Grand opening celebration at Lake
Merritt Municipal Boathouse on August 6, 2009
Parking Enforcement Issue Coming to City Council on September 22
Lake Merritt Boathouse Opens to the Public Again
Lakeshore Repaving in September
New Oakland Public Library HoursLincoln Elementary Opens New School Building
Proposed AC Transit Service Reductions and Upcoming Workshops to Discuss Proposed Changes
NOTEWORTHY EVENTS WITH
COUNCILMEMBER KERNIGHAN
Tuesday, September 22 City Council Meeting: Discussion and Consideration of Changes to Recent Parking Enforcement policies Saturday, September 26 Community Meeting and Tour regarding Proposed Measure WW Improvements to Morcom Rose Garden
CITY-SPONSORED EVENTS
Tuesday, September 8 through Friday, October 9 10,000 Steps: A Profile of Madison Square Park and Three Other Historic Town Squares in Downtown Oakland Thursday, September 17 Feng Ru:Conquering Pacific Skies: An International Dialogue about Oakland’s Involvement in the Dawn of Pacific Coast and Chinese Aviation Saturday, September 19 14th Annual Creek to Bay Day, Coastal Cleanup Day the Oakland Way Sunday, September 20 and the three following Sundays Sundays in the Redwoods: Free Outdoor Concert Series Thursday, October 1 Central Estuary Specific Plan: Community Workshop #5 – Fruitvale-San Antonio Senior Center
COMMUNITY SPONSORED EVENTS
Saturday, September 12 Volunteer Fair for Oakland Schools - Oakland Main Library's West Auditorium (entrance on Madison St) Saturday, September 12 Neighborhood Family Music Festival at F.M. Smith Park and across from Parkway theater Saturday, September 12 Celebration of the Launch of Friends of Morcom Rose Garden Tuesday, September 15 League of Women Voters Forum on State Budget Saturday, September 19 Chinatown History Exhibit Opening and Website Launch Party at Oakland Asian Cultural Center Thursday, September 24 Small Schools "Teacher Fishbowl" Saturday, September 26 Love Your Parks Day - Volunteers Needed to Survey Parks Throughout the City Saturday, October 17 Free Fall Neighborhood Plant Exchange
EVENTS
Tuesday, September 8 through Friday, October 9: 10,000
Steps: A Profile of Madison Square Park and Three Other Historic Town
Squares in Downtown Oakland
A multimedia installation at Pro Arts at Oakland Art Gallery – 150 Frank Ogawa Plaza.
This unique anthropological multimedia installation is the brainchild of marksearch, an Oakland-based wife-husband team of Sue Mark and Bruce Douglas. 10,000 Steps: A Profile of Four Squares is their latest community art project. The first phase of “green art stewardship” of the four parks and surrounding communities will showcase oral histories of users of these parks. Go here and click on each park’s name to read more about its history, its needs, etc.
Associated with the installation is a wide range of events. A reception introducing Sue Mark and Bruce Douglas will take place on Thursday, September 17. Two guided walking tours are planned: the first will be led by Annalee Allen for Oakland Heritage Alliance on Saturday, September 19, and the second, by Serena Bartlett on Friday, October 2. To learn about these and in-gallery interactive community-led demonstrations, go here for a schedule of events. For more information about the exhibition, go here.
Saturday, September 12: Volunteer
Fair for Oakland Schools - Oakland Main Library's West Auditorium (entrance
on Madison St)
125 -14th St, which is within easy walking distance of Lake Merritt BART Station – 11:00 am to 2:00 pm – Go here for more detail.
Interested in volunteering in an Oakland public school? This is the place to connect with a school.
Confidence. Inspiration. A love of learning. You give students more than just your time when you become an Oakland Schools Volunteer.Talk with volunteer program representatives and current volunteers, and get all your questions answered. School volunteering has never been this easy!
