow and Son of Tian Sheng Yu
Oakland’s Emerging Arts and Cultural Scene Makes Headlines in New York Times
Highland Hospital Acute Tower Replacement Project Update
Fun Photos of Earth Day events in District 2
Update on Forthcoming Improvements to the Morcom Rose Garden
EVENTS
Saturday, May 8 57th Annual Oakland Mother of the Year Award to Honor Barbara Newcombe, Leader of the Cleveland Cascade Saturday, May 8
Temescal Tool Lending Library Presents Home Energy Conservation Seminar
Monday, May 10 Violence of The Soul… It’s Deeper than the Streets - FREE Performance of Drama Presented by Executive Team (E-Team) of Alternatives in Action Monday, May 10 Measure WW-Funded Improvements to Morcom Rose Garden Considered at Two Meetings Wednesday, May 12 City Attorney John Russo Discusses Gang Injunction at Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council Manzanita 18Y Thursday, May 13 Oakland's 17th Annual Bike to Work Day Celebration Friday, May 14 Oakland Indie Awards at Jack London Pavilion (Formerly Barnes & Nobel) Saturday, May 15 EBAYC’s First Neighborhood Summit for San Antonio Neighborhood - Neighbors Working Together Can Make a Difference! Saturday, May 15, May 22 and May 29 Rockin’ Robins Family Play Days - Parenting Workshops, Fun Playtimes Monday, May 17 Community Meeting for Central Oakland - Proposed Zoning Regulations and Zoning Maps Saturday, May 22 Free Bulky Item Drop-Off Event Provided by Waste Management of Alameda County Saturday, May 22 10th Anniversary Malcolm X Jazzarts Festival at San Antonio Park Tuesday, May 25 Public Works Committee To Consider Removing No Parking Restrictions on Lakeshore Avenue on Weekend and Holiday Afternoons, and Establishing Three-Hour Parking Limitations Monday through Sunday Wednesday, May 26 Wednesday, May 26: Morcom Rose Garden’s Chetwood Entrance: A Community Meeting on Possible Improvements Wednesday, May 26 AC Transit Public Hearings Regarding A Draft August 2010 Service Reductions Plan Friday, May 28 8th Small Business Symposium at Oakland Marriott City Center
Throughout May, June Upcoming Events at Oakland Asian Cultural Center Thursday, June 3 Meeting to Determine Priority Setting for FY ’11 – ’13 District 2 Community Development Block Grant Funds Sunday, June 6 Volunteer Day at Splash Pad Park
EVENTS
Saturday, May 8: 57th Annual Oakland Mother of the Year Award to Honor
Barbara Newcombe, Leader of the Cleveland Cascade
Morcom Rose Garden – 700 Jean St – 10:30 am
City of Oakland’s Office of Parks and Recreation (OPR) will honor Barbara Newcombe as the 2010 Mother of the Year, at its 57th Annual Mother of the Year Award ceremony from 10:30am to 12:30pm on Saturday, May 8 at the Morcom Rose Garden, located at 700 Jean Street in Oakland. Mrs. Newcombe was selected from a group of exemplary nominees, all of whom have made significant contributions to the City of Oakland.
Mrs. Newcombe was nominated by the Friends of Cleveland Cascades, with letters of
support from the Coalition of Advocates for Lake Merritt, Waterfront Action, and the
Oakland Heritage Alliance. Mrs. Newcombe was described as demonstrating “an enviable example of unwavering dedication, activism, and love for her neighborhood, and for enhancing the quality of life for the beautiful people of her beloved city, Oakland”.
Mrs. Newcombe is an epitome of community activism. With a graduate degree in Library Studies, she worked for ten years as the head librarian at the Chicago Tribune. In 1984, she moved to Oakland to live closer to family and volunteered at the Center for Investigative Reporting where she authored a book on public record keeping. Her seminal publication, Paper Trails: A Guide to Public Records in California (1991) provided guidance to the Task Force charged with writing the Sunshine Ordinance. Her knowledge of public records was invaluable, resulting in a “more open” government. Mrs. Newcombe’s next focus was the Public Ethics Commission to which she was appointed to a three-year term and turned 80 years old at the end of the term. Barbara’s current effort is the restoration of the Cleveland Cascade which has resulted in the formation of Friends of Cleveland Cascade.