Sponsored by the Montclair Community Action Group in partnership with the Oakland Unified School District, bringing together the Oakland Volunteer Office and twelve school-based nonprofits in one central location.
Saturday, September 12: Neighborhood Family Music Festival on lower Park
Blvd.
FM Smith Recreation Center at Corner of Park Blvd & Newton Ave and Corner of Park Blvd & E. 19th St (outside Woody’s Laundromat) – 1969 Park Boulevard
1:00 - 3:00 pm: Free children's activities, books give-away, community resources, games, jumpers, & food at the FM Smith Recreation Center.3:00 - 6:00 pm: Free Live Music Performances (across from the Parkway Theater).
Go here for more detail.
Saturday, September
12: Celebration of the Launch of Friends of Morcom Rose
Garden
Grand Tavern – 3601 Grand Ave – 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Sponsored by Grand Tavern and Galleria Scola
Do you know why Morcom Rose Garden’s master volunteers will soon sport tie-dyed vests with “Dedicated Deadheaders” on the back? Have you heard the Deadheaders have traded Woodstock for rootstock?
Find out what these volunteers are up to when you volunteer at the Morcom’s monthly work party from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday, September 12, then join Deadheaders and other volunteers to celebrate the launch of Friends of Morcom Rose Garden. Its new website, www.friendsofoaklandrose.org., will launch that day, thanks to help from two Oakland businesses, Seventeenth Street Studios and Tech Liminal. Go here for more information on the celebration.
Are you a fan of the Morcom Rose Garden? Thanks to Oaklandish and two Grand Avenue merchants, Galleria Scola and Queen, you will be able to support the Friends of Morcom Rose Garden when you buy its new tee shirt. Later in September, the Friends’ tee will be available for purchase at Galleria Scola.
Tuesday, September 15: League of Women Voters forum on State Budget
The League of Women Voters of Oakland invites all interested Oaklanders to its fall kick-off forum to discuss this year's California State budget which, although precariously balanced, will have significant impact on local budgets and services. What will state budget cuts mean for Oakland schools, the City of Oakland, and Alameda County? Is there anything Oakland citizens can do about it?
A knowledgeable panel will share their perspectives and answer your questions.
Dr. Tony Smith, Superintendent, Oakland Unified School District
Susan Muranishi, Alameda County Administrator
Niccolo DeLuca, Former City of Oakland Deputy Administrator & State Lobbyist for the City of Oakland
WHEN: Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
WHERE: Oakland City Hall (Broadway & 14th St.), Hearing Room 3 (Just inside 14th Street entrance)
This Forum is FREE; Light refreshments served.
Parking is available in Clay Street Garage or take BART to 12th St/City Center.
For more information, call the League at (510) 834-7640.
Thursday, September 17: Feng Ru:Conquering Pacific Skies: An International
Dialogue about Oakland’s Involvement in the Dawn of Pacific Coast
and Chinese Aviation
An evening in recognition of the first successful flight of a self-propelled, mechanized aircraft on the Pacific Coast by Feng Ru in the Oakland hills – Oakland Public Library’s Main Library, 125 – 14th St – 6:15 pm. Go here for more detail.
Saturday, September 19: 14th Annual Creek to Bay Day,
Coastal Cleanup Day the Oakland Way
Turn out for creek clean-ups all over Oakland! 9:00 am to 12:00 pm – District 2’s FM Smith Park, built over a creek that empties into Lake Merritt at the E. 18th St Pier, and other cleanup sites are shown here or call (510) 238-6222 for more information.
Will you make a difference if you turn out for this once-a-year clean-up? Here’s how much trash was picked up and hauled away last year by last year’s volunteers. In addition to the nearly 1,000 volunteers participating in Creek to Bay Day 2008, hundreds more gathered along the shoreline at cleanup sites managed by the East Bay Regional Park District. All together, 1,364 volunteers came out to improve Oakland’s waterways and their environs. Volunteers collected 5,873 pounds of trash from Oakland's creeks, shorelines and Lake Merritt; they picked up 90 pounds of recyclables; they removed 321 cubic yards of green waste to make way for native plants to flourish; and they labeled 150 storm drains with durable stainless steel markers bearing the message "No Dumping, Drains to Bay” or “No Dumping, Drains to Lake”. They made a big difference, and so can you!
Saturday, September 19: Chinatown History Exhibit Opening and Website
Launch Party at Oakland Asian Cultural Center
1:30pm - 3:00pm, at Oakland Asian Cultural Center, located at the Pacific Renaissance Plaza, 388 Ninth Street, 2nd Floor
OACC invites you to celebrate the public opening of our new project website/digital archive and our expanded Chinatown Memory Map Exhibit!Watch video excerpts of Chinatown memories.
Hear live storytelling.
Read memories from an interactive map.
Share your memories for OACC's growing oral history archive.Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.
For more event info, contact Roy at (510) 637-0463 or email here.
For website launch details, see our Project Website Launch page.
Sunday, September 20 and the three following Sundays:
Sundays in the Redwoods: Free Outdoor Concert Series
Woodminster Amphitheater (with seating), Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Rd. Gate opens at 1:30 pm, concerts begin at 2:00 pm.
Admission is free! Parking is $4.00. Join the Office of Parks and Recreation and Council Member Jean Quan in the beautiful red woods for four free concert series.
Seating Is Limited, so come early for good seats. Table reservations available, call (510) 238-4720. Call (510) 238-PARK for more information, or go here.
Tuesday, September 22: City Council Discussion and Consideration
of Possible Changes to Recent Parking Enforcement Ordinance
City Council meeting at City Hall, third floor, 7:00 pm. 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza.
Read a message below from Councilmember Kernighan regarding her proposal to roll back the hours of enforcement from 8:00 pm to 6:00 pm and re-examine parking policies in general. After close of business on September 11 you can go here to view reports by Councilmember Kernighan and by staff. To sign up on line to speak, go here.
Thursday, September
24: 2nd Annual" Teacher Fishbowl" forum on education.
Come to the Oakland Small Schools Foundation's Education Forum and hear first hand from Oakland's finest public school teachers about their experiences!
If you missed the round-table last fall, it was filled with moments you can only witness when 15 of Oakland's brightest teachers get together in one room. The spirited discussion took us inside the classrooms of Oakland's flatlands schools and showed the audience why, as PLACE @ Prescott teacher Maria Cristina Turienzo put it, "Teaching in an Oakland public school has been the most rewarding experience, ever." This year promises to be just as compelling, as we host a new set of teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools across Oakland.WHEN: Thursday, September 24, 7:30 - 9:00 pm
WHERE: Jack London Aquatic Center, 115 Embarcadero, Oakland, CARSVP! Call (510) 534-7613 or email here. To hear just one of the highlights from last year's Fishbowl, click here.
We hope to see you at both of these events! To learn more about the Oakland Small Schools Foundation's work, visit us online here.
Saturday, September 26: Community Meeting and Tour regarding Proposed
Measure WW Improvements to Morcom Rose Garden
Morcom Rose Garden, 700 Jean Street (one block from Grand Ave) – 10:00 am to 11:30 am
The purpose of the meeting and tour is to get feedback on potential park improvements such as adding wedding sites, renovating the unisex restroom and improving pathways to meet ADA requirements; addressing leaking irrigation and recirculation piping, and mosquito-prone still water; installing signage; and to get input and ideas on other work.
By way of background on this meeting, last November, voters of Alameda County and Contra Costa County approved Measure WW, the Regional Open Space, Wildlife, Shoreline and Parks Bond, which extended a 1988 bond measure of the East Bay Regional Parks District. Of the $500 million to be raised by Measure WW, $375 million (75%) will fund regional park acquisitions and capital projects, and $125 million (25%) will go to cities, special park and recreation districts, and county service areas for their park and recreation services. The City of Oakland will receive $19,204,456 for specific capital improvement projects at parks, among them the Morcom Rose Garden, which is slated to receive $1.7 million. For a complete list of all the park sites approved by the City Council for Measure WW funding, go here.