Oakland’s Mother of the Year Award, a project of the Office of Parks and Recreation,
was initiated in 1954 to publicly honor an Oakland citizen whose contributions to the community symbolize the finest traditions of motherhood, although being a parent is not a requirement to be nominated for the Mother of the Year Award. Past honorees have included hard-working, dedicated community servants whose volunteerism has been exemplary.
Saturday, May 8: Temescal
Tool Lending Library Presents Home Energy Conservation Seminar
11:00 am to 12:00 noon, Temescal Tool Lending Library, 5205 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland
Get the green prescription! Save on your energy bill and enjoy a healthier home! The Temescal Tool Lending Library, located at the Temescal Branch Library, in cooperation with Greening Oakland Homes, is pleased to offer Getting Started, a free seminar about home energy auditing.
In this conservation seminar, staff from green contractors Building Solutions will cover ways to improve your home's energy efficiency and comfort. Attendees will learn how a home energy audit works, what the most cost-effective solutions are – and how to get started.
The seminar will conveniently take place at Temescal Tool Lending Library, which has a collection of 3200 tools that residents of Oakland can borrow, free of charge. Do-it-yourselfers can borrow the tools they need to start greening their homes.Greening Oakland Homes educates Oakland homeowners on the benefits of making their homes more energy efficient, shows them how to do it, and shares information on green contractors and government rebates. Building Solutions is a general contractor that specializes in home performance testing and energy efficient upgrades.
For more information, please call 510.238.3271 or see the Oakland Public Library’s website.
Monday, May 10: Violence of The Soul… It’s Deeper than the
Streets - FREE Performance of Drama Presented by Executive Team (E-Team)
of Alternatives in Action
Amphitheater in Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland City Hall – 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The performance is free and open to the public.
The E-Team is comprised of BEST and EXCEL at McClymonds, Life Academy, and BASE High School. Consisting of video, acted scenes, dance and spoken-word performance, Violence of The Soul… It’s Deeper than the Streets is an original play and a dynamic demonstration of youth voice united to inspire change.
Monday, May 10: Measure WW-Funded Improvements to Morcom Rose
Garden Considered at Two Meetings
Mayor's Commission on Persons with Disabilities' Access Compliance Advisory Committee to Consider ADA Improvements to the Morcom Rose Garden -- Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 3 -- 10:30 am to 12:00 pm noon. For more information contact the ADA Programs Division at 510.238.5219 (V), 510.238.2007 (TTY) or email here.
Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, Item #1 – Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 1 – 6:00 pm
For staff report, go here
Wednesday, May 12: City Attorney John Russo Discusses Gang Injunction
at Manzanita/18Y Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council
Salvation Army, 2794 Garden St @ E. 27th St – 6:45 pm
Oakland City Attorney John Russo will discuss the proposed North Oakland Gang Injunction. He will address the following components related to the proposed Gang Injunction:
• What the Gang Injunction is, and how injunctions have been used successfully elsewhere
• The areas and boundaries of Oakland to be impacted by the Injunction.
• Who will be impacted, and how they will be impacted
• The possibility of using Injunctions elsewhere in Oakland, if this one is successful
• Statements to address the City's positions on the ACLU's opposition to the Gang Injunction
Everyone is invited to attend. See attached Injunction letter, fact sheet, & article.A Note from your Councilmember: I have received a lot of email from people opposed to the Gang Injunction. I can see both sides of the issue, but think the injunction will reduce violence in North Oakland that there are sufficient protections in the measure to avoid racial profiling. The injunction is directed at specific named individuals not a generic category of people. I encourage you to read this commentary by Byron Washington which appeared in the Oakland Tribune. I agree with everything he wrote and he expresses it better than I could. LINK
Thursday, May 13: Oakland's 17th Annual Bike to Work Day Celebration
In honor of Oakland’s 17th annual Bike to Work Day celebration, Oakland Councilmembers and hundreds of bicycle commuters will bike downtown to enjoy:
• Pancake breakfast (7:00 am to 9:00 am), courtesy Piedmont Grocery and Tully's Coffee
• All-day valet bike parking, courtesy of East Bay Bicycle Coalition (7:00 am to 6:00 pm)
• Bike safety checks, courtesy of Bay Area Bikes and Wheels of Justice Cyclery
• Canvas bag with goodies and bicycling/transit info
• Raffle with 17 great prizes including a Dahon folding bicycle and round-trip tickets for
two to Santa Barbara on Amtrak
• Club One Day Pass for showers
• Displays on low-impact commuting, bicycle-friendly projects, programs and gear, plus
AC Transit bus-bike rack demonstrations
• Press conference (8:30 am) with remarks by Councilmembers and Stuart Cohen,
Executive Director of Transform"Pedal Pools" of Councilmembers and their constituents will bicycle downtown. Pedal Pool route details and a map are here.