Saturday, September
26: Love Your Parks Day - Volunteers Needed to Survey Parks Throughout
the City
Meet at Lakeside Garden Center in Lakeside Park, 666 Bellevue Ave – 8:30 am
Residents of Oakland enjoy more than 120 City parks but those open spaces, playgrounds, gardens and parks are showing the signs of maintenance withdrawal now, the direct result of the City’s cuts of the maintenance staff in order to balance the budget. Parks aren’t getting the attention they need in order to be litter and weed free, with equipment in good working order and infrastructure in good condition. On Saturday morning, October 26, the Oakland Parks Coalition (OPC) will host its annual Love Your Parks Day with a city-wide survey to determine the condition of each of the City’s parks.
OPC will compile and analyze the results of this year’s survey, then prepare a report to present to Mayor Dellums and the City Council. The survey will bring to the attention of city officials specific maintenance concerns that need to be addressed. This will be the fourth survey prepared by OPC.
To conduct the survey requires lots and lots of volunteer surveyors. If you are willing to give the better part of a morning to serve as a surveyor, please email here to RSVP with your full name, phone number and the council district where you live (if you know it). Then, come to the Lakeside Park Garden Center in Lakeside Park, 666 Bellevue at 8:30 am on September 26. While you enjoy bagels and coffee, small groups of volunteers will form and then fan out to assess parks. Each group will survey a few parks.
For more information about the Oakland Parks Coalition and Love Your Park Day, go here.
Thursday, October 1:
Central Estuary Specific Plan: Community Workshop #5 – Fruitvale-San
Antonio Senior Center
The consultant team has defined three draft land use alternatives based on the conceptual plans developed by residents at Community Workshop #4. Workshop #5 will include an in-depth presentation of each of the three draft land use alternatives highlighting the differences among them. Visual simulations and the results of analyses related to the economic, environmental, traffic and public health impacts associated with each alternative will be presented and discussed. You are encouraged to attend to share your thoughts about the draft land use alternatives. Go here to the City’s website for more information about the planning effort to date.
Saturday, October 17:
Free Fall Neighborhood Plant Exchange
3811 Lakeshore Avenue, easy street parking – 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm
Have plants you must prune or divide? How about trading your excess with others in your neighborhood? Take home new plants for your yard and have an instant new garden! All types of plants are welcome, from cuttings up to full size.
Garden accessories and accents welcome: Umbrellas, clippers, books on gardening, pots, stepping stones, tools and supplies - even goldfish.
The Spring Neighborhood Plant Exchange was a rousing success and now it's time to get ready for the Fall Exchange, just in time for fall pruning and planting. Last year, 300 people attended and more than 1500 plants, large and small, found new homes.Volunteers helped make the experience smooth and easy for participants who came from Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Alameda and San Francisco.
Want to donate plants before the event? No problem. Interested in volunteering in the afternoon? The organizers happily accept.
For more information, go here, or call or contact the organizers at (510) 866-8482 or email here.
REPORTS
Parking
Enforcement Issue Coming to City Council on September 22
Finally, here is the opportunity to address the City Council on the contentious issue of parking enforcement. The meeting is at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, September 22, at City Hall. At my request, reconsideration of the parking meter rates and hours is before the Council. Any concerns about parking enforcement can be addressed by the public (such as overly aggressive ticketing), and can be acted upon later by the Council, but the specific issues the Council can vote on that night are the meter rates and hours. I am advocating that we rescind the 8 pm ending time for meter enforcement and go back to 6 pm. If you wish to speak at the Council meeting, you can sign up on-line here or before 7 pm on the 22nd outside the Council chambers.
Several hundred people have written to the Councilmembers and thousands have signed a petition to express their emphatic objections to various aspects of Oakland's parking enforcement. This issue clearly hit a nerve with a lot of residents and merchants. We have heard complaints about all aspects of Oakland's parking enforcement program, including the meter rates being too high, the additional hours, overzealousnous of enforcement staff, the high cost of the fines, the poor noticing of the change in rules, the bureaucratic obstacles to contesting/appealing a ticket, the fear that shoppers, diner/movie-goers will go to other cities where parking is cheaper, thus hurting our small businesses in an already tough economic climate, and the general predatory feeling of the ramped-up enforcement.
Many of these complaints are valid and need to be addressed, which I am in the process of doing. Some aspects, such as the meter rates and hours, are the subject of debate among residents. Though the media has focused on the protesters, I've also heard from quite a few people who support higher parking fees as good transportation policy. I agree that Oakland should have a well thought-out transportation policy which includes parking rates that are related to maximizing shopper use of retail areas and encouraging alternative means of transportation. Unfortunately, Oakland's recently adopted parking rules, proposed by the City Administration, were not the product of a forward-thinking transportation policy. No analysis was done on economic impact or comprehensive transportation policy. The changes were motivated solely by the need to raise revenue to balance the budget. We need to do better than that. That's why I've scheduled this Council discussion as a starting point to develop an integrated, forward-thinking, and data-based transportation policy. A timely article came out today in the East Bay Express on the subject of market pricing for parking--the current state of the art in parking policy, an article I highly recommend reading.
There has been a little relief from a couple of onerous aspects of parking meter enforcement in the past couple of weeks. In response to pressure, largely from me, the City Administration made two adjustments to the rules: 1) You can now buy 3 hours of parking time, starting at 5 pm. This was to allow people to go out to dinner or other activities without running out to buy another ticket at the one-hour kiosks. 2) Your parking receipt is now mobile so you can run multiple errands but only buy one ticket. That is, you can buy time at one kiosk, drive your car to another block or area and use the same parking receipt, as long as there is still time left on it.I am supporting a rescission of the 8pm meter enforcement time, because that is the issue that seemed to be causing the biggest problem for most people. I heard from a lot of people who were deterred from their evening errands or going out to dinner in Oakland by the risk of getting a ticket. I don't want to set back our burgeoning restaurant sector.
The most difficult aspect of reducing meter hours or rates is that the revenue has been counted on as part of balancing the City's budget. Several of my colleagues have said they won't support a reduction in hours or rates unless we can identify where to make further cuts to offset the lost revenue. The change I'm proposing, to eliminate the meter collection between 6 pm and 8 pm, is projected to cost the City $1.3 million in anticipated revenue. Many residents have argued that this anticipated parking revenue may be outweighed by the long-term loss of sales tax due to high parking rates. So far there's no data to support any conclusion regarding impact on sales, but there is plenty of speculation. Data or not, many people say it makes no sense to place a further burden on already struggling businesses. One measurable piece of data is the occupancy rate of the metered spaces. The Parking Director says he can figure that out by looking at data from the parking kiosks. Anecdotally (and subjectively), I've noticed a small drop-off in occupancy on Lakeshore Avenue and Chinatown, but a more dramatic one on Grand Avenue. In any case, the discussion of parking policy is important and sure to be interesting, so tune in to your Cable TV Channel 10 if you can't make it to the Council meeting.
Last point:Though I've written before about the City budget dilemma that led to increasing the parking rates and fines, I'm going to say it again. If you are one of the people who wrote to me saying "why don't you just cut the waste out of City government, instead of gouging people at the parking meters?", please read the following to see what cuts the Council has already made. I agree that we shouldn't be gouging people with fees and fines, but please know that the City Council made $97 million in permanent cuts from the City budget in the preceding 10 months. Not only did we cut waste, we cut a lot of staff doing important services.