Friday, May
14: Oakland Indie Awards at Jack London Pavilion (Formerly Barnes
& Nobel)
5:30 - 9 pm, celebrating the social & environmental impact of Oakland's independent businesses & artists; tickets $20 each here
Cheer on the winners as you enjoy food from over 20 different Oakland restaurant, local beer, wine, tea, coffee, and chocolate, DJ spinning Oakland music, cool products from Oakland Unwrapped stores, and more! More info here.
Nominees include a Who's Who of individuals helping to make a difference including Grand Lake residents such as Eric Hughes, Rachel Matthews (Program Director at Rebuilding Together Oakland) and Stephen Duffy who organized the sidewalk concerts on Grand and Lakeshore this past summer. Click here for a full list of nominees.
On the commercial front, neighborhood nominees include Arizmendi, Boot and Shoe Service, Camino, Connie's, Easy, Oaklandish and the Alley featuring Rod Dibble.
Saturday, May 15: EBAYC’s
First Neighborhood Summit for San Antonio Neighborhood - Neighbors Working
Together Can Make a Difference!
Garfield School, 1540 22nd Ave – 9:00 am to 12:00 pm noon
EBAYC (East Bay Asian Youth Center) has talked to more than 300 neighborhood residents in the past two months to hear their concerns and hopes for their San Antonio neighborhood. Now they want to share what they’ve learned and start to work together to improve the neighborhood. If you live in the San Antonio, I strongly encourage you to attend.
Saturday, May
15, May 22 and May 29: Free Rockin’ Robins Family Play
Day - Parenting Workshops, Fun Playtimes
Oakland Public Library, Children’s Room, 125 14th Street – 10:00 am to 12:00 pm noon
The Oakland Public Library has scheduled Rockin’ Robins Family Play Days for Saturday mornings at the Main Public Library and three other library locations. Rockin’ Robins Family Play Days offer fun, hands-on parenting workshops for parents, along with story times, gift giveaways, snacks, crafts, games, toys, and playtimes for children up to 5 years of age. All events are free.
As part of the program, the three workshops at each site are geared to provide helpful encouragement to parents with young children. While these programs are in session, babies, toddlers, and preschoolers will be kept entertained with a bouncy story time, songs, games, snacks, toys, and playtime. Each week will offer a different program.Week 1: Taking Care of Yourself with Blue Skies for Children
Learn helpful tips and tricks to improve your life while living with babies and preschoolers.Week 2: Leaping Lizards! The Joy of Music and Movement with Suellen Primost
Discover surefire ways to engage young children, encourage their creative expression, and build their self confidence through rhythm, songs, and nursery rhymes.Week 3: Getting Your Kids to Do What You Want Them to Do with Blue Skies for Children
Explore positive discipline techniques that work, including appropriate consequences, firm boundaries, communication skills, and creating relationships.The three other library locations and dates follow:
Eastmont Branch
7200 Bancroft Avenue, Suite 211
510.615.5726
Saturdays: May 22, May 29, and June 5
10:00 am to 12:00 pm noonCesar E. Chavez Branch
3301 East 12th Street, Suite 271
510.535.5620
Saturdays: May 15, May 22, and May 29
3:00 pm to 5:00 pmWest Oakland Branch
1801 Adeline Street
510.238.7352
Saturdays: May 22, May 29, and June 5
3:00 pm to 5:00 pmRockin’ Robins Family Play Days are made possible by an Every Child Counts Grant funded by First 5 Alameda County.
Monday, May 17: Community
Meeting for Central Oakland, including most of Council District 2- Proposed
Zoning Regulations and Zoning Maps
Fruitvale/San Antonio Senior Center – 3301 E. 12th St
At this meeting staff will present the proposed new residential and commercial corridor zoning regulations. Detailed maps will be on display showing the proposed zone changes for Central Oakland, including the Grandlake, Haddon Hill/Cleveland Heights, East Lake, San Antonio Hills and San Antonio. To view the proposed zoning regulations now and proposed zoning maps, which will be available on May 7, go here.
Saturday, May 22: Free Bulky Item Drop-Off Event Provided by Waste Management
of Alameda County
633 Hegenberger Road – 9 am to 12 pm noon. For flyer with more information, go here.This event is open to Oakland residents only (proof of residency required), and is limited to collection of appliances, mattresses, electronic waste, and car tires.
Questions? Contact the City’s Recycling Hotline - recycling@oaklandnet.com or
510.238.SAVE.
Saturday, May 22: 10th
Anniversary Malcolm X Jazzarts Festival at San Antonio Park
San Antonio Park, located between 16th and 18th Avenues on Foothill Blvd. (1701 E. 19th St, if you want to goggle map it) – 11:00 am to 7:00 pm –
Spend a beautiful afternoon in the park! This is the 10th year of this free music and arts festival, sponsored by the Eastside Arts Alliance – For a line-up of acts, go here and here.
Tuesday, May 25: Public
Works Committee To Consider Councilmembers Kernighan's and Nadel's Proposal
to Remove No Parking Restrictions on Lakeshore Avenue on Weekend and Holiday
Afternoons, and Establish Three-Hour Parking Limitations Monday through
Sunday
Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 1 -- Public Works Committee's usual start time is 10:30 am
After May 14, go here for staff report. To sign up on line to speak before the Public Works Committee, go here.
A month ago, my office invited readers of this news-letter and Ms. Nadel's newsletter to vote on whether the Weekend No Parking zone on the west side of Lakeshore Avenue should be continued or removed. We heard back from about 400 people. A large majority of respondents, 79%, wanted it removed. Councilmember Nadel and I agree. Since it takes a formal act of the City Council to change a parking zone, we scheduled it to be heard. If this change is approved by the Public Works Committee and by full Council a week later, the Public Works staff will remove the No Parking signs that apply to weekend afternoons and will institute a 3 hour parking limit that will apply from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Sunday.
To read the original article about the history of the No Parking zone, go here.
Wednesday, May 26: Morcom Rose Garden’s Chetwood Entrance: A Community
Meeting on Possible Improvements
5:45 pm – Meeting will start at Chetwood Entrance
6:30 pm – Meeting will continue at the Plymouth United Church-Christ in the Fireside Room, 424 Monte Vista at Oakland AveCouncilmember Kernighan’s community meeting is your opportunity to discuss and identify possible improvements to the Chetwood entrance. There is no funding for making improvements at the Chetwood Entrance at this time, but there may be volunteer opportunities, in-kind donations and private fund raising to pay for these improvements deemed essential by the community.
In addition to discussing the Chetwood entrance, there will be an opportunity to see the final plans for the improvements to the Garden funded by Measure WW and by the City Administrator's ADA Transition Plan Capital Improvement Program..
Wednesday, May 26: AC Transit Public Hearings Regarding A Draft August
2010 Service Reductions Plan
AC Transit General Offices, 1600 Franklin St, 2nd Floor Board Room – 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm (same meeting, two different times)
Despite infusions of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and anticipated funding from the state gas tax "swap", these one-time monies only have allowed the District to make ends meet through the current budget year. Details about the service changes proposed for implementation in August 2010 are available here.
The meeting will also cover the District’s Intention to Declare a Fiscal Emergency under Public Resources Code Section 21080.32 and the California Environmental Quality Act Implementing Guidelines Section 15285.