Tax revenues to the City dropped $144 million in the past ten months, and since the City can't print money like the federal government, we had to make cuts in spending. The City Council made deep cuts to public services in October and June which eliminated 452 City positions, including lay-offs of 152 people. Further, all City workers took a cut in compensation of 10%.Our libraries are closed an extra day a week, weeds are 3 feet tall in the medians and parks are shabby because we laid off half the maintenance workers, and we cut police overtime dramatically. Staff for all our basic services (street cleaning, park maintenance, library workers, police, plus internal services like IT and payroll) are all down to the bone. We didn't want to reduce public services any further, so that's why the Council resorted to raising $4.5 million via the parking fees and fines. In retrospect, I think we should modify parts of that, but it means we'll need to make further spending cuts.
Lake
Merritt Boathouse Opens to the Public Again
Grand Opening of Renovated Municipal Boat House and Lake Chalet Restaurant
August 6 was a red letter day for Oakland, 100 years from the time when the Lake Merritt Boathouse was first dedicated. In 1909, it was built as a high-pressure salt-water pumping station by the City’s Fire Department. Within a few years the two building wings were added for public use. Then in the mid-1930’s a restaurant, Zerikotes, opened in the Boathouse and operated there till 1956 when the City decided to replace the restaurant with City offices. Then, for 50 years there was very little public use of the site.
Fast forward to last month and the celebration of the now complete restoration of the Lake Merritt Boathouse. Councilmember Kernighan was delighted to MC the event, which honored the many people who contributed to the planning and building of this wonderful facility. Mayor Dellums also addressed the crowd and told us that he had taught rowing there to inner-city kids during his college days.
The Municipal Boathouse structure, including 90+ new pilings, its exterior and its surrounding landscaping have been fully restored with Measure DD funds. The five Oakland Rotary Clubs celebrated Rotary International’s centennial by raising $100,000 to build the grand staircase and plaza in front of the Boathouse. The celebration marked the return of the Boathouse to public use. Its restoration has made way for the types of uses that existed before the building was turned into City offices. A restaurant, the Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill, has opened to great fanfare. Already in the few weeks, the restaurant has drawn more people to the Boathouse than have visited there in decades.
Also operating out of the Boathouse and docks are the Lake Merritt Rowing Club and Gondola Servicio. If you're interested in learning how to row or find out about youth programs on the water, contact the Rowing Club here. If you want to reserve a romantic gondola ride on some warm evening, contact Gondola Servizio here.
For more about the history the Lake Merritt Boathouse, go here.
I'd like to let you know the status of efforts to re-open the Parkway Theater. Since the original Parkway closed, I've been in close communication with the building owners, Mr. and Mrs. Cheng, and facilitating their discussions with potential new movie operators to lease the building (via my assistant Sarah, who speaks Cantonese). The Chengs understand that the neighborhood wants a movie and food place of the same type as the original operation, and that's what they want too. They have been in serious negotiations with two entities, but in each case, the deal has fallen through because neither side was able or willing to pay the cost of needed repairs to the building (plumbing, electrical, roof). It is the cost of the capital improvements that is the obstacle to getting the theater re-opened.
In order to help with the cost of capital improvements, I suggested that the Chengs apply for a loan and tenant improvement grant from Oakland's Redevelopment Agency, which they are in the process of doing. Access to those funds should help considerably, though probably won't cover the entire cost of needed capital improvements.
There are still individuals interested in running the theater, but it remains to be seen if they will be able to put together the financial backing to get the business launched and running in a stable way. I am still hopeful that one of the interested parties can reach agreement with the Chengs on the terms of a new lease and get the theater running again. All of this has taken a lot longer than anyone wanted, but I think it's doable with the Redevelopment loan. If you know of potential investors, please send them my way!
Other notes re: the Parkway.
Regarding the graffiti at the Parkway-- the owners recently met with the "iliketheparkway" leaders and Steve Ma, owner of Woody's Laundromat and president of the local merchants association, and together they are getting the graffiti painted out and murals painted in. The Chengs are paying for the materials and our local artists are doing the painting. If there are on-going concerns with condition of the building, please email me.
Rumors of a massage parlor at the Parkway. Let me begin by saying I would do anything in my power to stop a massage parlor from going in there. Second, here is information that indicates it is extremely unlikely to happen:
The owners of the Parkway building do not want a massage parlor, nor have they signed a lease with the permit applicant. The massage parlor applicant and a few of her associates have been pressuring the owners to sign a lease, and in the meantime, applied for a permit from the City. (Five years ago, the City adopted a very strict massage establishment ordinance--authored by this Council office-- that greatly increases the City's ability to stop massage parlors that are fronts for prostitution.) The staff in charge of permits immediately emailed me to let me know of the application and hearing date. I told her I was firmly opposed to granting this permit. The community was notified via various list serves, and to my knowledge, everyone in the neighborhood opposes it. Now here's the good news, from the neighborhood's perspective: Research has revealed that the applicant was arrested for prostitution in a sting operation on a massage parlor of the same name, Sun Spa, in South Carolina. The City won't issue a permit to a person with a criminal record for prostitution, so that effectively kills this application.
I still would like all interested neighbors to express their opposition to a massage establishment at the Parkway Theater, just to make sure that another application doesn't come back another name. You can do so by emailing Hearing Officer Barbara Killey.
So, to recap on the status of the Parkway: I am confident that a massage parlor will NOT open there, and that all parties--neighborhood, building owner, and my Council office--are working toward a movie theater re-opening there as soon as possible.
Lakeshore Repaving in
September
In mid to late September, work will begin on resurfacing Lakeshore between MacArthur and E. 18th Street, beginning with repair of the road base (deep grinding and paving of especially bad street pavement in specific locations). (Yay!! How long have we suffered with that deteriorated asphalt?) Beginning September 28 or thereabouts, the top two inches of pavement will be removed and a new road surface will be laid down. Shortly thereafter, the road way will be re-striped for one vehicle travel lane in each direction, a continuous turn lane between them, bicycle lanes outside the vehicle lanes, and parking lanes next to the curbs. Landscaping along Lakeshore and work at El Embarcadero will continue during the road work.
The change from two vehicle travel lanes in each direction to one travel lane in each
direction will require some adjustment. Vehicles will move more slowly, which is the intent of the traffic-calming reconfiguration of lanes. Their trips will take a bit longer. Now that signal upgrades have taken place and once lane transitions are complete, the impact on drivers isn’t expected to be bad, and the benefits for bicyclists, pedestrians and park users should be substantial.
-- based on reports from Joel Peter, Measure DD Program Manager
New Oakland Public Library Hours
All 15 branch libraries of the Oakland Public Library now have reduced hours, the equivalent of a day a week, as a result of some of the cutbacks required to close the $83 million gap in the FY ’09 – ’10 budget. The original Dellums’ administration proposal was to close six branch libraries all but two or three days a week, including the Lakeview Branch. Library supporters rallied to prevent that from happening, and we on the Council agreed it was an unacceptable impact on the affected neighborhoods. We arrived at a plan to keep all branches open five days a week.
Here is the schedule that went into effect at the beginning of August. The Main Library at 125 14th Street maintains the same 7-day per week schedule it had before. On Sunday and Monday when all branch libraries are closed, library patrons are encouraged to visit the Main for their library needs.
All fifteen branch libraries are open Tuesdays through Saturdays, and closed on Sundays and Mondays. All branch libraries are open on Tuesday evenings, either from 12:30 pm to 8:00 pm or 11:30 am to7:00 pm.