Friday, May 28: 8th Small Business Symposium at Oakland Marriott City
Center
1001 Broadway (close to 12th St BART Station) – 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Admission is free admission but advance registration is required.
An intensive one-day symposium packed with nearly three dozen workshops designed for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Classes including a Video Production workshop and Urban Farming class as well as an entire track of classes for Restaurant operators have been added to the 2010 Symposium schedule. Experts provide insight into topics ranging from starting a business to greening your business to improving sales. The symposium is presented by the Office of Councilmember Larry Reid and the City of Oakland’s Community and Economic Development
Agency.Register online here or request an application be mailed to you by providing your name, complete mailing address and daytime telephone number via e-mail here or via voice message at 510.986.2855.
Throughout May, June: Various Upcoming Events at Oakland Asian Cultural
Center
May 19 - June 5, 2010: APA Heritage Festival 2010
OACC's annual Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Festival 2010 features a full and diverse program of events to celebrate Asian and Pacific American culture and traditions from May 19 to June 5. APA Heritage Festival 2010 includes culinary workshops, a film screening, a literary night, and jazz performances by various Asian American artists. Many events are free to the public!
May 19, 2010, 6:30pm: Screening of "A Village Called Versailles"
Join OACC for a screening of documentary "A Village Called Versailles." Versailles, New Orleans is home to the densest ethnic Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. For over 30 years, its residents lived a quiet existence on the edge of New Orleans. But then came Hurricane Katrina, the immense garbage piles and the shocking discovery of a toxic landfill planned in their neighborhood. Watch as they fight back, turning a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance to build a better future.May 27, 2010, 7 pm
Join OACC in celebrating Asian Pacific islander American queer literary talents with readings from Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Aimee Suzara, and Joel Tan.May 29, 2010 8-10pm Jazz Performance by VidyA and Rina Mehta
Tickets: $9-20
OACC's new artists in residence VidyA and Rina Mehta will be featuring new pieces.VidyA shows what happens when the richness of South Indian Carnatic classical music meets the improvisations of jazz. Rina Mehta presents excerpts from a full-length traditional solo including a vandana (invocation), a gat-bhao (full-length) story and Kathak Yoga.
The evening concludes with a collaborative piece featuring OACC artists in residence Rina Mehta (solo Kathak) and Prasant Radhakrishnan (VidyA) with their full ensembles. The artists use a tarana, composed by Pt. Chitresh Das, to create a strikingly original, effortless dialogue between the forms of Kathak, Indian classical music and American jazz.
May 30, 2010 2-4pm: John Coltrane's "India" with Anthony Brown's Asian American Orchestra
Seasonal Dishes Culinary Workshops 2010
Spring Dishes from Tibet - Sunday, May 9, 10am-1:30pm
Filipino Regional Vegetarian - Saturday, May 22, 10am-1:30pm
Chinese Soups for Health! - Saturday, June 5, 10am-1:30pmGo here to see more events!
Thursday, June 3: Meeting
to Determine Priority Setting for FY ’11 – ’13 District
2 Community Development Block Grant Funds
Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 4 – 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
At this meeting you will be invited to offer your observations on the problems facing District 2’s Chinatown, East Lake and San Antonio neighborhoods, and identify their needs. You will be able to vote on categories in order to set priorities for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding in District 2 for FY ’11- ’13. Once approved by the City Council, the priorities will serve as the guide to the District 2 Community Development Block Grant advisory board when it solicits, considers and recommends applications for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The anticipated amount of CDBG money available to our district in the Neighborhood Services category is about $280,000.
Sunday, June 6: Volunteer
Day at Splash Pad Park
9:30 am to 12:00 pm noon
This volunteer day will be followed by a volunteer day on the first Sunday morning of every even-numbered month (August, October, December, February, April and June). Come on out and get some exercise with your neighbors! Bring your own gloves and favorite rake, broom or weeder. (though some tools will be provided).
REPORTS
Why are Oakland Streets in such bad condition?
The short, and perhaps obvious, answer is that for decades the City has allocated insufficient funds to street repair and re-paving. If you are interested in the details, this article provides some background and discusses the consequences of these years of under-funding..
There are 805 miles of roadway in Oakland. City staff conducted a comprehensive survey of pavement conditions in 2007. Overall pavement conditions are at 63 on the state's Pavement Condition Index (PCI) scale of 1 to 100. Best practices indicate that it should be at 80 in order to maintain streets in the most cost-effective manner, where most dollars could be spent on preventative maintenance rather than extensive repair and rehabilitation, which is much more costly. Overall, most of our streets are in good condition (29% good, 41% very good to excellent), but 30% are in poor condition. That 30% is what we all notice because the potholes are terrible..
The City’s pavement management has been underfunded for many years for two reasons: 1) state and federal gas tax revenues and other outside funding sources have declined; and 2) street paving has taken a backseat to other public services when it comes time to budget the City's General Fund dollars. Past Councils probably thought that the paving could wait while they funded other services that seemed to present a more immediate need--police, fire department, libraries, youth programs. Unfortunately, the delayed rehabilitation is costing us more in the long-run. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission recommends that each street be rehabilitated once every 30 years on average. In Oakland that would require rehabilitating about 27 miles of roadway each year. In contrast, the City re-paved only 17 miles of roadway in 2002, and the number dropped to less than 5 miles rehabilitated in 2005-06 and 2006-07. All of the paving is paid for by state and federal funds designated for streets, and none from the City's General Fund.
Federal Stimulus funds (ARRA) of $5.9 M have augmented the roughly $6-7 million of state and county dollars that have been committed to street repairs in recent years (as seen in charts above), but they do have restrictions that require that they only be used on certain types of streets, such as arterials and collectors. While federal dollars can be applied to repair of the major streets, the roughly $6-7 million in state/county dollars arguably can be now be used to repair streets that do not meet the federal funding criteria. The upshot is that in 2010, Oakland has roughly double the amount of funding to put toward street repair than it has had in the past several years.
The following figures will give you a rough estimate of the costs for street repair:
For a two-lane street:
• Slurry Seal $10 per linear foot
• Mill & Overlay $100 per linear foot (the top 2-3 inches are milled off and replaced with new asphalt, extending the time before total reconstruction is needed)
• Reconstruction $200 per foot
For a four lane street, double these figures.The problem remains that chronic underfunding of street repair makes rehabilitation of the street more costly when it is finally undertaken. If streets do not get the preventative maintenance of crack-sealing or a fresh slurry coat of asphalt according to the recommended schedule, they crack and then get potholed, eventually falling into the "poor" category. Once this level of deterioration has occurred, the street requires total reconstruction which is much more expensive. . The City would need to be spending about $30 million per year on paving just to keep our street quality at the 63 PCI level. Even though the more prudent course would be to allocate that amount of money to road repair, Oakland has nowhere near that amount of money available, given the demand for other basic services.
For limited relief, the City conducts a pothole blitz each spring, just after the rainy season ends, when one week out of each month, all maintenance staff focuses only on pothole repair. Most reported potholes in District 2 will be filled during the week of May 3; in Chinatown, reported potholes will be filled in June. To report potholes, email pwacallcenter@oaklandnet.com or call the Public Works Call Center at 615-5566, giving exact street address.
To see more information on the City’s Pavement Priority Plan and the list of streets scheduled to be repaved in the next five years, click here.
No More Roving Night-Time
Parking Enforcement
The City's Parking Enforcement Division has determined that it is no longer necessary to issue parking citations after 9:30 pm. Effective May 13, the Parking Division’s Roving Patrol team no longer will hand out parking tickets after 9:30 pm. Hallelujah. This is a case where the public's voice was finally heeded.
Groundbreaking for Measure DD 12th Street Project: The Long-Awaited Start
of Re-doing the South End of Lake Merritt Gets Underway
l-r: Councilmembers Nancy Nadel, Jean Quan, and Jane Brunner; Naomi Schiff of CALM, Measure DD Program Manager Joel Peter, CM Pat Kernighan, Director of California Coastal Conservancy Sam Schucat, James Vann of CALM, 12th Street Project Manager Jose Martinez, and Resident Engineer Randy Mach symbolically break ground on the 12th Street Reconstruction project.The City's Lake Merritt park renovations got great media coverage at the groundbreaking event for the 12th Street project. The celebration took place Thursday, May 6, at the intersection of Lakeshore Ave and 12th Street. Go here for a really good Oakland Tribune article about the 12th Street project (and a photo of your Councilmember enthusiastically M.C.ing the event). For more detail about all the work that will go into transforming the south end of the lake, go here.