The new branch schedules are as follows:
Asian, César Chávez, Dimond, Golden Gate, Lakeview, Montclair, Piedmont Avenue, Rockridge, Temescal Branch Libraries:
Tuesdays - 12:30 pm to 8:00 pm; Wednesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays - 10:00 am to 5:30 pm; Fridays -12:00 pm to 5:30 pmBrookfield, Eastmont, Elmhurst, Martin L. King, Jr., Melrose, West Oakland Branch Libraries: Tuesdays - 11:30 am to 7:00 pm; Wednesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays – 10:00 am to 5:30 pm; Fridays – 12:00 pm to 5:30 pm
For more information and updates, please check the Oakland Public Library’s Website here.
New School building at Lincoln Elementary
Oakland’s Lincoln Elementary School commemorated the opening of a new school wing by holding a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 27th. The completion of the twelve-classroom facility fulfills a long-held dream for additional classroom and recreation space benefiting Lincoln families and the surrounding community.
The recently finished building is two stories high and houses additional breakout rooms for tutoring and counseling as well as an energy efficient design with screens to reduce sun exposure and large windows to increase natural light. Along with the new building, the project created an expansive courtyard that can serve as an outdoor classroom with additional recreation space.
“I am so proud to see the opening of this fabulous new building,” said Lincoln Elementary Principal John Melvin. “For many years, the Lincoln students, teachers and community have advocated for a new building and now their dream has come true. The new facility with spacious, airy classrooms and large windows serves as a model 21st Century school building. I know our students, teachers and community will love it.” Also speaking was former principal Caroline Yee, who was acknowledged for her leadership role in getting the district to begin the project.
Lincoln students, families, staff, and community attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, as well District representatives, including Superintendent Tony Smith. The ceremony featured performances by Lincoln students, including the Purple Bamboo Chinese Orchestra and the Lincoln Music Stars.Lincoln Elementary School is proud to celebrate the opening of its new facility at a time when the school is experiencing outstanding success in its academic and enrichment programs. On the recent 2008-09 California Standards Test (CST), 95 percent of Lincoln students scored Proficient or Advanced in Math making it the highest performing school in Math in the District. The school also improved in English/Language Arts, with the number of students rating as Advanced or Proficient on the CST growing from 73 percent to 79 percent. These scores are remarkable in and of themselves, and more so when one considers that Lincoln is a Title 1 School with a majority of its students as English Language Learners. Lincoln Elementary School is comprised of a diverse group of students from all over Oakland who speak a multitude of languages such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Mongolian. The school has demonstrated a commitment to academic excellence by winning the California Distinguished School and Title 1 Academic Achievement awards in 2008.
Proposed AC Transit Service Changes and Upcoming Workshops to Discuss
Proposed Changes
Drastic cuts in revenue to the AC Transit District are requiring AC Transit to make reductions and changes in bus service. Neighborhoods in District 2 will be affected, so if you rely on the bus for transportation, please attend one of the following community workshops. The workshops are designed to provide information and gather input about proposed service changes that AC Transit's Board of Directors will consider at public hearings later in September. A complete list of changes proposed in the 2009 Service Adjustments Plan has been posted to the AC Transit Web site.
AC Transit staff would like to talk with and hear suggestions from as many riders as possible.
Community Workshops dates in Oakland:
Saturday, September 12
10:30 a.m. – Noon
AC Transit General Offices
1600 Franklin Street, 2nd Floor Board Room
Oakland
Take the bus: All lines serving downtown Oakland (also BART to 19th Street)Wednesday, September 16
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Fruitvale-San Antonio Senior Center
3301 East 12th Street, Suite 201
Oakland
Take the bus: Lines 1,1R, 14, 40, 53 (also BART to Fruitvale)Public Hearing dates in Oakland:
Wednesday, September 23
2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. & 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
AC Transit General Offices
1600 Franklin Street, 2nd Floor Board Room
Oakland
Take the bus: All lines serving downtown Oakland (also BART to 19th Street)