Buddhist Church of Oakland Awarded Status as Oakland Landmark
At the May 4 City Council meeting, the Council voted to designate the Buddhist Church of Oakland at 825 Jackson Street as a historical landmark, pursuant to the Oakland Planning Code.This handsome church is an early local example of traditional Japanese temple architecture, featuring a roof with curved tiles, deeply overhanging eaves with a double set of projecting rafters, and carved wood stylized dragon's heads modeled after those from a Shinto shrine in Osaka Japan; wood railings and stone lanterns leading to a wood-columned portico with carved decorative elements; and Japanese style landscaping, including bonsai pines and a Bodhi tree. It is believed to be the first building designed by Gentoku Shimamoto, a prominent Japanese-American architect who designed other traditional Japanese style buildings elsewhere in California in San Jose and San Francisco, and in New York and New Jersey. The building was moved from its original location at 6th Street and Jackson Street in 1950 at the time of construction of the Nimitz Freeway.
The church has been central to the lives of Japanese-Americans throughout its history. It has served as the focal point for Japanese-American Buddhist culture in Oakland for over 80 years. It continues as a vital cultural center for Oakland's Japanese-American community by hosting various community events, sponsoring a Japanese language school, providing classes in Japanese cultural arts, sponsoring youth basketball teams, and providing many other programs and forms of support for church members.
During Work War II it was used as a safe place to store the personal belongings of church members who were interned at the Topaz, Utah camp. A neighbor watched over the church and the treasured possessions until their owners returned. Later, the church served as a hostel for many members returning from internment until they could find regular places to live and work.
Designation as a landmark has several benefits. It encourages maintenance and careful rehabilitation of the designated structures, creating skilled employment opportunities. For historic structures that have fallen into disuse or disrepair, designation can spark restoration or rehabilitation, therein helping to conserve the materials and energy used to construct those buildings. Restoration of landmark structures often serve as a catalyst for revitalizing neighborhoods and creating community identity.
Donations
Set Up for Widow and Son of Tian Sheng Yu
We have seen a tremendous outpouring of concern and community support for the widow and son of Mr. Yu, who was assaulted and died in an attack in downtown Oakland last month.
If you would like to help the Yu Family, you can contribute to the trust fund set up for them at Metropolitan Bank--information below.. The Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and Chamber Foundation has already donated $2,500. Other groups like The Asian Advisory Committee on Crime and Organization of Chinese Americans will also make donations. Please make checks payable to:
The Yu Family Foundation
c/o Metropolitan Bank
250 E.18th Street
Oakland, CA 94606
Oakland’s
Emerging Arts and Cultural Scene Makes Headlines in New York Times
What has been a local phenomenon - the recent emergence of Oakland’s cultural scene centered around the downtown and uptown area - is now making national headlines. Click here for a New York Times article about Oakland's emerging arts and cultural scene.
Highland Hospital Acute
Tower Replacement Project Update
See the newsletter here.
Fun Photos of Earth Day events in District 2
Big crew gathers on Earth Day morning before fanning out in Chinatown
Bella Vista Park Earth Day Volunteers smile before big day of work.
Neighbors Adopt Traffic Island at Athol and Newton with big plans for
edible plants and trees
Earth Day Volunteers at Morcom Rose Garden
More at Morcom
Our own Jennie Gerard weeding away
The Next Generation of Gardeners
Tora Rocha, City's first woman Park Supervisor
Update on Forthcoming Improvements to the Morcom Rose Garden
Plans for improvements to the Morcom Rose Garden are coming into final form. The improvements to be funded by $1.7M from Measure WW were selected based on community feedback to the Project Scope Report, which was posted in the Garden and on line in November. For the story and links to the Report, go here.
The plans also include a sensory garden and a fully accessible wedding site, thanks to $110,000 from the City Administrator’s Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan Capital Improvement Program. Those funds are devoted to making disability access improvements beyond those routinely required by the California Building Code and the ADA Accessibility Guidelines. The improvements will ensure that people with disabilities and older adults have an equal opportunity to enjoy this unique park, its hilly terrain notwithstanding.The plans will receive review by two official advisory bodies: the Mayor’s Commission on Persons with Disabilities and the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board both will review aspects of the plans at their meetings on Monday, May 10 (see more detail about the meetings in the Events listings above). In addition an application is pending for a Minor Conditional Use Permit to create a fully accessible restroom in the existing tool shed and to install three new light posts along the Monte Vista Staircase matching the already existing light posts. To see the application, visit the Planning & Zoning counter, 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza, 2nd floor, Case # CU10-100. To comment on the application, e-mail case planner Leigh McCullen. The deadline to comment on the Minor CUP is May 24. A second application is pending to remove three trees, two junipers trees whose roots are compromising the foundation of the main building and an oak whose roots are impacting the retaining wall nearby. For more information, contact Project Manager Sandra Ousley. The deadline to comment on the tree removal permit is May 28. The plans are expected to go out to bid in July. A final contract for the work will come before the City Council for approval in the Fall. Work is expected to begin in early 2011. Check back here (this story) after May 17 for final plans.
Finally, Councilmember Kernighan is holding a Community Meeting to discuss possible improvements to the Chetwood Entrance on Wednesday evening, May 26. There is no funding for making improvements at the Chetwood Entrance, but there may be volunteer opportunities, in-kind donations and private fund raising to pay for these improvements deemed essential by the community (see the Events listing above for meeting more details).
Roosevelt Students Thinking
Big with World Cup Soccer
Oakland Take Notice - Roosevelt students have issused a challengeOn April 20th, students and teachers gathered together in the Roosevelt Middle School auditorium for an event that is likely to put Oakland on the National stage. The event began with music, break dancing, and drumming, which quickly led to the event’s bigger purpose – The Challenge.
All week, students at Roosevelt had helped paint a huge, 16’ x 16’ flag, which was comprised entirely of the pen pal letters they had been writing all week. This grand flag, a hybrid of the Oakland and South African flags, would soon be heading from Oakland to South Africa, destined to create new friendships. All of this has been carefully timed to coincide with one of the world’s biggest, unifying events – soccer’s World Cup – this year hosted in South Africa.
But this is just the beginning.
The students took their positions and held their pen pal letters overhead, revealing the flag from above. They swayed together as a chorus of students on stage sang this year’s World Cup theme song – “Wavin’ Flag” by K’Naan.
A few students read their pen pal letters aloud and then Kennedy Stith, an 8th grader from Roosevelt took the stage to issue the “World Cup Challenge.”
In her speech, Kennedy gave props to the“1Goal: Education for All” campaign – the official campaign of the World Cup, and proceeded to reveal how Roosevelt’s effort is designed to transform the world, one student at a time. Kennedy said:
Perhaps the best way we can honor the benefits of education is to share with you the possibilities that education can bring. What if we students could play a role in creating a more peaceful world? With today’s new technologies, students from around the world can be connected together through pen pal emails, video conferencing, etc. As we create a global network of friendships, our connectivity will mature into a friendlier global community. Just think about it. What if creating world peace is really that simple?
She then issued the challenge to every school in Oakland to come together on June 11th, the kickoff of the World Cup, and to create the same Oakland-South Africa flag, but this time on a much more massive scale – 100ft. x 100ft. - comprised of 2500 pen pal letters from students all across Oakland.
This will be no easy task.
Kennedy went on to conclude:
Just as this has become a Whole School Initiative at Roosevelt, we hope that you will join us to make this a Whole City Initiative. What better way to show off Oakland as a model city to the rest of the world? What better way to make us students and our city proud? Together we can send a strong message that the City of Oakland shines bright. Together, we can create a more beautiful world.
That’s our challenge to you! Oakland, are you going to support our dream? The students at Roosevelt are counting on you! Thank you!
This “Oakland/South Africa TOGETHER 2010” campaign is a collaborative effort between many partners, including Friends Without Borders and Elev8. Visit here for more info.
